Safe travel and new hope
Yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind. First thing in the morning, we received a call from the acute facility in Pensacola. The doctor told me that we needed to come and pick up our daughter. We had been told previously that since we lived 3 hours away, we would be given 24 hours notice before we had to pick her up, but due to a shortage of beds, we were told we needed to come before 5pm.
I hung up the phone and could feel my stress level rising. We had not yet heard from the facility in Memphis, TN as to whether or not they would accept her. This meant that we would need to bring her home and risk her running away again. We decided to pack our clothes to be prepared in the event that Memphis called on our way to Pensacola. We asked everyone we knew to pray that we would receive an answer. As we began to pack, my wife received a call from the facility in Memphis advising us that the clinical board had met and gave our case special consideration. They said that on the surface, with the arson, they would typically refuse her, but since my wife explained the situation and that fact that I had uploaded all of her documents online for them to review, they decided to help her. We were excited that we would be able to pick her up in Pensacola and drive straight to Memphis. They told us they couldn't receive her until Friday, so we were a little concerned about the time we had kill between Wednesday evening and Friday, but we would figure it out.
We then began scrambling to pack clothes, book the dog sitter, and get on the road. Since our vehicle gets about 13 mpg and the power steering is going out, we decided we had no choice but to rent a car. Getting her safely to her new long-term facility was the priority and we needed to do whatever it took in order to get her there. We threw the bags and dog in the car and headed to Panama City. We dropped the dog at the sitter and headed to Panama City Beach to rent a car.
Once we had the rental car, we made the 2-1/2 hour drive to Pensacola. During the drive, we received a call from Memphis stating that the paperwork came through faster than expected and that they could receive her Thursday. Once we arrived, we signed paperwork and our daughter was discharged. She was a little frustrated that she had to go immediately to Memphis and would miss her birthday. We told her that we understood her frustration, but that it was important to get there while there was a bed available. We then headed to Walmart in Pensacola to purchase all of the clothing required for her stay in Memphis. My wife reminded me not to cringe when the total rang up, we didn't want her to feel guilty. We paid and were on our way to Memphis, with plans to stop over, somewhere half way.
We finally located a hotel in Meridian, MS which was 3-1/2 hours from the Memphis facility. We got to bed around midnight and got a terrible nights sleep due to the mattresses. We were up and out the door by 7:30 am and on our way to Memphis. Her behavior was good during the ride and we tried to keep the conversation light. We stopped at Subway and got her some lunch before we arrived at the facility.
We arrived at the facility at 11:30 am and completed all of the paperwork. She had a quick Covid test, which was negative. The staff then called for her to come into the internal part of the facility. My wife hugged her and they both cried. I gave her a hug and held back my tears. I told her that I loved her and would see her soon. We then watched her walk down the hall and we were crushed. We knew it was the best thing for her, but it was very tough.
We hung around Memphis for a few hours just to make sure she settled in good before we left the area. To kill some time, we drove past the home of Elvis Presley and enjoyed seeing the many historical building in Memphis. We had some lunch at a nice little diner and then headed toward Florida. We are currently at a hotel in Winfield, AL because we are exhausted. We will finish the journey home in the morning and will continue to pray our baby girl will get the help she needs.
At 8:00 pm, we received a call from the facility advising us that our daughter is doing well and has a good attitude. We are hopeful that she is on the right track.
The facility did advise us today that the mental health portion of our insurance would reach its limit in 32 days. At that time, the cost of treatment we would be responsible for was $1000 per day! We have a few calls to make to see what options we have, but we also plan to do some fundraising soon.