Hi, Brenda! Ds was diagnosed with a motor tic disorder first because he didn't have vocal tics yet. Tourette's is progressive and ds didn't develop the vocal tics until he was going on 8yo. Ds is no longer on medication for tics and the best thing for his is to make them a nonissue. The more they feel like it's "weird" the worse the tics can actually become. I have so much hope for your family as you begin homeschooling....that is what I know helped ds more than any med ever did. Our home calmed down so much without having to run to/from school, and dh got his act together because he was around the kids alll the time and I believe that is what helped him see just what his attitude and behavior did to all of us...not that I didn't need to cool my jets a bit, too! I hope and pray the same for your home!
I'm not really sure why, but today seems to be a particularily hard day for me with Andrew being away (he's been there for two weeks as of today). I'm so looking forward to the day is he discharged home and we don't have to do this again (prayerfully next Friday - that was the tentative date they gave us). Hubby suggested last week sending Andrew back to school in the fall - I have successfully convinced him that a snow ball would melt in h*** before he ever goes back there again (they're half the reason he's there at all). We had made plans for the weekend but they got messed up and so we're scrambling to find other plans (we were going to go to a waterpark on Satrday but my nieces and nephew couldn't be there so we cancelled it for this weekend and will go another time). that would have been the day for us, so now we're trying to come up with alternative plans - I'd like to have him home for the weekend but it's a lot of driving and it wears me out (although there are options with that). Anyway, please continue to pray about this. Brenda
Do you think family group help would benefit your family? Maybe the older boys would see what pain they cause. Every family has kids who fuss and pick at each other to some degree. I hope the hospital home can help Andrew and your family. So sorry you are going thru all of this. Being good parents is the hardest thing.
Thinking of you, girl. Trials are there to make us stronger...and that is true for Andrew, too. I hope you have your boy back sooner than expected!
So I'm a little slow posting this one... where is my mind? Andrew is home for the weekend (we had the option of bringing him back today or tomorrow - I opted for tomorrow). The weekend hasn't been too bad although we did have a couple tense moments - no big deal. Discharge date is next Friday I spoke to the doctor before we left on Friday (he actually came looking for me). He's away on vacation this week. He said the results of the EEG that was done last week were still pending and that he would look at it when he got back. They would discuss this at the next discharge planning meeting (after Andrew is home) and he would call me with the results. I'm not overly worried about it - worrying will do no good - it won't change the results one way or the other so I have given it to God - He knows the results and treatment (if any is needed). I'm sure that when Andrew is discharged there will be a number of suggested things to do when he gets home (counselling, behaviour management, etc). I have some ideas that I will look into before he gets home, others I'll have to wait for. One thing to note, is that while he's been away, I've noticed speech problems with him (again). This has happened in the past when his hearing was down so please be praying about that - that I can get his hearing tested relatively soon and that it can be corrected soon if needed.
Andrew, you, and the rest of the family are in my prayers. Take care of yourself. You're a wonderful mom! I pray for peace and harmony in your home.
What do you mean "when his hearing is down"? Does he have something like Otitis Media (sp) where it temporarily upsets his hearing?
When I said that his hearing was down, I meant that in the past he has a hearing deficit (in both ears) and has had to have tubes in his ears twice now. Andrew (to our knowledge) has had one ear infection in his lifetime - he may have had more, but he does not show the typical symptoms - the one that he had that we knew about, was diagnosed purely by accident. We had taken Christian in for an ear infection and I asked the doctor to check Andrew as well. Not since then has he ever complained of one. And there is a huge history of hearing loss on my husbands side of the family. Before the inital tubes were put in, he also had speech problems. And it contributes to his behaviour as well. I spoke to the psychologist today and she said that she did have the opportunity to do academic testing on him (something the school was supposed to have done, but never did follow through on :roll: and will explain it all to me on Friday when we go down to get him. She wouldn't say one way or the other what the results were although she did comment that when he wants to work, he really works (duh, I told them that - did they think I was kidding?) Andrew called home tonight and he was upset (we had talked to him a couple hours earlier and he was happy as a lark, so something was up). Another boy was admitted today (there were two others the week Andrew was admitted, but they both went home the same week so he's been there with girls and he won't act out too much with girls) and he and Andrew appearently exchanged words (not good ones I'm assuming). Andrew ended up in his room for the rest of the night but was allowed out to call home. Three weeks into his assessment they finally see more of the behaviour we have had to deal with at the school and sometimes at home as well. I'm not sure how this will (or won't) affect his discharge on Friday - he was to be discharged if his behaviours remained good - this is the first real big thing - I don't what they'll say or do because of it now. I tried to make appointments for him for when he does come home, but was told that they arrange all of that when they do the discharge meeting. Something was said to me today about going back next week for his discharge meeting (I'm not going back - I'm actually going to participate in the conference call from here - I really don't feel up to travelling 6 hours for a one hour meeting when I can do it locally). Anyway, this is the latest. Please continue to pray that Andrew will cool his jets and not get into trouble delaying his discharge (that would kill me).
