Paediatrician Review

We had a review with the Paediatrician yesterday after school. It was Brodie's last visit because he turns 18 in July. I cannot believe he is almost an 'official' adult. But Michael wants to see Brodie one more time before he writes up his final review for our GP.

The main concern Michael has at the moment is Brodie's blood pressure. For someone so you he has had high blood pressure for years. He's a big boy which doesn't truly help and the fact that he is now the third generation with high blood pressure doesn't help. His genes are against him in more ways that one. Although Michael is no expert on blood pressure problems with teenagers he said that it is highly likely that our GP may treat his high BP more aggressively once he is an 'adult'.

I'm not exactly sure what was going through Brodie's head knowing that this was his last visit. I am sure that he was a bit anxious because he tried to be the clown & make everyone laugh. He tends to do that when he feels stressed. They've had a good rapport for the past 9 years. I guess in some ways its like losing a friend to Brodie.

So when Michael spoke to Brodie about needing to lose weight. I could see the look on Brodie's face change. It was almost like I could see steam come out of his ears. He took that stance that he does when he is pissed off. The one where he stands firm and crosses his arms. His lips get thinner (if that is even possible) and is eyes completely change from sparkly to dagger-like. I had to try and diffuse the situation before anything happened.

Brodie is dead set against doing anything but sit on his bottom on his laptop talking to all of his online Facebook friends. He hardly ever does anything else. So for someone to suggest he do something different .. well, its like a slap in the face.

I suggested that perhaps he goes for a walk in the mornings. To which Brodie replied what for there is no point. So I then said he could get the paper or perhaps a drink of juice or milk from the supermarket. Not every day of course but every other day. He could even use the Wii. (I didn't think about that one until we were in the car going home). Brodie calmed down a bit then. Thank goodness because I didn't want him to go off at Michael especially when there was a waiting room full of families with young children. I didn't want them to hear his potty mouth!

Anyway, to hopefully help with this we are cutting back one of Brodie's medications (risperidone, the medication that helps him calm down a bit, its an anti-psychotic) it can sometimes make you want to eat more. I truly hope that reducing this one can make a difference with Brodie's appetite but I doubt that. He isn't eating all that much at the moment but that being said when he does eat he chooses the wrong foods and eats lots of it.

We'll see how he goes and our final review with the paediatrician will be in October.

PSG - Medication Review & Yr 11 Subject Choices

I had a PSG at Brodie's high school on Thursday afternoon. The main reason for the meeting was to discuss how Brodie was going on his medication, well not on his meds but rather how he was going now he no longer used the Attenta (Ritalin) tablets.

From what I was told most of Brodie's teachers found that he took longer to settle once he got to class, is more restless than usual & that he was more likely to be distracted by the other kids especially if the weren't on task. Although one of the teachers said she finds him confrontational and more erratic than usual.
I was emailed a copy of the teachers remarks. I'll definitely be showing the paediatrician, Michael, when we go and see him at the end of this school term. If the school finds that Brodie's behaviour declines I'll even send Michael a copy of the teachers comments much earlier.

The second part of the meeting was to discuss with Brodie what subjects he would like to do for next year when he will be in Year 11. Now there is a choice of VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) or VCAL (Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning) and there is a VET (Vocational Education and Training) component for either preference.

I was going to provide a link which explains them better than I can but it didn't work so I'll give it a go. VCE is like Matriculation when I was at school. It's a set syllabus where your years worth of work is assessed along with an exam to get your final scores.
VCAL is like an apprenticeship of sorts. Where things are more hands on and you are able to spend one day a week at TAFE studying things like Hospitality or Multimedia. There are other choices but they are the only ones I know of.

VCAL is more flexible than VCE and I'm not too sure that Brodie is ready for school to be less structured. He loves structure and predictability. So we have gone for the VCE option and if we find that towards the end of next year that Brodie will be able to cope with VCAL (he wants to be a pastry chef and VCAL is probably the best option for that) he can change to that for year 12.

