July 31st was a sad day for us. We had to say goodbye to someone very important. April, our Early Interventionist, has been with us since the boys were teeny tiny. Check out this post from when I first introduced her on the blog: Early Intervention. She has been working with us and visiting with us weekly, literally since a month or 2 within the time the boys came home from the NICU in November 2013. At first she had all 3 kiddos she worked with but was eventually able to release Stokes and William as they continued to catch up to typical developmental milestones. She kept Ryan on her case load and then we even petitioned to keep her past age 3, when most toddlers get released from EI, and it was granted. Now that Ryan is approaching five, he will have to get transitioned from Early Intervention to Case Management, which means that we're losing April. Case Management will do a lot of the same things with helping to coordinate therapies, waivers, services, etc. but case managers do not have a weekly appointment with the kids. We've seen April and she's worked with the boys, and over the last few years, specifically with Ryan, every Tuesday for over 4 years. We've all spent countless hours with her and she knows the boys almost as well as I do! I do think she truly loves them all, especially Ryan, and there's comfort when there's a real connection between your kids and people that work with them.
I've been having April put in a good word for us at her company as they're assigning us a case manager so that we'll get the BEST case manager they have, but I have the feeling that our relationship won't quite be the same. I have relied on April for almost 5 years now to help me answer so many questions, or to just help me vent about fears, frustrations, worries and challenges. She's been with us through so many ups and downs. She's been a guidepost, coordinator, advice-giver and sometimes therapist. I feel like I know her family almost as well as I know her. We already miss her terribly.
I'm not going to lie - we both shed some tears when saying goodbye but April has promised that she will still be there for us if we need her. I have her number saved in my phone with no plans to delete it!
I'm still waiting to hear from our new Case Manager and to start getting to know him/her, but April's shoes are big and they just can't be filled.
I've been having April put in a good word for us at her company as they're assigning us a case manager so that we'll get the BEST case manager they have, but I have the feeling that our relationship won't quite be the same. I have relied on April for almost 5 years now to help me answer so many questions, or to just help me vent about fears, frustrations, worries and challenges. She's been with us through so many ups and downs. She's been a guidepost, coordinator, advice-giver and sometimes therapist. I feel like I know her family almost as well as I know her. We already miss her terribly.
I'm not going to lie - we both shed some tears when saying goodbye but April has promised that she will still be there for us if we need her. I have her number saved in my phone with no plans to delete it!
I'm still waiting to hear from our new Case Manager and to start getting to know him/her, but April's shoes are big and they just can't be filled.
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| Our final EI appointment with April 7/31/18 |
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