Fall is in the air and I've been falling. Making fall themes. Fall-themed themes. Whichever. You can get these and all the others here, here and here.
My oldest is in her second semester of college. That's further than I got and I'm very proud of her. I'm also secretly and greedily glomming onto it as proof that I have been a decent parent. My son is less than thrilled with the transition from summer to the fall semester, but that happens with autistic kids. The change is going to be hard for him, at least until they get Yu-Gi-Oh to be his teacher. He wants to learn to speak Japanese and is bummed they stuck him with Spanish. If I can get the money together, I'll do this for him. It's supposed to be a very good program for learning a new language and doing it online will give me an idea how well he likes it before I commit hundreds of dollars (which will need to be earned on the streets or maybe by selling a kidney) to software.
A combination of the right doctor, the right pill and the right time for her has left my middle girl often pain free and she's back in school full-time. I picked her up today and listened while she chirped about the new friends she had made and the teachers she liked/hated and my breath stopped and my chest hurt. Gladness, relief and fear for her constantly jockey for position. I know I should only be going "YIPPEE SKIP!" and of course I am, but what if it comes back? What if she feels better, gets used to feeling better and it comes back? How will she survive that? How will I?
How do you let go of the fear when it has been sitting on your chest so heavy for so long? How do you live with the fear so you can enjoy it when she's pain free? How long before it goes away? Does it ever?
And other questions - will the doctors write her off now? What if they cut her loose and it comes back and I can't get her back into the program? How long will they follow her to make sure it doesn't come back? How long do we have a support system? How long will she need one?