I'm crossing my fingers for him as there needs to be enough kids to do Food Technology which is one of the electives he has chosen to do. The course outline looks so promising. He would learn so much that would help him become a chef like he wants.

I'm not sure when we will find out if the choices he made are in fact the ones that he will get to study but I am hoping that he gets the ones he wants.

The Paediatrician, Our Bishop & Disability Services

I meant to write about this the other day but hadn't gotten around to it. I took Brodie to see the paediatrician last week for a check up and for him to fill in some forms for Centrelink. Anyway while we were there Michael said that Brodie has made some fantastic changes over the past few years. All in a positive way. It made me feel good to know that things for Brodie are moving in the right direction and that people can see the differences.

Yesterday while at Church our Bishop asked to see me. Mostly to for our tithing settlement but he wanted to catch up too because he hadn't seen me much for a while. That's mostly because I haven't always been well enough to go each week. Bishop mentioned that he had spoken with the Young Men's President about Brodie, well all the kids really, but he said how they both thought Brodie has come a long way since they first met him back in 2006.

Bishop explained that he is able to have a decent conversation with Brodie now without him getting angry & frustrated. He also stated that when he first met him it was easier to talk to a brick wall (to be honest I used to think that way about the boys father).

He also said that I have done a wonderful job in raising both boys. Of course I said it was a team effort and that there have been a lot of people involved and it has been a lot of hard work on everyone's part. I did remember to say thank you :)

I know I have said this already but it sure is good to know that people can see the huge difference in Brodie. They can see that he is a wonderful kid & he is able to show it. I must tell Brodie that there are so many people out there that can see how he has changed for the better. I just hope that he is able to show that at home more. Maybe he will once he knows what others think.

One last thing. I got a phone call from the Dept. of Human Services - Disability Services on Friday morning. We had put in an application with them back in January of this year and had our first interview with them at the same time. They were to review our case and contact various other agencies we had been in contact with to see if we qualified for their assistance. So here it is almost 6 months down the track and our application has finally been approved as of last Thursday. Of course once Brodie was accepted as a 'client' he will receive their assistance for life. I am so grateful that it was approved. Not that I didn't think we would be knocked back or anything but its so nice to get some good news.

Part of Week Two ...

I cannot tell you how much of a relief it was this past week to be able to survive without so much as an argument or a screaming match happening in our house. It was wonderful to be able to relax and just enjoy the holidays. Oh I know it might sound a bit harsh knowing that Brodie is on camp and saying all of this but let's face it I have to be honest and say how I feel. It's been great without all that added tension going on in our house.

In fact I went to see my GP on Tuesday morning and told him exactly how things have been at home. Of course while I was there I forgot to mention some of the other things I originally went to see him for. I got side tracked obviously with discussing Brodie. Actually with Dr. F taking my blood pressure and with him saying it was okay got me started (150/85 ~ or it could've been 14o I'm not sure) on talking about Brodie. I said that with the stress I had been under I was surprised that it wasn't higher.

Anyway he got me thinking about Brodie seeing a psychologist or a psychiatrist or just getting some counselling. Dr. F only gets one referral for us to have 6 free visits for counselling and he doesn't want to waste our referral on someone who may not be specialised enough to deal with out particular situation. Which of course I totally understand. I spent most of Wednesday on the phone tracking down different agencies that may be able to assist us. I called Autism Victoria, our paediatrician, Berry Street and even Quantum Support Services. I've only gotten replies from two places. I'm thinking that this week I may need to contact them again to get some answers/suggestions/help!

I was going to add more but I have totally lost my train of thought which makes me think I need to get off this thing for a while and perhaps update at a later date (or not).

