Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

With Joe in New Hampshire and the piles of snow that made it difficult to go anywhere for a few days Valentine's Day really did not feel like Valentine's Day at all. Not that it is ever a really big holiday for us. But, we do like to give Maizie a few little goodies. Once the car was shoveled out Maizie and I headed to Barnes and Nobles where she was to pick out just one thing for Valentine's Day. Well, that did not work out so well since I saw a few books I thought she would like. From there we went out for Chinese. Maizie's favorite. Maizie and I had a great time sharing pineapple chicken and reading her new book on the world of fairies.

Valentine's Day night I was determined to finish my homework for my sociology class. It took me f o r e v e r. I was so frustrated. I was not even watching T.V. while I worked on it. The two chapters felt like they would never end. The questions I had to answer were tedious and boring. I had to motivate myself with treats. This is a method I have always used and as embarrassing as it is, it works quite nicely. I line up some of my favorite candies. M&M's work best but I prefer red Swedish Fish. After finishing each question or page of reading I eat a piece of candy. Stopping to enjoy it and look forward to the next. Finally, at one in the morning I finished the reading assignment. So, how many candies does it take to finish an assignment such as this...too many! I was determined not to wake up the next day with more of that assignment to complete. However, I still had to post my reflection on the reading and respond to other classmates posts. Argh. This online class is really much more time consuming than listening to lectures. But, it keeps me home where it is warm.

Maizie and I went to the Learning Garden on Thursday to celebrate Valentine's Day with the kids. They made cute bags to put all the treats and cards in. Maizie handed out suckers and little playdoh Valentines. They have the coolest stuff for holidays now. Angie read stories to the kids.

The homeschooling parents meeting was after the party. Truthfully, I had forgotten all about it. There is something about this meeting that makes all the kids get loud and wild. I am sure it is obvious to the kids that we are trying to talk as adults and so it is time to be noisy. I could see Maizie hunkering down in the far corner glancing at me every now and then. Suddenly, I felt panicky and knew we had to leave as soon as possible. The noise and quantity of the people in the small space stresses her out. Maizie came over to me and said, "Can I borrow this barbie dress". Ooops. A big red flag that a melt down was within minutes of happening. I jump up and take Maizie to the back door. I felt terrible I was only able to say goodbye to Beth. Time is of the essence when a melt down is nearing.

On the way home from the party I called the insurance company to see why her medication was being denied at the pharmacy. After that went nowhere I had to call her Dr. and see if they had samples until the situation was worked out. We were down to half a pill. I was getting nervous. The Dr.'s office said they had no samples so we headed home. Right as we get to our street my cell phone rings and it is the Dr.'s office saying to come get the samples right away before they close. I turn the car around and drive all the way out north to get the pills.

I call Joe and ask him to try calling the insurance company. Men always have better luck with these calls. Sure enough, he managed to get a reason for the lack of coverage. Suddenly, after a year of Maizie being on this medication and it successfully treating her, they decide she is only allowed three of the pills daily. Never mind that she has had a positive response from the five prescribed.

We are in the process of weaning her off this medication to see if she can handle a lower dose now that her seizures are under control. But, we can't just jump way down cold turkey. The insurance company insists that Joe needs to request a letter of medical necessity for the prescription as it is written. Okay...so a Dr. writing a script and requesting a certain amount of medication is not proof enough? Amazingly ridiculous. Granted, this is nothing new from our insurance company. Every time it happens I become upset, anxious and angry. I have faith it will work out and it always does. But, the long waits on the phone and trying to get people to help us solve the problem sends me over the edge.

Poor Maizie is in the back seat listening to all of these phone calls. She should not have to hear these conversations. It makes her nervous and she begins to wonder about her medications. I tried to calm her knowing she would no doubt melt down once we were home.

Sure enough, after returning from the long drive and the annoyingly long visit to the Dr.'s office she began to unravel. Suddenly, she says, "I can't take it anymore!" She tells me she hates me and wants to go live in her room forever. She says the party was not fun at The Learning Garden and she misses her old school. Okay, this is where overwhelming guilt creeps in and begins to take me over. What if I have made a terrible mistake in homeschooling? I picture myself going back to the school and begging for her to be immediately enrolled. Maizie is sobbing and repeating that she misses her teachers and friends. I know she had a good time at the party. The problem is her senses are on overload. I need to help her through this and not worry about choices at the moment.

In the car I had given her the three o'clock medications. She had a difficult time swallowing them and she was forced to spit them into her hand, a big nasty pile of wet disintegrated pills. I wanted to cry. Now, her last dose never even made it into her system. It was a good things the Dr.'s office managed to find one pack of sample medications.

So, I remind myself that Maizie has been without her medication and immediately gave her the meds. Within minutes she begins to calm and tells me she loves me and that homeschooling is good. We agree to go hang out in her room, watch a movie and write in her blog.

Today, it is Friday. The Dr.'s office called and they have Maizie's medication figured out, called in a new script and wrote the letter of medical necessity. Yeah! Enough of that worry.