I've got a post sitting in draft right now that's been there over a week. But this seems a bit more urgent, more important to share.
We've been trying to work with Ethan over the years in regards to his anxiety, frustrations, meltdowns, and behaviors. At 11, certain things have gotten better, and some have stayed the same or gotten a little worse. Jason and I decided a long time ago that we wanted to avoid medicating him unless absolutely necessary.
Today, we took him to see a neurologist, who asked a bunch of questions - most of which we've answered many times before, either to a school or another doctor - and then gave us some good insight.
He recommended one of two things.
1.) Put him on a low-dose of an SSRI - Prozac, to be exact - to help with his anxiety and to cope with changes to routine easier.
2.) See a psychologist for cognitive behavior therapy to learn coping skills.
Prozac, apparently, has very few side effects, and the side effects they see in some older kids (suicidal thoughts, etc) doesn't seem to happen with ASD kids. Also it's a very low dose that he would be given, only 10 mg.
The cognitive behavior therapy can take a long time to help, especially in younger kids and teens, but is a great tool!
Jason and I are currently discussing our options, though we have the prescription sitting here if we want to start it.
We are thinking the following:
Contact a psychologist and sign him up for the therapy, and get him learning coping skills. Meanwhile, to help alleviate the day-to-day anxiety on a more immediate time frame, start him on the Prozac, temporarily, and wean him off of it in a few months time.
Anybody out there have any suggestions or thoughts? Seriously, now is the time. I am all ears. I hate to see any of my boys struggle and this is the hardest decision we've had to make to date.
Showing posts with label appointment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label appointment. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
What's up with us
Monday, I took the older 2 boys in to their for their annual check-ups. A is healthy, his eyesight is great, he's about 63 lbs and 4'4" and in the 73% for both height and weight. He's happy and well-adjusted (which I already knew ;) ). E is also very healthy and has good eyesight. He's about 71 lbs and 4'7" and in the 33/34% for height and weight. She predicted that if he stays on this growth pattern, he'll probably be about 5'9" so average. E will be 11 at the end of July and has been having more mood swings - on top of his behaviors, meltdowns, etc due to his frustration and anxiety and generally, his Asperger's Syndrome, which we've been working with him to try and find some better coping skills - so I asked her if it's possible he's starting to hit puberty and she confirmed that it is definitely some of the "issue". Other than that, he's doing good. She checked both boys' cholesterol due to family history and while A's is fine, E's is a little high - 175 is what they watch for and his is 185 and his triglycerides are 120 rather than the normal 100 or less. We just did the quick finger prick test though and rather than put him through more blood work, we are just going to revisit it in a year and monitor him, since most likely it's hereditary vs. diet-related.
We did get a referral for A for his very dry, itchy skin. The poor child is constantly itchy, but no rash or anything and his hands will get so dry they look chapped. Nothing ever seems to help and now, the back of his hands are a darker tone than the rest of his arms! Hyper-pigmentation, she called it. She wants him to see a dermatologist to see what they recommend to prevent it from getting worse and to help relieve the dry and itchiness. E is also going to see a dermatologist for his arms. He's always had these little bumps, like acne on his upper arms and our ped thought it was keratosis, but after looking at it again and seeing him scratching it incessantly in her office, she's wondering if it's molloscum. Either way, we may be able to get him some relief. E is also going to see a neurologist for the first time. We've never had a referral for one before but I've always heard other parents talk about EEG's and other testing for children on the spectrum. She thinks they may also be able to give us some ideas for self-coping skills and maybe some sensory or other type therapies! I will do anything to help E succeed in the classroom and socially! He is such a sweet kid and deserves it.
A has finally seemed to settle down some in the classroom, not talking AS much ;) but he did get his "questions" today. I'm really proud of him though, because he's trying so hard to make progress with his behavior and not interrupting, etc. He's been really trying to help out at home too. A is a good kiddo.
Baby J has a dr appt Friday with an orthopedic surgeon. He's getting his left thumb looked at finally, since he can't straighten it at the knuckle and hyper-extends it where the thumb meets the hand. He compensates but we want to rule out any other problems as well as see why it's this way. 2 more weeks till his surgery.
