GAMMAGARD Archives - Page 20 of 94

It’s heartbreaking to see him like this

When you're a parent to a child with fragile physical health, a degenerative condition and severe mental health issues, it seems like there's no end to the heartache. Gavin is the child in our family who the above paragraph describes and it's true, there's no end to the heartache we feel as his parents. Helplessly watching him lose skills, abilities, memories and independence is a gut-wrenching experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. Poor Gavin is having such a hard time today. He's been walking into people and things all day long. He's stepping on things he shouldn't because he's not paying attention or isn't focusing on his surroundings. It's not his fault but he doesn't get that and frankly, it doesn't make it any less disruptive either. We're decorating the…

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December 9, 2017

Lizze / Major Update / My thoughts

Massive update on my wife

It's been a really long time since I published an update on Lizze. There really isn't a reason I haven't written much about her specifically, I just don't like to step on her toes cause she has her own blog to share her story. Every once in awhile, I think it's important to shine the light on her because she's a big part of our family. Lizze lives every single day of her life in pain. Sometimes the pain is manageable and other times, like the last week or so, it's agonizing. Lizze was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a long time ago. She's dealing with a particularly aggressive form of fibromyalgia. Aggressive isn't the right word. Severe is a better, more accurate choice. Like all things, fibromyalgia hits everyone differently. Some…

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December 9, 2017

My Personal Victory / My thoughts

I made a new rule this week

The boys have been having a pretty good afternoon. I made a new rule and it goes like this. If the boys fight in the car, either to or from school, they forfeit the time on the Xbox or Playstation. So far, I've only had to follow through once and the rest of the time, a simple reminder if things start going the wrong way. The trick is to find something they like more than fighting with each other. It's working right now and I'm happy with that because even if it only works a few times, that's a few more pleasant car rides than it would have been otherwise. ☺

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December 8, 2017

My thoughts

Whatcha gonna do, they’re brothers

It's thankfully been a relatively quiet day here. The boys got off to school with only a few hiccups along the way. There was a bit of the usual fighting and button pushing but whacha gonna do, they're brothers. ☺ I didn't sleep real well last night, so I grabbed a power nap and feel infinitely better now. All we have outside of getting the boys to and from school, is getting Lizze to and from her doctors appointment at noon. That shouldn't be a very long appointment but depending on how long it takes, will definitely dictate what happens next. I'll probably drop Lizze and Gavin off at home and head off to the school if the appointment runs late. Overall I can't complain. The day has been pretty…

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December 8, 2017

Autism Parenting Struggles / Feeding Problems / My thoughts / Sensory

It’s so hard to feed my kids

One of the hardest, most frustrating challenges my wife and I face on a daily basis, is struggling to feed our kids. The struggle is probably not for the reasons you think either. It's not because we don't have food or have a hard time getting food. Working from home hasn't always been easy but it's finally beginning to pay off and we have been paying for 99% of our groceries out of pocket for awhile now. That's something that feels amazing but it doesn't make feeding our kids any easier. Trying to feed two of our three kids with major sensory processing issues has proven to be one of the most challenging things about being an Autism parent to three kids on the spectrum. My two youngest have such…

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December 8, 2017

Autism Parenting Struggles / Emmett John / Meltdowns / My thoughts

What the hell just happened?

This morning was a nightmare with Mr. Emmett. He was beside himself all fricking morning long. He screamed, screamed and screamed a whole lot more. You would be shocked by just how draining this is for us as parents. The issue seemed to revolve around his mouth hurting. He has a tooth coming in and as a result, he's refusing to eat. He melted down because he didn't want anything for lunch but then he did. It was very clear that he was frustrated and simply wasn't able to process anything. He did eventually make it to school but not before setting a tone for the day that is quite unpleasant. I suspect that he's in a fever cycle because it's unusual for him to go this far off the…

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December 7, 2017

Gavin / My thoughts

Everything in one needle stick

The boys were up super early today, before 5 AM early. They were excited because Saint Nicholas paid them a visit last night and left some surprises in their shoes. As a result, they were a bit grouchy but we managed. Gavin and I took the boys to school and then headed to get his bloodwork done. We were able to get the labs from his other doctor faxed down, so we are able to combine his labs and do everything in one needle stick. At the moment, I'm just waiting for Gavin to come back out before we head home. Traffic really sucked this morning but we made it. It took ten times longer to get there but we got there. ☺

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December 6, 2017

Gavin / My thoughts / Vivint Gives Back

Keeping an eye on Gavin because he’s not doing well tonight

Gavin isn't doing so well this evening. Everything was fine until an hour after he went to bed. He came downstairs in a lot of pain, feeling nauseated and convinced he was going to throw up. We told him if he thinks he needs to puke, he needs to be in the bathroom. If he was going to puke, we didn't want to give him his meds if he was going to puke them right back up. He went to the bathroom and then took himself back to bed, without letting us know. I've been keeping an eye on him through our Ping Camera, provided by the Vivint Gives Back program. We're able to watch and listen from wherever we are in the house. Gavin is currently sleeping and we…

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December 5, 2017