The school year has come to an end for Todd and Kourtney. Shaelyn and I feel a little off schedule now that we have the two of them home. I guess they will have to learn to adapt to our routine.
This last month has been extremely difficult on Kourtney. The warmer days have brought much discomfort at school and her skin has broken down like I have never seen it before. The frustration for me has been the fact that it is happening at school and not at home. It isn't that she is being bumped either, but the fact she is scratching herself nonstop.
I have really had to reevaluate the whole school thing as this has been such a tough year for Kourtney and our stress level has been huge. She missed 35 days of school and was brought late every morning and picked up early every day. This seemed to help a lot as far as her not getting run down but I found myself getting extremely tired not having a good break from her for the day and also trying to keep up with her studies. Another thing was having a teacher's assistant that was up at the school who was assigned to Kourtney, yet Kourtney was not there for a good part of the year. It was mentioned that the teacher's assistant could come to our home to help with her studies but I would have to be home during that time. I knew this would not be good as Kourtney will do anything to make sure I am involved with her when someone else is over, plus there are days that grocery shopping or going for walks gives me a mental health break.
We had asked for a nurse to go to school with Kourtney but we were turned down as the committee did not feel that Kourtney required a nurse. I felt adamant that we needed a change for Kourtney this next year as I was completely exhausted and could not go on with the same system. I honestly felt that keeping her home might be an option because I felt I would like to keep her environment stable. But on the other hand the social interaction was necessary for Kourtney and the break mandatory for myself.
As June was drawing close to an end I noticed Kourtney becoming more and more frustrated with her teacher's assistant. I put myself into Kourtney's shoes and realized how agitated I would be if I had someone like her following me around everyday. The more I prayed, the more signs I received that we needed a change.
In my many conversations with my mom she finally told me that I needed to call Carol Clark (she looks after special need children in the district). I said I had tried but she hadn’t returned my call (after a week). My mom told me she would take it to the Lord . . . sure enough an hour later Carol Clark called and apologized for not calling back (that is what I call a heavenly nudge). She agreed we needed a change and she absolutely agreed that Kourtney needed a nurse at school with her. So we arranged for a meeting. I called our nursing supervisor to invite her to the meeting for the next week. She couldn't make it but she said that the next day she was presenting cases to the committee that approves nursing support for special needs children. She said that it was a long shot but she would try for approval again.
Having a nurse at school with Kourtney would allow me more freedom. If Kourtney was ever sick the nurse could come home and be with Kourtney and I wouldn't have to be there. Plus we wanted to put Kourtney in a twice weekly swimming program but I would be fully responsible for the dressings after swimming, and that would just burn me out, plus Shaelyn loses out on time with me also.
The nursing supervisor called me the next day. FULL TIME NURSE FOR KOURTNEY AT SCHOOL!!!!
I cried tears of relief and joy and the summer months became much more relaxing for me. Kourtney was ecstatic with the news of the change and the fact she will be in a swimming program.
Persistence in prayer and listening to that still small voice is what this is all about. I am not sure why sometimes life's little lessons are more difficult for some to learn than others but I have such a thankful heart and very thankful for the small miracles. Still waiting for the big one . . . I still pray everyday for Kourtney's complete and total healing.
Thanks for all your prayers. We are headed to Alberta, Saskatchewan and than to Penticton (our annual summer vacation). We are looking forward to reuniting with friends and family and just being together with our little family.
Love with a sigh of relief,
Janelle
This last month has been extremely difficult on Kourtney. The warmer days have brought much discomfort at school and her skin has broken down like I have never seen it before. The frustration for me has been the fact that it is happening at school and not at home. It isn't that she is being bumped either, but the fact she is scratching herself nonstop.
I have really had to reevaluate the whole school thing as this has been such a tough year for Kourtney and our stress level has been huge. She missed 35 days of school and was brought late every morning and picked up early every day. This seemed to help a lot as far as her not getting run down but I found myself getting extremely tired not having a good break from her for the day and also trying to keep up with her studies. Another thing was having a teacher's assistant that was up at the school who was assigned to Kourtney, yet Kourtney was not there for a good part of the year. It was mentioned that the teacher's assistant could come to our home to help with her studies but I would have to be home during that time. I knew this would not be good as Kourtney will do anything to make sure I am involved with her when someone else is over, plus there are days that grocery shopping or going for walks gives me a mental health break.
We had asked for a nurse to go to school with Kourtney but we were turned down as the committee did not feel that Kourtney required a nurse. I felt adamant that we needed a change for Kourtney this next year as I was completely exhausted and could not go on with the same system. I honestly felt that keeping her home might be an option because I felt I would like to keep her environment stable. But on the other hand the social interaction was necessary for Kourtney and the break mandatory for myself.
As June was drawing close to an end I noticed Kourtney becoming more and more frustrated with her teacher's assistant. I put myself into Kourtney's shoes and realized how agitated I would be if I had someone like her following me around everyday. The more I prayed, the more signs I received that we needed a change.
In my many conversations with my mom she finally told me that I needed to call Carol Clark (she looks after special need children in the district). I said I had tried but she hadn’t returned my call (after a week). My mom told me she would take it to the Lord . . . sure enough an hour later Carol Clark called and apologized for not calling back (that is what I call a heavenly nudge). She agreed we needed a change and she absolutely agreed that Kourtney needed a nurse at school with her. So we arranged for a meeting. I called our nursing supervisor to invite her to the meeting for the next week. She couldn't make it but she said that the next day she was presenting cases to the committee that approves nursing support for special needs children. She said that it was a long shot but she would try for approval again.
Having a nurse at school with Kourtney would allow me more freedom. If Kourtney was ever sick the nurse could come home and be with Kourtney and I wouldn't have to be there. Plus we wanted to put Kourtney in a twice weekly swimming program but I would be fully responsible for the dressings after swimming, and that would just burn me out, plus Shaelyn loses out on time with me also.
The nursing supervisor called me the next day. FULL TIME NURSE FOR KOURTNEY AT SCHOOL!!!!
I cried tears of relief and joy and the summer months became much more relaxing for me. Kourtney was ecstatic with the news of the change and the fact she will be in a swimming program.
Persistence in prayer and listening to that still small voice is what this is all about. I am not sure why sometimes life's little lessons are more difficult for some to learn than others but I have such a thankful heart and very thankful for the small miracles. Still waiting for the big one . . . I still pray everyday for Kourtney's complete and total healing.
Thanks for all your prayers. We are headed to Alberta, Saskatchewan and than to Penticton (our annual summer vacation). We are looking forward to reuniting with friends and family and just being together with our little family.
Love with a sigh of relief,
Janelle
