Yesterday was a big one, too. Caleb had his first ever psychiatry appointment, which, in reality, was actually a psychiatry appointment for Mommy and Daddy since Caleb can't actually be interviewed by a physician. We answered all of the questions as best as we could, hoping to get across the roller coaster of emotion, behavior, pain, confusion, frustration, and happiness that little man seems to be on. We want to get him help to better cope with the world but we don't want to lose the happy guy we love so much. Medication seems to always come with a price of side effects and I can't stand the thought of our joyful and enthusiastic little guy losing his spark just so we can help him calm down and focus. It's never going to be easy.
We started him today on a low does of Tennex, a hypertension medication, which should help him to slow down a bit. It doesn't effect his dopamine so we shouldn't see any of the increased aggression and tantrums you see from some of the more well known ADHD meds. Side effects are drowsiness, light headedness, and dizziness- basically decreased blood pressure. We're starting super slow with a half pill once per day, just in the morning. After a few days , if we feel good about it, we'll add a half pill at lunch as well. Eventually, he might be taking 3 doses per day because this med has a pretty short half life.
I'm not looking forward to getting him to take medicine 3 times per day. For the long haul.
So today went pretty well. He got his pill in an apple sauce at 8:15am. I had to take grace to school then ended up taking breakfast to a sick friend before coming home. He was definitely calmer! He sat on the couch for almost 15 straight minutes which doesn't ever happen unless he's practically asleep or very ill. He still wanted to play, so that was good! He seemed less aggressive the majority of the time, but had a meltdown at lunch when I went to pick up grace because he got too tired and he had to stay up for speech therapy. So that's an important note. He had a good nap then woke up really hungry and thirsty and had a couple of bad meltdowns around dinner. We'll probably up it to a second dose to see if it'll last longer into the day. I'll keep you updated!
A couple of notes about yesterday:
- Grace loves when Caleb has doctors appointments, only because she often times gets to go to Aunt Cole and Uncle B's house to play with Kate and Everett! She is in heaven!
- That appointment really got to Ben and I. We both struggled through the rest of the day after starting it out with that kind of discussion. The psychiatrists (Caleb's doctor had a resident with her so there were two) grilled us which is always tough but I think the look on their faces after watching the video of Caleb having a middle of the night meltdown sent us both into a tough place. We've become so accustomed to his behavior- we've had to- so seeing other people react with such worry when they see it reminds us just how bad it is, how hard this is, and is going to be. We have a small level of 'numb' going on that's both good and bad. It protects us from completely freaking out every single day but it also hinders our ability to see what may really need to be addressed ASAP (if ever possible). There's always a balance.
- Last night, Caleb played the most adorable Itsy Bitsy Spider with me! He really wanted me to sing it to him, hand motions and all, all night. So I was making him earn it a bit by asking him to sing along and play along. He wasn't blurting it out by any means but he would try to repeat one word at a time with me sometimes and he does the cutest Itsy Bitsy hand motion!
- I ended up having to go to the doctor myself yesterday because of the itchiness (no rash or anything) amongst a few other weird symptoms that have been popping up lately. Grace got to come with me for the 45 minute drive to my doctor (I still use Mayo Clinic because my health issues are so weird) and she got to watch my blood draw which was good for her. She's developing a fear of needles (and tweezers oddly enough) and I was glad to show her just how little of a deal it is. She was very intrigued and watched closely, but announced at the end that she doesn't ever want to do that because she's not as brave as mommy.
I think you're mistaken miss boo bear.
In other news, today Grace and I had a picnic at the park and enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day outside! She met a little friend at the park and that climbed the spider web and played chase and swung on the tire swing for an hour! He was almost 8!!! She's a brave and bold little lady and I'm so proud of her ability to make friends. She's such a happy kid!
I ended up taking the kids out for a long walk when Ben got home so he could get a quick workout in. Grace ride her bike and I pushed Caleb in his stroller. We walked all the way around the neighborhood then ended at the park where we swung and ran in the grass for a while! It's been great weather and I know 3-4 months from now I'm going to be angry at myself for not taking better advantage of this winter! It's hard to get out sometimes when we're feeling overwhelmed or down or just unmotivated. I'm glad I got the kids out a couple times today!
THEN, ben and I got to get out after we put the kids to bed as well! One of my Hab providers really needs more money so she's been asking to do date nights a bit more!!! Yay! We went to sushi then hit up the arcade for the Friday night all-you-can-play deal! Two hours for $6!!! We beat the Jurassic Park game completely! Oh, and I want a pinball machine in our house. Immediately.
Now I'm exhausted again. Tomorrow is Grace's first soccer game! Go boo bear!
Yay! I missed your update yesterday. Thanks for sharing.
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