Feb 13 notes, Jack is sick

Feb 13th
Jack was sick today. I picked him up from school and he had been to the nurse and had a fever of 101 point something, and was generally lethargic. The school nurse told me that they had three confirmed cases of strep throat and one of them had presented exactly like Jack – small fever and a cough but no sore throat.
This sickness was disappointing as I was picking up Jack to take him to his first visit to a “typically developing” preschool, which we are scheduled to take him to every Wednesday and Friday from now on. I was so excited to see how he would do. It’s a great setup – the Director of the school has a special needs background and the school has a fantastic inclusion philosophy. I think its kind of a hidden secret on the upper west side for special needs kids. Moreover, Jack’s favorite play therapist, Mary, is the seit (shadow teacher) for another special needs child at the school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so Jack would have her presence (and attention, when necessary) to ease the transition. Mary’s mere presence is probably better for Jack than having his own seit, who would be a stranger.
I took Jack to our pediatrician and he tested negative for strep and flu (our regular doc was not in the office. The stand-in reviewed Jack’s file and I don’t think they have on record Jack’s diagnosis. Interesting.) Olivia threw up at about 1:30am (Ethiopian food?) and Jack seemed to be in pretty good spirits. He slept from about 4:30pm into the evening, on me on the bed, and then transferred to his own bed without too much trouble. He has to stay home tomorrow and hopefully will be good to go on Friday, back to his school and to the new one. More importantly, he has to be recovered for this weekend, when we take him to a friends home in New Jersey and Ellen and I get to have a 2 day “vacation” here in the city, where we have reservations Saturday night at a downtown hotel. If that gets cancelled, Ellen might have a cow. Next week we fly to North Carolina for the week. Come on Jack, get better, hang tough….