Friday, January 21, 2011
Finally better
Nikko's fever broke some time overnight but he was warm all day. The lethargy was almost gone because he sat (and leaned) and played with the train set. His appetite was so-so until the afternoon when he went gaga over peaches. But by the day's end he was probably overtired from not napping all day. For the past two days he was in and out of sleep and today he didn't nap at all. I took an hour to go to the school and observe the Kindergarten / Extended Support Program. Atz came over to watch Nikko and Audrey. She told me that he didn't whine or put up a fight when I left. It was good to observe how the classrooms were structured. Upon visiting the ESP room, I felt at east that it was a place where Nikko could get work done. I can envision his ABA drills being done there. What totally freaks me out is the idea of him being at school the entire day, even through lunchtime. He's not the best eater. I've got to start him on grilled cheese sammies or something friendly for school! He's not eating chicken nuggets like he used to. I wonder if cold pizza will hold up in a lunch box? In case he relapses tomorrow morning, I cancelled his speech at APL. While I want him to keep moving forward in speech and everything else, I also want him functioning at 100%. I think his sickness this week made him crabby and weaker so we've got to hit the reset button over the weekend.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Still sick, and an epiphany
Day 2 of Nikko's fever. He was lethargic all day except for a two-hour window around lunchtime. He perked up a little bit and ate a biscuit with (fake) butter on it and some grapes. I had called the gastro in the morning and they told me to keep adding miralax to his pedialyte. I worried that yesterday he didn't have any at all and that would back him up. But this afternoon he had a big bowel movement that was equivalent to a liquidy backup. I hope it continues, quite honestly. Then he went back to Mr. Lethargic in the afternoon/evening. I brought him a biscuit and grapes to the floor during dinner and to my surprise he ate it. He asked for more grapes. No throwing up so far. And when he asked for "A-chocalata-pop-a-TART?" I could see that he was on the mend. His fever broke and now he was at a low temperature. I cancelled his early morning ABA in the hopes that he'll get some rest before going to school tomorrow.
On another note, I had an epiphany earlier this evening.
It was almost bath time for Audrey. The living room looked chaotic. We try to clean up everything before bath time starts so that I don’t have to pick up after everyone goes to bed. Most of the toys have assigned bins which the kids have recognized. The challenge was getting the kids to continue the clean up process.
I announced that it was time to clean up and started singing the school-based clean-up song. Audrey didn’t budge from her pile of stuffed animals. Ronin started picking up a Mater tow truck to put it away, then settled down in front of the car bin to play with it longer.
“Clean up, guys!” I started bellowing, making a big production by picking up random toys and tossing them into their bins. I noticed that each kid was idling with a toy that was headed to a bin. I turned off the TV and kept bellowing at them to pick up toys. [Nikko was lying on the floor, sick and lethargic, so he was exempt].
I was shoving a random toy into a colored bin when I knelt down in front of a bookcase and yelled, “Why? Why is this SO hard? Why can’t you guys just clean up when it’s time? I don’t want to be yelling at you guys to clean up for the rest of my life! Jesus, WHY can’t they do this?”
Suddenly I felt like a bolt of lightning struck my brain because the next thought was, “Because they need help. They don’t know what to do. There are bins, but they don’t know where to start or what to put away first. I think I need to list them down. That’s right. I’ll make a list of each toy category and then they can see what needs to be put away next.”
The wheels in my head were spinning as I got a tablet of paper and a marker. I drew a checkbox and next to it I wrote: CARS/NEW CARS. Below that was another checkbox and next to it was the word TRAINS. Next checkbox and TEA PARTY BIN/FOOD/DISHES. Then was STUFFED ANIMALS, POPPOLO, PILLOW PETS. After that was AUDREY’S PURSES. Then was FIGURINES. The last checkbox said EXTRAS/COUCH. I basically scanned the living room to see what bins needed to be filled and put away, then listed them. I showed the kids which item was next and helped them pinpoint the toys in the room.
It totally worked. They found toys, they put it in the bins, they put the bins away. The floor was clear in an instant and I gave high fives and praise. I resolved to put the checklist on paper, laminate it and then tape it to the wall. We can even put a check with a dry erase marker to indicate what was accomplished. I was shocked that the clean-up list was so simple and effective.
