I don't know what to do about Dane. Friday morning, before anyone's alarms went off, he came and crawled into bed with me. He coughed almost continuously and seemed to be having trouble breathing. It was a foggy morning and sticky with humidity, so I decided before 7:00 that this was a day to stay home from school. Our school is not air-conditioned. It's old and brick and someday I'm sure we'll have a fund-raiser for air conditioning, but until then, hot humid days are very difficult, especially for the children that suffer from asthma. One of the boys in Dane's class that has a more severe case was out all last week.
The school has a policy that if the temperature plus heat index reaches a certain point, school dismisses. They have a special little meter that's used for sporting events that accurately measures all that stuff. On days that the forcast appears that it will reach that high, they cancel or dismiss at lunchtime, so they can take advantage of the cooler mornings. They dismissed at noon the previous Friday because of the forecast, but every day is pretty hot and they have to have school sometime.
Each morning, when we've arrived at school well before starting time, they've had all the hallway doors propped open with huge box fans in them, the windows of every classroom open, and fans going in every room, attempting to cool them down before the heat of the day. By the end of the school day, you're hot, sticky, and need a cool shower (Deanna pretty much heads straight for the bathroom when she gets home), but it's bearable - at least for those without respiratory problems.
So, I called Dane's teacher (who lives across the street from us and is a close family friend) and told her I wasn't going to send him. She said she had been out walking at 5:30 and it was so foggy and sticky, she was having trouble breathing. She much preferred that I keep him home so she wouldn't have to be concerned about monitoring his breathing while she was trying to teach.
We gave him a few puffs off his rescue inhaler and kept him in the air conditioning most of the day. He seemed to do just fine. We had a good but very busy weekend and the children got very little sleep. Now we get to the problem part.
Last night, he couldn't get to sleep. He complained that he was having trouble breathing, that his chest hurt... His daddy finally put him in our bed about 10:00 and gave him a jet nebulizer treatment. He fell asleep and slept pretty soundly except when I woke him up to move him into his bunkbed. But it's hot again today, and I'm worried. I walked the kids to school and he seemed to be breathing just fine, but I was sweaty and sticky by the time I got home, and I was able to come into the air conditioning to cool down. He's stuck in the humidity for the rest of the day.
When we gave his teacher his rescue inhaler, she was a little overwhelmed and asked how she would know when to use it, so I asked his allergist, who gave me an excellent list of symptoms for her to watch for - things like inability to complete a full sentence without taking a breath, coughing a lot ... I'll sit by the phone today and hope I don't get a call, but you can bet I'm not going to get very far from the ringtone.
Maybe I can start a fundraising effort to get room sized air conditioning units.
3 comments:
During school I had a hard enough time concentrating. I could not imagine what I would do if we hadn't had a/c.
Hey Patti,
I'm sorry to hear that Dane's health isn't the greatest. My son William has suffered with asthma since he was diagnosed at 18months. He suffers most when the weather changes from dry and warm to damp and cold. I think that molding leaves in fall, and being indoors more doesn't help either. With his compromised ammune system (he has severe allergies, as well) I find that I often have to restrict his contact with other kids. He's just a healthier little guy when his environment is consistant. This was one of the reasons I was happy to homeschool him.
I also think that 3 missed days of school isn't the end of the world. We live in a society obsessed with curriculum, standardized test, and grades. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say, " Drat! If only I hadn't missed those few days of school I would have made it as a doctor." Just isn't how life works.
All the 'content' in the world will not make or break a person's future. And, no elementary school grade can determine to what extent a person will succeed. Quite honestly I don't remember anything I learned at elementary school - except the one teacher who read novels to us everyday after lunch. He actually choked up at the part where Old Yellar had to be put down.
It's easy to feel panicked when society puts so much focus on success in terms of good grades and averages on achievement tests. I think it's a sin that learning is no longer recognized as something we are doing every minute of our lives, but has become a marketable product that can only be handled correctly by professionals.It's shocking how much money is made off unsuspecting parents who are told their child is 'behind'. It saddens me that we allow these same professional to attach labels to our children that will follow them for life.
Can you tell this a pet peeve for this homeschooler?
Jan, yes (laughing), I could tell this is a hot spot. But I'm just so glad to have you back after your vacation that I'm more than happy to listen.
Hope the kids enjoyed the hotel and you had a good time, but your blogging friends did miss you.
By the way, I don't worry so much about him missing three days - it's just that those 3 days were all in the first 2 weeks of school. And, with Don's party on Saturday and his parents here all weekend, we didn't crack a book. As we were preparing for school Monday morning, I discovered all of Dane's makeup work that we had not touched over the weekend. We furiously began working on it. But I feel better this morning because we finished the last paper today and he will turn the remainder of his work from last week in this morning.
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