Category Archives: medicine

So much has happened, yesterday, tomorrow… IEP, Respite and more

So much has happened since my last post. Received a call regarding respite care for our youngest son David.  Every weekend, he gets to spend Saturday and Sunday with a host family.  this will give him a break from us, and us a break from him. Received a call from the facilitator for our facilitated IEP.  Meeting tentatively set for Feb 29th, 2012.  Keep our fingers crossed. Contacted Legal Assistance of North Dakota regarding assistance with my appeal for disability.  Sounds very promising. Scheduled appointment with my PCP (Primary Care Physician) to get checked out regarding the numbness I feel in my face. Respite care for David will be a huge benefit.  After spending 24/7 with him for most of the last month, he needs a break from me.  If he was in public school, he would get a break there, but since we are still home-schooling him, there is

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Medications, bane or beneficial?

Medication to control ADHD, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses can be both a benefit and a bane to the children who take them. Our son, born addicted to illicit drugs, has had zero chance to function without medications modifying his affect. What does this mean? Simply put, without medications, he has little hope of being a functional member of society.  Even with medications, his chances are at best fifty percent. Without meds, there is no self-control. He has a difficult time sitting still for more than a couple of minutes with his meds, without them, there is no sitting still.  He sleeps three to four hours a night without his meds, sometimes less.  With his meds, he averages about 6 though they are restless hours.  On some occasions, usually every couple of weeks he can go two to two and a half days without sleep.  We have no idea

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Greetings on a New Day.

As we start week 3 after placement back at home for our youngest, I am struck with awe about how he can be two completely different kids.  There is the David we see when all of the kids are home, and there is the David we see when he is one – on – one with us. We had to complete our weekly blood draw to monitor the ANC levels of his blood.  One of the meds he was on while he was in the residential placement caused issues with is blood.  It is a known side affect.  Now that the levels are returning to normal, he is struggling to get over a chest cold and sinus infection, so hopefully he will be able to go back on the med.  He was so much more stable mentally when he was on it. We didn’t see the large peaks and valleys

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