We met Tre's new social worker (Catherine Craft - name sounds like something you'd pick for theatre or porn) and she seems great. We had a meeting here at the house and she walked us through the next steps for Tre's adoption. We have to just wait so the county can show due diligence to the courts in trying to contact his birth parents and informing them of the .26 hearing. She actually knew our case which was a refreshing change from other social workers. After spending a year doing our home study, writing autobiographies, and going through several long interviews we had social workers who were supposedly familiar with our home study say insightful things like "You're a gay couple?" or "Who's Larry?". She seems very capable and has what appears to be a reasonable grasp on how everything is going to play out.
So I am going to try to avoid the parent trap of saying over and over again like some maniacal meat puppet "Tre's doing great!" or "He's doing just fine!". The Boy is doing pretty well over all but we have some concerns. He keeps complaining of stomach aches that don't seem to be related to food. I've been monitoring his bowel movements, changing up what he eats and making a note of when he complains about his tummy bothering him and I can't find anything solid except anxiety or tension. At this point most parents would have the option of taking him to the doctor's to get him checked out but we're still foster parents and face a few obstacles there. Medicare has to approve his visits and he had a wellness checkup (he gets one a year - that's right as a toddler he gets one visit a year to see if everything is okay) just before he came to live with us so they won't authorize a visit without gross physical symptoms (blood in his stool, throwing up, etc). I loathe to lie at this point since we may have to deal with this agency for the next 6 months to a year.
So then I thought to myself what if we get a therapist to see Tre and they can verify he is anxious or tense and that might be affecting his stomach. We know he has a PTSD trigger (darkened archways or corridors can make him hysterical) that I have been trying to get the county to help us with by way of referrals to resources that could help us out or point us in the right direction in how to help the little guy. I decided they had a month and now it was my turn to try to see what could be done. I made some calls and found a great place attached to Children's Hospital called the Chadwick Center. I did some research, made calls and got the ball rolling but it will be at least another month before we can get someone from there to see him since we have to go through the county to get things started. We're feeling a little like we have our faces pressed against the glass trying to reach for what we need. It's extremely frustrating to say the least.
So while I think Tre is settling in with us we still have things to deal with and take care of. Any input anyone has on the things mentioned above, do not hesitate to comment/call/email us. As always we are grateful for the insight/help from our family/friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment