Eldest Son Part 1: 4 《True Story of School Non-Attendance》

I have no choice but to let him rest

The days he could attend school kept decreasing. Even in that state, I still thought, 'If he seems like he can go, I have to make him go!'
However, one night, he developed a slight fever. It went down by the next morning, and since the atmosphere seemed like he could attend, I wrote in his communication notebook, 'He had a slight fever last night, so please let him observe P.E. class,' and sent him off to his school group.

However, after returning home, he had a full-blown fever. He also developed asthma.
When I casually asked my eldest son how he was doing, it came to light that even though he had shown the teacher the communication notebook, he was not allowed to observe P.E.
Moreover, he said that even when he complained that he was feeling unwell and struggling, he wasn't even permitted to go to the infirmary.

At this point, as I had written before, I had also heard rumors that my eldest son was being targeted by his homeroom teacher.
If he were being scolded because he didn't listen to the teacher, I could still understand that. But the act of forcing him to do P.E. while he was truly unwell, ignoring even the request from his parent in the communication notebook, is something that makes no sense no matter how you look at it. What is the point of the communication notebook...?
I immediately called the school and demanded an explanation from the homeroom teacher.
However, the response was evasive, claiming they hadn't seen the notebook or something similar.

'No matter how much I'm struggling, or even if I have a fever, I'm not allowed to go to the infirmary. And no matter what I say, I just get scolded, so I'm not going to school from the start.'
My eldest son, who had stopped talking to me much, cried.

I see.
Until now, he had been suffering alone without being able to convey that pain to his parents. Yet at home, his parents would yell at him to 'go to school.'
Every day with nowhere to go. Being unable to speak well. Having no one on his side.
There was nowhere he could feel safe, and his only way out was to escape into video games. How anxious he must have been.
I may have been making a huge mistake up until now.

I made the decision to let him stay home from school.

Orthostatic Dysregulation

I thought that if he took a break from school, stayed away from the teacher for a while, and I became his ally at home, he would eventually be able to return to school.
However, contrary to my hopes, my eldest son, who had been playing soccer in the summer tanned like chocolate and laughing loudly with his friends, became increasingly frail.
Dizziness, headaches. In the morning, it was difficult for him to even move.
It wasn't his usual asthma; his symptoms were worsening even while he was staying home from school.

Around that time, I learned that the child of a senior colleague at work was in a state called 'Orthostatic Dysregulation,' where they couldn't wake up in the morning and couldn't sleep at night.
An imbalance of the autonomic nervous system that occurs during puberty and growth spurts.
My eldest son was still a little young for the age considered the peak, but when I looked it up, many of the symptoms matched.

I immediately consulted the pediatrician who always treats his asthma.
At the time, there were still very few hospitals that could perform the test, but thankfully, they said they could do a simple test, and it was a perfect match.
It wasn't severe, but since it was certainly painful for him, medication started from there.
'Finally, we know the cause! Now he'll get better!'
I held expectations, but I was naive.
It wasn't something that would recover so easily, and although he was taking the medicine, he didn't return to his full self.

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This series will be included in this magazine.