Monday, January 31, 2011

Snowtastrophie and fevers

I'm beat.  Glad to be at work today.  Thursday we had a snowtastophie.  About a foot and a half of really wet heavy snow hit the area.  We let Dylan sleep in and when he awoke.... he was miserable.  Angry at everyone and everything.  Not at all like him.  A little while later, we realized it was 10 a.m. and he hadn't eaten or even asked to eat.  I asked him if he was okay and he complained his head hurt.  I felt his head.. yep, he was warm.  99.5 to be exact.  Okay, no biggie.  Normally, I wouldn't even give tylenol for that but with his head hurting, I gave him a bit.  A little while later, temp is down and he is happy as can be.  About 2 hours after breakfast, he wanted to go lay down in our bed to watch TV and spent the rest of the day there.  We knew something was up.  His temp shot to 101.5 where it stayed till Saturday morning.

It sucked on so many levels.  I hate seeing him sick.  It was a snow day but he didn't get to enjoy the snow.  He missed speech and hippotherapy and we missed a wonderful wedding.   However, I got something I normally don't get... a lot of long, continuous snuggles.  So all in all, not the worse thing in the world right?


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Drowning

That's how I feel.  I feel like I'm drowning in information, both a lack of and overload of information.   Every time I think I have a handle on Dylan's challenges either a new one will pop up or an existing one will go into overdrive.  He's sensory seeking like crazy... still.  He gets 3 days of OT a week and hippotherapy on Saturdays and still it's not enough input.   He's still off the charts at school and at aftercare.

If you remember,not too long ago, we had to pull Dylan out of his after care program at school.  Well, we may be faced with that yet again.  His behavior borders on dangerous.  Not because he's doing something terrible, but because he just won't listen - if you try to get between him and his sensory input, he'll jump right over you... literally.  When it's one on one, it's rough.  When it's a high school kid who's responsible for 4-6 other kids, it's a nightmare.   So, we may be facing expulsion yet again.  However, one of the solutions I came up with was acceptable to the program director of the current program.  We'd hire a nanny who would take him to the center after school so he could play with the other children.  That way - he's have his friends but the center wouldn't be responsible for him.  So... after a HUGE meltdown by yours truly yesterday, we at least have a viable option.

Hippotherapy is going well.  He loves it!  It's a great tool (how would Snicker's feel about you not cleaning up after yourself?) and he has a natural gift for it.  I noticed his first day, he immediately fell into the rhythm of the horse.  Last week, a volunteer said "wow, he's in jump pose!".  This is a big deal as the kids are chest down toward the front of the horse.  It's a precarious position and one that takes months of work to accomplish.  Not my little equestrian, he did it properly his second session.  This weekend, after his third session, we were told that he's done with his current horse and ready to move on to a more advanced horse.  The horse he's been on is very smooth and gentle.  The new horse (while a very gentle animal of course) is a little more aggressive with his motion so Dylan will have to work harder to stay in the saddle.

I have a new nephew.  My sister-in-law gave birth last Monday and last night was his bris.  She seems really anxious and, well, down.  I'm worried for her.  She's a pediatrician so I'm hoping that as a physician, she'll recognize postpartum depression (if that is what is going on).  However, doctors tend to have that superman syndrome so I'll be keeping a close watch on things.