My political life is a bit overwhelming to me...

and I'm mentally exhausted by it but here is an update.

Met with Senator Clark Jolley to discuss the lack of coverage by insurance companies on amino acid-based elemental formulas. Great meeting. Like the man. He WAS LATE to our appointment!! Like 30 minutes late!!! But I forgave him quickly :) when he said, "Let me research this and I'll get back to you in 2 weeks. Sounds doable."

The next day one of my "lobbyists" told me that because my meeting had gone so well, he had set up a round table discussion with Jolley and some health care professionals to discuss how effective these formulas are for other patients (not just kids with severe food allergies) and did I want to come? Of course I want to come!! When is it? Thursday. Um....ok...I'll make it work.

Wednesday, day before meeting, 5:00pm, we are on the way out the door to go eat at OC. "Lobbyist" calls me to say that he has been pulled "off the case from the headquarters in Washington." Huh? "I'm not a registered lobbyist." Oh. What does that mean? "I can't speak to a senator or representative on behalf of my company. I can't encourage you or discourage you from attending the meeting. I can't encourage or discourage any HCP (health-care professionals) from doing that either. I won't be in attendance tomorrow. I'm so sorry. And off the record - go get them!" After I hung up, I sat down and cried.

My dietician friend call shortly after my crying spell and says she's still going and she will be prepared to talk in place of lobbyists. Previously we thought we would just go and look pretty and listen to all the doctors and nurses and dieticians talk. I felt better.

Thursday: drive to pick up 80 year old doctor and take her to the capitol. Meet 6 other HCP women and we squeeze into Senator Jolley's office and they begin talking. Senator Jolley starts talking code: PCCP and Title 36 and other stuff and I nod along like I totally get when he's talking about. At the end of the meeting he asks me to get in touch with 2 Senate staffers.

Monday: I call 1 Senate staffer. She tells me that if he asked me to call her then we are WRITING A BILL!!!! December 9th is our due date.

In most recent news....Representative Grau called to tell me that my insurance company would be denying our appeal to insurance companies first denial. So we will begin the process, I think, of a "2nd level appeal".

In other news: #1 Senate staffer has told me she will be letting #2 Senate staffer do the writing of this bill (with my finishing touches of course) because #2 deals with insurance and #1 deals with health and then "IF Senator Jolley decides to sponsor the bill, we will move forward in January." What? When did we move to IF?

Believe me when I say that I have political highs and lows about every Monday/Wednesday/Friday since I started this whole thing. Some days I really want to quit and go back to my regular life. Some days I really feel like fighting.

Right now I feel really glad that we can make sacrifices to afford this $$$ amino acid-based elemental formula and I still fervently pray that Jackson will grow out of all food allergies. He gets retested in February!! :) He DID lose weight again, but we are staying the course on his current eating plan with dietician at Children's in Dallas. He had a really sick month in October so we are chalking it up to that and moving on.

When feeling discouraged about the political process of getting a bill going or having my appeal denied, I try to remind myself that Moses got a NO 9 times from Pharoah before he got a YES! And then after that YES, Moses was chased. And God did provide.

And when I was feeling like quitting this whole crazy thing on Thursday, I got an email from a person I made contact with regarding supporting my bill. She and her group got the "epipen bill" written for the state of Oklahoma (I did not even know we had an epipen bill). Anyway, I'm meeting with her next Wednesday. She said it was quite a process to get it done. I told her I that I felt "processed" already. But God knew I needed a little push to keep going and so he gifted me with my new friend Cami - the epipen bill author. God does provide.

Now you are updated on my political life. I absolutely know that I am gifted in being a teacher and I could never and should never go into politics. I've said it. Now someone hold me to that when I get another crazy idea.