Life's Trials

My hubby didn't really want me to post about our trials with ADHD, but I feel I must. My 7 year old son, Harrison, was diagnosed in early December. It has been a rough road. Since then, we have tried 4 different medicines and are still looking for the right one. I know, some people out there don't believe in medicating children for this and think it is over diagnosed. I used to be one of those people. BUT, when you watch your child struggle it is hard to not do all you can to help them. This question was asked of me... "would you deny a hearing impaired child a hearing aid? A crippled child a wheelchair?" The answer is no. That question ended my fear of medicating my son.

We started on Vyvanse 30mg and immediately got tremendous results. He went from below 1st grade level in school to right on track in a matter of weeks. He had struggled with reading, and he is now reading chapter books, in a mere months. The improvements were almost too good to be true. I remember crying tears of joy when I spoke with the teacher that first day, hearing how well he had done and how proud he was of himself. She said it was as if a light had been turned on for him. The good news didn't last for long.

He began having MAJOR sleep issues and lost a huge amount of weight the first month. Both side effects of the medicine. The sleep issue was my main concern, because after a month of so so sleep we had an entire different set of problems to deal with, all due to lack of sleep. I know how I get when I miss a few hours, so I could only imagine how he must be feeling after a month of struggles. So, we decided to switch medications, to Adderall XR. Whoa! What a mistake that proved to be. After two weeks, I didn't recognize my son. He was mean, aggressive and very hostile. Hard to handle. Ugly faces, actions, words. Too much for me to deal with, AND, he still wasn't sleeping. We decided to try the Vyvanse at a lower dose, 20mg, the lowest they make. Since we had initially had great results with that, we figured it was worth a shot.

We stuck with that for another month or so but still did not see the results we were hoping to see. In the meantime, Mommy was having a breakdown. It is very very hard to watch your child struggle like I had been doing for the past few months. The medicine was now working against us. He had bigger issues now than when we started. We decided to seek counsel from a Psychiatrist.

After our meeting with Dr. Rooney, I felt confident that we would find a solution and the right medicine for Harrison. We tried the Daytrana patch at a 10mg dose. What a pain the the butt they ended up being. Hard to use and, again, we did not get the desired results. It was suggested to me that stimulant medications may not be the way to go for Harrison. That brings us up to date. We are now on Strattera 10mg. He is calm. He is close to being the little boy I know again. BUT, still some struggles in school.

It is hard being the parent of a child with ADHD. There are no support groups that I can find in the area and for the longest time I have felt so alone in this struggle. I have since found some friends who are also dealing with this and that has helped. That is why I have decided to go against the wishes of my husband and post this blog. I know there are tons of Moms out there dealing with this. If this reaches even one person that it can help or connect me too, then it was not in vain.

As for us, we are still struggling. It is a daily battle, but one we hope to win soon. I don't regret my decision to start the med's for Harrison, we just have to find the one that works best for him. In the meantime, I will keep on keeping on.

Maia age 5

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A Little Math

THIS...

MINUS this...

PLUS this...

EQUALS this...

Just look at that attention to detail....

This was several months ago, and I still have the prints to prove it. I have tried everything to remove the cute little footprints left by my darling and her friend, to no avail. Lesson learned. WATCH THEM AT ALL TIMES or this is what you get!!!

I Want...A Big Stick to Smack That Woman of 14 With

OK, I don't normally like to be overly hostile on my blog, but the story that is on the news right now about the woman who gave birth to 8 and already had 6 kids really burns me up. First off, she is SINGLE. I am all about a single mom doing it solo. That's cool. But single, unemployed, living with her mom and dad in a 3 bedroom house and 3 of the 6 kids are disabled and collect disability?? COME ON! The doctor should be held accountable, she should be evaluated by a good therapist and her parents need to put their foot down and make her take responsibility for her life. Social services should DEFINITELY intervene here. What kind of life will all those innocent children have? She was irresponsible, selfish and just plain stupid to have that many kids. She has no way to care for them. Taxpayers are paying the price for her stupidity. She collects over $400 in food stamps a month. That is more than my ENTIRE grocery bill for the month. Who pays for that? We do. The taxpayers. Is she hoping someone will step up like they do for so many of the multiple birth cases and give her handouts? Well, they might, because we are talking about innocent children. I think she should be locked up. I can't even stand to watch it on the news. It gets my blood boiling. OK, off the soap box now. Gotta go to bed. Just had to get that off my chest.