On another note, I had an epiphany earlier this evening.
It was almost bath time for Audrey. The living room looked chaotic. We try to clean up everything before bath time starts so that I don’t have to pick up after everyone goes to bed. Most of the toys have assigned bins which the kids have recognized. The challenge was getting the kids to continue the clean up process.
I announced that it was time to clean up and started singing the school-based clean-up song. Audrey didn’t budge from her pile of stuffed animals. Ronin started picking up a Mater tow truck to put it away, then settled down in front of the car bin to play with it longer.
“Clean up, guys!” I started bellowing, making a big production by picking up random toys and tossing them into their bins. I noticed that each kid was idling with a toy that was headed to a bin. I turned off the TV and kept bellowing at them to pick up toys. [Nikko was lying on the floor, sick and lethargic, so he was exempt].
I was shoving a random toy into a colored bin when I knelt down in front of a bookcase and yelled, “Why? Why is this SO hard? Why can’t you guys just clean up when it’s time? I don’t want to be yelling at you guys to clean up for the rest of my life! Jesus, WHY can’t they do this?”
Suddenly I felt like a bolt of lightning struck my brain because the next thought was, “Because they need help. They don’t know what to do. There are bins, but they don’t know where to start or what to put away first. I think I need to list them down. That’s right. I’ll make a list of each toy category and then they can see what needs to be put away next.”
The wheels in my head were spinning as I got a tablet of paper and a marker. I drew a checkbox and next to it I wrote: CARS/NEW CARS. Below that was another checkbox and next to it was the word TRAINS. Next checkbox and TEA PARTY BIN/FOOD/DISHES. Then was STUFFED ANIMALS, POPPOLO, PILLOW PETS. After that was AUDREY’S PURSES. Then was FIGURINES. The last checkbox said EXTRAS/COUCH. I basically scanned the living room to see what bins needed to be filled and put away, then listed them. I showed the kids which item was next and helped them pinpoint the toys in the room.
It totally worked. They found toys, they put it in the bins, they put the bins away. The floor was clear in an instant and I gave high fives and praise. I resolved to put the checklist on paper, laminate it and then tape it to the wall. We can even put a check with a dry erase marker to indicate what was accomplished. I was shocked that the clean-up list was so simple and effective.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Nikko is sick.
Nikko was sick all day today. He was lethargic and lay on the floor going in and out of consciousness (sleeping). He didn't eat. He drank some juice at first, but he would throw it up within minutes afterward. As the day progressed, he was throwing up frothy spit, then I saw the yellow traces of bile. Finally, this afternoon, I was able to get some flavorless pedialyte and I put it in a sippy with ice. Somehow he took sips of that and was able to hold it down in his tummy. But later in the day he walked to the kitchen, took a few sips of regular juice, and then promptly started throwing that up again. I stuck to the pedialyte. He went to bed but woke up around 11:30p. It was a good opportunity to try and hydrate him again so I took him into the living room and let him lay beside me while I folded laundry. He curled up in the same spot, the crook of the couch on top of some pillows. I walked him back to bed and I think he's resting again but I'll check on him before I go to sleep. He didn't go to school today and I don't think I can let him go again tomorrow since he's not fever-free as of tonight. My biggest worry in the back of my mind is that he will become constipated again, and all those enema efforts will go out the window. We'll see how tomorrow plays out.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Pinata, and finally adminstering "it"
I'm behind on posts.
1/14 - Nikko had a good session on Friday with Karen. No fighting or resistance. She even maintained using the therapeutic listening CDs with him, and apparently he's putting on headphones with no problem. One thing I got out of our post-session wrap up is that Karen suggested minimizing the number of hours of TV he watches in a week. This is to reduce the ambient noise around him. Apparently, Nikko doesn't multi-task well and may have trouble filtering out which sounds are the most important ones he should be listening to. This in turn might speed up his response time pertaining to processing words.
School report: Speech - yesterday - good categorization and labeling common food, animals, clothes. Greetings, yes/no. Today - I see _____, yes/no, singing songs.
