BackTrack Part 2

So much to catch up, so little time. I feel like we've had so many balls up in the air, that for us to catch any one of them at anytime, would be beyond amazing.

To say that Ethan has had the works when it comes to doctor evaluations would be an understatement. Mike and I are beginning to feel like hyperchondriacs! It doesn't help either that we keep getting sent to see every kind of doctor under the sun. Good thing Ethan does so well with doctors. I think he may actually look forward to most of them. Espcially if it involves any kind of blood work. Mike went for bloodwork, and while sitting in daddy's lap became upset because he wasn't getting his blood work done...definitely not my child!!

Anyway, since December Ethan has been evaluated by Child Find (Manchester School District), a neurologist, (Dr. Woods), an Ear Nose and Throat Specialist, (Dr. Spector), an Opthamologist (Dr. Morse), his primary care pedi., (Dr. Neefe) and will be seeing an Audiologist at the end of February as well!
Phew!

Let me see if I can shed some light on these visits.
We had him evaluated by Child Find to see if Ethan would qualify for a developmental preschool due to some of the behavioral, and delayed developmental issues he's been having. Long story short, they found him a delightful, intelligent, charismatic 4 year old who's learning hasn't been impeded by any kind of behavioral issues. Funny, that's not what a lot of the doctors have found, including Dr. Woods who determined that Ethan definitely had some delays that if corrected now, could help his development drastically change within the next two years! These delays include: adaptability, social/play skills, self-help skills and communication with same aged peers. She said that in the research she has been doing, his type of delays are secondary to Celiac Disease, and that it's been found that once these children have been gluten free for about two years, AND have some OT and other types of therapy in the interim, can become integrated into a regular school system, (or homeschooled).

So, we enrolled him at Our Lady of Mercy Applied Catholic Teaching Preschool. It is located in Merrimack so it will be a 20 minute drive in the morning. However, we only signed him up for the two day program. It starts in the autumn and will be on Tuesday and Thursday each week. Mike and I are very excited but very nervous about this for a couple of reasons. First of all we would very much like to homeschool, but at this time recognize the need for Ethan to be schooled in a public setting for now so that he can overcome some of these social development issues. We are nervous about this because Ethans issues include biting, hitting, spitting, etc. The last thing we want is for him to hurt other children or to have him kicked out of preschool because he is hurting the other children. He seemed to fall between the cracks, as far as we are concerned, through the school district, so that leaves us with trying to find a place for him that will help him develop socially. We pray that this school will be able to help him with this.

In the meantime, Ethan had his 4 year check up and with that came good news and not so good news. The good news, he's gained a total of 4 lbs over the course of a year. Hooray!! He is now 29 lbs.! Unbelievable. In actuality it has been more than that, because when he was diagnosed with Celiac Disease he was around the 24 lb mark and had lost 2 more pounds in the two weeks between his endoscopy and diagnosis. He grew a little bit in height as well, but not significant. The not so good news is that he failed his hearing and vision tests! In talking with his pedi. we also discussed having him evaluated by an ENT specialist for sleep apnea or other sleep related issues because Ethan has suddenly started napping for 2 hours during the day. We've noticed snoring, and more restlessness at night, so he's now scheduled for a sleep study in March. Upon xray they discovered that his adnoids are unusually large but not touching, so at this point they wouldn't recommend surgery to remove them. They will await the results of the sleep study first.

He also saw the opthamologist in Concord for his vision. We went to a specialist because I wear glasses and Mike had two eye surgeries before he was 5 years old. The pedi. just wanted to cover all the bases. (one of the reasons why I love her for my kids!) Upon walking in the exam room, Ethan took one look at the chair and for the first time ever said to the nurse, "Are you going to hurt me?" I was shocked. He's never shown any kind of sensitivity toward doctor's visits and usually looks forward to them. The only reason that I can think of as to why he said what he said is because at his pedi. appt. he had 3 immunizations and actually said "ow" when the last one was done. Hmmmm....pain threshold decreasing??
Anyway, come to find out he is extremely far sighted. I guess it's normal for kids to be farsighted, but Ethan is so extreme that they were surprised he wasn't crossed eyed yet. Typically kids will become cross eyed around 2 0r 3 yrs. old. So, for now we just keep an eye on him, (ha ha ha) to make sure he doesn't cross his eyes, and they will check him in 6 months. Most kids grow out of it. However, they checked my husband while we were in there, and he hasn't grown out of it yet, so we'll see. (oh those puns just keep coming!)

He has his audiologist appt. scheduled for the end of the month, so we'll have to get back to you on that one.

Wow, I think we are mostly caught up here. Unbelievable how much can happen in such a short period of time. At least we have come out on the otherside as a family who still loves each other and supports each other over every hurdle. God only gives us what he knows we can handle...