Celeste: Yes, our insurance did cover it. It really depends on how the doctor approaches it. Eli had some other minor thing that they commented on (don't really understand it), but most doctors know what to look for to allow this to get covered.
And Eli's walking is great. He still doesn't walk "normal", but he's really doing great. His thighs are really getting strong!
Eli's recovery is going great. It's so hard to keep him from going too crazy! But his wound is healling and he doesn't have any pain.
The greatest news is that Eli had his speech assessment. His vocabulary is pretty normal for an ESL child...the therapist was really impressed! But his comprehension is a little low still. I kind of think he was overwhelmed by the newness so he wasn't really paying attention. But, either way, he qualified for speech through the school system. Utica has a great rep, and the speech, ot, and pt programs are top notch. The speech therapist told us that the fastest route is to go to a preschool program designed specifically for children with physical disabilities (for safety reasons) through the school district, and then go to a regular classroom maybe next year. The only problem is that the preschool is 5 days a week in the morning and I'm not sure he's ready for that yet. However, I've been assured that they are able to work around what's best for him.
Other than that life is good, the weather is perfect, and we've all been getting lots of Vit D!