Brodie's Kidney Specialist Appointment

On Tuesday afternoon Mark & I took Brodie to the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton. His appointment with a Paediatric Kidney Specialist was for 2:40 p.m. We finally got in to see her after 3 o'clock. After an in depth run down of our family history and Brodie's medical history. She gave us a list of various tests that can be done to investigate what's causing Brodie's high blood pressure. For now however we will be using medication to see if it can control the high BP. Brodie has been prescribes Ramipril (Prilace - is the generic brand) which is an ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitor.
After reading the product information that I requested I don't know if I really want him to be on another lot of medication. This one will make it his fourth lot that he will be taking. The poor kid must rattle when he walks with all the tablets he takes.

I was setting up his medication container last night and I was getting confused with all the tablets that I needed to put in it. I'm thinking I might have to change him to a weekly medication box instead of what we are using at the moment.
His medications are: Ritalin (Attenta - generic brand), Tegretol, Catapres and now the new one. I feel awful for him. He needs to take anything up to 9 tablets per day.
I am hoping that we can perhaps wean him off the Catapres once we have seen the paediatrician in the school holidays.

Now with this new medication I have sent a copy of the possible side effects to watch out for to the High School. I am hoping that Brodie remembers to give it to either the Principal or the Assistant Principal as it's very important that they know what to look for. I wrote a letter to them as well stating that I would like his teachers and his aide to have a copy too.

As a precaution I have decided not to start Brodie on this new med until the weekend so that I can keep an eye on him to make sure that there are no adverse reactions. I guess I am a little scared after what happened with Mark a couple of weeks ago. I would hate for Brodie to have any type of reaction at all. I'll be watching him like a hawk. I just hope that this helps him. I hate to think of him being on a medication that doesn't lower his BP.

This Past Week .. .. ..

It's been an interesting week to say the least.

On Monday Mark's Opa and his girlfriend visited. They live in Western Australia & they drove over. It was a fairly quick visit but that was okay I am just glad that Mark got to see his Opa again. He is such a fun person & his girlfriend was lovely too.

Brodie had his paediatrician visit Monday morning. His blood pressure is still way too high for a kid. It rivals mine. It was around 150/90 and 140/90. Michael checked both arms and the right one was much higher than the left. That has been about the 'norm' for him. Still it is awfully high for a 14 year old. He's not too sure as to what to do with him yet not at least until he has seen the kidney specialist (our appointment is on the 11th of this month).

I took Mark to the doctors Monday afternoon. We told his doctor about the hospital trip the week before and how they said he needed an epi-pen. We were given a referral to an allergist. I phoned them up on Tuesday only to get a message that they weren't in the office today. I finally got around to phoning them on Thursday morning. I was told that we needed to pay $250 for the first visit. To which I told them that Mark is on a disability pension. She then said it didn't matter that we were it was the same price for everyone. I will need to get back to them eventually. We just cannot afford that.

On Tuesday Angus had his first training session for soccer. He was totally exhausted when he got home. He had been on an excursion to Healesville Sanctuary with school all day and then had training once we got home. Of course I had to run out and get him some shin guards so that he could train. They don't let the kids train or play without them. We were a little late for practise but that was okay.

Brodie had his school photos on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to getting them. It should be interesting to see if he actually looked nice by the time the pics were taken.
Angus has his photos done this week on Thursday. I just wish that both schools had given us some more time to get the money together than just a few days before the photos are taken. I guess they don't think of it that way.

Paediatrician Review

Both boys had their reviews with the paediatrician on Wednesday after school.

Angus went first as he is the easier of the two boys to deal with (less complications that is). He was thrilled that he had grown a further two centimetres, he is now 146 cm tall (only 20 centimetres shorter than me) I have no idea how tall that is in feet and inches, we tried to convert it quickly when we were talking to my Dad on the phone. He only knows the old scale not metric when it comes to height. Anyway Angus is fine, doing extremely well in fact and doesn't need to go back for a review until the middle of next year.