On Saturday we took the kids to our group's after holidays Holiday Party. It was at a big house in Streamwood. We have been there before, despite Ronin & Audrey's initial resistance to leaving my side upon arrival. Nikko, however, took off his shoes and socks and took off running. He didn't seem to mind all the roughhousing boys around him or the noises from laughing adults in the kitchen. He loved going up and down the carpeted staircase, running down a hallway and descending the staircase leading to the back of the kitchen. At one point I even saw him running in the horde, giving little shoves to the backs of some of the boys, then smiling and running away in a mock game of chase. It was only during the pinata moment that I held Nikko back. They were using a real wooden baseball bat and I didn't want Nikko to step in unexpectedly. We got home a little after midnight from all the cavorting around. This made me think the kids would be ultra-tired the next day. Not a chance. Today, everyone was running full steam ahead. Nikko fell asleep for an hour in the early evening, unfortunately. This affected his sleep patterns and so he lay awake from 9p-12p, talking, giggling and singing to himself in his room. At least he didn't try to bolt. But he was in the dark except for a small night light. One little nap can wreak havoc just hours later.
I can't believe I forgot to mention that on Saturday morning and Sunday late afternoon, we administered the enemas on Nikko. We put a towel down in Ronin's room, gave Nikko lollipops, and lay him on his side to administer the formula. Nikko was terrible upset, uncomfortable, angry and crying. We waited for a minute or two, then walked him to the bathroom to sit on the toilet until he expelled whatever was in his bowels. We did it, he survived, so did I. :)
1/14 - Nikko had a good session on Friday with Karen. No fighting or resistance. She even maintained using the therapeutic listening CDs with him, and apparently he's putting on headphones with no problem. One thing I got out of our post-session wrap up is that Karen suggested minimizing the number of hours of TV he watches in a week. This is to reduce the ambient noise around him. Apparently, Nikko doesn't multi-task well and may have trouble filtering out which sounds are the most important ones he should be listening to. This in turn might speed up his response time pertaining to processing words.
School report: Speech - yesterday - good categorization and labeling common food, animals, clothes. Greetings, yes/no. Today - I see _____, yes/no, singing songs.
On Saturday we took the kids to our group's after holidays Holiday Party. It was at a big house in Streamwood. We have been there before, despite Ronin & Audrey's initial resistance to leaving my side upon arrival. Nikko, however, took off his shoes and socks and took off running. He didn't seem to mind all the roughhousing boys around him or the noises from laughing adults in the kitchen. He loved going up and down the carpeted staircase, running down a hallway and descending the staircase leading to the back of the kitchen. At one point I even saw him running in the horde, giving little shoves to the backs of some of the boys, then smiling and running away in a mock game of chase. It was only during the pinata moment that I held Nikko back. They were using a real wooden baseball bat and I didn't want Nikko to step in unexpectedly. We got home a little after midnight from all the cavorting around. This made me think the kids would be ultra-tired the next day. Not a chance. Today, everyone was running full steam ahead. Nikko fell asleep for an hour in the early evening, unfortunately. This affected his sleep patterns and so he lay awake from 9p-12p, talking, giggling and singing to himself in his room. At least he didn't try to bolt. But he was in the dark except for a small night light. One little nap can wreak havoc just hours later.
I can't believe I forgot to mention that on Saturday morning and Sunday late afternoon, we administered the enemas on Nikko. We put a towel down in Ronin's room, gave Nikko lollipops, and lay him on his side to administer the formula. Nikko was terrible upset, uncomfortable, angry and crying. We waited for a minute or two, then walked him to the bathroom to sit on the toilet until he expelled whatever was in his bowels. We did it, he survived, so did I. :)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Noncompliance again
1/13/11 School notes - Bathroom: Nikko pooped. It was more like diarrhea. Grayish/brown. He also made regular brown poop on the toilet. Very gassy.
