Pulling kids out of school

Pulling kids out of school

So I know this sounds drastic, but we actually did this for Son #2. He had been down about 100 points on his peak flow, and just couldn't seem to rebound. He had struggled for about 3 months, all during the winter and into spring.


Usually, he can do a burst of steroids and he'll start to come back up. Sometimes he needs a Decadron injection (more steroids.) That usually does the trick, however nothing seemed to be working. Even increasing his Advair to the maximum dose did nothing.

So, there we were in Asthma Doc's office (again.) Asthma Doc was smoothing out his bangs, which he always does while he is thinking. I could see him flipping back and forth on Son #2's chart and then listening to his lungs. Then more smoothing of the bangs. Finally he said "We need to pull him out of school."

I said, "Wait. What?" Asthma Doc was concerned that Son #2 wasn't able to let his body fully heal after every respiratory infection. He needed to be pulled out of school, let his body rest and recover, and avoid being around the other sick students.

My first thought was "If you think I'm going to home school him, you're crazy!" However, our school district has a system set up just for this. If they need to miss a month of school or less, the district will arrange for a tutor from your school to visit your home. They will bring all assignments from all 8 teachers, help with homework, then take the completed homework back to the school. If it is longer than a month, a district tutor would be set up.

There are students needing this for a variety of reasons, they can be in car accidents, being treated for cancer, recovering from surgery, etc.

So, Son #2 was home for a month! I work part time, so I needed to adjust my schedule. Then Wonderful Neighbor helped out too. I had to be there during all tutoring sessions and also help with homework. It was a slow process, but he finally started to turn the corner. Asthma Doc was right, he needed to rest and let his body heal. And it helped not being around a germ infested junior high.

So, it is a drastic step, but sometimes kids with severe asthma need it. I felt more at peace, not having to run to the school for breathing treatments (inhaler just doesn't cut it for Son #2.) And I didn't feel like I was on edge all the time, checking his breathing.

Something to think about-it really seemed to work after we had tried everything else. And I had some great bonding time with my son, it doesn't get much better than that!

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