I Want... A Do Over

As in a weekend do over. Another Saturday, another Sunday, filled with absolutely NOTHING. Seems as if the older my kids get the busier I get, running here and there. It is exhausting. No wonder my house looks the way it does. I am never home to take care of business when I am in the mood to do it. Oh well. They are only little once, right? I guess I may as well kick back and try to enjoy every last moment of the insanity before it is gone.

On that note, I also wouldn't mind a do over with my babies in their baby days. Looking at some old photo albums tonight really brought home how fast my babies are growing up. The sweet smell of them and the total dependency on me. I miss it. They grow up too fast. I would cherish all the sleepless nights and just hold them close. I would relish every new thing they discovered and all the firsts. I missed so much with Harrison because I was working. It seems as if I blinked and he was a toddler, now a young boy in school. I am trying to stop now and really enjoy them, but when they act up it is hard to not wish it away. I know in another few years I will also be wanting a do over of this age, even though it is hard at times to deal with behavior and all the craziness. I lay in bed with Maia last night and just snuggled her and stroked her cheek because she was having a hard time going to sleep. There was no place I would have rather been at that moment either. Harrison also had a hard time and wanted me to crawl in bed with him at 8pm. I did. I found a good movie on and just had a chill night. I am sure there won't be many more of those moments. I am going to try to stop in my tracks at times and really enjoy those special times before they are gone. We all know we don't get a "do over". What will you do to make these times last just a little bit longer??

I Want...A Magic Wand

Yep, you should have seen it coming. I want a magic wand. I could really do some stuff with one of those. I wouldn't do anything crazy but I would make my student loans disappear, pad the bank account just a bit, cure any illness in my family or family of close friends, and give my house a good once over to make it the way I dreamed it could be when we bought it almost 6 years ago. I would also restore this messed up economy and get jobs back to people who need them. I would get Chris a new car, for a change. He always gets the bum deal in the car department. I would hook my van up with an alignment so I don't wear out the new tires I got this past summer. I would give my mom the larger kitchen she has always wanted. So much I could do to help others and us too. But, alas, I don't have a magic wand, and don't think that I will ever get one, so I might as well get over that crazy fantasy and just keep on truckin'.

I Want...The Ability to Know the Right Thing to do and Say in a Given Situation.

I have had several times this week where if I had someone instructing me on the right thing to say and/or do in certain situations, the end result may have been different. Mostly, these situations revolve around my children. For example, when my 7 year old is up until midnight and is basically wanting me to go get in my bed with him when all I want to do is take care of my business that I don't get to during the day. Would it have made a difference if I had put aside what I was doing to climb in bed with him at 9pm? Maybe so, maybe not. Hard to say. He may have gone to bed before midnight, but what lesson does that teach him? Running a daycare, I have very little time that I can sit and do exactly what I am doing now. The evening is MY TIME to have a little adult time and kick back and relax and not worry about the little people in my life that should be sleeping. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE to cuddle with my kids. BUT this is something we have been dealing with with him for some time now. It gets old real quick. I feel manipulated in a way. This also holds true for his general behavior at times. It gets hard to know what to do when they are acting out. Parenting is rough, people! ROUGH!

The other situation that came up is a friend in need. I wish I knew what to say to someone who is obviously distraught over a situation and calls in tears. I NEVER seem to know how to handle this, other than to just listen. It breaks my heart that there is NOTHING I can do to help the person on the other end of the phone (it was a phone call I got late one evening). I feel so helpless in this kind of situation. I want a magic want to fix things up just so! Oh wait! That can be another want for another day!!