Heading in the right direction!

 Today Sam had her follow up with Cincinnati Children’s Rheumatology. She had bloodwork earlier this week and was pretty nervous. Dr. Schulert was as wonderful as ever and immediately set her (and I) at ease. He said her bloodwork is continuing to trend in the right direction. 

Her Sed Rate is nearly a quarter of where it was in April and her CRP is back to normal!!! Huge win for the inflammation numbers. She is a little anemic, but almost all of her bloodwork had improved. 

He checked her joints and range of motion and said she looked even better than in July. Her knee swelling is completely gone. 

As she danced and sang through the appointment he said he still is in awe that Naproxen has helped her the way it has so far. Seeing the sick shell she was in April, now back to her perfect curve on the growth chart and full of sass and fun. 

Thankfully at this point he is happy with how the current meds are working. Her kidneys are in great shape and she isn’t having any side effects. So we will stay on twice a day naproxen. He had thought about taking her down to once a day, but I brought up the concern of not knowing what caused it and the fear of going backwards. He has been amazing at listening to my concerns and acknowledging Pandas without ever mentioning it. She has an eye appointment in November to make sure the Inflammation isn’t effecting her eyes and if that is all good we can avoid changing to the Arthritis medicine for the next few months. 

He said the type of Juvenile Arthritis she has and the way she is trending she could go into remission at some point by the time she is an adult. 

She will have repeat lab work and an ultrasound in 4 months and visit with Dr. Schulert again. Overall it was a great visit and we are so thankful for her continued health and all she is able to do again. 

She has a few more goals to reach, like getting her leprechaun kick back and getting her speed back. But, this girl has come so far and is so brave! Looking at her lab work trends and seeing how sick she was and knowing how that had effected everything is hard to hear. The memories of what she has been through and continued medicine and appointments are hard on her. I am so proud of her tenacity and her continuing to push herself each day. 

She is o happy this appointment and bloodwork are over! Now on to Soccer tournaments, volleyball and the school Christmas play! So much to look forward to! 

Goodbye to Michi - Anna's words

Last week Anna came home with her Language Arts Composition Book in hand. She has been writing each day as homework and I love to see the things she has written.  This year she has really been challenged by her LA teacher to dig deeper and to write from more difficult prompts.  This time she wanted to write something from an experience that had made her sad.  As I read her words tears welled up in my eyes. Anna doesn't talk much about her feelings.  This was the first time I had ever heard or read her perspective on the night the Meech left.  I told her about my blog and about how I write my feelings out whenever I am sad, angry or sometimes really happy.  I asked her if I could share her Journal entry on my blog and she said yes.

Anna Caito 10-18-2017

Goodbye to Michi

Sadness. Sadness is how everyone felt in our small van. Silence. We all just sat in our seats thinking of all the memories we had with Michi, my foster brother. I was remembering everything we had done with him.

 I thought about when I found him in a carseat in our house, not even knowing who he was yet. I remembered trying to say Demetrius (his name) and ending up calling him D until we found out his nickname was Michi . I remember thinking he was a girl when I first met him from his pretty eyes and long curly hair. I remember going to Disney World with him while he was dancing in the parade there. I also remembered how my mom had to put his hair in buns because it was so crazy and out of controlled so at Disney everyone called him a pretty princess.

As a quick tear runs down my face knowing that he will be happy with his grandma and will still get to see his brother. I also say to myself that it would be hard for the grandma if her grandkid was living with people she doesn’t even know, so it is a good thing he can be closer to her now. I look at Michi and think about how much me and my family had to fight for him to go to the right home. I had so many mixed emotions that day, but we all let him be with his family, even though we loved him. 

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My favorite line is "we all let him be with his family, even though we loved him". 

Here is a link to what I wrote the night he left... He is Gone

I love that she is finding an outlet in writing, just like mom...

Unbelievable

Wednesday we were given 72 hours notice that Meech would be leaving at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Last night we had our friends and family over to say goodbye. We have prepared ourselves and our kids for this awful process. We packed his bag. 

Put him to bed for the last time.

Kissed him goodnight for the last time. 

We woke up early- woke our kids and Meech up early to have time together. 

We hugged and cried. 

Took pictures -

 and then waited.

Watched out the window....

15 minutes after pickup time. 

Emailed our contact list....

25 minutes after pickup time. 

Emailed again...

35 minutes after pickup time. 

We received an email from his case worker stating

 "I don't have your number at my  home so I had to wait until I got to work to contact you. I had an personal emergency that I had to take care of so I will contact you after the hearing."

REALLY!!!????????

We have had this child for almost a year! You have no way of contacting us to tell us you are once again screwing with us and screwing with our children!!? An email 45 minutes after you were supposed to be here. After I contacted you twice! Not caring if we had plans, appointments or our lives to get on with! 

Unacceptable - I still can't believe we put up with what we do. 

If we didn't love this little man so much there is no way we would. 

So for now we wait. 

We wait to see what happens with court. 

We have our hearts and minds turned upside down because the HC caseworker really doesn't care. 

Thankful to have a few more hours with Meech and adding more to the long letter I am sending to the head of HCJFS when this is all over. 

****Adding a little update to this post. At 2:30 we got a phone call from Meech's GAL. Court was over. The magistrate ended it an hour early. An hour before the scheduled end time. Lawyers had two more people scheduled to testify. The magistrate said she had somewhere to be and ended it anyway. Now court will resume on January 5. So not only were we told that he was leaving, but his Aunt was told he was coming home tonight. The caseworker lied to both families. Caused both families emotional turmoil. We had said our goodbyes. Filled our house with tears last night from those who love him. Packed him- had his flipping shoes and coat on! Now as happy as we are to have him here- this may all happen again in another 2 weeks.  Where is the best interest of the child when you treat him like an object? So he should have a visit on Christmas with his Aunt and another the following week. Besides that he is ours for a few more weeks. On January 5 the magistrate will hear testimony and I imagine decide if he goes to live with his Aunt or continue the case again. 

Until that point we will enjoy every minute with closely guarded hearts and low expectations. 

Thank you for the continued prayers and support.