And on the back of that report: Nikko was on the toilet and I went in to ask if he went poopoo - He said "I did! A bunch and bunch of poopoo!" He said it 2 times! Yay! :)
Did I read that correctly? I reread that paragraph and am shocked and stunned. First, he pooped on the toilet at school. He has rarely ever pooped on the toilet at home. That is amazing. Second, he said something that was totally in context with the situation. Where did he get the words bunch and bunch? I'm really, REALLY happy that he said something, twice, but imagining normal-sounding phrases to come out of his mouth is just so surreal. I would like to get this caught off-guard in a good way, more often.
I wish I could say his 8:30a ABA session went as smoothly. Sarah came to play with him and I think he didn't want to sit at the table with her. She said that she blocked him from escaping the table by sitting next to him, and barring him from crawling underneath the table, so he gave up trying to get away from her and sat and cried and screamed for 15 minutes. It was a LONG 15 minutes. I think five minutes into his tantrum I sat up hear and realized it was still going on. However, unlike on Wednesday, I didn't make a move to go down and save him. His cries sounded angry and mad, but I figured that he should stick it out with her, that there was still plenty of time to get work done. Good thing I didn't go downstairs because he did stop crying after 15 minutes and then continued to work at the table the rest of the session. He challenged Sarah and she didn't give in. Fine.
I think Nikko is challenging everyone in authority around here. Not only has he been noncompliant with Kathy, Sarah and Rebecca, but today when he got home from school he tried to pull that stuff on ME. It's winter and there is a lot of gear the kids wear to leave the house for school. When they come home, the floor is littered with their socks, shoes, backpacks, jackets and hats. It's more stuff to put away than usual, but I still demand that the kids adhere to our routine of putting their shoes back in the cubby, their hats in the cubby bins, and to hang up their backpacks and jackets. They do it at school, they can do it at home! I know they are probably cranky, tired and hungry from getting off the bus, but I still want them to put their gear away before having their snack. Today, Nikko sat at the kitchen table and wanted cheese puffs. I said, "First put away backpack, shoes, jacket and hat. THEN cheese puffs." Well, Nikko didn't want any part of that. He sat and whined & cried. I repeated my request and he flatly refused to budge. I tried to drag him, made him pick up his jacket which he angrily released to the floor, so I walked away from him. He was still pretty mad, but I kept repeating my request. He stood up at one point so I quickly ushered him toward the cubby area and shoved his backpack into his hands. He was protesting, but eventually caved in and [angrily] hung up his stuff. THEN I put a bowl of cheese puffs in front of him. As promised.
One more instance this evening when I thought I was going to lose another battle was clean-up time before taking a bath. Denis was home by this time so it was better to have his support in encouraging the kids to pick up toys. The three were sitting around the Hungry Hungry Hippo game, fighting of course. I decided that they could not play with it during clean up, so I quickly disassembled it and put it in the box. Nikko was pretty mad because he wanted to play with it. "FIRST clean up, THEN Hungry Hungry Hippos," I announced to him while putting it up on a shelf slightly taller than him. Nikko was whining/screaming for it, but I started putting toy cars in his hands, then figurines, and any toy that needed to be put away. Nikko's demeanor soon changed to laughing/whining as he kept dancing in front of the shelf, expecting to get the toy but being interrupted by me making him put away other toys. It took a good few minutes to get the living room cleared, and as promised, I took the game back out and put it on the floor. This First/Then concept is really of the utmost importance for him right now. Nikko is impulsive, but is learning that he needs to accomplish what is first before being allowed to do/have what is next [then]. I am wondering if I should put another schedule in place here in the kitchen for putting away outerwear. Maybe there are too many steps to remember without being prompted.
And on the back of that report: Nikko was on the toilet and I went in to ask if he went poopoo - He said "I did! A bunch and bunch of poopoo!" He said it 2 times! Yay! :)
Did I read that correctly? I reread that paragraph and am shocked and stunned. First, he pooped on the toilet at school. He has rarely ever pooped on the toilet at home. That is amazing. Second, he said something that was totally in context with the situation. Where did he get the words bunch and bunch? I'm really, REALLY happy that he said something, twice, but imagining normal-sounding phrases to come out of his mouth is just so surreal. I would like to get this caught off-guard in a good way, more often.
