How did school go? How about the after-school, pressure-off, no-holds-barred time?
Hmmm.
I don't know if the mistake was my sending him to school or my going with him. We would have both been better off at home.
In the middle of art lit he went nutso. Seriously wierd. Babbling incoherently wierd. I took him out in the hall and sat on the floor with him on my lap and him wiggling and babbling. One of the school administrators came by and made some comment like "Oh! I someone showing off for mom?" I know she meant well but....
I said "He's on some medication that makes him a little crazy." thinking that she would go on and give me an opportunity to calm him down but she didn't and it just kept getting worse. I finally just had to say "You really need to give us a few minutes."
It was really scary, the way he was acting.
Then at recess he fell apart again. Sobbing and sobbing over some perceived injustice during the basketball games. Again I tried to calm him down and again a school employee tried to shoo me away and telling him to "snap out of it".
I am already completely exhausted and now I'm completely frustrated.
And we still have a week and a half (at least) to go.
One of the moms I know from school has had to deal with the same situation with one of her kids and she provided me with a bit of comfort. She said she reacts the same way I did -- notify his teachers, notify the office, volunteer extra days, keep him home form school. Knowing I'm not alone in my wierd protection mode is a relief.
Four days down, ten to go.
You were right to be there with Mo. He needed his mother and his mother was there.
Can you get a note from the doctor--or the pharmacist? Or at least print a non-babble page from a respected website to show the well-meaning school staff? With pollution levels rising and asthma levels rising and doctor-authorized steroid use in elementary schools rising, Mo won't be the only kid afflicted by 'Roid Rage.
Are at least four of those ten days weekend days? That would make only six days that were actual public occasions.
Poor Mo. Life is harder for some kids than others and he's collecting all his lumps before he even has one zit.
Hold your dominion.
I like the doctor's note idea.
That sucks that people were dismissive. :-(
And that both of you have to deal with this. Glad that you found someone who gets it.
Even with a note I think it would be unreasonable to expect them to keep track of one out of 600 kids.
I'm certainly not adverse to advocating for Mo and I have done a lot of that. I spend a lot of time at school. So much, in fact, that I have the strange distinction of being the only volunteer in memory that has been awarded a nickname by the students.
I really don't want to get into a situation where his occassional use of these drugs becomes an identifier for him. It seems better for Mo for me to do the bodyguard bit during these times.
Or am I wrong?
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Noddy, about being there. I appreciate it.
Jeez, boomer. Are his symptoms that severe that he has to be subjected to this treatment for that long? Honey, get to a specialist Monday and see if there is an alternative.
Agree with Swimpy.
Back on the asthma/rhinitus loop - there is a psychogenic or psychosomatic bit to it, or it used to be thought so, and I haven't read much about that. Being an immunology lab tech, I was pretty dismissive. (just look at the eosinophils!) Still, I did notice that the pathway could be stopped by the movie starting.... more than once. In retrospect, retrospect because I don't have rhinitis anymore, I think that sneezing uncontrollably causes stress, pump pump, and an interesting movie can cut the stress. Not that movies are any cure, just an observation.
Back when I was seriously into antihistamines, I guess there was some point where I got tolerant of their effects. I cast my eagle eye at that and weaned myself down to having half of a pink benedryl work, instead of four or six a day, at the same time cutting down some allergen exposure.
On the school thing today, Boomer, what a tough thing. (Snarls at well meaning teacher going by.) Yet teachers can't know everything - usually they are generalists, and the world needs generalists as well as specialists. She seems from here to not get about medication.)
I think if you work up an info sheet at some point and submit it, it might help Mo, or not, as you may take him elsewhere, but it might be apt to help other children.
His asthma symptoms don't seem that severe -- at least in comparison to the "cure". The doctors start talking about scarring and emphsyma (spelling?) and well... whadya gonna do?
His behavior on these drugs is appalling. His skin hurts. He babbles when he's awake and babbles in his sleep -- when and if he sleeps. It breaks my heart.
I'm still learning my way through our new insurance but I don't think finding/seeing a specialist will be a problem.
The school thing was a drag but I know they didn't mean any harm. I'm sure they thought they were helping. Under normal circumstances I would have been glad that they stepped in. The first woman who stopped really was a life-saver when school first started and Mo would sit on the playground and cry. She helped him segue into the routine. Truly, I do not blame the school but it is a big school and there are a lot of students and there are a lot of teachers and they can't know everything.
The open house at the school we're most interested in is tomorrow. Frankly, thinking about dealing with a student body of under 100 and a staff of 20ish sounds like a calm lake.
I need a calm lake.
I'm not sure anything in life is calm, but calmer, calmer sounds good.
Got to say, what you said, given the symptoms, the cure seems ferocious. He's not presently exposed to those allergens... probably. I'm not sure I get the extensive fix. On the other hand, I haven't read up on all this lately..
I would have expected Mo's doctor to refer him to an allergist.