On top of all that, Baby J and I helped out at the book fair yesterday and today, Jas and I have an appt tomorrow, A has basketball open gym Friday after school and then the weekend is jam-packed. Jas and A have an all-day spring fun day with cub scouts and then the pack meeting is Sunday! Jason starts college on Monday night!!! I can't wait for summer for the boys to be home during the day, so we can just lounge sometimes, and find some neat stuff to do this summer. I've got to get our summer bucket list made up!
We did get a referral for A for his very dry, itchy skin. The poor child is constantly itchy, but no rash or anything and his hands will get so dry they look chapped. Nothing ever seems to help and now, the back of his hands are a darker tone than the rest of his arms! Hyper-pigmentation, she called it. She wants him to see a dermatologist to see what they recommend to prevent it from getting worse and to help relieve the dry and itchiness. E is also going to see a dermatologist for his arms. He's always had these little bumps, like acne on his upper arms and our ped thought it was keratosis, but after looking at it again and seeing him scratching it incessantly in her office, she's wondering if it's molloscum. Either way, we may be able to get him some relief. E is also going to see a neurologist for the first time. We've never had a referral for one before but I've always heard other parents talk about EEG's and other testing for children on the spectrum. She thinks they may also be able to give us some ideas for self-coping skills and maybe some sensory or other type therapies! I will do anything to help E succeed in the classroom and socially! He is such a sweet kid and deserves it.
A has finally seemed to settle down some in the classroom, not talking AS much ;) but he did get his "questions" today. I'm really proud of him though, because he's trying so hard to make progress with his behavior and not interrupting, etc. He's been really trying to help out at home too. A is a good kiddo.
Baby J has a dr appt Friday with an orthopedic surgeon. He's getting his left thumb looked at finally, since he can't straighten it at the knuckle and hyper-extends it where the thumb meets the hand. He compensates but we want to rule out any other problems as well as see why it's this way. 2 more weeks till his surgery.
On top of all that, Baby J and I helped out at the book fair yesterday and today, Jas and I have an appt tomorrow, A has basketball open gym Friday after school and then the weekend is jam-packed. Jas and A have an all-day spring fun day with cub scouts and then the pack meeting is Sunday! Jason starts college on Monday night!!! I can't wait for summer for the boys to be home during the day, so we can just lounge sometimes, and find some neat stuff to do this summer. I've got to get our summer bucket list made up!
Monday, April 8, 2013
32
My weekend went a little something like this. Crazy.busy.non-stop. Ha!
Friday morning, Jackson had a 9am dr. appointment which went pretty well. Jack is healthy and strong. He's 21 lbs 10 oz (he actually gained more than 1 1/2 lbs in just under a month! That may be a record for him!) and he's 31 1/4 inches tall! I had to fill out another questionnaire like I did at his 12 month appointment for gross motor, fine motor and speech assessment. He scored a little low on his gross motor again ~ but one of the questions was about climbing/crawling up stairs, which was impossible to assess since we live in a ranch (with a basement, but he doesn't go down there), so that was a "not yet" answer ~ and he was borderline for speech. The pediatrician ~ whom I love, but am a little frustrated with about this ~ is wanting us to call that early childhood place again. Since they said they would follow up in May and the PT gave me her name and number if I had questions before, I will call her directly and see what she thinks. Also, over the weekend, at my sister's, he proved he can crawl up a whole flight of stairs, and he learned a new word or two. Jack says "dog" now and it sounded like he said A's name and a couple of other things too. So honestly, I think it's so hard to follow those assessments. I understand why and that they are probably very helpful and a great tool, but sometimes, it's not a good indicator of skills/milestones. Also, she wants us to sign a form about vaccines, saying we are declining and it goes to the state or county health department. I really want to wait since I know we don't really need to sign anything till school starts (5 more years!) plus the way it reads somewhat worries me. We are not necessarily planning to get him any, but currently we are delaying until at least 2. E and A won't be getting anymore either. It's a personal decision based on lots of research and loads of discussion with Jas. I know it's a controversial choice and people may not agree but it's our choice. Besides, I have to say, he's been our healthiest boy so far... makes you wonder, you know?
OK. So back to the weekend's craziness!
Jas, E, Alex, Jack and I drove to Toledo, and took the older boys to Jason's parents' house for the weekend. Oh and Buddy, our dog. I have to say, my in-laws are pretty wonderful to not only take Ethan and Alex for 3 days but also our dog when they already have 2 of their own! It was super-helpful. After we dropped them off, we went to pick up my mom and visit my dad for a few minutes before heading South to Columbus!
