Feb 10, 2012

We Could Discuss This Subject At Length But A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Little Angel

During our January visit to the Big City behavioral specialist said doctor decided to wean The Boy off of one of his two medications for hyperactivity. I was a little surprised and pondered out loud why he wanted to mess with success?

"I'd rather have him on one medication than 2."

Wouldn't we all.

I dislike medication of any kind but have learned to recognize over the years that for some children and adults it is just plain necessary whether it be for hypertension or hyperactivity. I also recognize that some people still think love and nurturing are enough when it comes to dealing with behavioral issues while others see every twitch or fart as needing psychiatric medication to deal with said twitches and farts.

Both types of people drive me completely insane. There is, after all, a balance.

A balance that I hope to have achieved during my experiences with multitudes of foster children and my own three who were adopted through the foster care system arriving with extensive illicit drug exposure in utero, no pre-natal care, traumatic birth histories, family pre-dispositions to mental illness and learning disorders......blah...blah...blah.

I will admit, however, that I STILL lean towards NOT medicating.
Which is why I let the Big City behavioral specialist talk me in to messing with success.

Immediately I noticed a difference. The normally talkative child could not and would not shut up.

"How big is God?"

"Does Jesus have brothers and sisters?"

"Have you ever eaten ants?"

On and on and on. No, not terrible behavior. Annoying. Super annoying. Off the scale on the annoyance meter annoying.

And then the outside complaints began to trickle in. When I came home from work on Tuesday evening my sitter, Curly T, greeted me at the door with...and I quote...

"What in the hell is with The Boy?"

Yesterday, Mrs. Needs-To-Be-Canonized mentioned The Boy's escalating impulsivity during the past two weeks while giving me that all knowing, all wise Mrs. Needs-To-Be-Canonized look.

eek!

I called the Big City doctors office from the car before we even screeched out of the school parking lot and reported the behaviors to the nurse.

After we arrived home The Boy presented me with a note from his teacher, Mrs. Zookeeper, regarding his not being able to stay in his seat and concerns regarding escalating impulsivity.

Please sign note.

This is the first EVER note home in 3 years.

"Is it bad? Is it bad? Is it bad?" he asks while boinging through the house.

"No, honey. It's not bad at all."

OMG. It's bad. It's bad. It's bad.....

On a brighter note now perhaps they understand more fully what life is like at home as The Boy has historically only been able to "behave in one arena" to quote the Big City behavior specialist and honey home was NOT that arena. At school he is the little "angel."

Or rather was the little "angel."

I called the behavior specialists office back and told the nurse to add "teacher" to the list of concerned citizens.


We wait for our answer on Monday. It's going to be a long weekend.

In the meantime I reminisced back to the days before medication when The Boy was unable to sit still. At the age of 8 years all drawings looked like this one:


At the age of 8 years after one week on medication all drawings looked like these:




And now...










Like I said. A picture is worth a thousand words.

6 comments:

Beverly said...

Wow. What an artist. I hope you get your needed medication. Having taught for 100 years, I, too, understand the need for medication for certain students. Good luck.

Elizabeth said...

Wow. Interesting and compelling, to say the least. I recently read that long article about how medications for ADHD and ADH don't work "in the long run" -- and it talked, too, about the gradual habituation of those drugs and how when they are first removed, symptoms appear to "come back." I'm sure you've read all of this, though. It's all so hard, no? I hope you get some resolution either way and are back to balance.

Island Rider said...

I think every mother should be issued a medical degree. It is hard not to say, "I told you so," isn't it?

Low Maintenance Mama said...

I hear you on the meds. As a pharmacist's daughter, I am not anti-med but rather pro-effective-meds. At the risk of sounding crass, my youngest son is neurologically messed-up. The doctor's exact words were his brain function is "markedly abnormal.". So while behavior mod is great, it ain't going to do the trick for a kid who can't stand still long enough to pee. But having a good psychiatrist who can help you find the most effective med does help a lot. At the rate we are going, he might actually be able to learn to read before he graduates high school!

Heather said...

You and me, we need to talk but first the art work ... oh.my.gosh. incredible.

So you know how you commented what a blast we would have with the Baby and Zoey being close in age and so similar in many respects? Well, it's official. We need to hang out or since chances are slim on that anytime soon, email often perhaps? ... the Boy and Joe, the same. Like same same, in the behavior area,from what I can tell, from what you write.

The list of meds Joe has been on and that have not worked, the traditional ADHD medication that should have worked but didn't, long list. Super long. In fact just switched, again ... kapvay is the name.Also known as clonidine but time released and we shall see. Tonight, at my sisters house at a gathering. Out of control with voice decibel, interrupting etc.But at school, where yes I am so please he can hang there beautifully, the energy and resources it takes for him to hang, all go to hell, once he walks in the door.

Anyway, I have so few that can understand and to find another mom, that gets it, I cling to that and run my mouth and over take the comment section. And the giving my child medication while trying to feed him organically, so contradictory but so necessary.

Okay,enough. Good luck with the weekend and, email me anytime.

Jenny said...

Oh my word... his artwork is unbelievable. Seriously. I saw the coffee mug that you all gave Tom for Christmas and have been meaning to tell you how impressive his talent is ever since.

And he's about the handsomest boy I've ever seen. Good grief!

Glad to be back reading again! Things are a bit calmer around here and I realized I had a moment to come catch up on you! Oh shoot... I probably shouldn't have admitted the calmness "out loud", huh? haha!!!

Jenny