Repeat after me...change is GOOD!

We have had a few crazy months in the Mikels house filled with change, great news and not so great news! Let me warn you...this is going to be a long post. Grab a drink and a snack and then come back and read!

First off, I'm just going to come out with our biggest news. It is something that Ross and I have fought for a while now but have given into and it's a great feeling. Ross and I filed for Bankruptcy this month. Repeat after me...change is good! We are not proud about this...but have realized it is for the best. We have so much medical debt from Noelle being born early to my medical bills from when she was born. Of course, I had co-insurance...so I owed a considerable amount of my Emergency C-Section, emergency transport to Fairfax, emergency blood transfusions...I could go on for a while about the things we owed. I was forced to quit my job after she was born. We went from a pretty comfortable two income household to a strapped one income household. We were putting our basic bills on credit cards just to keep our home a stable place for our son who thought the whole world turned upside-down in 2008 AND 2009. Then, when I was forced yet again to quit my job in December of last year because Medicaid was threatening us...we hoped that we could make it work. We couldn't. Please don't misunderstand. We don't want pity, we don't want people to feel sorry for us...we are finally on a clean slate again and it feels great! You know me...I always have to find the silver lining.

Repeat after me...Change is good! So, next month...we are moving! We were so blessed to find a man who was willing to overlook our financial history and look at our story. He is going to rent us his single family home!! We know we are not irresponsible people or parents...and he totally takes our word. We were totally upfront and honest with him about what happened and he is happy to help out. I think he's also happy to take his house off the market and know that people are going to take care of it. We are excited. Andon and I went over to our "new house" and he was able to pick out his new room. Now, he wants a bunk bed to fit in his new room. I'm going to have to work on that one! It's time for a change...2011 is truly going to be a new start for us! Clean slate financially and a new house to move into. I'm excited about reorganizing and having less space to clean! :)

Little did we know that 2 days before filing for bankruptcy that Ross would get into a car accident. Ross was fine. He walked away without a scratch. THANK GOD! But our vehicles were the two things we were going to keep. To make a long story short, his truck was totaled. We owed more than it was worth...so we were down to one car. This was a rough day for us...but at least we still had my car. Luckily, Ross still had the rental car from his accident.

A week later, I was volunteering at the hospital and my car broke down as I was pulling into the parking garage. That night, as I'm driving my moms car back home...I had a stern chat with God. For crying out loud...we have been through enough. I wasn't selling crack on the corner...I was getting ready to volunteer my time at the hospital where my daughter lived for almost a year! I asked...no...I begged, for some kind of hope that things would get better. Call me crazy....just then....I saw a shooting star. I knew things would work out somehow. It was then I reminded myself that there are always situations worse than ours. We still had a roof over our heads, and for the most part...my family was healthy. There are thousands of kids in hospitals right now with families struggling. I should't ask for more...

The mechanic called and told me my transmission was shot. My poor car has almost 200k miles on it. We thought long and hard about what to do. At one point, the mechanic told us that it probably wasn't worth fixing. I said a prayer with my mother in law. That afternoon, the mechanic called back and said that the transmission wasn't bad...the computer inside was. YES! It was still a lot of money to fix....but worth keeping the car now! :) I joked with Ross that night...we were almost homeless and car-less....I don't think he thought it was funny! ;)

We were still trying to figure out how Ross would get to work everyday. I was uncomfortable with being at home with Noelle without a car. There are many days that I have had to run up to Fairfax spur of the moment because of her lungs and breathing. Out here, we can't really rely on 911. They would take her to the nearest hospital...and if it was a true emergency...they would take her down to UVA before Fairfax. One word describes that....EW! Ross is so blessed that his company gave him a company truck just until we can buy a new vehicle for him (we've been told about 3 months). THANK GOD...yet again!

Andon is doing great about all these changes. He is excited to move into the new house. Although, I can tell it stresses him out a little...he acts like he's excited! He has decided that he wants to play T-Ball or Football in the spring instead of Soccer. He is going to school full days now which he really enjoys! I can't get over the fact that my baby is going to Kindergarten in the fall. Time flies way too fast. Every time I blog, I wish I had more to say about him. I never want him to feel slighted...however, he is so healthy and so happy....it's a blessing that I don't have much to say about him!! He's just such a great kid!

Noelle has been hanging in there. Her lungs have already taken a bit of a hit this fall and winter. In part, because she goes to school and is exposed to many more germs than she can handle. School is WORTH IT! Noey has enjoyed school so much. After watching your kid in the hospital for months at a time and watch her almost die....watching her enjoy school is so nice! She is so excited on school mornings! However, she has been sick a lot! She has had 2 (almost 3) pneumonias. Luckily, she only spent one night in the hospital. High flow O2 has been our friend again recently, especially at night. The pediatrician kind of freaked me out a little at our last visit. He is the second medical professional to inform me that she might be "growing out of her lungs." I don't even know what this phrase means....but I think its crap. I keep meaning to ask the pulmonologist about it...but missed our last appointment due to the snow. Her lungs for the most part are the same or worse. No one really knows why her lungs are not improving. It's a mystery!

The great news is...Noelle is pretty much WALKING! She is so proud of herself! I'm so proud of her! She has come such a long way. To all the people that doubted her ability and strength....HAHA! She is stronger than most people I know! She gets really winded and sweaty when she walks...but she has determination like no other!

In other Noelle news, it looks like Noelle may qualify for the VA Neurological Birth Injury Fund. This is a fund that will provide lifetime support for Noelle and whatever her needs are. I'm not sure about the full scope of what is covered...but I've heard from other parents that it is a miracle! I didn't think that she would qualify at all because all of her head ultrasounds came back normal while she was in the NICU. Not to mention, all of her issues seem to stem from prematurity....not a birth injury. Fairfax had reported that her ultrasounds were all normal, showing no brain injuries and/or brain bleeds. I got in touch with this lawyer (who the birth fund pays to get children into the program...I won't have to pay her) who requested all of Noelle's records, including the head ultrasounds. She sent the ultrasounds to some expert radiologist. He came back and said that Noelle's head ultrasounds were abnormal from the start showing signs of significant oxygen deprivation starting from the first ultrasound on her birthday and getting progressively worse after. This proves that there was a birth injury from the abruption....therefore qualifying her for the program. I couldn't decide if I was excited to get into the program or upset because I finally proved my theory that something neurological was "off." I have been going back and forth with the neurologists....telling them that something was off. Whether it was seizures or tics...or something. No one ever believed me. I'm taking her to a new neurologist in January...and I'm bringing this up. All in all, this is good news and should provide us with relief.

We are super excited about the holidays around here! Even Noey seems to feel the excitement! Andon's school is doing a little concert during church on Sunday... and he is really excited to dress up for it!

I think that is enough news from us for right now! I'm sure there are spelling mistakes and bad grammer...but I'm tired and better get my butt to bed.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to anyone on here that still reads my updates! May your holiday be filled with joy and warmth of family and friends. :)

xoxo,

Stacie :)