Miss Diagnosis: School

Thursday, June 17, 2010

School

The school year ended 3 weeks ago and Alex and I met with her counselor and signed up for next year's classes. This August Alex should be starting her senior year. The thing is she only has credits equal to 2 years completed. We had really hoped she would be able to catch up this past year but the reality has been different.

Options include taking the state proficiency exam (they don't offer a GED 'till you are at least 18), trying to cram two years of work into one, or planning on taking an extra year of H.S. Alex plans on going to college so she has decided she would rather plan on an taking two senior years. This will give her more of an education under her belt so that college won't be so intimidating. Her counselor is fine with this option as long as Alex is making "good progress" this coming year.

I think it's the best option, but it's going to be really hard when her friends are graduating and leaving home and she is going back for another year. I guess this means we will be skipping senior pictures, and all the other "senior stuff" for another year. It may be the best option, but it still makes me so sad for her.

4 comments:

judycolbyJune 22, 2010 at 8:21 PM
Rene,
I'm sorry. With time it does get easier to accept.
ReplyDelete
Replies
RobinJune 25, 2010 at 4:05 PM
Rene, our system offers the option of "walking" with the seniors, but taking the english/government courses in the summer either online or in summer school. If Alex could work out a deal like that, she could walk with her class, no one would have to know, and she'd still have HER senior year. I don't know if that will work where you are...
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJune 25, 2010 at 4:45 PM
Don't skip the senior pictures! She will want to see herself in the yearbook with all of her friends. She can do it again next year with next years friends too.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Hi, I'm ReneJune 25, 2010 at 7:54 PM
Thanks so much for your comments and suggestions! Mid freshman year Alex was "forced" to leave tradition high school becasue of attendance policies. Since then she has been enrolled at "Independence High" where she only physically attends one hour per week to meet with a teacher. She doesn't actually know any other students there and they don't have a yearbook.
Robin, she is too far behind for options like you suggest. And get this...they won't let her attend summer school. You have to FAIL a class to be eligible, she's a A-B student so it's a no go. It's all about budget cuts!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Transphenoidal Pituitary Surgery- From the UCSF web site

What happens during surgery?
The surgical removal of the pituitary adenoma is performed by a technique called a transsphenoidal operation. The word 'transsphenoidal' describes the path the surgeon follows to reach the pituitary gland. The word comes from 'trans', meaning 'to cross or pass through', and 'sphenoid', the name of the cavity (the sphenoid sinus) that is passed through to reach the pituitary gland. Newer techniques and improvements in technology now allow removal of these tumors without the need for an incision under the lip or within the nostril. The surgeon begins the approach by entering through the nostril on one side. The surgeon uses a brilliant fiber optic light to illuminate the internal anatomy, a microscope to magnify the area of surgery to 12 times the actual size, and very tiny microsurgical instruments especially designed for this particular operation. The surgeon guides the surgical instrument into the nasal cavity and an opening is made in the sphenoid bone. The sphenoid sinus is entered, and then an opening is made in the wall of the sella turcica to expose the pituitary gland. The adenoma can be readily distinguished from the normal pituitary gland tissue and is removed without removing the normal gland. After the surgeon removes all the tumor tissue, the small cavity that is left is treated with alcohol to destroy any tumor cells that may remain. This cavity is then sealed, sometimes with a piece of fat that the surgeon removes from the patient's abdomen. The surgeon then applies a biological 'glue' that helps seal the pituitary area from the nose and promotes natural healing. No nasal packs are used with this approach.