Brodie was a trickier one to deal with. He has so many medical things that it's sometimes hard to know where to start. He too was thrilled to know that he has grown taller since his last visit in August. He is now 170 cm tall (about 5' 7") but he is also 5 kilos heavier too. Not good considering he has high blood pressure. He's now been given another lot of medication to take, Catapres (mydr.com), which should help his impulsiveness and also help lower his blood pressure. He started taking half a tablet last night. The bonus with this medication is that it might make him sleepy but since he is taking it at night that should be fine. It wont hurt him to go to bed early now and then.

He also needs to have a whole range of tests done. Should be interesting considering he needs to do 2 x 24 hour urine collections and some blood tests. He hates needles and becomes really stressed when he needs that done. The paediatrician also mentioned that he might need to have an ultrasound done of his renal artery or something like that. I can't remember it all but that's not surprising though as Brodie was bouncing off the walls while we were there and so impulsive and interrupting us quite a lot. I'm not sure when we can do this 24 hour urine collection .. hopefully on his day off when the teachers will be writing their school reports. The kids aren't required at school that day, that's on December 10th. We need to go back in early January for the results.

School Holidays

We've had a reasonable busy week this week...

Monday: The boys both had appointments with the paediatrician. Gosh we were in there for quite some time. I got Michael to see Angus first as his is relatively easy and straightforward. All we needed to do was get his new script done and get his height checked.
Brodie's visit was another story. That child can be so annoying!! He didn't follow instructions very well. He was doing his 'own' thing like he usually does and acted a little babyish too. There were a couple of good things though. His blood pressure is down a little but that might be because Michael used a bigger cuff. Brodie has also lost 2.7 kilos. Much better than before as he had not lost much at all. he goes back in 6 weeks though as his blood pressure is still way too high for someone his age.

Tuesday: We all went to Morwell to go shopping for Brodie's birthday presents but we stopped for Maccas on the way to mid-valley. Not too sure if that was a good thing or not as Brodie hasn't done much exercise at all these school holidays. We spent most of our time in BigW. My fave store. I got quite a few bargains in the clearance racks. I'm sure Brodie was happy that he got so many clothes.

Wednesday: We stayed home! Yay!

Thursday: Brodie's 14th birthday!! He had been hanging out for his birthday card from Poppa (who posted it last week on Thursday) because it had a money order in it. Thankfully it arrived in the morning post. We went out to see the latest Harry Potter movie (Order of the Phoenix) which was a really good movie even though it is getting 'darker' but so are the books. Mark wasn't able to come with us his stomach was doing flip flops. So it was just the boys and I. After the movie we went and chose a birthday cake and ordered some pizza. I am sure that the boys were impressed with the fact we had pizza and I had been wanting some for the last couple of days anyway lol.

Friday: We stayed home! Yay another quiet day at home! Well apart from the boys arguing but what's new with that??!!

Tomorrow: we will be going to food bank as usual. And I promised Brodie that he could spend his birthday money so I'll need to take him shopping. I can't remember what he is after but no doubt he will remind me!!

I'm off this thing now as it is time to serve dinner...

~~Update ~~

There really isn't a lot to say about what's been going on at home. Not sure if that is a good thing or not rofl. The routine has been pretty much the same. Take the boys to school bring them home. Take the boys to appointments bring them home again. Take Mark to appointments come home again. Same old thing really.

Brodie has also been suspended a couple of times since I had blogged. The little scamp!! Pushing teachers and throwing furniture etc. He really has no excuse for his rotten behaviour and I am truly surprised that he has not been expelled to tell you the truth. He has been blinking lucky!! The little rat!!

The boys are on school holidays at the moment. So far so good we've survived 90% of the first week. It's been pretty quiet though and mostly we have stayed home. Next week is another story though. The boys have paediatrician appointments on Monday. Brodie also has an appointment with GCAMHS that day. I need to double check that though. Either tomorrow or next Tuesday we will be going shopping to buy Brodie his birthday presents. Should be interesting to see what he chooses. On Wednesday Brodie is going to the temple with the youth from Church. I know he loves it there. The little dude and I will have a nice quiet time without him!!
Thursday is Brodie's birthday. My goodness he will be 14. Where has the time flown??!!??!! It's just gone by so fast. I'll be taking everyone to the cinemas that day. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix comes out next week so we shall be seeing that. I can't wait!

