Reply to Fostering a child with complex medical needs

Forum Index » Parenting -- Special Concerns

Reply to "Fostering a child with complex medical needs"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous] Today we had the opportunity to talk further with our social worker in person. We learned that the medical team wants the major procedure to be scheduled when school gets out in a little over a month, meaning that we will have time to bond with the siblings and get to know them beforehand. Right now, the medically complex child looks and acts just like a healthy child and has no symptoms or mobility issues other than minor pains and mild learning disabilities, and he will deal with a loss of independence/new mobility issues while recovering and for several months or potentially years afterward. There is the possibility he will be in the PICU for a few days/weeks depending on side effects from the procedure, which would obviously put a lot of stress on or family unit, but they are hopeful that he will be able to stabilize and not have to be in the PICU at all. The medical team is anticipating he will be able to return to school on a regular schedule in the fall, although he will need an absence accommodation added to his 504 so that he/we are not penalized for the number of absences he will obtain from all of his follow-up appointments/procedures. The occupational therapist would come to our home/his school after he is discharged but we would need to transport him to physical therapy almost every day. We were informed that we could get an in-home nurse come if we so choose so. We were told that it is very likely that he will completely heal and not have any permanent mobility issues, but that there is always the chance that he is not able to make a full recovery/be 100% back to his normal self. A lot of it depends on the gravity of the side effects; on top of the side effects from the procedures themselves, he will also be on very strong medication with lots of side effects.

Our social worker also discussed details about their previous placement and personal things about the kids. I am starting to fall more and more in love with these kids, and I really want them to have a safe and stable home that I know we can provide. We have until the end of the week to make a final decision, and we are both leaning towards yes.[/quote]

It would be helpful to know what condition and surgery this is.

I don't for a moment believe they have nursing services. I have Tricare and couldn't get a non-nursing care provider to our house for respite hours for about 1 year. The wages were too low.[/quote]

The SW made it seem like attempting to get a in-home nurse would be an uphill battle but that the option was there for us. I’m not entirely sure that an in-home nurse would be worth it for us as his primary issues are mobility issues (he won’t have a feeding tube/trach/super complicated medical equipment). He would be at an increased risk of nighttime seizures due to the medication which is why the nurse was an option.  [/quote]

Make sure its in place before you accept the child.  It would be very rare for it to happen.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics