Crazy, Crazy Busy!

Wow how time flies. We have been so busy that I am not sure if I will remember everything that has been going on. 

Well we all heard about Emily's Birthday Party & then the food poisoning. We had a nice week & a half to recover... then Grandpa Jerry came for a visit! It was a wonderful surprise. He called on Monday & was here on Thursday. We did all sorts of things while he was here. We built a shed & fence to go around the a/c (so the dogs couldn't eat the wires). We also went to the park, ran errands & played outside a whole lot! Which was lots of fun (since now it is ridiculously hot outside). When Grandpa Jerry left I had to finish up on the Spring Spectacular Basket for the boys class!! Now on to the major stuff...

We got a notice from Emily's pre-school starting we had a IEP meeting at the end of May. It stated the reason for the meeting was to "review existing data & determine eligibility" & "review IEP".  I flipped. We just finished the last IEP in the middle of March, Emily hadn't started school until the 30th of March & she had only attend like 14 days of school total!! What in the world! Literally I was fuming, determine eligibility!?! I called the school & talked to the teacher, who gave me the run around & absolutely no answers. So I asked her to have the district representative call me. When she called we talk for a while, essentially Emily doesn't have to worry about being dropped from the program as long as the team determines she need to keep services. To break it down, basically what I was told is when we did her first IEP she was coded as a PSL (which means Preschool Speech/Language Delay). She tested one and a half deviations below the average child her age & is unintelligible to a person who is unfamiliar with her. So the district representative said that they want to change Emily's coding to PSD (which means Preschool Sever Delay). She tested 3 deviations below the average child her age & is above the age of 3 but not 5. She also told me that there where several kids (Emily included) that were boarder line between the 2 different coding's so they went with the PSL until they could observe them in a classroom setting. She stated that all children coded PSL would lose preschool & be offered ST in home for 1 hour each week. But the children who are coded PSD will continue preschool services. To me that's great that Emily should be able to continue services (as long as our IEP goes as planned) but why didn't you code her correctly to begin with! I am moving on from this (I could literally go on & on about it).

I had mention a while ago that Emily had hearing test with AzIEP. It came back failed on both ears. Well we went to her Pediatrician to finally get her Apraxia Diagnosis in her medical charts & get her in to see either a Developmental Pediatrician or a Neurologist. Essentially I need a medical diagnosis for both the school & insurance company. Even though our SLP is truly the one who should be diagnosing (& the one who did). Anyhow, we also discussed how Emily failed the AOE testing that AzIEP did. I asked if she would call the ENT & try to get us in earlier, which she had no problems doing. But she wanted to run another test on Emily's ears hoping it would help us get in faster. It was called a Tympanometry, what it does...

Tympanometry is an examination used to test the condition of the middle ear and mobility of the eardrum (tympanic membrane) and the conduction bones by creating variations of air pressure in the ear canal.

A tone is generated by the tympanometer into the ear canal, where the sound strikes the tympanic membrane, causing vibration of the middle ear, which in turn results in the conscious perception of hearing. Some of this sound is reflected back and picked up by the instrument. Most middle ear problems result in stiffening of the middle ear, which causes more of the sound to be reflected back.

A       

B

Type A tympanogram is considered normal. There is a normal pressure in the middle ear with normal mobility of the eardrum and the conduction bones.

Type B tympanogram may reveal fluid in the middle ear , perforation of the tympanic membrane, scarring of the tympanic membrane, lack of contact between the conduction bones of the middle ear or a tumor in the middle ear.

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tympanogram

Emily's results look similar to B. Except that in the left ear her "line" is below the box & her right ear didn't even register! Yikes! So apparently that is not so good. The Doctor believes it could be fluid that needs to be drained. As usually they don't tell you everything but me being me I do my research. Before this appointment & test was done I was sure she had fluid that would need to be drained.  I do know that fluid sitting in the ear can cause hearing loss. So not knowing how long the fluid has been there (assuming its fluid) she could possibly have hearing loss. Right now we have a appointment with a ENT at the end of the month (hopefully sooner). I am positive he will do the ABR on her now (with out me having to ask) & then go from there).

This coming Friday we have a GI appointment for Emily to discuss her slow growth, allergies & stools. We are probably looking at getting a Celiacs test done to determine if that is the culprit. If her blood work comes back positive then she will have to have a GI scope (ewww poor baby). It is the only true way to diagnose Celiacs. More to come from that.

We are also getting a appointment for the Developmental Pediatrician. Like I mention before to diagnose her with Apraxia (medically). I am hoping that we can get this done quickly & not have it drawn out. To be honest between her & Cameron & their darn specialists, I am tired! Right now we have at least one appointment a week (if not two)! 

I think I have covered all of the high & low points (& that was mostly just Emily). Cameron had a GI appointment & is on new medication (due to insurance) & will have reflux for at least 6 months to a year longer. We are both now on a milk & soy free diet! Yippee! Alex & Hunter are great!