On the way, we stopped at picked up my nieces (my sister's fiance's daughters), A - 10 and M - 12.
Friday night, we ate dinner and then between all of us girls, we got some of the wedding favors taken care of (no details, because I know some family members will be reading this! ;) ) and finally go some sleep.
We all woke up pretty early Saturday, some earlier than others *ahem, Matt!* (<--- he was up and out in the yard both days before us, building stuff!), ate a quick breakfast and headed out to the bridal store to look for dresses for us bridesmaids. Of course, the store had our appointment wrong, made Heather (my sis) pick up her dress that day ~ the wedding is in September... ~ and the first lady we worked with was so rude. We got "assigned" to a different, much nicer lady but we couldn't all agree on one dress. The one we all kind of liked was way over-budget, before alterations (and because I'm fat - hey, I am! - there was an additional $20-40 charge.) so we decided to keep looking.
Heather, the girls, mom, Jack, Chelsea (another bridesmaid) and her daughter and I went to lunch at IHOP in between shopping. I think it was a much needed break and we were able to sit and talk a little about our plans for a bridal shower.
The next place we went to was not really any better. They were a little more polite, but the selection stunk and anything we did like didn't come in our color (hello, black is a pretty easy color for a dress, people!). No luck.
Off to the mall. Well, most of us. Chelsea and her daughter live about an hour from Heather and it was already after 4, so they had to get home. I feel bad that we wasted their time shopping. :( Chelsea is very nice and between her and her daughter, I was cracking up!
So we checked a few stores at the mall, to see if maybe they had any prom dresses that might work. Ugh. Time to just go home.
Late dinner - pizza which was yum! - and Heather and mom and the girls did some more of the favors while I tried to get Jack down for the night.
Oh by the way, Saturday was also my birthday. Not to mention, I'm not really a fan of clothes shopping but this was somewhat fun. Even when it was stressful, LOL. I got a sweet card from my honey.
Heather did some online searches and found another local bridal shop that opened at 11am Sunday that looked promising.
After a big breakfast, all of us girls and the baby went out to the shop, which is in a 120+ yr old farm house! To be honest, upon first sight, I was a bit nervous about their selection. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by three very sweet ladies who showed us where to look, got us what we needed and helped immensely. We found 5 dresses to try on and since the largest in-store size was a 12, we had M try on the dresses. 2 of them we somewhat liked, 2 we didn't really, and 1 we fell in love with. We can get it in black with ivory, it's much less expensive (by almost $100!!) and comes in every size we need. I tried it on with a corset-type strapless and while I couldn't get the 10 zipped all the way up, it gave me a good idea of the fit and I loved the flowiness (sp?) of it. By the way, Mom got it on, zipped and it was big on her! I think that put a big smile on her face :) She looked beautiful in it - too bad she's not a bridesmaid, LOL. Also the salesgirl didn't charge me the "extra" fee so I got it for the same price even though I needed larger than a 16 (typically they charge $25 per the manufacturer/designer). We put half down on mine, M's and A's. Chelsea and Marcy, the other bridesmaids, got pictures texted to them and they both answered with an affirmative answer :) Thank goodness. I was getting depressed that we were having such a hard time!
By this point it was after 1pm, so we had to get the van loaded so we could head back to Toledo, drop off Mom and go to Jason's parents' house. We didn't get there till 5:30. My MIL had dinner ready almost immediately (thankfully!) and we went out and played for a little while with the boys before cake and ice cream. We never got on the road till after 8, I think. Home around 10pm, boys were in their jammies, so they went straight to bed.
This morning was a little rough because all of us were tired from a long week/weekend and a late night again, and I didn't realize we had finished the juice boxes sometime last week so when I went to pack lunches this morning, I had to dig out $0.30 for each of the boys to buy milk (chocolate for E since he can't stand regular ~ he's got to have something with lunch and I don't have a small thermos for water that fits in their lunch bags :( ). We were late, but neither of them seemed to upset. I didn't remember till I was helping E at his locker, that I forgot snacks for both of them. It's going to be a long day...
Oh. Yeah. The title of the post is 32. I forgot. I turned 32 on Saturday. But apparently I look 17. According to A, at least. LOL. That was a great compliment. I look half my age! Yay! But I also don't look old enough to have kids, she said. Hehehe. Silly, sweet girl.
