3 in 1,how do you cope???

[chickensaresafehere]

So October is nearly here & have been hit with 3 important appts in 1 month & close together too
1st is neuro paed,then the week after follow-up appt with cons paed then in the same week comm paed appt.
Dh has managed to get morning off work for neuro paed appt,as its the first time we have seen him & feeling very stressed about it.
But the other two I will have to go on my own & even though I'm the one who does all the talking at these appt's,I feel better if dh is with me,as I usually come out of there & have a little cry,to release the stress IYSWIM.
Ths stress of it all is getting to me as October looms,headaches etc.
What can I do to help me cope?!

i know how you feel, ds has been in hospital for a week for an op at the beginning of the year and had about 15 appts up to now this year. we had a spurt of about six, one week after the other, i have reduced my work hours down to four days a week with my employers being really good and letting me have the flexibity of changing my day off to accomodate hospital appts. its me that does most of the hospital visits and reduced my hours as dh earns alot more money than me. ds is now nearly 7 and we have been visiting many different hospitals on many many occasions all his life. dh comes to the appts that are the most important or are a decent drive away as i don't drivea and some appts are difficult to get to on public transport. i tend not to focus on how many appts he has coming up, only focus on the first one until that is out the way, and then the next one and so on.

could you ask someone else to go with you? or arrange to meet someone after for a coffee and a hug?

i am not sure of your situation but i have found once we had a diagnosis and after a couple of years of appts it isnt as stressful and now an everyday occurance.

DD2,3.6,is hypermobile & is non-verbal.Has had numerous blood tests & an MRI,but as yet no dx.
Usually my Mum would come with me but she is away on holiday

I have to do a lot of this appointment juggling myself. My dh has not been to one of my ds appointments, not because he doesn't want to be there but because he can't get time off work, in fact even when ds has been rushed into hospital in ambulance from school, dh has only made it once! Coping on your own is horrid.

We live in a very rural location but I do drive and that makes all the difference. Last year I would take ds and dd out of school for ds's appointments, dd got very stressed being in school knowing ds was at hospital again. This year she seems more stressed by leaving school early...so sometimes feel I can't win To cope at all my mind set has had to be, first off don't worry about missing school, don't worry if to make it work that dc has to miss all day if necessary. You have to manage the day in whatever way reduces the stress for you, including the extra rush of fetching them from school. Do you have other dc so that adds to your stress about the appointments? Secondly have you got friends in rl who can help with child care, or come with you for moral support. Thirdly I regularly have a little cry after appointments, and before, not usually during, but I see nothing wrong with that eitherI get headaches and feel sick too, so I know how you feel. Sorry I can't really help, but i can sympathise.

I'm afraid you sort of become used to it. I'm just glad our paed is happy to double up on my boys' appointments, since we've sometimes ended up with 3 or 4 in a week between them, in various places, particularly at the diagnosis stage.

When DH hasn't been able to accompany me, I've sometimes taken MIL, though she doesn't come into the appointments with me, which doesn't help me with my own difficulty with talking and kid wrangling..

Will have to get dd1,10,out of school for cons paed appt,she is great & even at a young age understands the stresses of these appt's,just hope I can get her out early as her school are a bit sniffy about things like that!!

I remember crying after all the appts early on! My dh is often abroad or away on business so I usually do them myself.

Take a list or questions/topics you want covered.

Take a friend if you want, to take notes for you - I struggle to remember everything afterwards.

Ignore the school being sniffy about absences - it's not their child!

And most of all, go and have a coffee with a friend afterwards to chill out a bit and de-stress.

at ouryve "kid wrangling"!

"kid wrangling" is a perfect description