What about high school?

About two weeks ago, we all met with Tim’s teaching staff, counselor and school nurse. This was to recognize Tim as participating as a Section 504 student. This federal law allows some accommodation of his “disability” but doesn’t require the school to provide an individual teaching plan for him. Basically it is to allow some leeway in assignments, class attendance, and test taking so that he can complete his year in high school. I have to say that the teaching staff in this regard is exceptional. The staff took time to meet before school started and worked through a number of ideas. We outlined the kinds of things Tim will face over the next year such as missing every third Friday while being in the hospital. Tim will still have to do the work but perhaps not all the busy work. He may also be allowed to take tests outside of the classroom or at a different time to accommodate the hospital admissions.

So far though, Tim hasn’t had to miss much school. He was already at round 2 of the triple whammy over Labor Day weekend and it just so happens that the Friday he would miss was an in-service day for the staff at school. And Monday of course was a holiday, so he didn’t miss any school. On whammy round 3, he did miss a Friday but had pledged and did in fact get ahead of assignments he knew about so he did not fall behind. Other than, that he hasn’t missed any school due to reduced immune system effects.

He has had to reduce his physical output in marching band. The band practices evenings on Tuesday and Thursday and he has had to miss a Thursday evening because of a hospital admission. He’s also been very tired of course and that means he can’t participate to the physical level he would like. This week he was able to be at both Tuesday and Thursday evening band sessions and at least help out the marching members (he won’t be marching) and play the music from his position in the pit.

Even so, it does take a toll on him to be up what is now late (9:30) for him. He does very well when he can get 10 hours of sleep in a night. The struggle is that he’s at that teenage time when staying up late is the norm and then trying to make it up on the weekend. He really needs to get consistent sleep each day. So we’ll work though the short term marching band schedule and hopefully when that is over this semester, he can get back to a more normal sleep schedule.

Another high school event is homecoming and that is coming up in a few weeks. It is a series of events with the football game on Friday and a dance on Saturday. It would have been the Thursday just prior for the triple whammy but the oncologist was able to slide the time to the following Monday. So Tim will be able to fit in a senior year memory. And he has a date!

So the Monday after homecoming will be the first time Tim will have an extended absence from school of at least two days. We’ll see how it plays out and if he can get ahead of the curve on schoolwork so those two days won’t be a big problem. If he works it like the last triple whammy, he may feel good enough to go in Thursday but we’ll have to see.

--bob