Busy Day - Dr Appt, IEP Reivew, and a Nutritional Consult!

Yesterday was a busy day! We had a doctor's appt, an IEP review meeting, and an appointment with our nutritionist. Michael was up all night Wednesday night coughing and starting to wheeze, very typical of the beginning of a cold for him. So, I kept him home from school and made an appt with the pediatrician. She checked his lungs and said they were clear, but that she wanted him to use both the albuterol and the flovent for the duration of the cold. Michael loves his 'breathing tube' because it always makes him feel better.

Once we were back home and settled in, it was time for Steve and me to go to Michael's IEP review meeting. I always get nervous before the meetings, just because I've heard so many horror stories. But, we've been very lucky. Everyone who works with Michael is so caring, and really does have his best interests at heart. Of course, I got even more nervous when I realized that the school principal was sitting in on the meeting! After Michael's behavior at school on Wednesday, I was convinced there was a major problem. Thankfully, the principal said very quickly that he was sitting in on more IEP meetings since the Learning Center Administrator's position had been cut to half time, and he was trying to help out more.

The meeting actually went very well. I had been concerned that Michael wasn't doing as well in math, based on the 'math facts' tests that come home each week. Apparently, that's only a small part of what they are working on, and is his weakest area. He is doing well in almost every other part of the math curriculum. We think the problem with the math facts is more an attention issue than anything else. In fact, attention seems to be his biggest problem at school – attention and anxiety. I believe the two are strongly related.

Michael's other big issue is writing. He has such poor muscle tone that his hand tires very easily. If he is presented with a large (to him) writing assignment, he will often work hard to get out of the writing, rather than just do it. The OT assessment that we brought also agreed that his writing skills are very weak, and the muscles themselves are weak. Based on all this, he will be getting a small word processor that he can use, but only when he needs it. I definitely want him to keep building up the hand/finger muscles he has, but need him to be less anxious about when he just needs some help. I really hope this works, because I know he has a lot to say!

After the IEP meeting, we came home and I settled in to get some work done. Most of the afternoon was spent actually working and getting some code written. Michael settled in with his uncle and had a quiet afternoon. That was very nice!

The last scheduled event of the day was our nutritional consult. I've been concerned about yeast coming back, and excited about all I learned at the conference last week. It was nice to talk with Kelly and come up with a good plan to keep moving Michael forward. The best part – we are now down to just one liquid supplement! Everything else is in capsules or pills. It's nice when things get easier! Of course, I have some new things to order, but that just comes with the territory.

The only bad part is that I think Michael is allergic to Kelly's dogs. They are supposed to be non-allergenic, but he finds a way! I think it's worse because he plays on the floor and gets more exposure. On the way home, he had a major tantrum – hitting, kicking, taking off his seat belt. What should have been a ten minute drive ended up taking closer to half an hour. But, he was over it soon after we came home and gave him some benedryl. It's hard to be too angry when you know he's not feeling well.

After we all settled in, I had more work to do since I lost time to the morning meetings. But, the rest of the night was calm. I'm glad we got so much accomplished during the day, but sometimes a nice, peaceful night is worth it's weight in gold! Who knows what today will bring!