Author: MICHELLE N

Second Grade 2021

Posted on by MICHELLE N

This school year William will be a 2nd grader. How fast time flies!  His  teacher is still Mr. Castenada from the first grade.

First day of school Aug 16, 2021.  This year Santa Ana district decided to start school earlier than previous years: usually the first day of school began after the Labor Day but this year it started before the Labor Day.

Unaware of this change, we planned our trip to Hawaii from 8/12-8/16, thus William missed the first day of school.  Then when we got back, the school said William has to self-quarantine for 14 days, which means he cannot go to school until Monday 8/30/2021.

Not only school, TasKids where we have the ABA sessions, also demanded that everyone in our family to take a Covid-19 tests after 3 days we got back from our trip; and they resume sessions only if the test is negative.

We made appointment with Walgreens for all 3 of us on Saturday 8/21.  Today is Monday but still have not received the results yet, I guess because we were tested on the weekend, it’d take longer to get the result back.

Hawaii Here We Come – Aug 2021

Posted on by MICHELLE N

Thursday 8/12 – Monday 8/16.

Our summer vacation this year was Honolulu, Oahu, and we were staying for 3 nights at one of the most beautiful hotel on the island, the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort.   William is 7 years old now, he’s old enough not to cry and he loves to fly!  The only issue during our flight from LAX – Honolulu is that he kept standing up on the chair and touched the lights on the ceiling and often times pulling down/up the food tray so strong that would shake the seat of the person sitting in front of him.  Lucky for us it’s Danny seat so we were not yelled at.  He did not want to watch any movie, all he wanted was looking at the map.

William only slept for about 30 minutes; United airlines did not serve lunch; I brought 1 lunchbox from home so that was William’s lunch.  We were late because we had a bit of issue getting the pre-approval of covid-19 so did not have time to buy any thing for lunch; lucky for us aunt Eliza gave me a croissant, which I shared with aunt Julie.

Everyone is required to wear mask all the time, except for when eating.

We arrived at Honolulu airport around 11:00 AM, it took so long for the luggage to come out.  Then we headed to the Budget rental car to pick up 2 minivans to fit total of 12 of us.  Then we headed to Pho Que Huong at China town for lunch; the food here is good.  After lunch, we stopped by Costco on the way to the hotel for some water and snacks.  Aunt Eliza bought William a set of Beach toys!  William enjoyed his churros while looking out the window: it’s his first time here at Waikiki.

Check in at the hotel took so long: about 1 hour! I already checked in via Hilton Honors app, otherwise it’d take longer because the general check in line was so long.  It took so long because they required EACH adult to log in to the Safe Travel web site and show them the trip details.

But then when we got to our room, the view was spectacular; it was worth all the hassle!  After a short break, we headed down to the Hilton Lagoon, William loved it here!  We got lucky that someone gave us 3 floats because their trip ended today.

Shopping inside the Hilton Village

Last Day Of Speech Therapy

Posted on by MICHELLE N

Being a 2nd grader at Thomas Jefferson school, his class will be ended at 2:00 PM, which will conflict with his speech therapy at Providence Speech and Hearing center at 1:00 PM every Mondays with Ms. Gina so we decided to cancel the therapy.

We’ve been using tele-health for the speech sessions but because today is the last day, we wanted to see Ms. Gina for the last time in person and gave her some appreciation gift.  William was so excited to go.  Actually he had been asking to go to the office because he said it was boring to have the on-line meeting.

Second Covid-19 Test

Posted on by MICHELLE N

State of Hawaii demands that everyone is traveling to Hawaii that did not get the Covid-19 vaccine will need to take a Covid-19 test within 72 hours of the departure time; and they only allow travelers to enter the state with negative  test result.

Thus we made a 2nd Covid-19 test for William on Monday 8/9/2021 at 9:45 AM (our flight was 8/12 at 8:30 AM so we could take any appointment on 8/9 after 8:30 AM to meet the 72 hours requirement).  Out of 12 family members were going to Hawaii, only William and Victoria are under 12 years old and don’t have the Covid-19 vaccine yet.  So today I drove both of them to Walgreens for the test.

I reminded William the procedure again, he was not scared at all.

