ARGH!!! Why is it that every morning there seems to be something bothering Randy? It's a stomach ache or a headache or just something, you know? Yesterday it was his stomach. I made him go to school anyway and he felt better he said a little after lunch. This morning he was crying saying his stomach hurt again. I had him use the bathroom and he said it didn't help. He ate breakfast (scrambled egg and oj). Maybe he's not getting enough sleep??? He gets about 8 hours a night IF he goes to sleep when he's supposed to. He sometimes has trouble falling asleep and on weekends or days he doesn't have school he will sleep quite late (like 10ish). I have trouble getting him to bed before 9:30 though. He did just have a tooth pulled Tuesday after school because it'd abscessed (baby tooth--infection was trapped between it and the adult tooth) so there could be some drainage causing a bit of a stomach ache. He was fine last night! We've dealt with lots of headaches in the past and they've never found a cause. Am I dealing with school avoidance? Yesterday I was the meanest mom in the world and I didn't love him because I made him go to school. This morning I told him to go lay back down for a bit but he would be going to school today (he'll just be about an hour late). He's already missed 6 days this year. *sigh* This is just so frustrating. Part of me just wants to tell him "If you homeschooled you wouldn't have this problem" but he doesn't want to and I don't want sleeping in to be the only reason he would. UGH! Any thoughts or anyone else dealing with something like this???

By Cat on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 11:55 am:

I ended up calling the school to let them know he'd be late and they said something nasty is going around. When I checked on him about an hour later I asked if he'd had diahreah and he said yes, so he's just staying home today. It just always seems to be something with him, ya know? Maybe he really does have a bug. Now of course I'm feeling a bit guilty. Kids. We need owners manuals! lol

By Bemerry84 on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 12:40 pm:

Cat I'm sorry you are having to go through this. I'm really lucky being a wohm that my kids are well in general. Both have gotten awards several years in a row for perfect attendance. I really would keep them home if needed. I agree on the manuals but then again that would be too easy. Hope you have a better afternoon.

By Dandjmom on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 12:58 pm:

Well Cat, i can say that something is going around , it's made it's way all the way here where I am. I have lost my voice no cold, last week just headache( similier to sinus infection) and achey joints) my son is congested.

Boy you would love my daughter when it comss to school. You have to forse her to stay home from school. I was out runningn an errand last night , she calls me around 7 and tells me that her knee is spranged. I asked her if she hurt it during soccer practice( after school yesterday) she told me that no around 3rd period kids where in the halls pushingn and running and she got pushed into a door real hard.

When I asked why didn't she go to the nurse she said because she may have sent her home and then she would have had to leave school. Last night after arriving home she proceeds to ask me if it starts to hurt real bad at school tomorrow do you want me to go to the burse. I told her of course why wouldn't you, she stated that because they may say she needs to go home. She doesn't want to leave school.

Well at least the weekend is only a day away. Maybe Randy can use the weekend to rest and hopefully get rid of what ever he may have. Take care.

By Mrsheidi on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 03:53 pm:

Cat, 6 days is unusual high at this time of year...not to sound like a "wicked witch" but he might be avoiding school. The only indication is how he is on weekends...does he ever get sick on a Sat or Sun? I used to get "sick" in the mornings and just avoid school when my grades were bad, but that was just me. Then, it ended up hurting my grades even more. (As a teacher, I recognize that absences are the #1 problem in school and causes grades to plummet.)

Make sure to get his work from school ASAP and tell him he'll have to use his Saturday to do it all.
He might "get better" just in time...

Also, if he has diarrhea, usually that subsides quickly and with the right OTC medication. I would at least make him go back by noon. Same with a headache...check the temperature, give him some tylenol, and send him off if it's under control.

What does he do when he is home from school?

By Cat on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 04:16 pm:

Heidi, he's usually about the same on weekends. It's just he sleeps later so it's not as noticeable, but he still has problems. Today he's just laid in bed all day so far. He did come down and eat lunch, but then went right back up. I talked to a friend of mine that said she's dealt with this bug and she said other than the stomach ache and diahreah, her kids were fine. They still ate, like Randy's doing. I may need to just give him bland foods for a bit (BRAT diet). He may not like it but if it helps him get better faster, he can deal with it. I've told him he can't go to karate tonight, even if he is feeling better (didn't go to school after all) and we canceled his guitar lesson tonight, too. He'll be going to bed extra early tonight, too.

I'll email all his teachers and make sure he gets all his missed work. If he's still sick tomorrow I'll go pick it all up. Oh, the joys of parenthood.

By Tarable on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 04:49 pm:

This or something like it went around down here (TX) the first 2 weeks of school and my oldest (7th grade) was out of school 5 days in the first 2 weeks. And it took almost 2 weeks before she really felt better. And you are right all it did was make her stomach hurt and diareah, but if the school nurse found out that she had diareah within 24 hrs she was not allowed back in school or that is what she told me.

I really feel for him and hope he gets better soon.

By Chai~latte on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 04:55 pm:

Just a thought. Could he be suffering from depression or having an issue at school that he is not telling you about?

Many times depression can manifest itself as physical symptoms. He might not feel he can tell you what's going on and therefore it's coming out as a physical symptoms. Things like headaches, stomach upset and sleep disturbances could be signs of depression but could be signs of other things as well. Is he taking any type of medication on a regular basis?

