Bipolar Archives - Page 319 of 340

It’s the not knowing that kills me as a parent

It's becoming clear that Gavin's struggling more and more. Unfortunately, there's no way to know if this is another leg of his journey with Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, the result of changes to his medications or just par for the course. His level of functionality is decreasing and doing so in weird areas. Things like self-awareness are slipping. There's never been a great deal of that to begin with, so this change is noticeable. What do I mean by self-awareness? Gavin had an ice cream sandwich this afternoon. About three hours later, I took the boys to the park to hunt Pokémon for short while before picking up their pizza for school tomorrow. I wasn't paying attention to Gavin's face, like I usually do before we leave and I was caught…

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March 20, 2017

Gavin / My thoughts

1 BIG reason I’m worried about Gavin

This is an important update on Gavin's current overall status and one that's a bit concerning, although not entirely unexpected. Gavin's officially off of Lithium for the first time in over a decade. We were a bit caught off guard at the timing because we were supposed to stop this coming Thursday but when his new box of meds was delivered this weekend, it was devoid of Lithium. By the time we would be able to address this, it would be close to the original cutoff date anyway. Frankly, it doesn't matter, aside from finding out why they pulled it in the first place because we never told them to. Anyway, Gavin's off of Lithium for the first time in over ten years, and we're bracing for a major unknown.…

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March 19, 2017

My thoughts

I feel like I’m being held hostage by my sick kids

Both Elliott and Emmett we're home from school, as I mentioned earlier. Both boys also seemed to be doing better during the first half of the morning. Unfortunately, shortly after the lunch hour, things went downhill. Lizze and Gavin were both sleeping. It was just the E's and myself in the living room. Elliott fell asleep on the one couch and ended up sleeping for well over four hours. The poor kid would stir a bit, cry and fall back asleep. 🙁 Mr. Emmett climbed up on my lap and fell asleep in a really awkward position. He was clearly comfortable but I was far from it. I was twisted in a weird position and all I wanted to do was straighten my leg out but I couldn't without moving…

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March 16, 2017

My thoughts

The past 5 days have taken their toll

As I'm writing this entry, it's 12:35am and I'm not sleeping or even in my own bed. Both Elliott and Emmett are awake, feeling like shit and running fevers. To make things even more unfortunate, I'm running a low grade fever as well. What I need more than anything is a good night's sleep but that won't be in the cards tonight, once again. Unfortunately, the medications (and they are necessary) Lizze has to take at night preclude her from being able to help out much in this area. Having said that, she will be good in the morning and I can go back to sleep, in my amazing new bed. At least we have nothing going on today. I've been doing this since last Friday and I'm dying at…

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March 15, 2017

Family Pets / Ferrets

Meet the ferrets helping my kids with #Autism

If you've been following our story for awhile, you already know how I like to share about the positive impact animals have on my kids with Autism. I've been raised around animals my whole life and have always benefited from having pets. It's widely known that animals can have a profoundly positive impact on kids with Autism or Special Needs. I won't pretend to know exactly why this is but I know it's true. When my kids met their first ferret about a year and a half ago, there was an instant bond. What really surprised me was how they've never lost that bond, even after all this time. My kids both seek and gain comfort from our ferret family, every single say. Snuggling a ferret is often the first…

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March 14, 2017

My thoughts

At least it doesn’t count as a sick day

We received a call early this morning, letting us know that school has been canceled due to bad weather. It's not like the boys were going to school anyway, but there's an upside here. As a result of school being canceled, this won't count as an absence. That's a good thing cause it helps keep those days limited, especially where Emmett's concerned. While I haven't checked temperatures yet this morning, both boys seem to be feeling okay so far. I'm not hearing the coughing and hacking I've been hearing previously. This bug seems to kinda come and go throughout the day. The boys may seem okay now but will be miserable later on. That's how this has played out so far. Anyway, there won't be any therapy today as a…

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March 14, 2017

General Update / My thoughts

Plan for the worst and hope for the best

Our three day weekend has officially turned into what will soon be a four day weekend. Both boys still have fevers and Emmett has a very upset stomach as well. I checked Gavin, just to be safe and he's teetering on the edge of a low grade fever himself, although he says he feels fine. Lizze has had a pretty good day thus far. I woke her up about 7:30am and asked her to trade off for a little while, so I could sleep in bed for a bit. I woke up after a few hours and she was still doing well. ☺ She's sleeping now, as is Gavin and I'm managing the sick kiddos with movies and gingerale for now. I already called the school and reported them off…

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March 13, 2017

Elliott / Emmett John / My thoughts

Why the boys will NOT be in school tomorrow

The boys are in their own beds, at least for now. Bedtime didn't go so well tonight because both boys are starting to feel under the weather again and were not in a good mood. Emmett was especially argumentative and rather explosive. For now, they're both in bed but I'm not sure how long that's going to last. We did setup the humidifier in their room and hopefully, that will help with the cough. As long as they fall asleep and stay asleep, I should be able to sleep in my own bed tonight.. ☺ School is already off the menu for tomorrow because of the fevers.... Hopefully, the boys will be feeling better tomorrow and can return to school on Tuesday.

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March 12, 2017