I thought I would share a general update on how my family is doing overall and anything new that’s worth mentioning.

I guess one of the biggest bits of news is that Elliott and Emmett are off of all their medications, except one for their ADHD. Their ADHD medication really helps them to sorta slow their brains down and more easily manage things in their day to day lives.

Working with their doctor, we’ve pulled them both off of their anti-anxiety medications and pulled Elliott off of his anti-depressants.

The reason for this is because most of these medications were started during the before [the 18 month period of time when Lizze and I were separated and I was raising them on my own] because their lives had been turned upside down and inside out. Now that our family has healed and we are continuing to move forward together, we are taking time to evaluate them off of their medications to see if they’re still needed.

We’re all for medicating our kids, if and when it’s deemed to be in their best interest. At this point, it doesn’t appear to be in their best interest, hence the change of plans.

I’ve already spoken about the challenges facing Gavin lately and subsequently us as his parents, so we don’t need to go into all that for right now.

Instead, let’s focus on a relative victory or milestone that we’ve been working on for years and we finally hit it. Gavin has finally begun putting on weight. He’s been stuck at 132 lbs for years. His low body fat makes his IVIG infusions more difficult and more painful as well.

As of last week [I believe it was last week], he’s weighing in at 141.2 lbs and that’s amazing progress. He’s gaining some healthy body fat and I’m so grateful for that.

Gavin is also officially back down to 600 mg of Clozapine per day again and will likely stay here for the foreseeable future. The higher dose simply isn’t any more effective than the lower dose and because of that, as well as the risks inherent to this medication in the first place, the dose has been dropped.

In other news, Lizze and I have decided to send the boys to the after school program again in December. Emmett loves it and truthfully, I think Elliott has grown to enjoy it as well. It’s been a mostly positive experience for both boys and we want to continue along that same path going into the new year.

On a sad note, my beloved tablet has died in a horrible accident.

For those who aren’t aware, I used to do almost all of my writing from my phone but have moved to a tablet because of the extra screen real-estate. For the last year or so, I’ve been writing from my tablet almost exclusively. My whole life was on there and I carried it with me everywhere.

Last week, she took a fall and died instantly. I’ve been struggling to write because I’m all out of whack without my tablet. My phone is way too small now and I’m having to adjust to actually sitting at the computer. I take comfort in knowing that she didn’t suffer, as death was immediate upon impact. Thankfully, I have a protection plan and she’s currently somewhere in Pennsylvania being autopsied by some handsy Geek Squad technician.

I will likely receive a gift card from Best Buy with which to replace her but it could take a little while. I know this is a total first world problem but I had my preferred way of writing that really helped me to write as much as I have and now it’s tough to make things work.

I’m just grateful that I still have the ability to keep writing, even if it’s not ideal. 🙂

In closing, I can proudly share that Lizze and I are doing really well. Lizze has only been home since June but she’s reintegrated into the household and couldn’t be happier to be home with her family. Our marriage is just as strong as ever and marriage counseling has helped us to remain focused on not forgetting to take care of ourselves.

I’m so unbelievably grateful to have my family whole once again.

That about sums things up for now. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. Simply leave your thoughtful comments below and I’ll do my best.