Been a while

I realized I had not post to Kara's blog for a while, things have been busy and Kara is doing very well despite runny noses, rashes, and such. She and I are just having a rough spring, our entire family has been sick with flu's and strep. This too shall pass, I hope soon.

Kara was seen by a PT the end of March, FINALLY, after nearly a year of waiting for one to become available, The PT was an older woman, what we call old school (hey I am OLD too) and somewhat brusque though very professional. She believesKara will need weekly PT, and was surprised that she was not receiving it already. We are waiting for approval, not certain what is happening there, we have asked for a new SC, and are still waiting.

She had her IEP review last Monday; the IEP was uneventful with the exception of the PT and his attitude. I hear he is an amiable man, so it is me he does not like, how sad he made a judgement about me and found me lacking. :o(

I was not happy to be going because Kara has not been in school for two months, yes, you read it correctly, we have been so sick here that one illness is on the heels of another, and since Kara has a runny nose most of the time, they will not let her attend school. I truly believe Kara needs a tonsillectomy; none of my other kids has ever been a sickly as she. I want her to feel better, poor baby.

When I walked into the room for her IEP, I overheard the ST discussing Kara’s absences with the PT, a frown of disapproval on her usually contented face. They both looked sheepish when they saw me, I felt chagrined and it put me on the defensive, I took a deep breath and said a little prayer, this was for Kara, I needed to stay calm. Even when everyone on the IEP is amiable, it is rather stressful, but this one was not, the PT had issues with me for following doctor’s orders for Kara (against his advice). He also was very condescending explaining to me what the purpose ligaments and using scare tactics telling me Kara would be crippled if I did not heed what he was saying. At that point, I snapped at him for trying to scare me and overstating the risks. I trust her orthopedic doctor, and the PT who saw Kara last week for and evaluation did not believe the SMO’s were crucial at this point either. (I also asked the orthotistKara saw last week about her SMO's, they agreed, if the doctor feels she needs to walk without them FOR NOW, then that is what we should be doing) The PT inferred I was lying about the doctor telling me to put the SMO's away and to let Kara walk without shoes on. He quickly said “Not that I think you are lying….so he knew he had overstepped. He left before we were done, needing to attend another IEP. I was stewing about our conversation and needed to talk it through with DH Tom, I knew it would calm me down, and give a different perspective. I could not believe the PT thought I was lying about the SMO's, why in the world would I? It upsets me to think about it even now.

While we were wrapping up the IEP meeting, Tom called, the bike Eric made for him (bought all the pieces separately on EBay and in the bike shops in town) was stolen from his van while he was at work. It was a Quintana Roo, a very nice bike, and one he needed desperately, his old bike was a mess. Tom tries to ride to work when he can, it has been a challenge lately, but he kept the bike in his van because he thought it would be safe in there. Apparently anyone with a crowbar can break off the handle of our old Voyager and get in the van. It is an old van, insurance will not pay to fix the broken door, but our homeowners insurance should pay for a replacement of his bike. (minus the $250 deductible) that violation you feel when someone has broken in and taken something of yours, like a sucker punch, so cowardly. Even though the van was parked in the school parking lot, they will do nothing to compensate him for his loss; it is against their policy, period, it is not the first thing that has been stolen from him the 18 years he has been a teacher. I am grateful he was nowhere near when they broke in; I believe that someone who is heedless of the risk of discovery enough to steal something in the middle of the day would not hesitate to hurt my husband. He feels pretty badly that the gift our son made for him was taken though, I think that bothers him the most. Our homeowners insurance will cover most of the loss, thank goodness.

Kara was evaluated by a speech therapist for in home ST Monday morning and it was determined (not surprisingly) that she will need weekly speech in addition to what the school provides (not that she has been in preschool, she is not allowed with a runny nose...rules are rules). I am so excited about the speech therapy as she is not communicating verbally at all. I believe having to unlearn Russian-Ukrainian and learn English has made it very hard for her. She has a few signs, but poor sweetie needs something more.