My thoughts – Page 267 – The Autism Dad

Being a Special Needs parent has been so heartbreaking recently

I write a great deal about being an Autism and Special Needs Parent. I've done this for close to a decade now and I don't plan on quiting anytime soon. There's a tremendous need for awareness and by sharing our story, it helps others to understand. One of the things I'm struggling with right now has to do with Gavin, my 18 year old with many serious Special Needs. His needs are both of the physical and emotional variety. The most pressing matter at the moment is in regards to his physical health. Gavin has several life threatening health problems and they are very consuming for me as a parent. Currently, Gavin has been having issues with his blood, more specifically, the cell counts in his blood. In a nutshell,…

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February 17, 2018

Have you ever bathed a ferret?

It's been a few months since the last time we did this but it was high time to give the ferrets a bath. It's not recommended that you bathe a ferret more than a few times a year because doing so, can actually make them smell worse. Emmett and I took on the task of bathing all four of the ferrets, two at a time. Some of the ferrets really like the water and some of them don't. Lemme wanted nothing to do with it. Tiny, Zane and Charlie did quite well by comparison. The hardest and most painful part for me personally, was their claws. When they cooperated, it wasn't too bad but when they didn't want to play along, their claw ls were fucking sharp. Emmett and I…

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February 17, 2018

Contributed / Link / My thoughts / Sponsored Post

Preparing Your Family For Survival

This is a collaborative post and does not necessarily the views and opinions of this blog or its author. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to get creative when the water was unavailable, or the power was out? I’m not talking about a busted light bulb in the bathroom, but when a hurricane has torn the power grid out in your town and you are now without electricity. Have you ever been on one of the islands when a cold snap has hit, and the pipes completely freeze solid? The water stops running when that happens, and you and your family are going to fit into one of two camps: the camp where you have repair supplies to hand along with a supply of water,…

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February 16, 2018

Contributed / Link / My thoughts / Sponsored Post

5 Lifestyle Essentials To Try Out This Year

This is a contributed post and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of this blog or its author. https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-sitting-near-large-body-of-water-under-clear-sky-during-sunset-164293/ If you’re someone that tends to get into a routine, then it’s safe to say that you like things to be constant in your life. However, as effective as being in a routine can be - especially when you really want to get things done - it can also be a bit restricting. Before long, you may start to feel as if your routine is making life a little stale. This is what tends to happen when you stick to the same things in life. And sometimes, you just need to be able to shake it all up. From your outlook to what you eat and even your grooming routine,…

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February 16, 2018

Gavin / My thoughts

Praying I wake up to good news

We never got Gavin's lab results and I'm struggling with that tonight. His numbers have gone from dangerously low to sort of okay and back to dangerous in a matter of days. There's a chance it was lab error but which one was in error? Was it the sorta better results or the dangerously low results? This is the question I've been asking myself since last week. The only way to have a better idea of which is accurate is to add more data to the equation. If these results come back and his numbers are low, we know that it's likely correct. If they come back sorta okay, we know that will likely be correct. The more data points we can add, the better picture we have of what's…

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February 16, 2018

Emmett John / Family Pets / Ferrets / My thoughts

Whatever makes him smile

Things are looking good going into another four day weekend. Yup, that's right. Another four day weekend is upon us. Lizze isn't feeling well but it's because of the weather and fibromyalgia. Thank God we don't seem to have flu or anything like that going around. I don't mean to minimize what she's going through because she's absolutely miserable. I was just clarifing that it's nothing contagious. Fibromyalgia is a bitch and it's hard to wrap your brain around something that can't be seen or quantifed. I assure you, the pain is real, even if you can see it with your eyes. The boys and I are going to bathe the ferrets tonight and clean out their pen. Emmett's super excited because we have a new shampoo to use. Whatever…

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February 15, 2018

Clozapine / Gavin / Medication Management / My thoughts

There’s way too much shit to worry about as a special needs parent

I've been playing a very frustrating game of phone tag with the pharmacy this afternoon. I need to make sure they either look out for a fax from the lab or call and have it faxed over because Gavin needs his refill tomorrow. I cannot stress enough that Clozapine is the most tightly controlled medication in the United States for a reason. You do not fuck with this medication and it has to be taken seriously. The fucking stress that we experience simply because of this goddamn medication is inexplicable. I also reached out to his doctor and asked that they immediately email with the results of his his labs because I'd like to sleep tonight. They do that anyway but I feel better reminding them. They know how serious…

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February 15, 2018

Gavin / My thoughts

Fingers crossed and prayers sent

It's been an unexpectedly good morning. The boys got off to school without any issue and I'm now waiting for Gavin to have his labs drawn. The only other thing this morning is an appointment for Lizze. Today, I'm going to be focusing on making sure Gavin's Clozapine gets refilled tomorrow. I'm also going to be stressing out about the results of last his labs because they've been all over the place recently. Fingers crossed and prayers sent.

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February 15, 2018