What A Day

This week has been interesting (to say the least). I feel like I've been running around blindfolded and bumping into every obstacle.

Monday I had to see a geneticist who told me that I am a Cystic Fibrosis carrier. 1 in every 25 caucasians of European decent are carriers of this desease. That took all of 3 minutes for him to tell me that as a carrier I am not effected at all by the disease. Wow! I could have gone the rest of my life without wasting that 3 minutes of my day! Then, around 11:00, I received a phone call from the school secretary asking me to come take care of M... He got a step 4 in the lunch line because he hit a child who was standing too close to him. Then, he called the lunch room teacher a "Liar" when she called him on it (she had watched him do it). So, I had to meet the teacher and took M home for a bit of homeschooling, which is something he dislikes, as punishment.

Tuesday I had an appointment with M's behavioral therapist at 8:00 in the morning and a meeting with C's principal to address some issues with her deaf/HoH teacher. Matt and I had stayed up talking until nearly midnight the previous night about both M's appointment with this particular physician and C's school possibilities. The therapist doesn't work with M. Rather, she sees Matt and I to "tweak" our parenting skills. In fact, she has claimed on more than one visit that she doesn't know why we're seeing her because we're doing everything right. In regards to C's teacher... She had sent home notes about my daughter that I didn't appreciate 3 days in a row. She was critiquing my ability to send C to school with a full battery for her Cochlear Processor (an insult to any responsible mother) and claimed that C was having behavior problems associated with the inoperable state of her processor. A complete fabrication, even if I do say so myself. The teacher and the entire deaf/HoH team and I utterly disagree on what is an appopriate learning situation for C, which, in turn, causes us to be sensitive towards each other and what each has to say.

Here's what actually happened: Matt went to the behavioral health therapist and told her our opinion. He explained that we only really wanted a confirmed diagnosis for M so that he can get the additional help from school that he would qualify for. She totally understood and was utterly appreciative that we were considerate enough to keep our appointment and tell her in person of our viewpoint (I, in fact, came across her today and she was super sweet). We then cancelled our appointment with the principal and said we'd work it out with the teacher first. If things escalate then we'll go through the pricinipal. I just got tired of this woman being so adamant about how I should raise my deaf daughter (just because she is a deaf woman herself) that I wanted to take action. Sadly, the day got worse!!! M's reading teacher called me and asked if I would come sit with M. He, apparently, decided not to do his school work. He had done the same thing on Monday, too. But, she simply had to do something to ensure his work got done. So, off I rushed to the school (after calling Matt to get the van) to sit with M. He DID NOT like this treatment and I can only hope that he has learned a valuable lesson. I can tell you that I did not make this pleasant. Upon arriving home I found I had received a call from M's Developmental Pediatrician, whom I was supposed to call at 9:30 but didn't have an opportunity because of my time spent at the school. I called her back and we discussed Matt's conversation with the behavioral therapist and our desire to get M the help he needed, even if it meant putting him on ADHD meds (that's the official diagnosis).

Once the kids arrived home from school we went to the pharmacy (on post the wait is usually an hour to an hour and a half). We arrived around 3:45 and left around 4:45. I had some coloring/activity books and crayons along with some playdough and snacks and juice. The kids (both of them) actually sat quietly for then entire time!!! I was so PROUD of them... It was a difficult task for any child and excessively so for M! What a trooper! They did so well we treated them to dinner and an extra desert. We picked up M's ADHD medicine (10mg of Adderall XR) and gathered the instructions for things to watch for (positive and negative) to be implimented the following moring.

Wednesday has been just as busy. I started my day with explaining to M about his medication before shipping him off to school. C and I took Matt to work before coming home to get ready for her Developmental Pediatrician visit. In our visit I explained the new school situation. To say that the two doctors who were seeing C today were not pleased at her situation is a severe understatement. In fact, they've determined that if we cannot get C into her old school with like-hearing peers that they wanted to get her seen by a signing therapist so she can learn to express herself. They are VERY anxious about C's social skills and mental health because of this placement. They strongly feel she is being isolated at a stage when she really needs to further her communication skills and can truly benefit from socializing with other deaf children. They were especially adamant about this when they learned that she cannot even recognize the sound of her own name using the Cochlear Implant. Plus, poor C had to have her final Hep B shot. Her previous series she got in China did not "take", according to her Titers, so we had to start over again with this. Then, while we were there, they gave her the nasal flu vaccine. Needless to say, I kept her home today.

After today's visit I'm feeling frustrated again... I can't provide transportation for C and the school refuses since they already have a program in our own school, but if I can arrange transportation for the old school then M will have to move schools, too, just when we're getting to a point that he NEEDS to stay where he is to verify how the new medication is effecting him. Not fun at all!

Here's what M's teachers said about M's behavior today:
Home Room:
"Hello!He had a pretty good day today.He had a little bit of a hard time getting settled at the school wideassembly.But, that was quickly resolved and we moved on."

Reading Teacher:
"His behavior and academic performance was not as good as it has been but better than the last two days... he seemed "sullen" sad and mad at the same time. He did what we asked but not with real effort or excitement. Mrs. ____ gave him compliments on his word cards, I thought I almost seen a smile but it was fleeting. May be the review this week will help. Full week of reading next week! Thank you for coming in. I really appreciate it!"