This time the result came back quickly, the next day.  I guess because it was not weekend.

It was negative for both kids.   I was so relieved because I was afraid that the result would not come before the departure date: we have to log in to the Hawaii state website to upload the report before departure.

Allergy Skin Test

Posted on by MICHELLE N

With Dr. Mark H. Ellis, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.

Address:

725 West La Veta Ave, Suite 100

Orange, CA

A skin prick test was done (They drew numbers on William’s back and and used little pricks to punch the skin on those numbers).

Did not know how it was done, William was so ready but the first prick hurt him so he refused to continue.  The nurse came in to help, she held him tightly so the he could not run.  Right way after 5 minutes we could see the marks turned red, and he started to scratch his eyes a lot.  After 20 minutes, the nurse came in to check and wrote down the results.  Then Dr. came to look at the results and gave him Benadryl to help with the allergy.

 

https://www.choc.org/providers/allergy-immunology/mark-ellis-md/

 

First Covid-19 Test

Posted on by MICHELLE N

After William’s first ride on the school bus, he went him coughing and then had a fever for 2 days, we decided to take him for Covid-19 test.

We made appointment on Walgreens.com, they asked a few health question and insurance (we don’t have to pay even if we don’t have insurance).  To my surprise, William did not refuse to go at all, I guess because I explained it to him that it’d not be blood test; and that they just collect sample from his nostrils.

The test was done thru the Pharmacy Drive Thru window, the window was not open, they communicated with us thru the telecom and they put the stuffs in the metal box below the window and open that box for us to pick it up.  They gave us 2 zip lock bags: 1 with information about the test which we keep, the other one has the small tube with some liquid on it and a cotton swab which we use to swirl around each nostril 5 times, then put the swab in the tube, break the stick to fit the tub, put in the zip lock bag, drop it back in the metal box.

That was it, painless and fast.  William sneezed right away when we put the swab into his nostrils.

The result came back negative on 7/7/2021 which is 2 days later.

Test type: Diagnostic Lab Test (PCR)

Location

16201 HARBOR BLVD
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Northwest corner OF HARBOR & EDINGER

Result:

Order Number 79012741
Results Summary
COVID-19: Negative
Your results do not detect SARS-CoV-2. A negative test means that the virus was not present in the sample you
provided.
Your results suggest you were negative at the time of testing.*
*Although the possibility is low, a false negative result should be considered if you have had recent exposure to
the virus along with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. COVID-19
This test checks for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (also called COVID-19), a respiratory
illness.
The Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit used to perform this test has been authorized by FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization for use by authorized laboratories. The test has not been otherwise FDA cleared or approved. This test is authorized only for the detection
of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2, not for any other viruses or pathogens. This test is only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of in vitro diagnostic tests for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 under section 564(b)(1) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. 360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the authorization is terminated or revoked. NEXT STEPS
Although your test results did not detect the virus, you should continue to monitor for symptoms for up to
14 days after your last possible exposure. Seek medical attention immediately if you develop severe
symptoms, especially if you experience severe trouble breathing, continuous pain or pressure in your chest, feeling confused or having difficulty waking up, blue-colored lips or face, or any other emergency signs or
symptoms.
It’s important to follow isolation or quarantine precautions as recommended.
If you believe you have symptoms of COVID-19 or that you have been exposed to the virus, you should
consult your place of work for specific guidance about whether to stay home or continue working. You
should adhere to recommendations set forth by your employer or the department of health, as they may
differ from the CDC’s guidelines.
If you have questions about this test or your results, you can contact the PWNHealth Care Coordination
Team at 315-401-7865, Monday-Sunday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time, or email covid19@pwnhealth.com. You can also leave a message after hours and a PWNHealth team member will call you back as soon as
possible. For additional information on how you can prevent, treat, or help fight COVID-19, visit
https://combatcovid.hhs.gov.

 

First Time Ride the School Bus

Posted on by MICHELLE N

After 1 week and a half of waiting, calling back and forth Ms. Lisa (Santa Ana school district transportation coordinator ), teacher Mr. Casteneda, and the Transportation department, finally we got a call from the Santa Ana school district transportation on Tuesday, saying that they’d pick up William in the morning at 6:55 AM and drop him off at 1:15 PM, starting tomorrow (Wednesday).

