My 504 meeting plan (plan meeting?) was today. A 504 plan is a specialized education plan for kids with disabilities to give them extra accommodations. For example, if a kid had a learning disability a 504 plan would allow them to have extra time on tests. In my case, a 504 plan accommodates me when I’m in the hospital, have medical related illnesses, or in the rare case when I’m homeschooled.
Last school year my 504 plan was a lifesaver. When I was hospitalized last school year for calf pain, the 504 plan allowed me to be homeschooled for over a month. I was in the hospital for both semester finals, and the 504 plan excused me from taking them.
The vice principal and the nurse were there at the 504 plan meeting. All of my teachers except my Biomedical Sciences teacher (see October 12, 2018) and Chemistry teacher (see October 18, 2018) were there. I explained what I needed: unlimited bathroom access, access to the nurse’s office, extended time for missing schoolwork and homework, and the ability to move away from sick and coughing classmates.
After transplant, I’m very immune compromised. With a new organ, the immune system might see it as a foreign substance and start attacking it. Therefore, I have to suppress some of my immune system through my medication. If I do get sick, I have a chance of getting a live virus that will attack my heart or activate my lymph nodes that’ll trigger a cancer.
The school nurse understood the severity of the situation and gave the teachers a germ free classroom handout to pass in class. The hand out stressed the importance of not coming to school sick because of one (me!) immunocompromised classmate in their class. The hand out is included below:
The nurse said I’ve been through a lot, but told me this would be a great school year.
One of the students in this class has a medical condition that makes the student highly susceptible to infections. This is because of a medicine this student takes; there is no concern that this is a potentially contagious disease to any other person. We’d like to ask the parents to be considerate to the student and all the other students in the class.
Points to review for infection control (for complete district policy, refer to the health services website)
- Do not send your child to school if she/he has a fever of > 100 F
- She/he needs to be fever free for at least 24 hours before returning to school.
- Do not send your child to school on fever reducing medication, she/he can still be contagious
- If your child has been diagnosed with a significant infectious disease, such as chickenpox, please notify school health office
- Do not send your child to school after she/he has vomited at home
- Do have your child see a health care provider for any unexplained rash.
- Immunize your child against influenza.
2 thoughts on “October 4, 2018”