Oh, sweetie. I'll be praying for you all tonight, as will ds. I think he has connected with you guys just by being with me when we've been on messenger. Not to mention he liked all the goofy cartoons you were sending . I was explaining a bit more to ds about Andrew's situation and his behavior and emotions. Ds thinks that they have a lot in common. And he says (he's by my side right now) that he has felt much better since coming home. Hope that encourages your heart. Thinking of you bunches!
My baby doll is home What a huge relief that is. He was a little teary eyed as we left Moncton (because he was leaving behind some new found friends), but we'll work through that... Actually one of them (who was just admitted the other day doesn't live far from us) one of his friends he calls his girl friend. They suggested again today that I had to go back down next week for his discharge meeting but I told them I was participating locally in the conference call - there's no point in me travelling (again) if I can do it locally (and with the price of gas, I don't want to travel anymore than I absolutely have to). We still have contact with local social workers to help us get Andrew back on track (we were actually just assigned a new one) and they continually ask me what we're doing for school this fall, do we want to make an appointment with the school, etc. I have the support of one of them (definately) and the new one we were just assigned to also supports my decision to home school (without knowing all that took place - he's heard the horror stories). Finally! We have someone else who sees the benefits of keeping Andrew home... OH! Here's something Glenda told me the other day. When others come to you and say what about *S*... You can tell them that to this very day teachers (still) tell students "you're not here to socialize!". I'm so thankful she reminded me of that infamous comment when she did (talk about more amunition
I'm a little overwhelmed right now. I had Andrew's discharge meeting today and a lot of information was thrown at me (I'm still trying to digest it all). Diagnosis: * ADHD, ODD and Tourette's :shock: The results of the EEG were still not available. Recommendations: * counselling for Andrew * one on one teaching (they're really pushing for the public school system again, but I'm not going there). They even offered recommending a teacher aid - he has one - ME! *anger management skills * they said they observed motor and vocal tics while he was there, there were times when he was talking to himself while he was in his room and there are a couple of follow up things for him with our family MD. * He doesn't show signs of clinical depression, but he does have subjective symptoms and the potential for it to worsen is there if we don't get on top of it. * they said he tends to be an introvert (duh - I told them that) but that he did warm up *they explained the types of behavioral issues they saw and how they handled them I need some time to digest all of this before I can really comment anymore on it all... I've had two major meetings this afternoon (the other about the business) and I need time to gather myself before I move forward with anything else... Thank you for continuing to pray - it's not over by a long shot.
I'm here for you if you need to talk about Tourette's. Ds does very well with it now. That is not to say the tics ever go away, but he is in an environment with patient people who love him and he is not self conscious about the tics, which does wonders! He is not taking any meds either.
Some two months after Andrew's discharge from the hospital I finally have the discharge summary in my hands with the results of his EEG: "The EEG was abnormal in view of the paroxysmal activity recorded from the temporal regions, more commonly from the right hemisphere, which suggest a propensity for excitatory activity." (This is the first I've heard of this but the report says I was told about it ?!?) That doesn't tell me a whole lot (but it does say that he should be re-evaulated again depending on clinical correlation). When I figure out what it all means, I'll update you.
I hope that things get cleared up soon, and things make better sense. I know how you feel after reading a report and justfinding out info, It happened to me when the twins were in the neonatal care center, my daughter had a small occurance of bleeding on the brain, and we wern't aware of it until I read the large book of a record after they were discharged.
It all makes little to no sense to me - we treat seizures in nursing - we don't look at EEG's and that kind of thing so it's all greek to me. I wil take the reports that I have to our doctor on Monday and then get a hold of the hospital in Moncton to get the actual EEG report and a copy of all the other tests that were done so our doctor can tell me what it's all about. Thank you for continuing to pray
