Preparing for School... gulp!

So the meetings with the school district have already begun. I've met with the preliminary assessment team. Now I meet with the school nurse on Thursday and we gather information for all Gesina's doctors and therapists. In mid-October we review Gesina's assessments and in November, we have her official Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). I do find it amusing when they say on the phone "we'll meet and talk about her IEP in November IF SHE QUALIFIES." Um, yeah, she qualifies. I think my biggest fight will be to ensure she gets a one-on-one assistant like she has at daycare. She is 100% dependent on others and my biggest fear is she's going to be thrown in a corner and forgotten about. This hasn't happened at her daycare (and if I even get a hint of her not being included, I start to rumble) so I'm hoping it won't happen in school. I'm prepared to intervene but currently, with her being nonverbal and not mobile, I don't know how I would know. Can I just randomly drop by her school? Because I'll do that! This is the only reason I know at daycare. I drop by and they send pictures of the classroom and I'll notice if Gesina is not in them or if all Gesina's pics are of her on her own. I'll have to add that to my list of questions for her IEP meeting.

We have $5,550 raised for Gesina's stem cells! So close to our goal of $7,700. I've booked the tickets and hotel and twisted my mom and Aunt Barb's arms to get them to go with me. If you'd like to help us get to our goal, we'd be happy to take your donation! Here's our fundraising page on YouCaring:

https://www.youcaring.com/gesina-marie-deuling-633717

I'm trying to come up with a clever way to ease my fellow airline passenger's pain if Gesina loses it on the flight. I'm thinking of typing up a little of her backstory and attaching it to some bags of M&Ms to pass out. Maybe I can create a wall of "support" and goodwill to help get us all through the flight versus the "DIE DIE DIE" looks I'd get without the bribe. Any other ideas are greatly appreciated! If I'm going to keep our immune systems strong, I'll need to build that wall of support on the plane so I don't have the added anxiety of others' wrath.

Up next, on Monday Gesina has to be put under to get her phenol and botox injections. These injections help loosen the spasticity of her muscles so she can use her body in new ways. She is low on these drugs now and it shows. She is in pain and her body is very stiff and tight. I'm looking forward to her getting these shots but it is a bit scary to have your daughter put under every 4 months. I'm looking into hippotherapy (riding horses) and there is new and very encouraging research on whole body vibration therapy. Gesina is loving her new stander and I'm thinking if I can get that sense of vibration under her feet in her stander, her body can adjust to those movements, using muscles she hardly uses, and this could help later on with walking (so says the research). I'm annoyed no doctor or therapists present me with these options but I'm glad I found them and will make them happen nonetheless. Here she is trying out her new stander and discovering the beauty of shaving cream at daycare!