That's about it for now I guess. As I said there really isn't much to say.

Paediatrician Appointment Last Monday

The boys had a paediatrician appointment and we have some more concerns for our boy Brodie.

Angus is doing marvelously well though. He's lost a little weight just a kilo, must be from all the sport day training that he has been doing at school!! And he is getting much taller too .. just under a metre and a half. Before I forget his school won the Athletics Sport's Day on Wednesday .. they win almost every time so the pressure is on for them to keep on winning. We had a great day and I was there helping out with the triple jump and target throw events. I wish more parents would help though as it would've been nice if I could've seen some of Angus's events. Maybe next year as it will be his last Sports Day in primary school.

I don't want you to worry too much as I am doing all of that myself. Brodie has high blood pressure. It's been up for the last couple of visits. So we had it checked again on Monday. It seems that his high BP is only in one arm (140/90 I think it was) but when Michael checked his other arm it was normal. Strange huh! Anyway Michael did mention what it could be, perhaps something to do with the narrowing of the arteries, but I have forgotten but he is concerned enough to send him to a cardiologist! He also mentioned an ultra sound of his heart might be needed. We're still waiting to hear back from the clinic with an appointment for Brodie. This professor we will be seeing only comes out our way every so often and will be letting the clinic know of the dates when he comes out next week.

Needless to say I'm worried so Mark suggested that we organise a blessing for Brodie. Which was done on Tuesday night at Young Men's so I feel a bit better since that was done. Goodness I think our poor boy has so much going on with him already and now we (well mainly me) have this fret over.

I've also got Brodie booked in for a Dietitian appointment on Tuesday next week. For a boy his height he is a bit overweight and that would not help all of his other problems, including the blood pressure I would imagine. Hopefully she will be able to help convince him that 4 tablespoons of sugar on your breakfast cereal is NOT a good option! Or even suggest ways we can 'swap' other foods that would be healthier yet economical at the same time!

I guess there is one good thing (well Brodie thinks so) he is only a centimetre shorter than me!! I think I might have to start wearing high heels all the time rofl.

Feeling A Little Better Today

Golly what a mood I was in yesterday. I'm feeling so much better today. I still believe that some of the feelings I had are very relevant but I'm not in such a despondent mood today.
My goodness you should've seen me last night when Mark said that we finally have some Home Teachers assigned to us ... well I just turned around and said, "BIG DEAL! They can visit with you because I won't stick around for them!!"

Today the big fella and I went to his paediatrician appointment. I swear for such a quick visit it's such an expensive exercise!! $73 for about a 5 minute visit! Yes I know he is a specialist but my goodness we just can't afford to pay that much each time we visit him! Next visit is during the September school holidays when BOTH boys have an appointment on the same day! That will be a tight week that week!!
Anyway back to today's appointment. The big fella is doing well. We don't need to adjust his epilepsy meds unless he has a seizure and then I need to phone the Dr. and let him know so that we can up his meds. But so far so good the big fella may never need to have any more changes to his meds.

After the paediatrician appointment we went grocery shopping. What fun is that???!!! NOT. But at least it was just the big fella and I so it wasn't so bad. At least there was no fighting this time because the little dude was home with Mark.
Not to forget I went and picked up a lay-by that I had in Target. The boys were rapt because they got new pyjamas out of it. It's a little sad when they get extremely excited about receiving new pj's.

So far so good with the boys. No fighting but I guess I may have just jinxed that!! Let's hope we can finish the day without any hassles! I bet we wont though ...

change of mind?

It seems that the paediatrician may have changed his mind about the big fella having Aspergers even though I know he mentioned it during our first visit. I gave him some forms the other week to fill in for Centrelink so that I can keep getting a carers allowance. The clinic posted them out to me and I checked out what he put in it. Seems that he didn't put that in his diagnosed ailments/conditions. I don't know what to think now.

