Hi folks, sorry I have been awol.
Things have been crazy here between phonecalls, GP appointments and emails to do with ds1 and appointments for ds2.
I will do a mahoosive post to catch up.
Things are looking up a little though, I think. Although I am being healthily sceptical about some of it.
First of all, dh finally managed to speak to our statementing officer and she agreed to put the indie school first and approach them to ask if they will accept ds1! 
This doesn't mean they are going to let him go there, but it does mean they will at least seriously consider it and we still won't know any more until February, as they aren't allowed to tell us, even if we ask them directly.
Secondly GP referred ds1 back to his paed for a CAMHS referral re anxiety and support through transition. She was lovely, listened and understood, but said that CAMHS would just dismiss a referral from her out of hand, whereas the paed ds is under heads the group of services and has more sway.
Dh couldn't get hold of paed's secretary, so left a message for her to call him. She called me, the upshot of which there are no appointments until the end of March. I explained that it's a mental health issue that needs addressing immediately and she said she'd get him to call me - which he did - within the hour!
Paed was on the ball, explained that CAMHS would refuse to see ds because the anxiety is purely school related and therefore not 'officially' mental health, but reactive. He felt the EP should be offering ds support for the anxiety he is suffering as a result of the school's incompetence last term, offering support through secondary transition and also with making sure the school is meeting his needs, as set down in the statement she wrote. I explained the EP is fully aware of the situation, as she attended the emergency meeting in December, but that despite his case being reopened with her, she hasn't offered support of any kind. He said he would ring her directly and come up with a plan then get back to me.
In the meantime, I took ds2 to his OT assessment yesterday and it was awesome. OT was bloody brilliant, 100 times better than when ds1 was assessed. She was unimpressed with his care - or lack of it - to date and the outcome was that she is going into school to assess his seating and tell them he needs a specialised chair that can be adjusted height-wise to ensure his feet are on the floor regardless of what table he is sitting and that she wants him to have a writing slope (our school hate letting kids have those, they are like gold dust).
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She's also going to insist they put a care plan in place for him asap, to enable him to ask for help when in pain or exhausted, as he is currently too scared to ask after being told not to make a fuss in the past.
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On top of that she is sending in a specialist PE teacher to teach staff how to differentiate for his needs during PE and Games and finally she is referring him for support from the physical disabilities inclusion team.
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In addition, she tested him with lots of different, pencils, pens, rulers, cutlery etc and came up with a list of equipment that will help take the strain off his joints and hopefully reduce his pain and exhaustion as a result. We have to buy it, obviously, but at least we know what to buy, without having to waste money trying different products before we find the right ones and she recommended some shops to get them from as well.
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Best of all, the assessment questions were all directed to him, rather than me and he got to explain what is life is like and what he finds difficult. So, it wasn't a case of me being a pushy parent, talking for him and over-egging it, she got the bare faced truth from him.
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I was shocked at how hypermobile his fingers were, I had no idea. Even with chunky triangular pencils with grips his index finger was bending backwards greater than 45 degrees.
I knew school wouldn't be impressed, as so far the SENCO hasn't been involved with ds2 at all, I've just given his teacher a leaflet to explain JHS and what it means for him in school, sent a couple of letters about things he can't do or that cause him pain and filled in a medication permission form for pain relief.
I've always said to them when fighting for ds1, "look, it's not just me being a pain. I have two other children at this school and I never need to speak to their teachers, let alone ask for any extra support".
I explained the situation about the fight we have been having for ds1's support and how we are public enemy no 1 with the school already and she said I'm not to worry about that, she will deal with the school.
Went to pick ds2 up today and the SENCo was there. She called me over and told me that the OT called her today and is coming in next week. So she's not only on the ball, but fast acting as well! SENCo did not look at all impressed.
Other than that, I am 
that we have discovered a large mammary tumour on my lovely belgian shepherd cross border collie girl. She is 13 and normally highly active - in fact she still thought she was a pup until a few weeks ago. She's losing weight, lethargic, obviously unhappy and crying a lot. The only thing that soothes her is if I sit on the kitchen floor and stroke her (her bed's under the kitchen table). Dh is taking her to the vets at the weekend, but ourtfeeling is that the news is not going to be good. Dh groomed her just before Christmas and the tumour wasn't there then - or if it was it was small enough to be missed on a long-coated dog, so it's growing really fast, as it's now the size of one of those children's little rubber bouncy balls and clearly has a strong blood supply. I always thought she was going to be one of those that lived until they are 16/17 just getting fatter and smellier along the way. She's such a sweetheart, completely bonkers, but in a good way and not a shred of nastiness in her ever.
As for me. Well, I wasn't well at all after my EEG. I had a really bad head for about 48 hours afterwards and could still see the blooming strobe lights whenever it was dark or I closed my eyes. All I could do really was curl up and try to sleep. I also had an increase in buzzing and twitches down my left side and I have had a horrible eye twitch in my left eye ever since.
My nighttime episodes seem to have abated for now, but they were dreadful in the week after the EEG, several a night.
However, I have been feeling a lot better this week. Started my diet on Monday and have lost 4lbs already, so that's perked me up - gotta love that first week of the diet water retention loss! 
I have my MRI next Tuesday - which is also dd's birthday - and am hoping the flipping neuro will send me an appointment as soon as the results are all in.
So, as you can see. It's all a bit hectic in the Moose household really - hence my absence.