A Sick Day

Today I stayed at home with Kendal because she has been under the weather. Tuesday night was a rough one. Kendal had vomited several times throughout the night which required 4 changes of the sheets and mattress pads, and a trip to the bath tub at midnight. I know I got very little sleep and I know she was completely exhausted too. Wednesday she stayed with Nana Dayton and then spent about 2 hours at the office with me.

She has been running a fever and it got to 103.6 last night. This morning her fever was down to 100.2 and she has been acting fine. She threw up some vanilla pudding I gave her (on the couch that was cleaned 2 weeks ago, Of Course!!), so I will try to let her tummy rest a little and just stick with fluids. I think she will be well enough to go back to school tomorrow as long as the fever stays away.

Kerrie's Sad Attempt to be Martha Stewart

As if I have nothing else to do, I decided to embark on a more extravagant version of a "Valentine's Day Card" this year for Kendal's class. When I decided to do this, I admit I was somewhat disillusioned and possible mentally disturbed.

I got clear little cups and made "to" and "from" labels on each cup along with stickers to decorate. I then filled the cups with candies, stickers, balloons and a lollipop. As I stayed up past my bedtime to finish this the night before Kendal's party, I soon began to realize how deranged I really was. Did I actually believe that 2-3 year olds would appreciate my hard work? Hardly. And then I realized what it really was. I was trying to impress the parents, teachers, etc. I guess I just wanted to show them - Ha ha! I can have obstacles at home, deal with therapies 4 days a week with Kendal, work a full-time job, commute 70 miles a day and still do these extra things for Kendal. But it really wasn't for Kendal, was it?

I wonder if I will ever learn?

Kendal's Upcoming Transition

As many of you know, Kendal is currently receiving all her therapies through TEIS (Tennessee Early Intervention System). Every state has a program for early intervention services for children that are developmentally delayed to help give them a step up in the vital years of birth to 3 years of age. For the most part, the program has worked good and I am thankful to have had Kendal in this program. With her third birthday coming up next month, she will no longer get therapies through TEIS. At 3, children are then transferred into the school system for needed therapies and assistance.

This past Thursday, me and James attended a program to teach us more about the special education department within the school system. It was a 3 hour class and a ton of information was thrown at us in that short amount of time. The program was given by STEP (www.tnstep.org), which is an organization that provides support services to parents of special needs children. We received an inch thick manual of just the federal and state laws that explain our rights of services Kendal is eligible for. They also explained in detail an IEP. I have heard people talk about these, but never really understood what it was all about. I was thankful that we went to the class because it really made us open our eyes at the changes that Kendal will be going through as she navigates through the school system for the next 15 years.

It will be hard to say goodbye to Sue (Occupational Therapist) and Amber (Physical Therapist), both of which have seen Kendal on a weekly basis for the last 2 years. Kendal will continue to see Suzanne (Speech Therapist) but we are still waiting to hear back from the insurance company as to how many visits they will cover. We submitted a note for the Pediatrician and from the Neurologist saying they both highly recommend a minimum of 2 sessions per week. Please pray that our insurance decides to continue to cover Kendal at 100% with no max # of visits. We so desperately need to keep up the momentum.

I want to say thanks again to Dad and Doris for watching Kendal while me and James went to the above mentioned program. Doris picked up Kendal from school and Kendal was so excited she had to show Doris around the room and point out some of her favorite toys. When Doris was telling me this, I could just picture Kendal seeing Nana and squealing and turning around in circles. Doris and Dad brought Kendal home, fed her, played with her, and put her to sleep. I was so happy about it because I know Kendal was excited to spend the evening with them. Thanks again!!

2009 - Flying By

I can't believe it is already the last day of January. I swear it feels like we just celebrated the New Year last week. I apologize to anyone that checks this blog regularly that I have gone over two weeks without doing a post. I wish I could say it was because I was on some exotic vacation and had no Internet access, but it is always better to tell the truth. So the reason I haven't updated this blog...... Because I've been really lazy. When it comes down to it I usually have the choice of sitting on the couch to unwind or making a post. The couch has been winning lately.

Things have been going good on the Kendal front. She is really beginning to pick up some more signs and actually use them at appropriate times. The swinging arms thing has gotten bad in the last week. I was bothered that Kendal did it to our physical therapist (Amber! The BEST!). I have had more than one person tell me that it is probably related to her lack of communication, but I don't see how I am supposed to change this behavior. The communication issue will always be a problem, and we MUST teach her another way of showing frustrations. If you have any ideas, please let me know!

