Blog - Page 258 of 1611

Preparing for a crazy Summer in our not-so-safe neighborhood with @VivintGivesBack

Sometimes I share my experience with Vivint Gives Back in regards to helping prevent wandering. There's also another side to our Vivint Smart Home System, provided to my family, and that's security. We live in a neighborhood that has on countless occasions, proved itself to be very unsafe. We've been involved in drive by shootings, people have been stabbed in front of our house and we hear gunshots almost every single day. Our car was just recently broken into again as well. It gets scary, especially for the kids. As summer approaches, we are working on some commonsense safety measures (that I'm not getting any into in this particular post) but aside from commonsense, we rely heavily on our Vivint Smart Home System to help keep us safe. We have…

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May 24, 2018

Gavin / My thoughts / Schizophrenia

I’m worried Gavin’s becoming paronoid

Something Gavin brought up during his visit with Dr. Moodley in Pediatric Neurology, had nothing to do with why he was there. Dr. Moodley was trying to involve Gavin in as much of his health care as was possible. Clearly it's not possible but I like that he tried anyway. When asked if there was anything bothering him, meaning anything Dr. Moodley deals with, not just anything, Gavin replied with an answer that has me worried. One of the things that we have to be very careful with in regards to Gavin being Schizophrenic, is watching for signs of paronoia. The only step beyond Schizophrenia is Paronoid Schizophrenia. That's not a good step at all for those keeping track. Gavin's never really shown signs of paronoia, at least consistently enough…

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May 24, 2018

Cleveland Clinic / Lizze / My thoughts

My wife suffers from severe chronic pain but we have new hope

I don't write much about Lizze, but not because there isn't anything to say or I don't want to talk about her. She has her own blog where she likes to share her own story and I totally respect that. Sometimes however, it's important to say something anyway because she plays an invaluable role in our daily lives and does so while facing significant challenges of her own. For those that aren't aware or maybe need a reminder, Lizze lives with severe chronic pain. She's lived this way for countless years now and it absolutely takes a toll on her. She's struggled with migraines for most of her life and was officially diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, after extensive testing back in 2005. She recently described her pain by saying that every…

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May 24, 2018

Autism Parenting Struggles / Emmett John / My thoughts

I desperately need a break from his school related anxieties

This is a interesting story that involves Emmett, his teachers and a six month old homework packet. The other day, one of Emmett's teachers approached me right before school let out because she wanted to give me a heads up in regards to a conversation she'd had with Emmett that day. She knows how Emmett struggles with communicating in certain situations and wanted me to know first hand, what happened so Lizze and I could reassure him if need be. Back in January of this year, Emmett missed a bunch of school do to illness. There was a ton of makeup work and somehow, one of his packets never got turned in. All she did was ask him if he knew where it was and he told her it was…

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May 23, 2018

Contributed / Sponsored Post

Understanding ADHD

This is a contributed post and therefore doesn't necessarily reflect the views and opinions of this blog or its author. Photo Source In the past, children with ADHD were simply classified as “naughty”, “reckless”, or “difficult”. However, thanks to improvements in our understanding of the mental disorder, we are now able to correctly diagnose certain behaviors that are indicative of an ADHD diagnosis rather than merely reprimanding the child. So, here’s a little information that can help to familiarise you with the disorder and more accepting of people living with the condition. What Is ADHD? ADHD (short for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a condition that primarily affects children and teens but can continue into adulthood. In fact, it is one of the most commonly and frequently diagnosed mental…

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May 23, 2018

Cleveland Clinic / Gavin / My thoughts / Pediatric Neurology

Here’s what happened at the @ClevelandClinic yesterday

We had to make our way to the Cleveland Clinic yesterday for a Pediatric Neurology appointment. Gavin had a follow-up in regards to epilepsy and autonomic dysfunction. I already shared the results of his Orthostatic testing but you can find those here. Overall, his appointment went really well. We talked about our concerns in regards to his endoscopy and colonoscopy. Dr. Moodley doesn't have any overt concerns in regards Gavin being sedated. As long as his vitals are closely monitored and he has an IV established, there isn't too much to worry about. If Gavin wasn't as physically stable as he's been, than it might be a different story but it's been years since he's had a major crisis. As for his EEG, it was mostly normal as well. There…

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May 23, 2018

Cleveland Clinic / Gavin / My thoughts / Orthostatic Testing / Pediatric Neurology

Gavin’s orthostatic testing results from our @ClevelandClinic trip

I have a much larger update planned but for the moment, I wanted to let you know how Gavin's orthostatic testing went at the Cleveland Clinic yesterday. Whenever Gavin see his neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic, they have to do orthostatic testing because he has autonomic dysfunction.. Orthostatic testing is simply taking his vitals but doing so while he's physically in different positions. The point is to see how his body physically responds to changing positions. In a normal, healthy person, there shouldn't be much difference between vitals taken while lying down and standing up. Orthostatic Testing Results: Lying Down 114/68 HR 99 Standing Up 118/77 HR 121 These results are considered to be mostly normal and that's a very good thing.. ☺

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May 23, 2018

Cleveland Clinic / Gavin / My thoughts / Pediatric Neurology

We’re returning to Pediatric Neurology at the @ClevelandClinic today

Gavin has an epilepsy follow-up in Pediatric Neurology at the Cleveland Clinic this afternoon. We'll be leaving shortly and I'm hoping that everything goes well. Today's appointment serves as both a follow-up and a consultation. Gavin is supposed to have an endoscopy and colonoscopy on June 5th. We're worried about how his autonomic dysfunction may increase the risks associated with going under. We also are concerned about the vagal response from shoving the camera down his throat. Hopefully, his specialist at the Cleveland Clinic will be able to address these concerns and diswade some of our fears. I only want good news today because I'm struggling a bit on a personal level this afternoon and I don't think I can take any more bad news in regards to Gavin.

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May 22, 2018