Monday, July 10, 2017

It's been so long

I can't believe I have neglected my blog for more than a year. It probably has to do with the ease of Facebook sharing and the fact that I had a job, outside my home. So let catch up hall we?



School 

In my last post I had decided to home school the two younger kids. My plan was a good one and I made our lesson plans for the year. My one issue was that I had a job that I enjoy and there isn't really childcare for school age kids during the year. Can working moms homeschool? Of course they can. I however didn't know if I was up for it. Jason and I talked a lot about it and since the school gave me everything I asked for and more in the IEPs we decided we would try it. Give the iep until Christmas and if the kids were doing good and ok then we would leave them there if not I would re-evaluate the situation. Knowing that meant giving up my job.



As they started school I was scared that it would work and that it wouldn't. I just wanted them to learn how they are able to. I wanted my kids to thrive. And they did. Haleigh made straight As (with one B) and Landon had mostly Bs. They were thriving. And in a grove by Christmas so we left them there. I can't say enough about how they really flourish this year. We did things differently at home as well with homework and study skills so I am thinking that along with the ieps really worked. I knew it was what they needed. I just wish it was something the could have had when I first asked for it. I still believe that if they were my first children I would have home schooled them from the start. But, you can't go back. You just have to move forward. They will start 2nd and 5th grade in a month.



The other kids did really well in school last year too. They will be going into 11th and 8th grades. Maddie graduated in May. She's currently looking to enter the workforce.



Medical Stuff 

I'll start With Landon.

Landon is on 27mg of Concerta once a day. He went up from 18mg. He's been on this dose for a year and he's doing very well on it. He hasn't had any serious side effects and it helps him tumendously.

Maddie, Collin, and Aden are for the most part healthy. A little bit of allergies and Asthma but it's all well controlled. Toss in some migraines and some braces and that's what we have with them.



Haleigh. Well Haleigh is and always has been our 1% baby. We should really have her play the lotto. Her yearly eye appointment showed her eyes were worse and we needed to have a stronger Rx that she must wear all the time. She doesn't mind them but I have to remind her still everyday. Her yearly ear appointment went great. Her right ear is still functioning at 0%, We expected it. I am under no false pretenses that her ear with magically start working. Her good ear. The left one is still functioning at 100%. That's the one I watch. That's the one I worry about. As long as it is a 100% we are good! Dr. Elliot has been amazing. She explains everything to Haleigh so well. We couldn't ask for a better ENT. The staff at the Alabama hearing clinic is just as amazing.


 When we last posted Haleigh didn't have the next issue. Last Summer Haleigh had a summer cough and a stomachache. It lasted a while and 3 dr appointments later we ended ip in the ER puking blood. We were admitted for 2 days and left with little information. The Pediatric office we were using was going through some changes and our doctor retired. We were shuffled around and seeing a NP. I have nothing against them. They are normally great, our issues were just not being taken seriously and we completely see a MD. So I took Haleigh to a different doctor, who immediately got her in to see the GI. The GI was in office with the one we saw when Haleigh was an infant, but because it had been so long we were new patient again. This new dr could get us in and the old one we would have to wait. We took the earlier appointment. He ordered all kinds of testing. Most came back low end of high end normal. We did a full GI scope series and found ulcers and scar tissue in her  throat. Server reflux. Ulcers in her stomach and ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel with irritable bowel. She started that day on medication, she has been on them for the last 9 months. Her cough is gone. She still has stomach aches every now and then. However, we did scopes again last week and they didn't see any ulcers or inflammation. Today her GI called and said her biopsies came back pretty normal. The changes we have made in her diet and the medication she was on has healed her gut. We will still have to watch her, because this can flare up at any time, tomorrow, next week, or not for years. We just have to know what to look for. There is scaring in her esophagus that is still healing, the test showed she has a lot of acid still, even after being on a clear diet for 36 hours she had tons of acid. At least we have found a medication that helps her with that
.

Her Nevus hasn't given us any troubles and we haven't scheduled any surgeries nor do we have plans to. We see a doctor ever 6 months, her primary doctor and her dermatologist once a year each.  However. if we need him we know that Dr. Grant is just a phone call away.



Fun Stuff


In February we went to Disney World and had the absolute best vacation yet! We have a pool and the kids take full advantage of that daily. We've taken them to the water park, a couple weeks ago. They have become regulars at the library down the road, and are enjoying the last month of their summer vacation. I still have a couple of surprises in store for them as well.