Life stuff!!

Gosh I just don't know where to start writing at the moment... So much has gone on since I last blogged I don't know where to begin.

Let's see on Wednesday the big fella was suspended but I already wrote about that. Hmm on Thursday we stayed home and didn't go out at all. After all what's the point huh. I didn't have to take the big fella to school the little dude was on camp so there really was no reason to leave the cabin. It makes for a change because there isn't a day that goes by that I don't have to go out somewhere.

Ok now for Friday ... would you believe there was ANOTHER meeting at the High School. I only have to walk up to the reception and they know me know and I don't think that's a good thing. In fact its downright sad really because I never go up there for a good reason now. Gosh I don't even want to think about that because I'll start crying. I can feel the tears stuck in my throat. I hate that feeling.

The meeting .. well the big fella was included in this meeting and the poor fella I bet he felt smothered with 5 adults in the room with him. I know if I was him I would've felt very uncomfortable. Apart from Mark and myself there was the Assistant Principal, the Middle Years coordinator and the Guidance Officer. I can't remember the exact details of the meeting, in fact the meetings all seem to say the same thing. I'm sad to say that it's kind of becoming a blur. Almost like one meeting melts into another.

Anyway during the meeting we did discuss a 'testing' session that the big fella had on Tuesday with the Special Ed teacher/worker. It turned out that she was the same lady who tested the big fella way back when he was in Grade 3 or 4. Back then she said that he did NOT have Apsergers Syndrome which was around the time he was diagnosed with it by the paediatrician. HELLO!!! It's not like the paediatrician didn't know he specialises in working with children! Well anyway this woman has now agreed with us that he does have it, well according to what the Assistant Principal said anyway. So where does that leave the big fella??? If she had said so all those years ago would the big fella had extra help? Would he be in the same predicament he is in now if he had an integration aide all those years ago? Somewhere in the not to distant future we will be getting a report of the testing that was done.

After the AP and the coordinator left the Guidance Officer (GO) had a chat with us. Well he got to see what the big fella is like interacting with us and how he reacted with the teachers. I can't remember exactly what happened but the big fella was in one of his moods. Refusing to follow instructions and not listening properly. The GO said that we have A LOT of work to do ... well as if I don't know! I know I sound snarky but it wasn't like he was pointing out something I didn't know.

After we had finished at the HS we had some time before we needed to collect the little dude up. He was arriving back from camp. We had at least 45 minutes to waste before going to get him. So we went to Tarago Park. It was on the way back from the HS. It was okay but I don't think I would go back there in a hurry. Not at least until the weather was nicer anyway.

So we went on to the school where the little dude was being dropped off. We had a bit of a wait before the bus arrived. So Mark and I talked with a couple of the Mums from our school and the Principal who arrived about 10 minutes before the bus did. I think he was surprised by the little dude while on camp. He was amazed at how much he could eat. Apparently the little dude ate 4 meat pies for lunch!! Mark & I laughed .. we have a missionary in training after all rofl.

Last night we also went out for dinner to a family from Church's place. It was really nice to go out. Hopefully we'll make some really good friends with these people. I know the boys loved being there. In fact they've already asked when we can go back again. The boys were even relatively well behaved while we were out which was such a wonderful thing.

I know I said the boys behaved last night but they made up for it today .. they were beginning to fight a lot today. The big fella has such an annoying way of talking to his brother. It's like he thinks he is the Dad and orders him around. He really needs to stop it or one day I can see the little dude turning around and punching him out.
Mark & I tried to get the boys to clean up their room this evening. In the end he and I were so stressed that we just gave up. There is always tomorrow .. after Church that is.

I've typed up just about all I can for now. My arm is still hurting like crazy, not to mention my skin is hurting so badly I just want to cry. Mark says I should go back to the Doctor but what's the point? It's not like he will really do anything. All he said last time was take some nurofen that should help!
Oh well I'm going to get ready for bed and read for a bit!

