Dear Friends
My friend and colleague, Shawna Ellsworth, has an adorable 3 year old nephew named Noah Borjesson, who has never been able to chew or swallow solid food since birth. Noah desperately needs your help. 3 year old Noah has been denied specialized care that is his only hope to eat solid food. We need your help to write a letter of support to the Kaiser Review Committee which is meeting in the next week or two to either reject or accept the refusal decision that was recently made against Noah’s future for a normal life. Please help Noah obtain authorization from Kaiser for this specialized treatment to help him learn how to chew and swallow food. Please write a brief letter and mail or fax it to:
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
Member Case Resolution Center
Attn: Cynthia Gwin
1600 Eureka Road
Roseville, CA. 95661
Fax: (916) 771-4241
Phone: (916) 872-6731
I have included Shawna Ellsworth and my letter to the Kaiser Review Board so you can learn more about Noah and the treatment program he needs to live a normal life.
Thank you for assisting Noah Borjesson to obtain this necessary treatment so he can go to preschool as a normal little boy.
Cheryl Scott RN and Shawna Ellsworth RN
PS Please forward this email on to your friends and neighbors who want to help Noah receive the health care he deserves!
Ladies and Gentleman:
I am writing to you on behalf of the Borjesson family, specifically Noah Borjesson (MR#12759272). Noah has been diagnosed with “Residual Oral Feeding Aversion”. He has been seen by many specialists as noted in the documentation provided to you. Each of these specialists has concluded that they, within their scope of practice are unable to help him. Noah as a three year old child has NEVER swallowed solid foods, not a cracker, not a slice of banana, not a piece of chocolate, or his own birthday cake. To his families credit they have followed every instruction given to them regarding this diagnosis to no avail. Noah’s mother, Deanna Borjesson is currently a stay at home mom. She is unable to work outside the home as this diagnosis requires her to be with her son. Because she has been a dedicated mother, making sure he eats balanced meals, he is on a normal growth curve for his age. Children with Noah’s eating disorder often end up with frequent hospitalizations, for malnutrition, and dehydration. The treatment requires intravenous hydration, a feeding tube, frequent lab test, medications, and doctor visits. This is chronic and expensive, not to mention horrifically damaging on so many levels. This child should be starting school soon, then what?
I, as a Registered Nurse, specializing in Maternal Child Health and as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant have witnessed Noah’s eating disorder. I have seen Noah through out his life struggle to eat. Can you imagine eating finely pureed food every meal? Witnessing everyone around you eat; something seemingly as simple as chewing, and swallowing, and you can’t do it. He, at three recognizes that he is different than those around him. As an experienced health care professional I cannot imagine that each of you would deny this child the treatment required for his cure. The help he needs happens to be outside the Kaiser system, you can approve that help for him. Dr Patel, the director of “The Clinic 4 Kidz”, has accepted him as a patient, if Kaiser will approve the treatment. She is highly respected in her expertise and has a nearly one hundred percent success rate. This clinic has been utilized by not only Kaiser in the past, but other reputable healthcare providers such as the University of California Davis. I encourage you to evaluate their website including the testimonials (www.clinic4kidz.com),I think you will be most impressed.
As a Kaiser employee, I have been very proud of the care we, as a team give to our clients. I travel two hours to be a part of that team on a regular basis. I know of the financial hardship the economy has placed on our organization. I think however if we can build a parking garage for the convenience of our clients we should and must give them the care they pay for and depend on. Looking for clauses within in contract to deny a child treatment is not just bad public relations but bad medicine. This family and I mean family is dependent on us for our help. That is what we do, it’s what we sell, that is what we should provide; “Thrive” isn’t that our slogan. We can help Noah, who is a real, energetic, little boy, who just wants to “thrive”.
Sincerely, Proudly, Noah Borjesson’s Aunt
Shawna Ellsworth RN, IBCLC
To Whom it May Concern April 24, 2009
I am writing to you to request the approval of the Pediatric Feeding Disorder Intensive Treatment program through Clinic 4 Kidz be approved for Noah Borjesson, Kaiser MR #12759272, who is diagnosed with Residual Oral Feeding Aversion. Noah has had this condition since birth and continues to not be able to eat solid food at the age of 3. Despite his Medical Specialists assessment, treatments & interventions, ALL of Noah’s specialists conclude they are not able to help Noah eat solid food.
Noah’s mother, DeAnna Borjesson has provided AMAZING care for her child to ensure he does not lose weight or become another “failure to thrive” statistic. She has not been able to return to work but instead she has stayed with Noah day and night to ensure he is able to eat pureed foods. However, there is hope for children like Noah Borjesson. Many children who have gone through teams of medical specialists and have been given up hope~ have been able to have 100% success through the Advanced Behavioral Treatment program offered through Clinic 4 Kids based in Novato, California.
Clinic 4 Kidz is devoted to helping children with feeding difficulties like Noah Borjesson has had since birth. Clinic 4 Kidz focuses on treating each child as an individual (not a cookbook approach) for treatment development to determine the treatment method most appropriate for each child. To ensure Noah’s treatment outcomes are long-lasting the treatment has to be initiated in Noah’s natural environment, his home. Training and supervision for a team of therapists working with Noah will be provided by an advance clinician The initial Pediatric Feeding Disorder intensive treatment program consists of consecutive ALL (e.g., 8-10 hours) day treatment sessions. During the onset of treatment a trained therapist will work with Noah to develop an appropriate treatment protocol. Once a successful treatment protocol is established all caregivers are trained to implement that protocol with high integrity. In addition, other individuals, like Noah’s mother and father and other health care givers working are also trained to implement the treatment protocol. Then follow-up treatment visits are scheduled on a weekly or monthly basis to continue to advance Noah’s skills. The goal of Clinic 4 Kidz treatment program is to develop individual treatment plans to decrease unwanted behaviors and increase appropriate behaviors so Noah will be able to learn how to eat and function like all children have the God-given right.
Please give Noah Borjesson the only opportunity for a normal life so he will be able to eat normally and not face a life of continued hospitalizations for dehydration, failure to thrive, nutritional deficiencies etc. Please approve the Pediatric Feeding Disorder Intensive Treatment program for Noah.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Scott RN, PhD, IBCLC
Essential Elevations 