I owe you all the rest of the story from our appointment with Dr. Patti on Tuesday evening. We know now that Gavin is in fact both psychotic and manic and we began addressing that tonight with a change in medication.
What I didn’t have time to share with you all yesterday has to do with bladder control issues we’ve been dealing with.
Our appointment in Cleveland that has been rescheduled for the 26th of June, was to rule out any physiological or structural problems that could be causing this to happen.
However, Dr. Patti reminded me last night that this could very well be a behavioral issue. It’s something commonly seen in kids with Reactive Attachment Disorder and bipolar as well.
I had actually completely forgotten about that.
For a very long time, we had issues with Gavin relieving himself in very inappropriate places, like the floor register in his bedroom, just as an example.
I’ll leave it at that but what Dr. Patti said makes a lot of sense.
However, it’s also possible that this is an autonomic issue as well. Gavin’s neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic wants to rule out physical problem with his bladder before we explore the autonomic side.
Once again, we have at least 3 possible causes to the bladder control issues Gavin has be experiencing.
Personally, I feel that it’s either behavioral (which he has a documented history of) or autonomic. Perhaps it’s a combination of the two. Perhaps it’s something all together different.
Who the hell knows?
This is a perfect example of what makes Gavin so complex.
On the surface, it could be one of three things or some variation or combination as well.
With the history of behavioral issues surrounding urinating in places other than the potty, it could very easily be behavioral. However, with all the autonomic dysfunction and neurological regression, this could be totally outside of his control.
The only thing we can rule out for sure is a structural problem.
Once again the water surrounding Gavin’s condition is made muddy by the many complex pieces that make up who he is.
Frustrating and daunting are the words that come to mind when I think a out how we are going to address this.
This site is managed almost exclusively via WordPress for Android. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. 😉
Visit the My Autism Help Forums
To reach me via email, please Contact Me
That is the most troubling question of all with our children. I know there are better days ahead for your family. Time just seems to crawl during the most difficult times. So very sorry