Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Finn

Yes, we're dealing with big, bad, scary CANCER (although we plan to kick its ASS), but life still marches on.

Finn was supposed to have his IFSP eval this morning, but I had to cancel both that and his regularly scheduled PT. Remember the RSV (presumably) he had a couple weeks ago? He seemed to be getting better, but over the last day or so his cough has come back, and much worse. I was up half the night again with him last night :( So back to the ped we went this morning. The doc (not our regular ped) looked in his ears but said his ear canals are too small to see if he's got another EI, but as he has no fever, she's assuming not. He does have a wheeze, though, and an ugly barking cough. He's been sick for about 3 weeks now. She said that the virus he had before has either made a resurgence, or he's picked up a new one. Anyway, she prescribed Prednisone for him, which is a steroid, to help with the inflammation in his chest and throat, so hopefully that will help.

His IFSP eval is rescheduled for next Friday, Feb. 20. Actually, his PT will do the eval next Tuesday when she comes and then on Friday his service coordinator is coming over to go over where he's at, set new goals, etc. I'm sort of dreading it. I suspect he won't do as well as he might otherwise, just because he's been sick for all this time and because of that has missed a few PT sessions. And truthfully, I haven't exactly been on top of doing PT with him myself between sesssions. So I guess I feel like if he doesn't evaluate well, I've failed him in some way.

Ahh, mother-guilt.

11 comments:

My name is Sarah said...

This is Joyce. Lisa, you really do not need to worry about Finn and his PT at this point. He has five siblings running around the house that he is watching. He has more peer models with him EVERY DAY than most "best practice" pre-schools. Please don't sweat the small stuff right now. Finn will be fine.

Laurie said...

Hey Lisa,
We just had our eval and IFSP meeting this morning. Honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Just wrote about it today on my blog.
I've been thinking of you and your family.
Hang in there, ok?

The Sanchez Family said...

Our meeting too was just great. It wasn't focused at all on what Joaquin had achieved or not achieved but rather what we would like to have as far as services for the following year....we just got the call from music therapy today- so excited!
Hang in there and be sure to take some time for yourself...some nice long walks perhaps.

Unknown said...

Oh Lisa, you have not failed Finn in any way.....you have been working hard at keeping healthy during this illness he has had. Trust me, you don't have to do PT all the time, and you can even delay appointments if life gets too busy, as Finn will grow and blossom even with missed appointments.

My heart became heavey when I read your first line and had to go see what you were talking about. Let Michael know that even though he does not know me, I am surrounding him with positive thoughts and healing prayers.

and I agree with Joyce, Finn has the best teachers/therapists in the world with his older siblings. I know my little girl has learned so much from her siblings.

Hugs to you and your beautiful family.

Amanda said...

I think you definitely get the mommy-guilt pass this week.

Elyse said...

Hey girl! You are doing the best darn job you can and that rescheduling will NOT hurt Mr. Finn! Hang in there.
~Elyse~

Jeanette said...

What great comments. Let me echo them and say that Finn will be fine. Even under the best of circumstances, those evals feel like they are not perfect. Everyone is right in saying that his brothers and sisters are fabulous teachers. He is absorbing it all in.

JaybirdNWA said...

Lisa, it sounds like you have done well by Finn and have been an involved parent with a lot of recent things to deal with. I wouldn't be too hard on myself. Finn may not evaluate well on Friday but very rarely do the PT's get to see the full potential of their patients, especially when they only get seen 1/week or 1/ 2 weeks. The lady that I take John to 1/month doesn't have a clue as to John's abilities which frustrates me at times but that doesn't change who John is. I sometimes do not have time during the day for John's PT, so I just give him a lot of floor time on his belly. I have been amazed at what he can learn on his own.

Qadoshyah said...

I wanted to ditto the other comments too.

Finn will be just fine. You have not failed him at all.

The best stimulation Finn can get is from his family - especially all the siblings. Seeing them all, interacting with them all, will spur him on.

We never took my brother to a PT (he's now 4 years old). I don't believe there was ever a need to. He has 10 siblings who are HUGE motivators for him and this really encouraged him to do things. We bought Pat Winders book on PT and Maryanne Bruni's book on OT and used those as a guideline for what we could do one-on-one with my brother. He excelled greatly and never once have we regretted that we didn't take him to see a PT.

Qadoshyah

Tricia said...

I was essentially going to say what Joyce--way up there in your first comment--said. This eval is small potatoes...may not seem like it, but you've got a whole life with your family where this stinking eval means about zilch. Don't fret, dear...he's doing great, he's doing what HE's doing, and that's all that matters. Thinking about you all the time!!!

datri said...

Everyone has given such good advice, so just wanted to say hang in there. Finn is awesome.