I wish I could say his 8:30a ABA session went as smoothly. Sarah came to play with him and I think he didn't want to sit at the table with her. She said that she blocked him from escaping the table by sitting next to him, and barring him from crawling underneath the table, so he gave up trying to get away from her and sat and cried and screamed for 15 minutes. It was a LONG 15 minutes. I think five minutes into his tantrum I sat up hear and realized it was still going on. However, unlike on Wednesday, I didn't make a move to go down and save him. His cries sounded angry and mad, but I figured that he should stick it out with her, that there was still plenty of time to get work done. Good thing I didn't go downstairs because he did stop crying after 15 minutes and then continued to work at the table the rest of the session. He challenged Sarah and she didn't give in. Fine.
I think Nikko is challenging everyone in authority around here. Not only has he been noncompliant with Kathy, Sarah and Rebecca, but today when he got home from school he tried to pull that stuff on ME. It's winter and there is a lot of gear the kids wear to leave the house for school. When they come home, the floor is littered with their socks, shoes, backpacks, jackets and hats. It's more stuff to put away than usual, but I still demand that the kids adhere to our routine of putting their shoes back in the cubby, their hats in the cubby bins, and to hang up their backpacks and jackets. They do it at school, they can do it at home! I know they are probably cranky, tired and hungry from getting off the bus, but I still want them to put their gear away before having their snack. Today, Nikko sat at the kitchen table and wanted cheese puffs. I said, "First put away backpack, shoes, jacket and hat. THEN cheese puffs." Well, Nikko didn't want any part of that. He sat and whined & cried. I repeated my request and he flatly refused to budge. I tried to drag him, made him pick up his jacket which he angrily released to the floor, so I walked away from him. He was still pretty mad, but I kept repeating my request. He stood up at one point so I quickly ushered him toward the cubby area and shoved his backpack into his hands. He was protesting, but eventually caved in and [angrily] hung up his stuff. THEN I put a bowl of cheese puffs in front of him. As promised.
One more instance this evening when I thought I was going to lose another battle was clean-up time before taking a bath. Denis was home by this time so it was better to have his support in encouraging the kids to pick up toys. The three were sitting around the Hungry Hungry Hippo game, fighting of course. I decided that they could not play with it during clean up, so I quickly disassembled it and put it in the box. Nikko was pretty mad because he wanted to play with it. "FIRST clean up, THEN Hungry Hungry Hippos," I announced to him while putting it up on a shelf slightly taller than him. Nikko was whining/screaming for it, but I started putting toy cars in his hands, then figurines, and any toy that needed to be put away. Nikko's demeanor soon changed to laughing/whining as he kept dancing in front of the shelf, expecting to get the toy but being interrupted by me making him put away other toys. It took a good few minutes to get the living room cleared, and as promised, I took the game back out and put it on the floor. This First/Then concept is really of the utmost importance for him right now. Nikko is impulsive, but is learning that he needs to accomplish what is first before being allowed to do/have what is next [then]. I am wondering if I should put another schedule in place here in the kitchen for putting away outerwear. Maybe there are too many steps to remember without being prompted.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Gains and the missing schedule setback
1/12/11 - School report - OT: Tried swing - but didn't like it - Finally got him to say "No swing" when I wouldn't let him off. Worked on coloring, drawing faces/name printing & took cutting samples.
Bathroom: Nikko's pull-up was wet but he also went potty in the toilet. We are ok with pull-ups for now.
We went to speech today. Nikko willingly took Lisa's hand and turned to say good bye mom when she prompted him. After his session, Lisa said he had a really good one. They went to the motor room, just the two of them, and they played with bean bags pushing them down the slide. She said he vocalized a lot and it was appropriate for the situation, saying Crash when the bean bags hit the bottom. Lisa remarked that in the room, when she was doing an exercise with him, it might have mirrored something he does during ABA because he hesitated and gave her a sidelong glance as if to say, "Hey, she's making me WORK now!" Lisa thinks Nikko perceives coming to Arlington Pediatric Therapy as fun, and I would have to agree that Nikko seems to enjoy going to his speech sessions, no arguments or resistance whatsoever. And there's the promise of a lollipop at the end, too, go figure.