Me and Kendal went to visit Shirley, Mark, and the kids today (http://ourhomesteadingquest.typepad.com/our_homesteading_quest/). I think we haven't seen them in 6 months. We had a great visit as usual. Kendal played so good with the kids and they seemed really excited to have her over. We got to visit their chickens (as seen above) - Kendal wasn't too interested in them, but I was. As much eggs as we eat, I am tempted to get my own chickens! Thanks for having us over Shirley!!

A Nice Gesture

This week has been hard for two reason - it is deathly cold outside and Kendal's a little under the weather. Nothing major, just a snotty nose and alot of drainage. The last two days I have had to completely douse her face with Vaseline. She loves me so much right now!

I got a nice gesture from the neurologist (see last two posts) this afternoon. I had requested his nurse write up a recommendation letter on Kendal's therapies for the insurance company. We are not sure at this point what kind of coverage we will have when she rolls off of the TEIS program. The insurance plan has Maintenance Therapy which calls for a maximum of two therapy sessions within 30 days of Speech, Physical, and Occupational Therapies. Kendal currently receives 16 sessions in 30 days. The doctor said he understood the complications with insurance as he has had to deal with his 18 year old son who has severe autism. He said he would type up the letter this afternoon detailing to the insurance company that the therapies are detrimental to Kendal and her progress. He said he would write it up that it is a necessity at this point to continue current therapies as is to avoid further complications down the road concerning her physical and mental health. He wanted to warn me not to pay any attention to the wording, that it was just to the benefit of the insurance company. He further told me not to hesitate to call him if I needed any help with the school system when I enroll her. I thought he really went out of his way to understand my situation and our needs. This is the doctor I remember from our first visit with him!

I have the night off tonight. After eating dinner, James sent me upstairs to have an evening by myself - to do some reading, make a post on my blog, take a bath, go to bed early, etc. He has gotten in the habit of doing this at least once a week and it is so nice. Thank you so much James!!!

She's ready for the Wheel-Barrel Race!

The last couple of days have been great. James was off this weekend so we got plenty of "family time". Saturday afternoon we dropped Kendal off at my cousin's house and me and James headed out to a movie and dinner. We had such a good time - we even flirted back and forth. We went to a Hibachi grill, which is one of my favorites, and ate like kings. Kendal seemed to have a great time while we were gone and did not seem the least bit concerned that we had left her.

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This morning I got back on the ball with all the things going on with Kendal. She had Speech Therapy this morning, and then when I got to work I registered for a class for me and James to attend. The class is supposed to fully explain the role of special education in the school system, Kendal's rights under the disability act, and what to expect dealing with issues related to Kendal and the school system. It's a 3 hour class and Nana has agreed to come over and watch Kendal for us.

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I also contacted Kendal's pediatrician to request a letter of recommendation for a minimum for twice weekly Speech Therapy sessions. This letter, along with another one I will get from the Neurologist, will be attached to the request for further authorized visits for the medical insurance. There seems to be a limit of therapy sessions authorized per year unless you have a specific medical diagnosis of cerebral palsy, down syndrome, and a few other well-known disorders. The Speech Therapist thought that they might go ahead and approve it with we had some additional recommendations from Kendal's doctors. Please keep this in your prayers!! Kendal has made some amazing advancements with her Speech Therapy and I would hate to slow down her progress.

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I also contacted TEIS and left a message with our Service Coordinator. I called this morning and did not get a return call back today. James noted that Kendal is only 2 months away from getting kicked off the system and that we are probably pretty low on the totem pole - I think he is right. I was calling to express my displeasure over the Behaviorist that was supposed to be helping us. She was to attend Kendal's therapy sessions last week and observe what behavior issues Kendal is having with the therapists and then advise different methods to address certain issues.

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Monday she showed up 20 minutes late with no apology or excuse for her tardiness. I was quite aggravated at this because I do not conduct myself this way, especially professionally. She gave us little to no feedback. She then was supposed to be at Physical Therapy Thursday and she showed up 40 minutes late as I was putting Kendal's shoes and coat on. I was livid to say the least. She then stated she couldn't make the Occupational Therapy session because it was just too early (which I understand, it's at 6:30am on Fridays). She left a message for the Occupational Therapist (who of course played it back for me) stating that she was just calling because the mom wanted her too and if she had any questions to call her back.

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My question is simple: How do you disciple a child that is usually happy?

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Spankings don't work, time-out doesn't work, taking away toys doesn't work.

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She is not your typical child in these ways. I just want some new ideas to try.