I was worried that he could not wake up that early but this morning when I woke him up around 6:20 AM, and I mentioned the school bus, he just jumped out of the bed!  He brushed teeth without me asking so many times like usual.  Then he had a little bit time left to eat cereal and milk before the bus came.

We saw the bus coming toward to our house, he ran around to the front yard, looking so excitedly.   When the bus driver opened the door, he got in so fast and looked for the seat in the middle of the bus.  The bus driver made sure he had seat belt on and then took his backpack to the front.  I asked if it’s ok for him to hold on to his backpack because there’s tissue box in there; he has allergy and might need it.  She said “OK, thanks for letting me know” and she gave him the backpack back.

I waved as the bus leaving, but he was looking at the window on the other side.

7:30 A.M, I drove to school just to see how he behaved when get off the bus.  Just before 8:00 AM, I saw his teacher Vanessa was holding his hand and heading toward the school gate.  He looked fine.  Call me crazy mom but I guess I’m worried too much.  He’s a smart boy, and he does not need his mom to hold his hands to go to school anymore.

 

2nd Time on Medication for ADHD

Posted on by MICHELLE N

Tuesday 6/22/2021, I gave William the new medicine (Amphetamine) that Ms. Elyse prescribed before going to school.  I broke the capsule and pour the medicine on a spoon of Nutella; he took it with no problem because he loves Nutella so much!

Then I drove him to school, I asked him occasionally if he had tummy aches or headaches, he said No.  When I handed him to Ms. Vanessa at school, I told him about the medicine and asked her to observe if he’s ok.

Noon time I picked him up. He ran out from the gate, kicked the sign on the way and even used his hands trying to push the sign down.  Wow, he was even more aggressive than when he had the other medicine.  When we got into the car, he repeatedly push the power button so many times!

When he got home, he seemed to be calmer.  I got him pizza and hash brown but he only ate some hash brown.  When Thomas (TasKids supervisor) and Marilou (ABA) came, he seemed to be fine.   I told Marilou about his temper when I picked him up; Marilou asked William what was wrong, “The teacher asked me to clean up which I did not like!”.

So I’m not sure he was angry because of the chores that the teacher asked him to do or it’s the side effect of the medicine.  We’ll have to try at least for a week more to be sure.

Hana Field – The Flowers Field in Costa Mesa

Posted on by MICHELLE N

We were not planning to go but aunt Eliza had 2 extra tickets because her son and daughter Vi & Bryan could not go.  So I purchased additional 1 ticket ($5.00) on their web site so that 3 of us can go.

The Hana farm is part of the Tanaka farm, which turns out to be disappointed: the sunflowers are all done, there were other flowers too but not that as much as the one in Carlsbad.  We tried to walked to the small section at the end of the farm where there were still some sunflowers left, but William asked to go to the shade because it was too sunny, so Tim took him to the table where there was some shade.  We took some pictures and then left for In and Out Burger for lunch.

We had lunch in the car then went to South Coast Plaza which is only 5 minutes away.  William loved it here! It’s been for more than a year due to Covid-19 that we did not go to the mall.  To my surprise, William did not run around like he used to do last time we went to a mall.  He’s so curious about everything; we took the elevator to the upper level, “It’s a nice elevator!” – I’m so surprise at his remark.  He saw the water fountain on the way, he asked “why there’s water here? why the water is running down?” – He asked a lot of Why questions!

I told him it was time to go home but he asked for more time so I gave him more time.  We were just walking around the mall, did not go into any store, some times sat down on the  benches to look around.  I did not have to run after him and call his name out loud this time, thanks God!

4th Meeting with Ms. Elyse

Posted on by MICHELLE N

Another zoom meeting in 1 month after the last meeting with the Nurse Practitioner Ms. Elyse.

She followed up about the medication.   I told her about his aggressive behaviors that I stopped giving it to him.  She suggested another medicine; this time it’s a long acting one that will last from 6-8 hours.  It’d give the same side affects like tummy ache and headaches and loss of appetite.