Thursday, September 10, 2009

Today was Back to School Day here on Long Island. Colby headed to her first day at the new school for 7th grade, junior high and Hannah is now officially a 5th grader! Colby is now riding the bus to school, but I still drive Hannah since she goes in early for pre-teaching and review each day. I didn't really know what to expect from Hannah, last year the first day-make that the first month-of school was pretty difficult for her. She spent a lot of time out in the hall, just put it that way, crying with anxiety.




This year, although she said multiple times that she didn't want to go to school, she jumped right out of the car and headed into the building all by herself. She had been in the school quite a bit over the summer for math tutoring, some of it done in her new 5th grade classroom, just to try and ease the transition for this year. We even went in yesterday to drop off some of her school supplies so that she wouldn't have too much to carry today.

Well, she headed right in, went upstairs, but didn't make it all the way to her classroom. She turned around, came back downstairs crying and stopped halfway down the hallway. The guidance counselor came out, talked to her, and they walked around the halls a bit. Then, another aide came by and Hannah agreed to go upstairs with her. She went into the classroom, and sat at her desk while the other students were talking as a group. I hear that she eventually joined them, and was fine for the rest of the day. She told me she just didn't want to go into the classroom and start school yet.

One of the major differences for Hannah this year is that no longer has a dedicated one-on-one aide to help her during the day. The school thought Hannah was self sufficient enough that they could place an aide in the classroom, but someone didn't need to be with Hannah full time. We were fortunate enough to get (after several meetings) Hannah's beloved aide from last year, as the classroom aide for this year, Mrs. W. So, she will still be in the room to help when Hannah needs extra assistance, she will go to Hannah's specials with her (gym, art, music) and will meet with Hannah in the mornings for the pre-teaching. She will no longer be there specifically and only for Hannah. I have mixed feelings about this, but agreed to try it and see how it goes. Hannah said to me after school that she didn't mind being by herself, she liked walking in the halls by herself (guess that didn't apply first thing this morning though.)

We are all adjusting to the changes in our schedules now. Colby is out for the bus by 6:45am-yikes! This actually makes it easier to get Hannah up and going in the morning since I'm wide awake by the time I have to get Hannah up. I wake her up a bit earlier than last year, so she isn't rushing and has plenty of time to wake up slowly and get going. She is NOT an early riser!

On the medical side-we had our clinic visit this week. Hannah is due for bloodwork, to check counts and be sure everything is stable and normal. They also set her next MRI-brain only-for October 12th. After that, assuming and hoping that all is well, she doesn't go back to clinic until December! She will have to visit the endocrinologist in October also, that is a primary area of concern right now. Her oncologist and I discussed his thoughts on growth hormone, and it's yet to be determined whether she will need it or not. If she stays on the growth curve she is currently on, she will end up around 5 feet tall, which is in normal range for women. This is acceptable, and would not cause her to have to take the shots. Yet to be seen, we'll see where we go from here.

Hannah has also decided that she wants to do something for Halloween for the clinic. She is browsing Oriental Trading non-stop and is ordering things for the kids at clinic to have for Halloween. I hope we can pull it all off between now and October 12th, should be possible!

Remember that September is

NATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH!!

Please show your support for all the kids who are fighting.

♥Kim