Friday morning, Jackson had a 9am dr. appointment which went pretty well. Jack is healthy and strong. He's 21 lbs 10 oz (he actually gained more than 1 1/2 lbs in just under a month! That may be a record for him!) and he's 31 1/4 inches tall! I had to fill out another questionnaire like I did at his 12 month appointment for gross motor, fine motor and speech assessment. He scored a little low on his gross motor again ~ but one of the questions was about climbing/crawling up stairs, which was impossible to assess since we live in a ranch (with a basement, but he doesn't go down there), so that was a "not yet" answer ~ and he was borderline for speech. The pediatrician ~ whom I love, but am a little frustrated with about this ~ is wanting us to call that early childhood place again. Since they said they would follow up in May and the PT gave me her name and number if I had questions before, I will call her directly and see what she thinks. Also, over the weekend, at my sister's, he proved he can crawl up a whole flight of stairs, and he learned a new word or two. Jack says "dog" now and it sounded like he said A's name and a couple of other things too. So honestly, I think it's so hard to follow those assessments. I understand why and that they are probably very helpful and a great tool, but sometimes, it's not a good indicator of skills/milestones. Also, she wants us to sign a form about vaccines, saying we are declining and it goes to the state or county health department. I really want to wait since I know we don't really need to sign anything till school starts (5 more years!) plus the way it reads somewhat worries me. We are not necessarily planning to get him any, but currently we are delaying until at least 2. E and A won't be getting anymore either. It's a personal decision based on lots of research and loads of discussion with Jas. I know it's a controversial choice and people may not agree but it's our choice. Besides, I have to say, he's been our healthiest boy so far... makes you wonder, you know?
OK. So back to the weekend's craziness!
Jas, E, Alex, Jack and I drove to Toledo, and took the older boys to Jason's parents' house for the weekend. Oh and Buddy, our dog. I have to say, my in-laws are pretty wonderful to not only take Ethan and Alex for 3 days but also our dog when they already have 2 of their own! It was super-helpful. After we dropped them off, we went to pick up my mom and visit my dad for a few minutes before heading South to Columbus!
On the way, we stopped at picked up my nieces (my sister's fiance's daughters), A - 10 and M - 12.
Friday night, we ate dinner and then between all of us girls, we got some of the wedding favors taken care of (no details, because I know some family members will be reading this! ;) ) and finally go some sleep.
We all woke up pretty early Saturday, some earlier than others *ahem, Matt!* (<--- he was up and out in the yard both days before us, building stuff!), ate a quick breakfast and headed out to the bridal store to look for dresses for us bridesmaids. Of course, the store had our appointment wrong, made Heather (my sis) pick up her dress that day ~ the wedding is in September... ~ and the first lady we worked with was so rude. We got "assigned" to a different, much nicer lady but we couldn't all agree on one dress. The one we all kind of liked was way over-budget, before alterations (and because I'm fat - hey, I am! - there was an additional $20-40 charge.) so we decided to keep looking.
Heather, the girls, mom, Jack, Chelsea (another bridesmaid) and her daughter and I went to lunch at IHOP in between shopping. I think it was a much needed break and we were able to sit and talk a little about our plans for a bridal shower.
The next place we went to was not really any better. They were a little more polite, but the selection stunk and anything we did like didn't come in our color (hello, black is a pretty easy color for a dress, people!). No luck.
Off to the mall. Well, most of us. Chelsea and her daughter live about an hour from Heather and it was already after 4, so they had to get home. I feel bad that we wasted their time shopping. :( Chelsea is very nice and between her and her daughter, I was cracking up!
So we checked a few stores at the mall, to see if maybe they had any prom dresses that might work. Ugh. Time to just go home.
Late dinner - pizza which was yum! - and Heather and mom and the girls did some more of the favors while I tried to get Jack down for the night.
Oh by the way, Saturday was also my birthday. Not to mention, I'm not really a fan of clothes shopping but this was somewhat fun. Even when it was stressful, LOL. I got a sweet card from my honey.
Heather did some online searches and found another local bridal shop that opened at 11am Sunday that looked promising.
