Homebound

When I posted last, I said that Izzy was tired. That has continued, but worsened. She is tired all of the time. Izzy has left the house twice since Valentine's Day. Each time was to go to counseling and she was not happy to leave the house.

Izzy has not been to school since Valentine's Day and it is unlikely that she will return for more than a visit.

Each night, Izzy would start to feel okayish around 4:00. Then she would get excited that she might make it to school the next day. At 7:00, she gets ready for bed. By 7:30, she would be yawning extensively and ready to sleep. Each morning, Izzy would wake up feeling blah and in pain. The cycle continued.

Before school.

After 2 hours at school--2+ hour nap.

The school was on mid-winter break over the President's Day weekend and Izzy's cousins flew in from California to visit. Izzy watched a movie with them Monday night and then played a little Tuesday morning. It took her the rest of the week to recover.

The following week, there was a half day of school Wednesday. Izzy had a classmate visit in the afternoon. The girls were together for less than 2 hours. They had the dog in Izzy's room, talked, and started drawing a book together. The next day, Izzy was wiped out.

Izzy gets wiped out doing the easiest of things these days-sorting stuffed animals, looking at coins, reading books. She has nothing left and spends most days in her bed. The other day, she drew a picture, then read for a little while. She was so exhausted, she needed a nap. This is so much more exhaustion than even a month ago.

 
As a result, we made the heart-wrenching decision that Izzy would go homebound for school. No more expectation that Izzy will attend classes or use all of her energy on her very best days to go to school for two hours. Soon, Izzy will have a teacher come to our home two hours a week to teach her.

Izzy is sad about this. She misses her friends. Izzy is desperately afraid that she will be forgotten.She wants to go to school. She doesn't like sitting at home. She is very much looking forward to when the district will send a teacher to our home, so she can re-engage in life.

This last piece of normalcy lost has been very hard for Izzy. For all of us.

Izzy is just so tired.

We have the Sweet Hearts Ball this weekend. Izzy has her new blue dress, shoes, jewelry, and other accessories ready to go. Yet, she asks every day, whether we think she will be able to make it. I really hope that she does.

We are a little over a week out from Izzy's 11th birthday. What will that bring? We do not know. We are trying to manage expectations as best we can, while keeping the magic alive.

My sweet girl.