I've been such a slacker blogger lately, and I'm so sorry! I'm chock fulla excuses, though. Really! Wanna hear 'em?
Since mid September I've thrown three birthday parties: for Chris, Nadia, and Aidan's was this past Saturday. I'm exhausted.
I've been working on a long but totally awesome and totally secret assignment for a Simple super secret special issue to out next summer. I'm almost finished with it!
I also just got word that another of my photos will be on the January/February 2009 cover of Simple. This will be my fifth cover photo. HOLY COW, BATMAN!
Makena lost her first tooth. See previous entry. She's only four, dammit. See previous entry.
Nadia's getting her two-year molars. She's been a tyrant! One day she shouted "NO!" at me 327 times, and spit at me 82 times. It's a good thing she's cute. (The scars on her face are from a fight she had with our play structure in the backyard. I think the play structure won.)
Chris' mother, Joyce, has been visiting us from Trinidad for almost a month. It's been great having her here, hearing her stories and her sing-song voice, taking her to go shopping and razzing her about the number of bags she brings out with her. I also love her cooking (mmmm...pastelles) and the fact she's been doing my laundry and keeping the piles in the sink to a minimum.
I've been sick for two weeks with a nasty head cold/sinus infection. I'm shocked at the amount of stuff that comes out of my face every morning. Must be a world record. And, while I'm talking about icky, gross stuff, the best place to clear your sinuses is in a hot, steamy shower.Really! Try it the next time you feel your eyeballs swimming in your head.
And speaking of gross, my brother turned 38 Friday. Happy birthday, bro! I love you! Here he is with his daughter, Corin:
Aidan lost another tooth, too. Can you tell which one?
This one was taken at Aidan's party yesterday. Flanking him are my nephew, Dylan, on the left, and my BFF's son, Robbie on the right. Kinda like a reverse Oreo. These boys have so much fun together!
The other big news is that I've had to cancel the remainder of my photo sessions for the year. I'm heartbroken about this, but my family needs me right now and something had to give. Especially this time of year, it's crazy nuts busy for us photo people right now, and that meant even more time away from home. And, even though I agreed with my husband not share so much private schtuff in blogland anymore, here is what's going on.
Since the beginning of the school year, Aidan's been on two different ADHD medications, and three different dosages. He had more bad days than good and the horrible, nasty meds weren't helping him in the classroom. And our big, huge, megabucks HMO (coughKaisercough), upon hearing repeatedly that the meds weren't helping, decided that giving him more drugs, different drugs and then more of the different drugs was the best way to treat him.
(And then I must also say that their "diagnosis" of ADHD was based on ten-minute observations in the clinicians office and our word and his preschool teacher's word about what was happening in the classroom. The folks at Kaiser did no other testing of our son. And the fact that he only had behavioral problems at school (not at home, not on the playground, etc.) did not seem to throw up any red flags. Hmmmmm...)
At my last visit with the coughKaisercough ADHD "doctor" I asked if Aidan's hearing could be playing a role in his difficulties in the classroom, and she explained that the hearing tests they've conducted indicate no hearing loss and that his hearing was fine. Mom's concern and question casually disregarded.
(Now, the reason I'm telling you all this, despite my promise to my hubby, is that we were never okay with the ADHD diagnosis. We agreed to the medication in an effort to help him at school, but we've been working hard exploring other possible conditions or co-existing conditions, especially when it was clear that not only were the Ritalin and Concerta not helping Aidan, they seemed to be making some things worse, even appearing to have a stimulant effect on him, rather than a calming effect.)
And then it happened.
After that last visit with the ADHD "doctor", I headed to my old friends and my sources of infinite wisdom: The Internet and my buddy Lisa. I googled "ADHD and hearing" and got lots of hits on a condition called CAPD, or central auditory processing disorder. CAPD is one of several Sensory Integration Dysfunction disorders and many children with CAPD and other sensory dysfunctions are misdiagnosed as ADHD. And then I called my friend, Lisa, whose son has Sensory Integration Dysfunction, and had a long chat. (Thanks, Lisa!)
I won't go into Aidan's symptoms and all that, but let's just say that this was the missing piece to the puzzle. The classroom is filled with so much visual and auditory input and stimulation (as a kindergarten classroom should be) that Aidan was not able to function, and the classroom was pretty much the only place where Aidan's behavior was consistently problematic. It is clear that everyone, including his wonderful (seriously, they're awesome) teachers and the others at school who have observed him, that he had exhibited classic ADHD behaviors. But so do CAPD kids.
Aidan was assessed by a private behavioral and educational therapist two weeks ago and while he tested very well in some unexpected areas, he did poorly in the visual and auditory processing and sequencing tests. Confirmation that there's more to Aidan's challenges than coughKaisercough would ever have been able to/been interested in/cared enough to test him for. And hope that an end to the nasty meds may be in sight. And further proof that coughKaisercough was mistreating and misdiagnosing our son much the same way they misdiagnosed and mistreated me and my gallbladder. Quite obviously, come open enrollment at hubby's work next year, we'll be exploring our options and dropping Kaiser like a flaming potato.
My hope in sharing this with the greater public (and you, my faithful friends) is to encourage you to be your child's advocate, especially when dealing with a harsh diagnosis like ADHD. Explore your options, do your homework and research, and trust your gut. If what your child's doctor is saying doesn't sit right with you and raises your mother bear hackles, get busy and take charge. Get a second opinon, and pay out-of-pocket to get it if you need to. I'm not advocating denial, but rather perseverance and fortitude. Choose to treat the cause of the symptoms, rather than the symptoms themselves. We're paying some seriously big money, despite the horrible economy, depsite my not bringing in any money, despite the fact that we pay for medical insurance with a company that was perfectly content to keep us sick, so that Aidan might get the help he needs to be successful and happy in school.
It was when all this came to a head two weeks ago that it became obvious that I needed to lighten my load to be with my family more fully, more completely and without the stress of the holiday photo season. I promptly canceled my sessions and found tons of support and understanding among my awesome clients. And while I'm looking forward to free weekends with my family, I'm sad that my business is on hold. I'm still going to continue my Simple work for as long as they'll have me, but, at least through the end of 2008, my photography business is on hiatus.
So, what's new with you?
