Getting Back to Normal

Well, yesterday was just peachy! I had to force Michael to get out of the car at school. Everything was hurting at this point... head, eyes, throat, chest, stomach. But, when you have a child with a sensory disorder, how do you know if anything REALLY hurts? Send him to school and see how long he can take it? Works for me.

I wasn't at Elaine's office very long when the school nurse called that Michael was in her office. She sent him to talk to the counselor before she called me this time. The counselor brought him back to her. He convinced her he was in terrible pain. So, I called Charlie. Charlie picked Michael up, took him home and gave him a dose of Pepto, grabbed his pillow and a blanket and took him to work with him. Michael made himself a cozy little nest behind his Daddy's desk and took a nap. He awoke fresh and new as a daisy around 10:30 and was hungry. His class eats lunch at 10:45 every morning (early enough?). Charlie thought hunger was a good sign, so he took him to Sonic to get some crap to eat. Yes, I said crap. Michael ordered cheese tator tots, french fries, and cheese sticks with mozzarella sauce. Crap.

I checked in with Charlie and he told me to go ahead and work a half day and come pick him up. I agreed and disconnected. I told Sandra what Charlie said and we both looked at each other and said "What's a half day?" Why would we ask this question? Because I only work until 3:00 on a normal day, so noon would pretty much call it a day. I decided the best thing to do would be to make sure payroll was complete and then go. So I skipped lunch and left at 1:30.

Michael seemed to be doing really well when I got to Charlie's office to pick him up, so I offered to take him back to school. Yep, that went over well. So, I took him home and he immediately went to bed and took a nap.

Now, I have made an appointment for him with the Occupational Therapist to begin his remaining 8 sessions of DLS, but I don't want to tell him until it's time to go to the appointment. He gets all upset and causes himself to have all sorts of ailments like this morning dropping him off at school. So, I just waited until it was time to leave and asked him how he was feeling. He said he was hungry but that was all. I told him to get his shoes and socks on because he was going to therapy. Uh huh. That went over well. I believe he said "I don't feel good" and "I'm hungry" at least 10 times before we made it to the clinic. At one point Michael looked at me and asked, "Am I annoying you?" I responded, "No, you're not annoying me... at this point I'm completely annoyed." He didn't talk anymore. I know... I'm mean... I couldn't help it.

So, we get to the clinic and Michael is just pathetic. He can't put the headphones on because his head hurts. I told him to just lay on a crash pad and I went to get Diana. I told her what had been happening for the last few days and asked her to talk to Michael before we started listening. She stopped and got Mozart (little pug therapy puppy) out of his cage and headed to Michael's station. Michael didn't want anything to do with the puppy. He told Diana he was hungry and didn't want to do anything until he ate. Diana talked him into starting listening if I would go across the street and get him something to eat. I went across the street to Taco Bueno and got him a taco and some chips and salsa... just about his favorite meal.

After he ate, we went back to his station and started the listening again. The whole session is supposed to last an hour and 20 minutes. We were there for over 2 hours because of Michael having to stop. During the last 30 minutes, you could see the change in him. He was laughing, playing Bingo with a boy he didn't even know, and no mention of feeling bad at all. Playing a game with someone he doesn't know is a REALLY BIG DEAL!! He has never done that.

Anyway, no problems going to school today. He had a good day, came home and did his homework, ate dinner, took his shower... did everything he would normally do... and only one mention of a headache and stomach ache. After he ate dinner, no more mention of that.

Woohoo!!