It took a bit to get the boys to sleep last night, especially Elliott. He was coughing nonstop and it sounded awful. He’s on meds for the cough, breathing humidified air (with essential oils) and using his emergency inhaler very few hours. It was well into the early hours of the morning before he finally was able to sleep.
Emmett seemed to fall asleep a bit more easily but was up super early.
Both the boys are upset that they are missing school. Emmett isn’t fighting me but Elliott is really upset and not letting it go. There’s zero chance they can go to school and nothing he can say to me is going to change that. Both are basically fever free this morning but still over the threshold for being able to go to school.
As the morning progresses a bit, they seem to be feeling a little better. At this point, I’m opting not to take them to the doctors just yet. Elliott still has a week of antibiotics left and he does seem to be doing better today. I was talking about this on Twitter today because it’s something I think many parents in my shoes have to contend with.
Kids with Autism can sometimes really, really hate going to the doctor. It creates a tremendous amount of anxiety and can make a bad situation worse. That is absolutely Elliott. He gets so stressed out and has been known to have a full blown panic attack over it. He’s always been this way.
I don’t want to rush the kids to the doctor just because I’m overreacting but at the same time, I don’t want to underreact as well. Putting the kids though needless stress doesn’t help anyone. This is why I’ve decided to watch them for today and see how they’re doing. Right now they seem to be getting better but if that changes, I’ll get them in. The chances of me being able to get them in today for a sick appointment is probably slim at best. There’s a lot of things going around and it’s a Monday.
I spoke with he principal about this today and he said not to worry at all. Just focus on taking care of the boys.
We’ll see how the day goes.