Izzak at 10 and the hospital

When Izzak turned 10 it was still shortly after we learned of the extent of his problems. We started out in June of that year by having him tested a second time by a neurodevelopmental specialist to get a second opinion and more advice from someone other then the schools that by this time we had absolutely no faith in. The dr was great and gave us a lot of ideas to help Izzak and to try to get the teachers to understand. She even said the the special ed teachers at the school don't fully understand auditory processing disorders or sensory integration disorders since there are so many varieties. She told us that we would have to be very proactive for him to work on getting things done for him and making sure the schools follow guidlines for him. Which is something we have to do. This was something had to go out on our own for. Legally we could have made the school pay for it but we wanted to get it done and not fight the schools for something else.

Other then that most of the year Izzak had a pretty decent year he picked out this pumpkin on his own it was huge but he thought it was perfect even if it was a little crooked...

December was a very hard month for him, but I will get to that in a minute. For Christmas he got his firt BMX racing bike which he was so excited about it you can't tell.....

The worst part of this year was also in December of this year. Izzak at the beginning of the month came down with horrible stomach pains. Debilitating enough that he couldn't even stand up straight. We took him in to the ER several times because he was in so much pain trying to figure out what could be wrong. After about the 3rd visit when we took him to Dornbecker our local childrens hospital they decided to admit him for tests and pain control. We were there for 4 days but they didn't really find anything he had some swollen lymph nodes in his abdomin but they did find any reason for it. It was very stressful. He missed the entire month of December for school and first couple weeks of January.

They did find that his reflux was really bad and got him on stronger reflux meds. They ended up coming to the conclusion then that it was anxiety. He had been having a hard time in school. With other students and a new teacher who wasn't as helpful as the one the year before. We found that is Izzaks case that his anxiety manifests itself as severe stomach pain. Some people have other reactions but for him its intense pain. Before getting him back in school we needed to schedule a meeting to discuss how to make the classroom more barable for him. In the end we moved to a different district hoping to find a school that was more willng to help also the house we were living in the living situation with the landlords got really bad and having stress in the house can't help.

To answer portraitofpeters question from the comments in my last post. He doesn't take a beta blocker. He doesn't handle it well and has inherited my issues of low blood pressure to begin with. They tried it in the hospital at a low dose and he nearly passed out. He has issues with lightheadedness sometimes as it is. We don't really want to put him on any medications for it. Partially because he (another trait he got from me) frequently has odd reactions to medications. He already takes a pretty high dose on Zantac (prescription strength), Zyrtec for bad allergies, and albuterol when needed. Some meds, like pain meds, he has a very high tolerance for and can take high doses with no effect, thats another thing I do. Other meds he has a low tolerance for and they just knock him out. For the moment we try to manage his anxiety by lifestyle changes and the school is supposed to allow for frequent breaks, a stress ball and the ability to leave the classroom and go straight to the counselor if he is feeling like things are to much for him.

I have a very strict rule with the school about contacting me whenever he goes to the office especially complaining of stomach pain. They didn't let him call me once and I basically flipped out at the school about it. The last thing we need is for him to be in the hospital for pain management because he is having a major anxiety attack again! I keep a very close eye on his behavior and have been able to get pretty good at picking out when he is starting to show signs and I give him the ability to stay home to relax when he needs it.

This is one reason why I am wanting to pull him out of school next year and home school. School is the biggest stress for him and this year his personality has really changed in middle school. The changing classes is really hard on him. The kids are starting to notice more his problems and some have started making fun of him for it. I want him to stay the same social kid that gives everyone a chance and I don't think he will stay that way in school they way it is right now. Maybe if I can take him out for awhile and boost his confidence back up he'll be able to handle his anxiety better but the way I see it now I don't see things getting better being in school.