Anyway it might not be depression but I just wanted to throw it out there as a possibility. You know your son best.

Hope he's feeling better soon and that you get it all sorted out.

By Mrsheidi on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 05:02 pm:

Sorry he's not feeling well... I hope he gets better! I know how much he loves karate.
We'll have to have you guys up here once everyone is well and we have at least my kitchen utensils out of boxes. LOL
{{Randy}}

By Kellyj on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 05:38 pm:

If he is on an antibiotic after the tooth abscess that can definitely be upsetting his stomach.

By Cat on Friday, October 26, 2007 - 09:28 am:

Kelly, he's not on antibiotics. I asked and they said with pulling the tooth it would have somewhere to drain on it's own and he didn't need then. The draining could be part of the cause, I suppose.

He's staying home again today. He did nothing buy lay around all day yesterday and watch tv. So not like him. He's also been complaining of a headache since last night and he still had diahreah this morning (oh, he'd be SO pleased to know I'm sharing that with all of you! lol). So after getting up this morning, eating breakfast and taking a shower, he's now going back to bed. I fully intended on sending him until he had the diahreah again. At least he'll have the weekend to recover. I'll have to run to the school later and get his work (or I'll send dh--he's home today).

Chai, I really don't think he's depressed. He's pretty good at expressing his emotions and not very good at hiding them. He's also very good at verbalizing when things are bothering him.

Heidi, if you feel like getting away from all the boxes let me know! You're more than welcome to come down this way. We'll have to get something planned.

By Cat on Friday, October 26, 2007 - 09:41 am:

Ugh, I just checked the school's website to see what homework was listed and realized Randy's going to miss a field trip today to a nature center. I don't think he remembered that. Well, if he's got diahreah that doesn't matter anyway. I'd hate to have him out there and have to go, you kwim? I hope they put the money we paid for it to good use, because I know we won't get it back. *sigh*

By Christylee on Friday, October 26, 2007 - 09:47 am:

That stinks he will miss the field trip today but I agree diahreah in a nature center doesn't sound like fun to me. I hope he feels better soon!

By Dawnk777 on Friday, October 26, 2007 - 11:51 am:

Bummer that he misses the field trip. However, I wouldn't want to be far from a bathroom, if the urge hits!

By Kate on Friday, October 26, 2007 - 11:56 am:

I'd be pretty upset, Heidi, if a mom sent her kid to school in the afternoon, having had diarrhea in the morning... It's a huge germ issue and kids are so bad at washing their hands it could go thru the whole class quickly. I agree with the 24 hours of no diarrhea before being allowed back at school that someone mentioned.

Hope he's better soon, Cat!

By Vicki on Friday, October 26, 2007 - 12:19 pm:

Our school has a 24 hour policy for fever and diarrhea also.

By Dana on Friday, October 26, 2007 - 12:41 pm:

I didn't even begin to read all the replies. But DD was sick almost all of Second grade with upset tummies, diarrhea, headaches and sometimes vomitting. Some of the time it was a real virus, but my guess it was due to stress and illness brought on by stress. She has had these symptoms all thru 1 and 2nd grade.

Then we held her back for 2nd grade again. She was not sick until the LAST WEEK of school messing up her perfect attendance.

We are now back in third and the workload is taking a toll on her. She has already missed 3 days of school (but we all had this virus, so can't blame it on nerves), but her tummy has been an ongoing issue again this year and has come home early 3 times in tears from tummy ache. Once home, ready to play! WE've talked about it being emotionally brought on and she agrees it is probably related.

Just knowing that she is in control of this, does give her a better chance to avoid feeling sick. But the headaches and tummy aches keep coming and they are predictably during the studies she does not like or has trouble with.

Don't know if that is your childs problem, but my daughter is very able to be physically sick if she feels like a failure at school or whatever. Or feels afraid in any way. So we just try to talk our way thru it together.

By Mrsheidi on Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 12:52 am:

If he has consistent diarrhea, of course. When he's sick, he's sick.
I hope he feels better, Cat. And, I hope no one else at home gets it!

By Cat on Monday, October 29, 2007 - 09:20 am:

I made him a doctor's appointment this morning. He seemed fine over the weekend but then this morning after breakfast he said he threw up a little. Ugh! I asked how he felt this weekend (he acted like he felt okay, but he didn't do much and got to sleep in). He said it hurt a little. I did get out of him that he really dislikes his math teacher. Stress??? I don't know. We'll see what the doctor says. I'm going to have him check his sinuses while we're there, too. He put Randy on allergy meds a few weeks ago and they don't seem to be helping. So we'll see what the doc says.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, October 29, 2007 - 10:00 am:

Keep us posted. Poor kid.

By Cat on Monday, October 29, 2007 - 03:45 pm:

The doc says it's just a virus that needs to run it's course. He said the diahreah could last another week!!! Oh, joy! NOT! We went to the school and got Randy's books so he can get some work done, but with only 2 hours left in the day by the time we got there, I just brought him home. I hope the rest of us don't get it.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, October 29, 2007 - 10:51 pm:

Yuck. Hope the rest of you stay well.

By Mrsheidi on Sunday, November 4, 2007 - 02:18 pm:

How's he feeling? Is he able to keep up on the work?