Today shaped up to be pretty spanktacular! I think it had something to do with me complaining about Hennepin County the other day...what's it called... a COINCIDENCE! Or, as I like to call these little occurrences "coinky-dinks"!
I live for coinky-dinks. Like how the name Penelope means weaver.
On my way to Archaeology class, rocking out to "Swallowed" by Bush and feeling in between, I got a call from the county. I held my breath! Not for long though, since I was driving. I can't be losing consciousness while driving, that's crazy, especially at the expense of HC. That is ludicrous.
Surprisingly, HC had good news for me. When I saw their number I was ready to throw down, but the news was delivered by someone I had never talked to before; she is new to our team and she sounded very young and sweet. She giggled and said "um" a lot, that worried me. I have a hard time dealing with people who can't act professionally in this type of circumstance. I don't talk candidly when it comes to matters regarding PP. I'm past the "duh duh, how cute am I" stage. Nevertheless, I was able to carry a coherent conversation with her.
She said she was having troubles with our case because she didn't understand it completely. How encouraging! At the very least, she assured me that she was being helped along. This is just a tiny example of the bureaucratic bullshit I deal with on a regular basis with HC. They expect me to have all my ducks in order, within an unreasonable time frame, as they continuously send out unnecessary and time consuming paperwork, then put people on my team that don't know what they are doing in the middle of this complicated process. I guess it's good that she was covering all the bases, crossing her i's and dotting her t's, it's stupid little things like this that have bitten me in the ass before.
JEEZ! FLUFF OFF HC!
I explained what was going on with my part in the process since she was calling for clarification about services PP had been denied in the past. She said that the HC team was done reviewing PP's case so it was on it's way up to the State level to be reviewed by the SMRT team.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had no further clarification on the actual status of our case, which sucked. At least it was making it's way up the ladder more quickly than I had been told by my Public Health Nurse. It felt good to know that I did everything right because the HC worker didn't say that I needed to send over any additional paper work. The time frame I was looking at as of Friday the 13th was two weeks out just for the review process, so the fact that the first leg of the journey was completed almost a week early is very encouraging! I just hope that the remainder will keep this momentum and soon we will have everything PP needs and maybe I'll have a chance at less paper work hanging over my head.
I can count on three things in life: death, taxes, and paperwork. Alas, there will always be paper work, but less is easier.
I am super excited to call Stephanie, the Public Health Nurse, tomorrow with the news. She will double check the system because she has personal access to all HC files regarding PP's case, just to make sure we aren't missing anything. And I know that she will appreciate the progress, maybe even celebrate briefly with me until PP throws grenades at me to get off the phone.
That's enough about that.
PP is in full therapy mode. She has therapy 3 to 4 times a week, plus school at an elementary for two hours every week.
We had Occupational Therapy at the hospital today. It was fun. We were introduced to 'brushing'. It's a process to de-sensitize children with sensory issues. As with many things, I could talk for a very long time about PP's sensory issues and why brushing is a good thing for her. However, I will attempt to put it in a nutshell: to make everyday sensory activities like dressing or changing diapers easier, using this soft plastic brush on PP's legs, arms, and back will help her cope with the negative feedback she is getting from her nervous system when she does activities of daily living. When PP needs her diaper changed, needs to change clothes, put shoes on, almost every transitional activity that "normal" people can glide through without noticing, her nervous system sends really exaggerated signals to her brain saying that these events are really unpleasant. Since she can't speak, when she gets this negative feedback her reaction is giggling in a nervous way, kicking, arching her back, screaming, hitting, crying, even biting. She will try pretty much anything you could imagine trying to do yourself, if you were to try to stop someone from rubbing rough grain sandpaper on your skin. The brush used in brushing is like a very fine grain sandpaper that is used multiple times a day in hopes to make the sensation more tolerable. There are so many dynamics that go into this process, including vestibular and proprioceptive feedback that involve the concept of PP's body self-awareness within space. Incorporation of brushing is just one little drop in the ocean of PP.
Oh man! It's past my bedtime
soft pillows and fairy dust,
XoX
I thought she was just being silly when she'd roll around giggling when I try to change her diaper :) I've learned that getting her to agree to get dressed helps the process but if you have any tips on the diaper change, I'd love to hear them!
ReplyDeleteShe is silly sometimes, but most of the time I can tell she is not enjoying diaper changes and dressing even when she is giggling. It might tickle a bit at first, but the tickling sensation gets really intense, really fast for her. I have the brushes, which are still in the experimental phase, and I talked with her teacher today about toilet-training. I know she isn't ready yet, she won't be for a while, but maybe introducing her to a potty will help? Figuring out what to do with PP is always a work in progress!
ReplyDeleteYou should come up with a sign for potty! I can get a potty chair and help with the training when she comes to my place also. Since it takes her a while to master things, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to introduce her to it and let her try sitting on the potty sometimes, when we think she might need to go. Like when she wakes up dry in the AM or after a nap. Or if we have to go, she can try also. Do a low stress approach. She might like it.
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