♥ our doctors!

During our vacation we encountered security in DC. While emptying Michael's stroller did not bother us one bit, it was frustrating explaining to the guards why Michael wouldn't walk by himself through the metal detectors. Then we had to deal with 'the looks'. The ones where we can tell they don't believe us because Michael appears so 'normal'. I wanted to say "Spend a few minutes with him and you'll SEE. Or, perhaps, I can let him out of the stroller, aim him in the right direction since you won't let me walk up with him, and see if he actually does what we're hoping (which we know he wouldn't. he would have bolted in another direction or clung onto me)". Instead, I smiled politely and kept explaining. I swear, if one of the guards wasn't so patriotic and thanking my husband for his service and what not, we wouldn't have gotten through. Of course, lining my son's stroller up to the detector and giving a good shove to Daddy waiting on the other side wasn't much better. We decided we needed 'proof' that Michael has a disability.

While talking about this with his teachers, because we didn't know if we needed to get proof from them as well as his doctors, ANOTHER issue arose. In the school system if your child's doctors can't come up with a diagnosis for why they are developmentally delayed, then around the ages of 8-9 your child can lose the special education they NEED. They will get put into a normal classroom with just an aide and teachers will pass them on through. Since Michael has only been diagnosed with Epilepsy they think the school will drop his extra care if we don't get a reason WHY he is delayed. Apparently, since he hasn't had a seizure in over 2 years, it is no longer a 'good enough' reason for him to be behind. While that IS annoying to hear, we do agree there is probably some other reason why he is developing slowly. (It just IRKS me that the school won't accept Epilepsy as a reason to need special ed). So today we went to the doctors to see about about both concerns. 

I'll start by saying, we LOVE his PCP. We NEVER feel rushed in her office. Her nurse is an amazing man with so much patience. It takes a long time just to do his blood pressure and pulse ox. Heck, half the time we can't even get him to stand on the scale or get measured! These two are amazing. Now we see her a few times a year so she knows us well. She was as annoyed with the situations as we were. The first was easy enough to get a quick fix on. She wrote a document stating his condition and needs that we will keep with us until we get something more permanent. Eventually, we'll get a handicap sticker. Soon enough, Michael will be too big to carry around. But the document will be nice to show people when we're already inside a building, asking for a handicap table to put his stroller up to because he can't fit in the high chairs anymore.
The school issue is a little trickier. His Dr. was not happy that he is still only receiving speech therapy. No one wants to take him on for physical or occupational since he can't understand what they are asking him to do. For  2 1/2 years we have heard this. So she will be dealing with the school. She also ordered a hearing test....another one... :)   so we can prove he CAN hear. That way, it shows he is capable of hearing us, he just isn't understanding us. He will also be seeing his developmental pediatrician (another doctor we LOVE) and get his opinion. They are thinking Autism right now. But nothing is being confirmed yet. She is ALSO putting in referrals with our insurance to cover physical, occupational, speech and ABA therapy. Some of these will be at Vanderbilt (over an hour away). Yay for having neighbors who could help with Liz, for Liz being almost 10 years old (in case I need to leave her alone for a short time) and for my husband's unit being VERY supportive (when they're not deployed or on TDY).
Today feels like a win. Even though we have new concerns (or perhaps old ones resurfaced) we have a great team working with us.