After a big breakfast, all of us girls and the baby went out to the shop, which is in a 120+ yr old farm house! To be honest, upon first sight, I was a bit nervous about their selection. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by three very sweet ladies who showed us where to look, got us what we needed and helped immensely. We found 5 dresses to try on and since the largest in-store size was a 12, we had M try on the dresses. 2 of them we somewhat liked, 2 we didn't really, and 1 we fell in love with. We can get it in black with ivory, it's much less expensive (by almost $100!!) and comes in every size we need. I tried it on with a corset-type strapless and while I couldn't get the 10 zipped all the way up, it gave me a good idea of the fit and I loved the flowiness (sp?) of it. By the way, Mom got it on, zipped and it was big on her! I think that put a big smile on her face :) She looked beautiful in it - too bad she's not a bridesmaid, LOL. Also the salesgirl didn't charge me the "extra" fee so I got it for the same price even though I needed larger than a 16 (typically they charge $25 per the manufacturer/designer). We put half down on mine, M's and A's. Chelsea and Marcy, the other bridesmaids, got pictures texted to them and they both answered with an affirmative answer :) Thank goodness. I was getting depressed that we were having such a hard time!
By this point it was after 1pm, so we had to get the van loaded so we could head back to Toledo, drop off Mom and go to Jason's parents' house. We didn't get there till 5:30. My MIL had dinner ready almost immediately (thankfully!) and we went out and played for a little while with the boys before cake and ice cream. We never got on the road till after 8, I think. Home around 10pm, boys were in their jammies, so they went straight to bed.
This morning was a little rough because all of us were tired from a long week/weekend and a late night again, and I didn't realize we had finished the juice boxes sometime last week so when I went to pack lunches this morning, I had to dig out $0.30 for each of the boys to buy milk (chocolate for E since he can't stand regular ~ he's got to have something with lunch and I don't have a small thermos for water that fits in their lunch bags :( ). We were late, but neither of them seemed to upset. I didn't remember till I was helping E at his locker, that I forgot snacks for both of them. It's going to be a long day...
Oh. Yeah. The title of the post is 32. I forgot. I turned 32 on Saturday. But apparently I look 17. According to A, at least. LOL. That was a great compliment. I look half my age! Yay! But I also don't look old enough to have kids, she said. Hehehe. Silly, sweet girl.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Baby J's appointment
Today was Baby J's eval for physical therapy. At his 12 month appointment, I filled out an "ages and stages assessment" to rate where he was with all of his gross and fine motor skills, speech, and social skills. He missed passing for gross motor by 1 "point" so his pediatrician referred us to the local ISD for an eval through their early childhood program. We went over there and spent a good hour to hour and 1/2 talking and playing. J is approximately at 11 months developmentally with gross motor skills (he's currently 13 months 1 week) so he's in the right range, and everywhere else he's in the 12-13 month range. So he's fine. But she did notice he uses his right leg to stand up with, to switch position, etc., favoring it over the left. Even to the point of his left leg being a little weaker. Most people favor one side, but to prevent any issues, she gave us some suggestions, some exercises, to do with him to get him to use his left leg more and she figures he'll be walking very soon. She also noted that he curls his toes on that foot and said to try and help him stand flat on it.
I noticed a while back that his left thumb doesn't bend, or rather straighten, at the knuckle so he hyper-extends it where your thumb is attached to your hand. Just as I was about to mention it to the PT and ask her, she noticed it also. She said it probably isn't related to his leg/foot favoring but it still could be a concern and she would definitely bring it up at his 15 month appointment. So I have to remember that, plus he has a small lymph node on the top/ right side of his head that is "enlarged" for lack of a better word. I mentioned it before and the ped said it shouldn't be swollen but lets just keep an eye on it, so in April I will bring it up again.
Oh and his surgery for his testicle isn't until May 28th. So it's a long couple of months till that happens. I'd much rather do it now and just get it over with!
I noticed a while back that his left thumb doesn't bend, or rather straighten, at the knuckle so he hyper-extends it where your thumb is attached to your hand. Just as I was about to mention it to the PT and ask her, she noticed it also. She said it probably isn't related to his leg/foot favoring but it still could be a concern and she would definitely bring it up at his 15 month appointment. So I have to remember that, plus he has a small lymph node on the top/ right side of his head that is "enlarged" for lack of a better word. I mentioned it before and the ped said it shouldn't be swollen but lets just keep an eye on it, so in April I will bring it up again.
Oh and his surgery for his testicle isn't until May 28th. So it's a long couple of months till that happens. I'd much rather do it now and just get it over with!
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