First is because I have to make sure to explain to everyone who meets Eden that they really shouldn't play with her to get to know her. I know how weird and contradictory that sounds because Doctors love to make sure the child is comfortable with them before they start the examination. It's a little different with Eden though. If you play with her, right when you meet her, she will NEVER leave you alone. She has so many grown-ups playing with her during the day; she will think that's why she's there and will demand constant attention. I've learned this the hard way, I've been to appointments where she literally has jumped on Doctors laps and demands that they play with her and we actually have to have a nurse come in to keep her busy while we talk about progress and making a plan of action.
Not everyone thinks this is an issue, but when it turns a 15 minute appointment into a 1 hour long, how to distract Eden best contest. It gets a little difficult. I usually use the not so subtle, "Please don't play with her. Until we are done talking about how things are going, because." bit. It's just so much easier to get her attention after the fact. And she's not afraid of strangers at all, makes it easy for her to be examined by them. I think it's even better when you get a student Doctor and they look at you like you have 3 head, when you tell them they can't play with her.
And because her follow-up appointments with the Nephrologist are 6 months apart from each other. I'll have to go through the whole thing over again today. They are going to check how things are going with Eden's bladder and probably going to increase her medication which means doing more playing with her laxative because the medication will make that go out of whack again. It's a never ending battle of the poop and pee in this house. She still has to pee a ton, but I'm going to mention it's mostly when she is having a ton of anxiety or her sensory system is not working right. Who knows what's going to happen I just hope we can get through the appointment without a meltdown and with my sanity.
The second reason that I am so anxious about the Doctor's visits this week? Eden has to have her school shots. Yeah, when I told my dad about this today, he laughed at me over the phone and said, "Well, good luck with that!" I think it wouldn't be as bad, but I'm pretty sure they are going to break up the vaccines into a couple of different sessions. Eden remembers EVERYTHING. She remembers every time she's had blood drawn and now has a panic attack every time we walk into that part of building in the Doctors office. The last 5 times she's gone to the Doctor's office she's been poked with needles. Either she's had blood drawn or gotten a shot. I would be anxious also.
We don't even get to the part where she gets the needle anymore, she just smells the alcohol and starts to freak. I am going to need a plan, and maybe a nurse or two to hold her down. I don't know how I can make this less traumatic for her, and I'm not sure how comfortable the nurse is going to be having to pin her down. I also think that her anxiety isn't going to be better if we wait.
This is what I don't like about Eden's memory. Nothing just slips to the back of her brain and get's lost with all of the other memories. Every time she smells alcohol she knows there is a needle to follow and she will talk about it for days if not weeks, and we have to do this at least twice! I'm hoping to try and find a great reinforcer for her as soon as she figures out what's going to happen.
We also have Eden's first appointment with the optometrist in two weeks. It should make for an interesting time, she's never been so I'm thinking she'll do fine because she has no idea what's going on. She'll just go along with whatever, but I felt it very important that she get's checked out before she starts kindergarten.
It's going to be a whirlwind of a month and these things have nothing to do with school. There are still OT and speech evaluations to be done, an IEP and kindergarten transition meetings to be had. We are also going to be preparing Eden for a trip to Florida which is happening in October of this year (if our life wasn't busy enough) but it will be a super great experience for all of us. I'll keep posting when I have time.
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ReplyDeleteI actually have and if you have read any of my posts you would understand that vaccines did not cause my daughters Autism. I believe that she has had this from the day she was born. She has always had the signs and it just took me understanding what they were before I had her diagnosed. I have done extensive research on Autism and vaccines, the only proof to the link to either is the ingredient Thimerosal (Mercury), which is an ingredient found to preserve vaccines. I personally check and have my doctor check the ingredient labels directly from the manufacturer of each of these vaccines. The only vaccines that this ingredient is found in are the flu vaccines that come in vials that you measure out (and not the one time use doses). And to be completely honest, she has gotten her vaccinations because I choose to we do also choose not to give her them when she is sick or give her more than 2 at a time. That is all because my Doctor agrees it's a "Best Practice" when it comes to your child and vaccinations. We think it's too much for any child to have 4 and 5 vaccinations at a time.
ReplyDeleteYou can find more pesticides and chemicals in process and mass produced fruits and vegetables and meat that concern me more in which I am actively trying to eliminate from my whole families diet. We are on different pages as to what caused my daughters Autism and unless you met her and have known her from birth you would not understand how she has always been exactly the same person she is now, but with therapy she is going to be as "normal" as one can be.