Strep Test Results

The doctor's office called today.  Sami has no strep.  I'm glad about that because at least she doesn't have any need for antibiotics.  That means that it isn't strep that is causing Sami's OCD flare up. 

Sami is still fighting the battles, and still winning a lot.  Her hands are raw and red from washing, but I'm thankful that she willingly lets me put a soothing, healing lotion on her hands at night.

We are still waning from the very worst days of the last two weeks.  I wish I knew why because I would certainly like to keep the waning going.  I've made a huge effort to keep us at home a lot more, as that seems to keep her calmer.  We did go out on Tuesday to go clothes shopping, quilt piece shopping, and visit with my sister; that did produce a lot of "hiccups" as expected, but she did quite well in fighting OCD. 

The extended family has been supportive, but it's obvious that they have no clue what OCD means.  She's my daughter, and I'm still struggling with what it means.  I am blessed that they try to understand and are doing their best to help, but only Sami can know what it really feels like.  They are finally picking up on the fact that no amount of reasoning or cajolling about "there aren't any germs on the toy," will convince OCD otherwise and can actually make OCD worse. 

We did get some more homeschooling done yesterday.  Both girls built solar projects from a kit and had a great time making them work on our first really sunny day in a long time.  Sami is going to talk about her solar project at the library today.  Megan worked on a report about the history of LEGOs so she could talk about it in the library; since Megan is a natural speller and fast on the keyboard, she typed it all herself (but I did help with dictation). 

We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the 60+ degree weather.  I cleaned up the garden area and burned off some dried flower, tomato and herb stems.  Megan got covered in mud (thankfully she was wearing old clothes for once).  Here's the neat part:  Sami played BAREFOOTED OUTSIDE.  I was happy that she was barefooted with the outside germs and mud, but I was sad because she thinks that shoes are the germiest things in the world and she hates shoe germs.  I'll take every little win we get.

It's nice to get some smoother sailing and it's nice to go in a positive direction.