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In Need Of Advice For Chronic Ill Child
- This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 2 months ago by
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Hi all. We have been homeschooling for 6 years but this year things have changed dramatically and I am not sure what to do or how to do it. My dd12 has been dealing with some health and severe pain issues related to her muscular system. we are not sure what is going on yet and not sure how to manage it yet. I am at a loss what to do about school as well. We normally have at least 1 doctor appointment every week and she is dealing with the pain and nausea. Even with all this, she doesn’t want to not do school. I need to try and figure out how she can get what she needs without being overloaded. I need advice on how to simplify things. She loves to read and was studying life science before this hit. Are there any book lists on this that will layout for me what books she can read on the needed science topics? Also, she has been doing Khan academy 7th grade math when she feels well enough for it. Will this be enough? She is reading through the BJU World Studies book and likes this. Do I need a way for her to have output on this as well? She is very crafty so I would love a way to have her notebook through her readings in Science and History but I am at a loss where to start and how much is needed. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! 🙂
Hi. I am sorry about your daughter having to go through this. I have dealt with a daughter, now 26, who was born with spina bifida among other health problems, and had a year of school where half of it was spent in the hospital, She would have been almost 10. She had a teacher while in the hospital, so she did get something while there. But, it wasn’t like a day of school at home. I did not hold her back because of it. Unless your state has laws about how much needs to be covered in a year, you can decide if you want to consider whatever your daughter can accomplish as a complete year of school. In our state, the only time a certain amount of work needs to be done is when they are working for credits. Since your daughter is not working toward credits, you should not need to worry about ‘finishing a textbook’. If your daughter is only able to get three subjects complete on a certain day, count it as a day. In public school, they don’t work on every subject every day. It all depends on what you feel your dd should finish for the year. Each family needs to make that decision.
I just wanted to ask if your daughter was tested for Lyme. I have been dealing with it, and has definitely caused muscle pain. If you have not been given a diagnosis, I would encourage you to seek out a Lyme doctor and get her tested. Not all doctors are serious about testing for it, but there is getting to be more and more cases of it all over the country. It may not be that, but I would want to rule it out.
I’m so sorry she is feeling bad – I pray she gets a good diagnosis soon! If it were me, I would focus on her love of reading and have her working through living books like historical fiction, biographies, and living science books. The wealth of information she will get just by becoming well read would be hard to match with any ‘curriculum’. Also, journaling her experiences and prayers could be very theraputic for her and will also help her with her writing skills. If she can tolerate being outdoors, nature journaling would also be a great way for her to expand her love of science while also nurturing her spirit. We have used some of the Khan academy videos as supplements to math – they can be quite challenging so I can see that they could be used as a math program if she understands the material and can progress that way. I’m not sure how comprehensive the curriculum would be, however. Above all, I would say that this should be a time of restful learning. Value peaceful growth above standardized achievement! If you haven’t yet read, “Teaching from Rest,” this may be a good time to pick up a copy. Praying God sustains you through this challenging season with his mercy and grace!
Just wanted to say, we were at the hospital today for about 5 hours and I am already halfway through Teaching From Rest and oh wow!! I was moved to tears at one point and I know people in the waiting room thought I as crazy!! Thanks for this. It is exactly what I needed at this time.
I am so sorry that your daughter is struggling with health issues. Our lives have been turned upside down by health issues in the past months for my daughter as well, and I am also struggling to find the balance. I am sending you a PM.
Hmmm…did PMs disappear? I haven’t been on the forum in a long time. I guess I will just post the rest here:
I also thought of Lyme for your daughter if you all are still searching (or even after you have a diagnosis—if it has an unknown cause, it is well worth looking in to with a dr. trained to recognize chronic Lyme symptoms and especially those in children….this will likely NOT be an infectious disease doctor). My daughter was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome first and then multiple tick-borne infections later, which we think may be the cause of her POTS. We seem to be on a long road to hopeful recovery.
Many of the children of a group of POTS parents I am in also suffer from Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and it can cause a lot of widespread pain as well. I only mention these things because I know how hard it is to see your child unwell and not know why and how to help. It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack sometimes. I pray that you all find answers and that healing for her comes soon.
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