Back from Cincinnati (again...)

Last night the kids and I went to Cinci for more appointments again. The first appointment was for Simon with Chandra his therapist for RAD. She never sugar coats or cuts him any slack at all. He hates having to talk about things that have gone on with him, but this time he did much better. She is suggesting that he and I talk to his class about what is going on with him. Reason is so that the children won't think he is a bully and that he knows he is different and is trying to learn how to play with other kids.

Another suggestion is to get him a large box (dishwasher, fridge, etc) to put in his classroom. Put a bean bag chair in there with some sqishy balls and a trash can. When he gets angry and wants to start hitting, yelling, etc, he needs to go in there and beat up the bean bag, sit in it and let it hug around him, and to scream his "throw up" words in the trash can. She compared the mean words (shut up, idiot, etc) to throw up. Reason is because it hurts the people he is saying them too as if he just threw up on them. He actually understood what she was telling him.

So tomorrow I will talk to the teacher and principal to see what we can work out. He also likes the body sock in therapy, so we will see if it is something he can use at school too. This is a piece of lycra fabric that is similar to a sock. Simon gets in it and then it is velcro closed in the back. So he looks like a big royal blue martian running around. He is completely enclosed in it, but he can see through it a little. I think there is a picture on the blog somewhere.

Later in the day we had our next appointment with Sydnee seeing Dr. Wesselkamper in Neurology. He was very nice. This was her first trip to see him. Her OT has been concerned about her balance issues. They have been going on since she started OT, but we haven't seen it get much better in nearly 6 years.

He tested her strength and felt good about that. But when he got her to follow a line, she can't do it without falling over or touching something to hold her balance. Then he tested her reflexes. Cracked the knees a few times in different areas. The left knee bounced up and nearly hit him. The right knee was only about a 1/4" movement. Very little response, so he hit it again. Still nothing. He is scheduling her for an MRI of the brain. If that shows negative, then he will be doing some tests with the spine. I am going to try to get her MRI scheduled for Dec 29 because she has another appt that day in Cinci anyway. So we may as well try to combine them.

I didn't sleep well last night due to my tooth (or lack thereof). It was pounding along with the teeth surrounding the new hole. So I was up and down several times. I have sucked down more ibuprofen than I ever thought possible. I did break down and fill the Vicoden prescription. But I have only taken one and that was 30 or so minutes ago. Not much progress yet.

Gotta get to bed! I am tired and feel like I am still driving. The drive home was in pouring rain, so it just made it seem longer.