Nikko came back from school in a good mood, asking for cheese puffs once he got into the kitchen. He was going to work with Rebecca and I don't think he's warmed up to her just yet. I was hopeful, because after she arrived and everyone went downstairs, it was pretty quiet for an hour. I could hear Rebecca encouraging Nikko loudly. But after an hour, they both came upstairs. Rebecca told me that she could not find the yellow picture schedule anywhere in the bin, and Nikko wouldn't do any work because he follows that schedule closely. That really surprised me, one because I had just trimmed a ragged edge from that schedule two days ago, and two because Kathy just worked with him yesterday and didn't mention a missing schedule. We went downstairs and hunted for it for 5-10 minutes. I finally found that it had fallen between a low table and the projection screen. The problem was that Nikko thought he was done working for the day, and refused to let me go upstairs and leave without him crying. Still, I left with the hope that the session would resume. It didn't. He was protesting and screaming, and I could hear Rebecca say, "NO, Nikko." So I went downstairs to end the session, knowing she probably wouldn't get any more work done out of Nikko. Sadly, it was probably a wasted session overall. She and I both think he's still getting used to her and is trying figure out if she will be a pushover or will be a force to be reckoned with.
I've also decided to delay the enemas until the weekend. It doesn't make sense to me to administer then so soon after dinner and too close to bath/bed time. Maybe if dinner were at 5pm, but I need Denis' help to do this and he doesn't get home until after 7p, sometimes 7:30p. I will just do it on Saturday and Sunday morning, so I have the rest of the morning and afternoon to monitor his bowel movements. He's been through too much trauma the past few days, and I am also short on patience right now.
Bathroom: Nikko's pull-up was wet but he also went potty in the toilet. We are ok with pull-ups for now.
We went to speech today. Nikko willingly took Lisa's hand and turned to say good bye mom when she prompted him. After his session, Lisa said he had a really good one. They went to the motor room, just the two of them, and they played with bean bags pushing them down the slide. She said he vocalized a lot and it was appropriate for the situation, saying Crash when the bean bags hit the bottom. Lisa remarked that in the room, when she was doing an exercise with him, it might have mirrored something he does during ABA because he hesitated and gave her a sidelong glance as if to say, "Hey, she's making me WORK now!" Lisa thinks Nikko perceives coming to Arlington Pediatric Therapy as fun, and I would have to agree that Nikko seems to enjoy going to his speech sessions, no arguments or resistance whatsoever. And there's the promise of a lollipop at the end, too, go figure.
Nikko came back from school in a good mood, asking for cheese puffs once he got into the kitchen. He was going to work with Rebecca and I don't think he's warmed up to her just yet. I was hopeful, because after she arrived and everyone went downstairs, it was pretty quiet for an hour. I could hear Rebecca encouraging Nikko loudly. But after an hour, they both came upstairs. Rebecca told me that she could not find the yellow picture schedule anywhere in the bin, and Nikko wouldn't do any work because he follows that schedule closely. That really surprised me, one because I had just trimmed a ragged edge from that schedule two days ago, and two because Kathy just worked with him yesterday and didn't mention a missing schedule. We went downstairs and hunted for it for 5-10 minutes. I finally found that it had fallen between a low table and the projection screen. The problem was that Nikko thought he was done working for the day, and refused to let me go upstairs and leave without him crying. Still, I left with the hope that the session would resume. It didn't. He was protesting and screaming, and I could hear Rebecca say, "NO, Nikko." So I went downstairs to end the session, knowing she probably wouldn't get any more work done out of Nikko. Sadly, it was probably a wasted session overall. She and I both think he's still getting used to her and is trying figure out if she will be a pushover or will be a force to be reckoned with.
I've also decided to delay the enemas until the weekend. It doesn't make sense to me to administer then so soon after dinner and too close to bath/bed time. Maybe if dinner were at 5pm, but I need Denis' help to do this and he doesn't get home until after 7p, sometimes 7:30p. I will just do it on Saturday and Sunday morning, so I have the rest of the morning and afternoon to monitor his bowel movements. He's been through too much trauma the past few days, and I am also short on patience right now.
