After the diagnosis...

Ok, so now what?  What do we do with all this information being thrown our way?  Cry. Check. Get mad. Check. Breathe. Check. Move!

Those who know me well, know that when a challenge is placed before me, I attack in full force and move into gear as quickly as possible.  Beth (our therapist) started flooding us with information about what we needed to do, where we needed to go, decisions that needed to be made....and this Momma took furious notes and started working on things as soon as we got home.  I mean, if there is a problem, doggone it...I'm going to start working on a solution.

I took the next day off from work so that I could start working through all that needed to be done, all the phone calls that needed to be made, etc. Yay! Another checklist :)

Our life as we knew it, immediately changed.  Our home was slowly but surely becoming a 24/7 therapy center.

The first decision that we made was to remove Maggie from school. It was not an easy decision by any means, but we had discussed it with Beth and she honestly didn't feel that it was in Maggie's best interest to be there.  So, we contacted the principle, who was already aware of what was going on, and explained that Maggie would not be returning. She was so sweet about it and completely understood.  I went up to the school the next day to pick up all of Maggie's things and just about broke down with each of the different teachers that Maggie had or interacted with. Oh how they loved Maggie and they were all so sad to hear of what was going on. They all gave this sad Momma big hugs, shed tears with me and promised to pray for her, as I truly believe that they will.  One of her teachers later told me, after running into her at HEB, that the class was so boring now that Maggie was gone. It was if the life left that room. I appreciated that.

We were worried how Maggie would react to not returning to school but honestly, it hasn't been bad at all. For the first few days, she asked when she was going back and kept asking if it was Saturday again, knowing that she didn't go to school on Saturday. We just explained to her that she was going to be staying at home with Daddy during the day and working on school things with him for a while...and thankfully, she was ok with that. Every now and then, she will ask about school but mostly she just remembers things and mentions memories of the good times she had. We're thankful that this wasn't a catastrophic event in her life, as honestly, we thought it would be. Thank you Jesus! Honestly, the only real challenge was that Maggie was used to me waking her up early every morning and getting her ready for school, and now that Daddy wakes her up and does that, she wasn't too happy about that change. But she has since learned to deal with it :)

One of the main things that Beth told us was that Maggie was spending too much time away from us and needed to spend more time with us (one of the other big reasons to pull her from school). Thankfully (we can say thankfully!) Michael is unemployed (although doing some contract work here and there) and is able to be at home with Maggie during the day. We are also thankful for my incredible boss who has always been more than willing to accomodate me in my schedule ever since Maggie came home. So, I told him about all that was going on and without even asking, he offered for me to change up my hours as needed. So, I now work from 6am-2pm (yes, it's a very early morning start for me!) and I take over when I get home. Michael takes the morning shift and I get the afternoon shift. So far, so good.

I then began working on getting Maggie re-evaluated for occupational therapy, since she was denied earlier in the year. We found a great place in the Woodlands that has a sensory integration specialist on their team and we were able to get in for an evaluation for OT and speech therapy there as well (in hopes of not having to go to 3 different therapy centers each week!) Praise the Lord - they accepted her and we will start OT and ST with them in May.

Beth highly suggested that we see a neurologist to see what else might be going on with Maggie medically. There is a wonderful group of doctors who work specifically with kids like Maggie. Great news - they take Medicaid. Bad news - they're not in Houston. So, on May 2nd, we will head out to Austin to have a full workup done on Maggie.  They do everything in house and you walk out with their diagnosis and treatment plan all in the same day. We are really anxious to see what happens with this appointment.

Horse therapy has been recommended but we have had a really hard time finding a place that either 1) will take kids as young as Maggie and/or 2) has any openings.  She absolutely loves the ride horses and they have proven to be very therapeutic...so we are still working on that. It has not been crossed off my checklist...yet.

We had Maggie evaluated for the PPCD program at the local elementary school. This is the program for children with disabilities. All 3 of her therapists, including her former teachers, all felt that she needed to be in this program and would qualify. Apparently they were all wrong. Maggie didn't even qualify for speech therapy in the public school.  But I'm not going to get started on that.  In the end, Michael & I both prayed for clear guidance on whether or not this program would be the best fit for Maggie, and we clearly got our answer.  We are considering placing her in the Pre-K program in the fall (which she is eligible for due to being a former foster child) because they will have no choice but to help her - as they can't deny services and can't remove her.  We are still praying about that. Registration isn't until August, so we still have some time.

Seems like a lot, right?!  Well, it is...and I haven't even begun to tell you about all the therapy that we have to do at home - but that will be for another post.

So right now, we're doing all that we can to work on Maggie's emotional and behavioral issues. She is in therapy 6 hours a week, outside of the home and the home therapy that we have to do is getting close to 4 hours a day. To say that this has changed our lives would be an understatement.

Loving and living with a traumatized child means embracing a love like no other. It is love lived out every day in a new and unfamiliar way. It is commitment cemented through the challenges and struggles of uncertainty. It is a life journey walked on unknown paths. It is a faith, a hope, a vision that the future will hold something far better than what you are experiencing now and perhaps ever dreamed possible.

"I'll show up and take care of you as I promised...I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." (Jeremiah 29:11 The Message)

When all hope is gone...give God time. He can and does make a way.

This is our hope. This is our prayer. This is what we are claiming today...and every day.