The writing REALLY WAS on the wall

[kimballot]

Last Spring my ds13 was having a really bad exacerbation. He had a large infected cyst in his sinus but we did not find that out until May. In late April he started on Steroids and ABX and on On April 26 I posted about his improved handwriting (quoted below). On April 27& 28, he took his State Math test, and the following week he took his State ELA test. These were two classes he was failing at the time.

 

I guess the combination of steriods and ABX did even more than I thought. Our state tests are scored on a range from 0-4, with 3 being "proficient" and 4 being "exceeds proficiency". I JUST got the results in the mail today and my son received a 3 on his ELA (which included hand written essays) and a 4 on his math!! I guess he did learn something during all that cognitive fog and the steroids and abx cleared his head and helped his handwriting enough that he could put it down on paper.

 

For those of you reading who are wondering if you should pursue a PANDAS diagnosis or if PANDAS (PITANDS) can be your child's problem without a positive strep culture or elevated strep titers.... please.... get your child to a PANDAS doc.

 

 

My son has been experiencing an exacerbation of symptoms that started in November with H1N1. In mid March he was diagnosed with a sinus infection and was on biaxin. That seemed to help a bit, but once the biaxin ended, he had uncontrollable neck tics - to the point of pain. During the entire time- from November until April- his executive functions were shot. He has been unable to do even simple math. I am sure the 7th grade teachers are wondering why he is even in the classroom he is in. He could not remember anything the teachers said and I spent hours everyday after school trying to wedge the material he was supposed to have learned in school into his brain. His daily assignment book was an absolute disaster and was so difficult to read that the teachers had to write over his writing and we even have him checking in with the assistant principal every day after school for a back pack check so that he brings home the work he needs and has all of his assignments written down in a way that I can understand when he gets home. He was miserable and so was I. He called himself a "freak" - and called me worse.

 

On April 6 we thought he might have strep throat - his sister did - but no- my son was negative (again). On April 8 he hit an all time low with opposition and name calling and swearing at me... and I was seriously dejected. The next day he had an ENT appointment and our wonderful ENT PA said his sinus infection was still raging and she asked if it would be OK to put him on ominicef and prednisone. I happily agreed. We started the meds on Saturday April 10 , and on Tuesday night the fog cleared and he sat and did his homework without fighting or prompting. He did well the rest of the week.

 

Last week we saw Dr. B and he started him back on 17 more days of prednisone and on augmentin. Today, my son came home from school and I asked to see his assignment book. There - neatly written - in small, evenly spaced letters were his assignments for the week. Not perfect writing... not the writing of a 7th grader... but legible. I can read every letter. There is nothing that the teachers wrote over.

 

I am so happy but am also feeling worried about the rug being pulled out from under us again. But for tonight I will go to bed and think about those letters.

[matis_mom]

That is great news! Good to know that in the midst of everything they are keeping up the learning