# Tips on dealing with the school



## Smiletime82 (Apr 9, 2014)

I am having major problems with my daughter's school. All 3 of my children have chronic stomach problems to some extent. The oldest was able to deal with hers and they were fairly mild. She went from Pediatrician, to Gastro Specialist to OBGYN and no one was ever able to diagnose her with anything. She is an adult now and her symptoms got much better and she is now working on her 3rd Masters Degree. My Son who is 17 has been diagnosed with IBS-D for 2 years now and his is so bad that he had to do cyber school this year. No treatment has had any impact on him yet, though we are trying some natural things right now. The main issue is my 11 year old daughter. She has always had constipation problems, even as an infant, but they have gotten really bad the last 2 years. She gets constipation along with dizziness, headaches and nausea. she was scoped and Celiac was ruled out, though there was some stomach lining irritation so the specialist put her on daily Mirilax and Omaprozole. She has been on these for a year now and while they helped initially, it has gotten progressively worse and the Mirilax was actually making her very gassy and crampy, so her Pediatrician referred us to a local health food store and put her on Magnesium, probiotics and orange oil instead, which has helped more than anything the specialist ever did. The main problem with her is the school. She has missed over 20 days this year between her stomach problems, a death in the family and her falling and hurting her ankle...she was in a boot and physical therapy for 3 months. The school actually turned us into the Magistrate for truancy and I had to go to a hearing. It was totally ridiculous as they are totally aware of my kid's health problems. I had to pull my son out this year for cyber as I said and they knew about her stomach issues from last year. Anyway, the pediatrician sent in a note stating that she was being treated for chronic abdominal pain and constipation and she would have intermittent episodes even with treatment. They said that wasn't enough. They want me to get a separate note for every time she is absent and if I can't get that they said to send her anyway because she needs to "toughen up" and learn what the real world is like"...REALLY? She is 11 and in pain. She doesn't even get up on the days she is symptomatic. She has no diagnosis, so I don't think a 504 is possible for her like my son has. She doesn't want to go to cyber school as she loves school and is very active, despite her illness. Has anyone had any luck dealing with schools? I don't see how a note from the Doctor isn't enough and if I actually went to the doctor's office every time one of my kids was sick with this I would be there a couple times a week and I can't afford that! You can't even get an appointment with the Gastro Specialist for months. She is only in our county once per week and appointments are booked at least 3 months in advance. I don't know what they expect me to do. If I didn't work full time, I would just home school her until the end of the year, but I can't afford to quit my job. We are still paying for all the medical bills from her scope and tests last year and her bills for her ankle. This is just crazy.


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