What a week!

What a busy week it has been for us. We've been to meetings. visiting Mark's family, and forgetting important appointments (oops).
On Monday Mark had an appointment and we totally forgot all about it. We'd gone into town to pay for the big fellas paediatric appointment and then went on to do the weekly grocery shopping but we forgot that Mark had an appointment near the paediatric rooms at 12:15 that day. I can't believe that it totally slipped my mind. I am usually so good with appointments. Of course I didn't click that we had missed it until much later that night. Mark said oh well lets phone in the morning and make a new appointment. Well we couldn't because it was ANZAC day the following day.
Tuesday was ANZAC Day. Mark got the boys up early so that they could go to the dawn service. The boys wanted me to go but I didn't want too. Perhaps I should've though. They boys were absolute terrors misbehaving and fighting one another. Mark got fed up with them and warned them that if they did one more thing wrong they would go home. Well they stuffed up big time and they came home. Maybe if I had gone with them they would've stayed for the whole session. I'm so ashamed of the boys. I told Dad last night when we phoned him how they behaved and he was NOT impressed at all. Shame on the boys!!
Later on Tuesday we went to Mark's Dads and step-mums place for a late lunch. We got to meet Marks sister and his new nephew. His nephew is so adorable! He's only 7 months old but what a cutie he is!! I'm sure that there will be stacks of girls running after him when he gets older!!The boys were reasonably well behaved while we were there. Although I did make sure that they took their medication before we left home and I made them take their lunchtime tablet that I don't always make them take when we stay at home. I guess the boys were exhausted after their early morning because they both fell asleep in the car before we got home.
This morning there was another appointment at the High School. We're averaging one a week at this stage and the big fella hasn't even been there for the last 3 weeks. This time he was included in the meeting where we went over all the details of what happened the day he got suspended. He had forgotten a lot of it and was told exactly what happened. I cannot believe how the teachers have bent over backwards for him and he had just thrown everything back in their faces. If I had known exactly what had happened the day he was suspended he would've been one sorry boy. His home room teacher was trying so hard to help him but he didn't even listen to her until she said she was going to phone me. Then he finally decided to follow instructions, however that was only temporary. I still cannot believe that he is such a horrid kid sometimes.So after all of this was explained the Acting Vice Principal went through all the expectations required from Brodie. About the green card system they have set up for him (and other students like him). It was explained to him that for the next few weeks he will be a part time student. That he will be picked up at lunchtime next week and taken home & that if his behaviour after a review at the end of the week is up to scratch that the following week he will be able to stay longer. Depending on his behaviour and his willingness to co-operate with everyone will determine how long he remains at school during the day. That I or Mark will be phoned to collect him if he misbehaves and doesn't follow instructions.While in our meeting I told the school about the paediatrician visit and how we are modifying the big fellas medication at the moment and that by the end of next week he will be on a lower dosage of epilim. That I have arranged for GCAMHS to assist us once the referral from the paediatrician is sent to them. That I have asked Anglicare for help and that they will be assigning a case worker to us within the next 2-3 weeks to help us at home with any problems we are having.I also asked the school whether they are going to get the big fella assessed and they said that hopefully next Tuesday he will be working with a lady who is current assessing ALL the year 7 children at the school and that he should be able to be seen then. The sooner the better I hope.
I just hope that the big fella realises that everyone is bending over backwards to help him and to make things run more smoothly for him. The AVP said today that he hopes Brodie realises that he is lucky that his Mum and Mark are so supportive because there are a lot of parents out there who would just wash their hands of things saying that it was the schools problem and they should deal with it on their own. Perhaps one day the big fella will see all of that and know that we do care for him or we wouldn't be going through all of this extra work if we didn't.
Ok its time for me to finish this thing because I need to have lunch and get ready to go to the Primary school to do the newsletter & wait for the little dude to have his guitar lesson. I sure do hope that I can just sit down and relax tonight. It's been a busy day today.

What a busy afternoon!!

Once we got our act together and got moving we were flat out all afternoon. The big fella had his paediatrician appointment this afternoon. Which we just managed to get there in time because we called into the supermarket first. I just had to get the new Harry Potter DVD, The Goblet of Fire, as it was finally released here today.

Anyway back to the big fella's appointment. The Doctor was running about 30 minutes late. He apologized for making us wait. We found out that the big fella now needs to take a 200 mg tablet of epilim instead of the 2 x 100 mg tablets. That will make it easier for him rather than the two tablets. Mark also asked that if the big fella does happen to have another seizure does he need to go to hospital or not (not his exact words but the meaning is the same) The answer is no we don't need to take him unless he really hurt himself but we do need to contact his paediatrician if he does have another one so that his medication can be adjusted. So it's all good really. He does need to have a blood test to check his liver function and for the levels of epilim in his system but that isn't for about another 6 weeks.

Since we were late getting into seeing the Dr. we were late in picking up the little dude. Of course I panicked (like I always do) I truly hate being late when it comes to collecting the boys from school or the bus stop. I was constantly checking the time on my watch thinking how upset he must be having to wait for me by the gate. In fact Mark said that it wont hurt him. So I thought about it for a bit. I think in all the time that they boys have been at school I think I have only been late to collect them 4 or 5 times. So one day wont hurt. I still don't like being late though. It's not like it was our fault though it is a 15-20 minute drive down the freeway from the clinic, which is near the hospital, to the primary school.

After we collected the little dude we had to go back into town to drop off the big fellas new prescription, go back to the town where the hospital is to go to Medicare to get some of my money back for the doctors visit. I wish he would bulk bill us having to find $73 per visit really puts a strain on our budget which is really tight as it is. ( I know what you are thinking Mark, you wanted me to ask him to bulk bill us but you know me I don't ask for help and I don't ask for things like that ~ I'm sorry I didn't, you were right). Then it was back to pick up the big fellas meds and off home.

I was totally pooped by the time we got home. Even though I didn't really feel like I did much. In fact I was pooped before we got home and Mark ended up driving the rest of the way for us. I'm so glad that he did.
I do know one thing though Mark seems to be extra concerned for me lately. I don't know why I feel the same as I usually do. Mark says I seem extra tense and on a shorter fuse than normal. I feel the same. I dunno. I know he is right though I do worry about EVERYTHING! I know I shouldn't but I do. I can't help it! I know my GP was worried yesterday about my blood pressure (it was 110/98 ~ not my worst BP reading in fact the top number was the best I had seen it in ages!!) so this extra worry I have wont help that but honestly how can you 'calm' yourself down and not stress about something?

I guess I shall have to work on reducing my stress levels. I'm not sure how I can do that but there has to be a way to do it. Oh how weird .. I just typed this and there was something on tv about a news item for tomorrow night's news that will be dealing with how to reduce your stress. I guess I had better watch it then.

I think I'll go make a nice cuppa. Perhaps a chamomile tea .. that's supposed to be soothing & calming isn't it??

a restless night

I had such a disturbed sleep last night. I kept waking up all the time. Mark didn't sleep too well either. I'm feeling awfully tired right now. I just have no motivation or energy to do anything right now *yawn* I could have a sleep right now but I wont.

I've kept the big fella home from school today. He has an appointment with the paediatrician this afternoon. It was much easier to keep him home than travel the 50-something kilometre round trip to his school and then on to the clinic near the hospital. I hate driving when I don't have to.

The boys had such a huge fight again this morning. I am getting so tired of this happening EVERY day!! It wears you right down. Sometimes I wish I could just bang their heads together to make them stop. Of course I don't but I wish I could. It won't solve anything but it might make me feel better rofl. Maybe one day I will get my wish of a Fight-Free day! But I wont hold my breath!!