Doctors, parenting, and more doctors

Written 3/14/08

It sure has been a busy few days. The evening after the spelling bee, we had to get ready to go up to Durham, which is no small feat, since we have to lay out clothes not only for the ones who are going, but the ones who are staying as well. Plus make sure there is enough breakfast and dinner so that my brother doesn't have to deal with any of that. After the morning rounds of dropping off kids on Wed., we headed up and actually arrived 2 hrs early for his 1:00 app. Fortunately, they let us check into the hotel early so that we could rest and freshen up. The appointment was long. about 5 hours. At one point, Kyley and I left for a run to the store and ended up lost in the wrong part of Durham. But we found our way back, and after the appointment, we ate dinner and they swam in the pool.

They said that it would take 2-3 weeks to get back the report, which covers his intellect, memory, ability to learn, etc. everything that radiation can affect. So we should be armed and ready at his next IEP meeting. We got home at about 3:00 on Thur. afternoon, which was teacher conference day, so we went to our 5 conferences. Luckily all teachers got us in shortly after we arrived, since we weren't sure what time we would be back, we didn't schedule any specific time. The longest we had to wait was about 20 minutes.

When we got home at about 5:30, Rick had to turn around and go back to the shop, and boy did he miss all of the action. The kids staged an intervention on Brooke. I am not kidding. They sat her and I down and told her (and me) that she has this boyfriend that they hate. (same boy that seems to be the cause of her friends turning against her and her grades dropping from A's and B's to F's.) They said that he had called Brittney, Rick, and I many terrible things, and had even called Brooke terrible things. They told her that they didn't trust her decisions or her word, since she had said that she didn't like him anymore. They said more, but I am practicing the whole discretion thing.

I was so amazed, that the kids would do this, that when Rick got home, I had them go through it all again. I know that it sounds typical for a 13 year old to have a boyfriend, but this can't be normal that it would affect her friendships, grades, and even siblings, so we're really at a loss. Were not quite sure what to do.

Rainia had a follow up Dr. appointment today, her infected toe is much better. Unfortunately, her ears are still too full of wax. At our last app. the Dr. suggested this homeopathic remedy called ear-candling, which was so funny, I'll have to post some pics. But, the candling didn't take care of the problem, so now we are being referred to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. He said that the wax build-up is really severe, and she probably has loss of hearing at this point. She has always had an abundance of wax, and the reason we switched pediatrician's is because the last Dr. office busted her eardrum while trying to irrigate the ear. Poor Girl!!! This was years ago, but she was so afraid to go back in there we had to switch Drs. (I don't blame her. They say that a ruptured ear-drum is extremely painful.) Fortunately, our pediatrician now says that anything like that should be done by a specialist who knows what they are doing. So more Drs. appointments on the way.

Brooke got her glasses today as well. So, this has been the first chance I've had to post an update. And now to tackle the bags of clothes and toys that are still in my living room...