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I have decided I don't want the Behaviorist to call me back, and I definitely don't want to work with her. I can already tell you, it would not be a good working relationship. And if anything, Kendal would probably learn some bad behaviors watching me react to the Behaviorist.

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As an update to my last post, I did get an email back from the neurologist. He apologized. I was thankful for that, whether he genuinely meant it or not. It was nice to read it and he seemed to respect my wishes on how often he saw Kendal. I'm glad I emailed him telling him how I felt. If anything, I feel better just getting it off my chest.

FUN!!!

Just a warning - the title of this post is a sarcastic one. Yesterday we had a neurologist appointment for Kendal. We had this appointment because several months ago I had called the doctors office because I had concerns over Kendal doing an odd behavior of tilting her head drastically to one side for 5-15 seconds while walking around. Now, wait. I know it sounds stupid to call the doctor over something like this, but because of the high risk of seizures (80-85%) associated with Angelman Syndrome I am on high alert (and a little crazy, I admit). The doctor had previously described the many different kinds of seizures, and I wanted to at least inform him of what she was doing. The nurse had gotten back with me and said the doctor didn't think it was anything to worry about, but he did want to go ahead and see her again in the next month or so. Hence, yesterday's appointment.

The weather yesterday was ugly so I dreaded taking Kendal all the way to Vanderbilt, fighting the traffic, navigating the parking garage, and getting her out. The appointment was at 10:00 and they actually called us back after just a few minutes of waiting. A doctor that I had never met came in, introduced himself, and starting asking questions about Kendal to determine our concerns. We really had no concerns (at least for the neurologist) to speak of so we ended up talking about some behavior issues that we have been having. The doctor finally comes in and maybe stays for 5 minutes. He is not in a position to see patients as he was having bad back pain and could hardly walk. He said our concerns we needed to take up with another doctor and said he would see us in another 6 months. Before I knew it, he had already left the room. I was livid to say the least. He had not spoken or even acknowledged Kendal when he was in the room.

I emailed the doctor today after some more thought and explained that I was not sure why he needed to see her again in 6 months. I further told him that I had to take off work to make the appointment and that it was a complete waste of my time. I even said that it seemed like they were trying to figure out why I was even there if I didn't have any concerns and I pointed out that he had requested the appointment, not me. He has been good about returning emails in the past. We will see if I get a response.

I wasn't in any way trying to be disrespectful but I think it is important for these doctors to remember that it is not easy making these appointments, especially in our busy lives and to have my time wasted is extremely frustrating.

I wonder how much he will bill my insurance company? Do you think it will be a discounted rate because of the little amount of time spent with us? I'm guessing no - What do you think?

The End of 2008 - A Whirlwind

Me and Kendal at Thanksgiving visiting family.

Kendal playing with the paint used to paint Christmas ornaments.

Me and Kendal doing some shopping with Aunt Tara. As always, Kendal is trying to entertain the "passer-bys".

Nana, Grandpa, and Kendal (in her Christmas dress) on Christmas Eve.

James helping Kendal unwrap a gift on Christmas morning.

I can't believe it is already 2009. I'm so excited about the new year and what adventures it might bring. We have been off from work quite a bit in the last two weeks and loving every minute of our time at home. I am posting a mix of pictures from the last month to show some of the things we have been up too.

We were able to visit with so many people for the holidays. We had dinner with my dad's side of the family, my mom's side of the family, my sister, her husband, and the girls, James' family, and some good friends of ours that moved to Houston earlier this year. We hate that we aren't able to see some of these people on a more regular basis - we had such a great time visiting!

Kendal only had therapy one day this week due to the holidays but next week we will dive back into our regular schedule. Tuesday we have another appointment with the neurologist for a checkup. Kendal has contracted the oral Type 1 herpes virus and has had cold sores continuously (moving around her mouth) for the last month. Although it doesn't seem to hurt her, I hate that this will probably continue to be a problem since she drools so much. When the geneticist saw her, he immediately noticed the inflammation and wanted us to talk with the neurologist about possible medications to help control the drool. Excessive drooling is common with Angelman Syndrome, and although the geneticist said he does not normally recommend medications for this problem (side effects are not worth taking the medication in many cases), he thought it was something we might need to take a closer look at because of the herpes virus. Topical medications are useless because we cannot keep her mouth/chin dry. She will probably be one of those kids with a bib on in every picture, although I have been better about removing it when the camera comes out!

I hope everyone had a fantastic New Years and best wishes for 2009!

BTW - Has anyone seen any big increases in their electric bill? We just got ours and it's up $100 from last month and $120 higher than December 2007. What's up with that?