Thank you to those of you who emailed to give me a "hug" last night & today. I appreciate the support & prayers. I think I've been more bummed out the past few days because, well.... (editing since I know there are men reading this) I'm having some hormonal fluctuations that come 12x per year. LOL! I'm actually feeling a ton better today (although that may be mostly attributed to what God did in me last night--giving me a different perspective & focusing me on the comfort He's given). Whatever happened, I'm glad it did. I feel a lot less harried & frustrated & tired today.
This morning we saw the psychologist & counselor for Kourtney's ADD/ADHD screening. The psychologist asked me a lot of questions privately & seemed very "business like" while doing so. When he was done, he put the clipboard in his lap, smiled at me & said "Well, looks like we have another shining example of ADHD." He then called Kourtney back & talked to her a bit himself and then turned her over to a counselor in the office for further testing. When she brought her out to us when they were all done, she talked about how bright Kourtney is and how sweet a personality she has. Larry & I kept waiting to hear a yes/no on the ADD issue, but she talked all around it. Larry finally asked, "Do you think she has ADD?". The counselor giggled, nodded & said "Oh yes!".
We're not totally devastated by the news or anything since we've kind of known this all along, but it's good to be able to say "ah ha! That's what's been going on!". The counselor said it would take a few days (or possibly a couple weeks since we're fast approaching the holidays) to get the "official" report written up. Once that's done, they'll mail us & her pediatrician a copy and then we'll see him for treatment. Since she already sees a therapist, we'll just work this into their talks I suppose. Andrew has benefitted veryyyyyyyyyyy much from his meds, so if that is an option, we'll give it a try.
Oh, and speaking of Andrew & his meds...after the holidays, we're going to watch & see how he does before we make a decision. He's sort of up in the air at the moment emotionally & spiritually, so we don't want to make a change now.....but prior to the holidays, we had noticed that his meds don't seem to be keeping up with him anymore. The teachers at school last spring (& again this fall) have noticed, too. Even though he's on a pretty hefty dose of Concerta, he is still extremelyyyyyyyyyyy distractable in the afternoons as it begins to wear off. He's a wild, nasty wooley-booger in the mornings & in the afternoons, so it's like the medicine only works for a few hours before he comes crashing & burning down off of it. The pediatrician agreed that he probably needs his medicine adjusted. Since he's on the highest dose of Concerta available for kids, that means he likely needs a "cocktail" of 2 drugs to level him out. The pediatrician says that he prefers kids see a psychiatrist to tackle issues like that because he's more comfortable only giving simple prescriptions. Savannah sees a fabulous psychiatrist, we'll go to him if we decide to pursue adjusting his meds.
Christmas gets a little closer every day. The kids are getting excited. On Saturday, Andrew started a gift-wrapping train that was so sweet. He went into his bedroom & found a book he wants to give Savannah (because he destroyed hers just like it). He wrapped it by himself & labelled it for her. A few minutes later, he was back with a toy that he said he got when he was little, so he figured that the little girls like it. He wrapped that & then went and found a Matchbox cars storage box for Samuel & wrapped that. All of that was completely spontaneous & all his idea. Before I knew it, all 5 kids were getting books & toys out of their shelves/toy boxes to wrap for one another. They really can be compassionate & generous when the mood strikes them. :) It was just so neat to watch them bring things in, one after another, to give to one of the others. I think we finished off a whole roll of wrapping paper & a ton of tape, but that's alright! We can get more!
2 comments:
glad you are feeling better:) i had that before my hysterectomy. I think its great that the kids decided to follow Andrews lead and wrap up presents for each other the spirit of giving:) have you looked into the natural pills for ADD? our son zach has ADD and we had him on Ritalin (many years ago) He was in 6th grade and the meds weren't working it made it worse so we slowly took him off the ritalin and we went all natural Sibrean Ginsing, lecithan, and we watched his caffeine intake he had to have some but too much. He has been off the ritalin for 12 years and he feels so much better. just a thought to look into i know each kid is different.
Have a good week
Deb
Liz,
Knowing what your fighting is half the battle........I know how releaved we were when we finally got the kids diagnosed.....And even more so when we saw the medication make such a difference in their ability to concentrate. School was a whole new game then...and home was a lot more fun to visit.......at least that is what my friends said>>LOL
One thing you might consider...We have found thru 15 yrs of experience with ADHD medications that it was common to build up a tolerance to one easily after a school year, so we would either give them drug holidays, such as part of summer break, occasional weekends ..ect. off their Dexedrine...The other thing we found most helpful was when we saw these periods when the meds did not work as well, the Psy. took him off the one we were using and used a different one for a period of time.......Ritalin was replaced by Dexedrine....For Deanna, Stratera was replaced by Dexedrine........The new Dexedrine we just picked up has changed to a capsule that is now time released so I think we will be seeing even more of a steady control thruout the day........
I think the gift wrapping train was just such a beautiful act of love......How good that must feel to see him come so far.
Post a Comment