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Iowa baby recovering from brain procedures after insurance wouldn’t pay [Video]

Six-month-old Lincoln is finally back home with his mom, Nicole Dawson, just over a month since his final brain surgery. His family called KETV Investigates when Molina Insurance refused to pay for the million-dollar treatment.A judge later stepped in and ordered the company to cover it.It’s been a hectic three months for Nicole, as she watched her baby undergo multiple brain procedures in Washington, D.C.”It was hard, you know, when they rolled him away for his first procedure. Handing him off, him leaving my arms and watching him have a tube breathing for him,” Dawson said.Now, back home in Neola, Iowa, the two are inseparable.”Ever since hes been able to be back in my arms he doesnt want me to put him down. Hell cry until I pick him up,” Dawson said.Doctors embolized the right hemisphere of Lincoln’s brain. It stopped his seizures but shut down brain activity.But at 4 months old, his young brain is teaching itself how to pick up the slack.”is that left brain adapting and neural pathways already rewiring?” KETV Newswatch 7 reporter Sean MacKinnon asked.”Yep,” Dawson said.The two are in good spirits.”He smiles all the time now. Laughs. It’s funny cause when he starts laughing and then you start laughing he starts laughing even harder,” Dawson said.But there are still bills to pay. Dawson says Molina Insurance hasn’t covered parts of his hospital care while in Nebraska.”Recently, I came home and I saw all the bills, and I started making phone calls. I’m like, why is this not being covered?” Dawson said. “But the billing departments tried to reach out to them, and they haven’t responded back to the billing department.” KETV Investigates reached out to Molina Insurance.We haven’t heard back.”We still have thousands of dollars , and we’re still expecting more, I’m sure,” Dawson said.Dawson says leaving home and her job for months while Lincoln was getting treatment has set them back.”I mean, I’m living off my disability from the Air Force, which just pays the bills. I actually had to have the VA come over and donate food,” she said.But more than anything, she’s grateful for the doctors at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.She says they saved her son’s life.”Well, you can see it worked, obviously. Its not experimental. Its been proven. Theres been publications. For those that say its experimental, my son is proof that its not,” she said.If you’d like to donate to help cover Lincoln’s medical bills, click here. Get the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7

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High Point’s Open Door Ministries offering free meals on Thanksgiving Day [Video]

LOOKING AHEAD, OPEN DOOR MINISTRIES WILL ONCE AGAIN HELP COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN NEED THIS THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY, BUT THIS YEAR THEYLL BE ABLE TO RESUME A SERVICE THATS BEEN ON HOLD. MARIA DEBONE JOINS US LIVE IN HIGH POINT THIS FRIDAY WITH MORE ON THIS CHANGE. MARIA. THIS IS PRETTY GOOD NEWS. YEAH, THATS RIGHT. SINCE THE PANDEMIC OPEN DOOR MINISTRIES HAS HAD TO SERVE THEIR MEALS IN A TO GO SORT OF WAY. BUT THIS THANKSGIVING WILL MARK THE FIRST TIME THAT THEYRE ALLOWING PEOPLE TO COME IN, SIT DOWN AND EAT. NOW, IVAN HUFFMAN, THE DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT AT OPEN DOOR MINISTRIES, SAID DUE TO STAFF AND OPERATIONAL CHANGES, THEY FELT THIS WAS A GOOD TIME TO BE BACK IN PERSON. HUFFMAN SAID THE NEED HAS RISEN JUST OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS AND THEYRE ON TRACK TO SERVE OVER 10,000 MEALS IN NOVEMBER. AND WITH THE WEATHER GETTING COLDER, THESE PEOPLE WILL NOW BE ABLE TO SIT INSIDE, GET A MEAL AND HELP A FOOD. HOUSING, HEALING AND HOPE IS OUR IS OUR MOTTO HERE. BUT WITHOUT THE FOOD AND WITHOUT THE HOUSING, WITHOUT THAT HEALING, PEOPLE DONT HAVE HOPE TO CONTINUE AND KEEP REACHING OUT FOR RESOURCES. SO A SIMPLE MEAL, A SIMPLE CONVERSATION COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOMEBODY CONTINUING IN THEIR DESIRE TO GET BETTER OR IN THEIR DESIRE TO FIND HOUSING. SO WE JUST TRY TO BE THAT BEACON OF HOPE. AND FOR THE THANKSGIVING SERVICE, HUFFMAN SAID, THEYRE GOOD TO GO ON VOLUNTEERS, BUT SAID THEYRE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR DONATIONS IN INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN DONATE AND HELP CAN BE FOUND ON O

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Milwaukee families get a Thanksgiving meal surprise [Video]

With Thanksgiving around the corner, many people have started shopping for turkeys, pumpkin pie and other festive favorites, but lots of families in Milwaukee cant afford to celebrate.Hunger task force launches ‘turkey ticker challenge’ Over 70 food pantries in the Milwaukee area will be giving out free turkeys to families in need this holiday season. The Hunger Task Force gave more than 2,000 turkeys to food pantries at their headquarters in West Milwaukee on Nov. 11. The task force estimates they will raise enough money to donate thousands more turkeys.The food pantries will deliver the turkeys to families in need along with vegetables such as potatoes, green beans and squash.We do it because we want to bring a little dignity and comfort to people at the holidays. People should have the special meal that all of us have, said Sherrie Tussler from the Hunger Task Force. It’s the right thing to do to make sure another family in need gets the help that they want.Tussler said about half of the people they assist are children.A lot of great memories are built around that shared meal, Tussler said. And so if you haven’t been inclined to give yet, please give because you’re helping a local family feed their kids.Hunger Task Force is still accepting donations through its Turkey Ticker online donation challenge or by dropping off a frozen turkey in person at 5000 W. Electric Ave.To donate, go to Hunger Task Forces website.