Gastro orders
Dr. Nelson's nurse called me today with the doc's instructions and results:
Celiac testing came out normal.
X-ray results showed gas in the colon (probably normal) and a large amount of stool in the left side of the rectum toward the end. Therefore, she recommends the following:
-Use a pediatric Fleet enema 2 evenings in a row.
-Continue the 1/2 capful 2x/day of Miralax.
-Give him one teaspoon of Fletcher's at bedtime. (Fletcher's Castoria is made of natural Senna, an herb, a derivative of the senokot [root], a laxative.
-Try sitting after meals on the toilet, 5-10 minutes, within 1/2 hour after eating.
The reason why we're continuing another month of cleansing is because the colon and rectum are so stretched out right now that it needs to be cleaned out, and propel things through, so that the colon and rectum will return to its normal state. This could take a while. I found Fletcher's at CVS Pharmacy, but they didn't have the pediatric version of the Fleet enema. The pharmacist said she ordered some and will be in tomorrow after 11a. Guess I'll be making another trip out in the afternoon for that. And then I'll have to get Denis to help me hold Nikko down while administering the enema. Greeeaaaaat.
Today I visited the Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization (NSSEO) to return a VHS tape and get the PECS DVD to watch. While there, I had the opportunity to look at the other books and videos available for checking out. I picked up a behavioral intervention book that I've been looking/waiting for on amazon for months, a challenging behavior book, and a toilet training book. Great resources, but now I have to find some time to read all this!
And get this, his school report today:
Speech - Better attention today. Naming pictures, greeting, started association puzzles - 2 piece puzzles, he did pretty well: cake/candles, paintbrush/paint, train/train track. He was rubbing his eyes and I said, "Are you tired?" He said, "I want sleepy time." and laid down! It was a brief rest and then we did "I see ____"
I can hardly believe that happened. He usually requests food and only food. But sleepy time is totally out of context for where he was at, so that really says something about his developing self-awareness. That is truly awesome. Now, if I can figure out a way to get some fish oil into that kid, to do some brain boosting, I'll be set. :)
Celiac testing came out normal.
X-ray results showed gas in the colon (probably normal) and a large amount of stool in the left side of the rectum toward the end. Therefore, she recommends the following:
-Use a pediatric Fleet enema 2 evenings in a row.
-Continue the 1/2 capful 2x/day of Miralax.
-Give him one teaspoon of Fletcher's at bedtime. (Fletcher's Castoria is made of natural Senna, an herb, a derivative of the senokot [root], a laxative.
-Try sitting after meals on the toilet, 5-10 minutes, within 1/2 hour after eating.
The reason why we're continuing another month of cleansing is because the colon and rectum are so stretched out right now that it needs to be cleaned out, and propel things through, so that the colon and rectum will return to its normal state. This could take a while. I found Fletcher's at CVS Pharmacy, but they didn't have the pediatric version of the Fleet enema. The pharmacist said she ordered some and will be in tomorrow after 11a. Guess I'll be making another trip out in the afternoon for that. And then I'll have to get Denis to help me hold Nikko down while administering the enema. Greeeaaaaat.
Today I visited the Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization (NSSEO) to return a VHS tape and get the PECS DVD to watch. While there, I had the opportunity to look at the other books and videos available for checking out. I picked up a behavioral intervention book that I've been looking/waiting for on amazon for months, a challenging behavior book, and a toilet training book. Great resources, but now I have to find some time to read all this!
And get this, his school report today:
Speech - Better attention today. Naming pictures, greeting, started association puzzles - 2 piece puzzles, he did pretty well: cake/candles, paintbrush/paint, train/train track. He was rubbing his eyes and I said, "Are you tired?" He said, "I want sleepy time." and laid down! It was a brief rest and then we did "I see ____"
I can hardly believe that happened. He usually requests food and only food. But sleepy time is totally out of context for where he was at, so that really says something about his developing self-awareness. That is truly awesome. Now, if I can figure out a way to get some fish oil into that kid, to do some brain boosting, I'll be set. :)
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