Time frame for returning to school?

[Joan Pandas Mom]

With my son's last exacerbation, ASO 1014 in mid October, I withdrew him from school (again). He has been on ABX and had a T&A in mid Dec. He loves the school he goes to and has a lot of really good friends. Three weeks post surgery he was doing so much better and BEGGED me to return to school. He won! His rituals have increased over the last couple of weeks. His titer came back today 776. Am I nuts for letting him be back at school? He boards 4 nights a week. His day is from 8am - 10 pm M-F and 8-2 on Saturdays. As I am typing this I am thinking this is way too much. These poor kids. They just want their lives back. Has anyone's child returned to school with such high titers? Am I setting him up for another disaster like October?

[thereishope]

That sounds like a busy schedule! In my opinion, I would base whether or not he's ready for school on the "clinical" picture. If he wants to go and he seems to be improving, I would send him. Would he tell you if he feels overwhelmed?

 

It could be that he's being exposed to other people being ill or the stress is causing setbacks.If you have good communication with him, ask him to let you know if he feels like he needs a break.

 

Is he on any meds/antibiotics?

[MomWithOCDSon]

He "boards four days a week," so he's attending a school at some distance from your home?

 

It does sound as though his day is demanding; I know that as my DS12 returned to school after we'd taken him out for about a month, the day seemed extremely long and hard for him, at least initially. He needed home to chill and regroup so that he could tackle the next day.

 

Does your son have a 504 Plan or an IEP available to him? If so, then maybe, even if he's away at school, you could arrange for him to slow down a little bit. With my son's IEP, we sent him back to school, essentially one class at a time, over a series of weeks. It sounds as though your son is past that point, but maybe under similar terms, he could have a "break period," once each day or something, at least for a while?

 

And as Vickie asked, is he still on abx or other meds? If his titers are climbing, he may have been re-exposed at school or elsewhere out in the world.

[ajcire]

I too was trying to decide if he is in boarding school or if by board you mean a sport.

[Joan Pandas Mom]

Hi Vickie, He was on 500 mg Azithro 3-4 times a week. We started seeing Dr. T. and he thought it would be ok to go back on Clindomycin 4 times a day so we started that last Tuesday. That seemed to help post T&A. He is taking probiotics once a day and 1 mg of Clonazepam a day. He looked a little tired at his basketball game today but he didn't want to come home tonight because he will be home the next 4 nights for long weekend break. How long was your daughter out of school for?

 

That sounds like a busy schedule! In my opinion, I would base whether or not he's ready for school on the "clinical" picture. If he wants to go and he seems to be improving, I would send him. Would he tell you if he feels overwhelmed?

 

It could be that he's being exposed to other people being ill or the stress is causing setbacks.If you have good communication with him, ask him to let you know if he feels like he needs a break.

 

Is he on any meds/antibiotics?

[Joan Pandas Mom]

That's a good idea. He does have a free period, I wonder if they would let him put his head down somewhere. He has extra help in the learning center. He did have an IEP last year in 8th grade. The school has been great with all of this. I didn't realize kids with OCD can be exempt from taking a foreign language. He was really struggling with Spanish at the beginning of the year so the school arrange for him to drop it. It really alleviated alot of stress.

He "boards four days a week," so he's attending a school at some distance from your home?

 

It does sound as though his day is demanding; I know that as my DS12 returned to school after we'd taken him out for about a month, the day seemed extremely long and hard for him, at least initially. He needed home to chill and regroup so that he could tackle the next day.

 

Does your son have a 504 Plan or an IEP available to him? If so, then maybe, even if he's away at school, you could arrange for him to slow down a little bit. With my son's IEP, we sent him back to school, essentially one class at a time, over a series of weeks. It sounds as though your son is past that point, but maybe under similar terms, he could have a "break period," once each day or something, at least for a while?

 

And as Vickie asked, is he still on abx or other meds? If his titers are climbing, he may have been re-exposed at school or elsewhere out in the world.

[Joan Pandas Mom]

He is in boarding school but it is only 35 min. from here so he is home once a week and every weekend. Next year he is going to be a day student. Did you have to take your child out of school?

 

I too was trying to decide if he is in boarding school or if by board you mean a sport.

[thereishope]

My son was only 5 years old and in only 2 day a week preschool, so I didn't really have to deal with the possibility of pulling him out of school. He did miss some because of PANDAS, but becasue it was such a short week and only preschool, it wasn't a big deal.

 

Are you sure you can trust him and the school to get meds 4 times a day?

[Joan Pandas Mom]

That's what I am wondering. I picked him up today for long weekend and he did have the 2 so far, but I don't know. He is doing a lot of rituals.

[nomoz]

That's what I am wondering. I picked him up today for long weekend and he did have the 2 so far, but I don't know. He is doing a lot of rituals.

 

 

What year is he? My daughter has missed much school both this year and in her first grade year, and, to be honest, I think their health should be top priority - after that, everything else gets easier. I have resigned myself to take this whole thing one day at a time. We have many good days here, but many bad ones too. I'm sure if he can focus on achieving small goals, his life, maybe even his rituals, will become less stressful for him (and all of you!!)