School nurse is giving me hassles and dr. is no help. Argh!!

[confuzzled]

I think I said this back when all this first started, so forgive me if i'm repeating myself....

the thing is, the difference between summer and school is ginormous. during the summer, if you aren't getting up a 5am, taking even one pill, eating breakfast at some ungodly hour and rushing around, it may be much easier for her to handle the medical side of things.
she has the luxury of waiting things out--even an hour extra may make all the difference in the world.

while i'm not saying there isn't anxiety involved, I strongly believe that until you get an underlying medical condition controlled, its a slippery slope to imply it. i'd agree that some therapy can help if its done right and doesn't imply its all in her head, I think i'd be enormously concerned that there is no improvement on the actual medical side and I might consider a second opinion like yesterday. no person should live like that.

not for nothing, I might have extreme anxiety if I was throwing up every.single.morning.

 

[Josie]

I agree with confuzzled. In fact, my daughter's stomach problems were diagnosed as anxiety. Going gluten free got rid of them. She does have anxiety but that was not causing her stomach problems. And, her anxiety is getting better by addressing all of her other medical issues.

For a while, my daughter was too sick to go to school. The mainstream doctors said it was due to a mood disorder. We continued working on her health issues as a medical problem rather than a mental problem and she got better. We went to alternative health care practitioners who took her medical complaints seriously and did not dismiss it as anxiety or a mood disorder. They see the anxiety as a symptom of the medical problems rather than the other way around. As an example, we recently added some thyroid medicine and I think she is less anxious. It wasn't intended for anxiety, but it appears to have helped.

You might have to go to alternative healthcare providers, too, to get more help. I like to go to integrative health practitioners who can and do prescribe regular medicines but also believe in nutrition, supplements, and other natural medicine. That way I know if a prescription is needed, they will be willing and able to write it.

The school part will wait, but her health needs won't. My daughter had to be homeschooled for a long time due to health issues and much of that time, she was too sick to get much done. She is back in school now and doing fine with some extra support.

If you can't go to an alternative doctor, the girlfriend diet might make all the difference in the world. Probably all of them would say to do that anyway.

 

[Californiablonde]

I agree, Confuzzled. The difference between summers and early school day mornings is huge. difficult child has even said herself that the later she wakes up, the better she feels. She used to throw up in the mornings and feel better later, but lately she's even been throwing up after lunch and dinner. The nurse told me right in front of difficult child that if she was fine all summer then she is obviously faking it, which I didn't appreciate. She has even accused difficult child of sticking her finger down her throat and making herself throw up. i can assure her that isn't happening. Most of the time I am a witness to her vomiting. She has even thrown up in my car and yesterday she threw up all over her clothes when my mom was driving her to the boys and girls club. She ended up having to turn around and take her back home because difficult child couldn't make it. difficult child loves the boys and girls club so if she was too sick to go I know she must be feeling really ill. Plus she had her endoscopy last April and they found three stomach ulcers, so it's not like she hasn't been diagnosed with anything. I don't appreciate the school nurse telling me it's all in her head, when evidence proves otherwise. The nurse in question is a real hard *** when it comes to sending kids home. Her assistant is much nicer. Unfortunately a few days ago the assistant wasn't there and we had to deal with her instead.

 

[InsaneCdn]

ANY school staff who tells me my kids are faking ANYTHING is in for a major war.
Calling stuff "psychosomatic", maybe - can anxiety cause physical symptoms? yes. Can physical symptoms cause anxiety? yes. It can be hard to tell which is the chicken and which is the egg. But FAKING it? She deserves to be reported... somehow, somewhere, to someone... this is simply making the whole situation much worse.

 

[Liahona]

Any luck on getting an advocate? The school isn't going to tell you all the options open.

Insane is right. That nurse is awful.

 

[Californiablonde]

The only names I got for advocates so far are lawyers who charge money. I even googled "free" and all that came up was free education. IEP is this week after her psychiatric appointment on Wednesay. I'm afraid there's no time for an advocate now. The school psychiatric is recommending she go to a continuation school, but if she can't make it to regular school I don't know how he thinks she can make it there. I am going to ask the psychiatrist to recommend home teaching. This morning my supervisor noticed she was out again and told me she was not excusing it. After I already got through telling her difficult child's issues she is still giving me a hard time. At least the nurse's aide is sympathetic. She asked me today how difficult child is doing. I told her they are still running more tests and difficult child is still throwing up. She believes she has a real illness that is preventing her from attending school. So far the school psychiatric and her are the only ones here who are taking this seriously.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Did you contact your ministry of education directly and ask about advocates for special needs students? "google" doesn't always work well... most of the time, you get farther talking to real people.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I don't know the quality of these links, but... I ran some 'off the wall' searches:
http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/governmentprograms/tp/California_disability_contacts.htm

http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/oah/SE/SE advocacy list.pdf


https://www.facebook.com/SEAOFCA

 

[Californiablonde]

Thank you for the links. I got ahold of an agency that is low to no cost and I emailed them a little bit about my daughter and her case. They say on their website the initial consultation is free. Hopefully I hear back from them.

 

[Liahona]

http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/qa/caprntorg.asp

Here are some more. I'd change the date of the IEP so an advocate could come especially if they are talking change of placement.

I think working there will make it actually harder for you to get what she needs.

 

[Californiablonde]

Well I just heard back from the agency. They sent me an email asking if I have a copy of her current IEP and wanting to know when the next meeting is scheduled for. I answered back and told them I do have her IEP and I'm not sure exactly when the next one will be taking place. The school psychiatric told us on Monday that it would be some time this week, but I still haven't heard if it has actually been scheduled or not. I can't believe the agency responded so quickly. I am rather impressed. I feel as if we are making progress, even if only a little bit.

 

[Liahona]

Yea!!! Hope they can help.