We spent the last two weeks fighting the battle of H1N1 (Or as I like to call it Hone None). I alone was uninfected. Have you ever seen that movie where the monkeys give humans a horrible airborne virus...Dustin Hoffman, and his estranged wife fight to cure all mankind. I think we could have done the sequel at our house. I could see the clear plastic partitions hanging from the ceilings in my childrens rooms as cries of "mom, WATER!!!!!" and other not so desirable sounds came from different parts of the house. As if the fevers were not enough, they were at some times accompanied by nausea and its cousin the Vomit. I won't mention the other cousin, but he came to visit too. The hacking, nonstop cough came nagging into my conciousness at every waking and sleeping moment. (I am sure it must have been a woman who had been up all night with coughing children who first invented Chinese water torture.) I have fought the battle of Hone None, been tortured at the hands of incessant cough. I am still a little jumpy...is there a counselling service for such things?
At any rate, we have passed the worst part and now everyone is limping bandaged from the smoke covered battlefield. The most frustrating part of this (besides the Hone None coughing torture) is that it has caused a regression in Scarlet. Anyone who has an autistic child will confirm that sickness usually does this. We have been fighting this past year and a half to rid Scarlet from the rather major viral overload that was present in her body two years ago. Most autistic children have such suppressed immune systems that they have a hard time dealing with the onslaught of viruses that they have been sent their way. (that in itself is another topic and quite controversial...maybe I will tackle it when I feel less jittery.)
When we first took Scarlet into her DAN doctor and had her blood analyzed under a microscope, it was very disturbing. Among other things, the Strep virus was floating around like a chain. I was quite upset when I found out what "that chain looking thing" actually was. We have been doing several things to help Scarlet's body fight off the viruses that she couldn't get rid off. Almost imediately after starting the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, her blood began to improve and we have seen steady changes in her as we have helped her body heal from the inside out. It is frustrating to have her come so far only to see a virus seemingly wipe those gains away. I am sure that I am being a little fatalistic, probably post traumatic Hone None syndrome, but I feel like screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Scarlet just had her permanent EA assigned to her today, Her name is Nicole. Nicole went home early with a black eye and a bite on her arm.... I hope she is there on Thursday! Among those things lost in the current regression is tollerance. She is tantruming more and hurting herself at will.
On a lighter note, I am meeting with a Speech Therapist and Augmentative Communication Direction at Childrens Treatment Network along with a couple of therapists from S.T.E.P.S. to discuss getting Scarlet started on a voice output device. First Scarlet has to qualify, then if a committee deems her elligible she is put on a wait list for funding. I have been told this wait list is minimal...hopefully it is. I will know more tommorrow, but S.T.E.P.S. has been forming her therapy around getting such a device. It would allow Scarlet to talk through a computer. It starts with simple things like yes and no and moves up to more advanced communication. I know most Mommy's don't like the word "no" especially if they have a two year old at home, but it is such a powerful word. I would like to hear Scarlet's "no's"
No comments:
Post a Comment