Evan's eval came in from his first block of ST sessions & other updates

So I intro'd myself a little further down the page here, and just thought I'd give a quick update.

So, we saw our Nurse Practitioner this past week with Evan, to get a referral to a developmental pedi. Just to quickly mention, we don't see an M.D - we use a nurse practitioner for our general healthcare needs and we are referred to the MD at the nurse's practice, in any situation where the NP can't deal with something (certain prescriptions and diagnoses). Also, pediatricians are always on a referral basis here, at least in my particular city anyway. They are considered specialists and need a referral from your healthcare provider as they only deal with specific issues until things get resolved or diagnosed and then you're released from their care back to your GP. 

Okay, so we saw the NP this week - and she had in her file already a report from the program we're using for Evan's speech issues. I hadn't received it yet and she had just gotten it that day. I was so scared to read it, that I didn't take it when she offered it to me to read...lol 

I summed up my concerns with Evan, and that I felt that it was time now to move forward and have someone either diagnose him, or not. Whichever happens. But we need to get crackin' on this as he starts school in a year's time. Immediately on hearing my quick rundown of our issues, she said "Alright, if YOU the parent have concerns then let's get to work dealing with this ASAP". She agreed on a referral to a developmental pedi, and said she had noticed a few things just in that appointment that made her feel like maybe DH and I are on to something. She also will have him back in the meantime (its about a 2-3 month waiting period for referrals right now) to see the MD on staff at their office, for another checkup and discussion about the issues. Also, she wants him to get in for a hearing test at some point, even though he passed his infant hearing test. 

I just felt SO comforted by the fact that she immediately took our concerns seriously. She even went so far as to have me step aside and quietly ask me (since Evan was right there) what she could do to help Evan be more comfortable with a physical exam by her, since she didn't want to freak him out or make him withdraw. I just thought that was a nice touch. Our former family physician would have just poo-poo'd our worries and not taken me seriously (hence why I left his practice haha).

So that went well, now we wait for the referral to come and in the meantime should anything else come up we just go see the NP. At least we're moving forward in some way. 

She noticed that he can't dress or undress himself, and doesn't know what she's asking him to do when she asks him to remove his shirt or his shoes. he just says "yeah" and then looks at her but doesn't try to do as asked. I never realized that this was something he should be doing by now. She also noticed some eye contact issues, as well as his hyperactivity (that's hard to miss haha). 

But moving on from THAT, in the mail after we came home from that appointment, was his eval from ST. How it works with them is that the child does two evals at 6 month intervals, and then the ST plan is put into place, and the child does 8 weeks of 1 hr weekly sessions. Then an assessment and they have the child take a break, with work to be done at home, for 4-6 months to see where the child is at that time. They may or may not be recommended for another 8 wk session. 

So. His eval before we started sessions, was bad. It was FULL of 'can not' and 'could not' and 'would not' and such. I would bawl my eyes out everytime I read the eval and thought about how many things he couldn't do that he should have been able to do. We did our 8 sessions and I could see Evan thriving and blossoming in front of my eyes. So I knew already we had made some good progress.

His eval confirmed that, and it was actually pretty positive. His prognosis went from 'fair' to 'good' after his 8 sessions, provided that there was continued involvement from the parents (which there is, we work with him on a constant basis to keep working on the skills he learned at ST). he has been recommended for another 8 wk block, in about 4 months time. She also made note of his attention issues but said she noticed a definite improvement over the course of the block of sessions in that regard. Umm what else? Well either way, it was mostly good. I think he still has quite a ways to go, but I am feeling positive about it. 

Day to day is such a struggle with our little guy, that it was just such a boost for us to finally see that we're making progress. I find myself weeping, totally random times, for Evan - I'm worried about him getting a 'scary' diagnosis, but I'm worried about his future and what all this could mean for his life to come. 

I also find myself feeling so sad to see our daughter (1 yr old) doing so much  more at her age than Evan ever did. I know it's not fair to compare children, but when they are so drastically different, it's just hard not to sometimes. Evan is bright, and hilarious, and he's my best little buddy - I see so much in him that is so amazing, and then we have a rough day with him and I see so many things that may cause him struggle in his future. I just feel heartbroken sometimes. 

Anyway I'm rambling - I'm feeling positive for the most part - progress is being made, in small steps, in a few areas, and we're hanging on to that. now we see what all happens as we continue on, I guess.

Sorry so long, just couldn't stop the flow of thoughts once they started. Like I said in my intro post, we don't really have too many people to really talk to about this in an honest and open way, so bear with me as I babble non stop on here...haha

Thanks for reading!