This Week in Our Journey Ending: October 29, 2010

It's been a while...I've let life get in the way and my original purpose of this blog was defeated. I am going to try to start over, I can't promise anything, but I'll try. It's been a hard week and well the last 6 weeks or so have been hard. After going along for a year and a half in relative calmness we have had a storm around here lately. Megan had to spend the night at school Wednesday, because of her behavior at school. She has had to spend the night in the past, but never for behavior at school. She came home today and said that she almost had to spend the night tonight because of her behavior today. She came home extremely elevated in mood. Jimmy and I are walking around shell shocked. We thought we had finally reached the point of semi-stabilization with her. I know that this is just a bump in the road and the journey will smooth out eventually. Please be praying for us, especially me as I am having a real hard time dealing with this latest bump. I guess that I had convinced myself that the rough part was over and it would be peaches and cream from here on out.

We did carve a pumpkin this week:



And make candy:



I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween weekend! And don't stop fighting for your families!

Temple Grandin Movie on HBO-February 6th

Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. Now her fascinating life, with all its challenges and successes is being brought to the screen. HBO has produced the full-length film Temple Grandin, which premieres on Saturday, February 6th on HBO. She has been featured on NPR (National Public Radio), major television programs, such as the BBC special "The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow", ABC's Primetime Live, The Today Show, Larry King Live, 48 Hours and 20/20, and has been written about in many national publications, such as Time magazine, People magazine, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, and New York Times. Among numerous other recognitions by media, Bravo Cable did a half-hour show on her life, and she was featured in the best-selling book, Anthropologist from Mars.

Click here for information on Ms. Grandin

This Week In Our Journey: Ending January 29, 2010

Whew!!! Hard to believe the first month of 2010 is almost over. This week in the Davis household has been relatively quiet. We all have been sick with colds and Megan has missed a couple of days at school. She made it through the week without being on restriction at school so she gets to participate in fun day at today if she makes it school. The only real problem is mornings. I still have not found a way to solve that battle. Megan does not want to get up in the morning and always complains of not feeling well. It is a battle to get her up much less to keep her up. Needless to say by the time she gets on the bus we are all a little on the cranky side.

Keep fighting for your families!

Shame on Me!!!

I am such a bad blogger. It has been forever since I last blogged. Life just sort of took over. I will not promise to be better this time around because I may not be able to keep it.

We finally got to the school district to agree to send Megan to Bayes Achievement Center in Huntsville, Texas. We are having one of the best years ever. Don't get me wrong. We still have our ups and downs, but the downs are happening a whole lot less.

Last week we switched her from Tenex to Intuniv. It is an extended release version of Tenex that came out in November 2009. Megan's doctor has heard great things about it helping with the symptoms of ADHD. You should start out on the lowest dose and titrate up to the therapeutic dose (somewhere around 3-4mg).

More to come...

I slacked off!!!

Forgive me, I slacked off again on the blogging. I got caught up in the last couple of weeks of school and finals that I didn't take the time to update here. On that note I finished the year off with an A in one class and a B in the other.

There have been good days and there have been bad days. And the bad days have been bad!!!! More and more lately I really think there is a diagnosis somewhere on the ASD spectrum for Megan. Just the other day, she wanted to bring coffee in for Jimmy. He was not ready to get up yet so he told her "In just a minute" well she took it literally and set the timer on the microwave for a minute. She didn't understand why in a minute when she knocked on our door with the coffee why Jimmy was still not ready, "You said in just a minute." was her response to "Not yet."

Keep fighting for your families...more later!

This Week In Our Journey: Ending April 18, 2009

Last night Megan went to her first sleepover. I was very nervous. To solve the medication issue I gave her them before I dropped her off. When I picked her up this morning, she was all smiles and reported that she had a good time and made a new friend with one of the other girls there. She did say that she feel asleep at 8 because the meds were making her sleepy. So next time I will have to rethink the medication thing.

The saga trying to get her in to Texas Children's continues. I finally received a return call on Friday. I was told that they would be mailing me a questionnaire to fill out and return. Once they received it, they will grade it and then determine whether she needs to by seen in the Autism clinic or the psychological services clinic. Probably by the time this is all said and done we will be looking at another 3-4 weeks before we can get an appointment. At least this is further than I have gotten the previous two times I have tried to get Megan seen at Texas Children's.

Megan has been very helpful today with housework. She and her dad have been busy all day allowing me to finish up some school work. I really appreciate it!

Tiring kind of day

I would like to begin by saying that Megan came home yesterday in a much better mood. I was still suffering from my migraine and she cleaned the kitchen for me! Yeah!!!!

Megan had her regular appointment with her therapist today. I was in on the session, and Megan was very impulsive and energetic during the whole session. The therapist was not able to get much done, because Megan kept switching subjects mid-sentence, would leave the area, or would start kissing on me, licking me or patting on me or throwing herself at me. It was very tiresome for me trying to keep her under control. And she kept complaining of being hungry (we ate 30 min. before the appointment). Once we left the appointment we went straight to get her something to eat. After taking one bite she announced that she was not hungry!!!!!! Ugghhh!!!! I took her back to school and informed her teacher of Megan' s impulsiveness and elevated mood level. He said that she has been very hyper since returning from the hospital. At the beginning of the year we had Megan on the GFCF diet and limited her sugar intake. Since going back to college I had been pretty lax since finding GFCF products can be time consuming. After dropping Megan off at school I drove 30 miles to a Kroger store in Spring (which I had been told had gluten free) products. After walking all over the store I found a section of Natural Food Products including some gluten free products. Below is what I bought. I was excited to find pre-made bread! I had been told that they had gf pretzels but I did not find any.

I am going to try being real strict on the GFCF diet again and see if we see any improvement. They only alternative I can think of would be to put her back on an ADHD medicine which makes her even more moody. So keeping our fingers crossed that this works.

In regards to the appointment with the Learning Center at Texas Children's. I called again to day and her file is still being reviewed. I left another message! If I don't hear back by Friday, I am going to call her pediatrician's office to see of they can help speed things up.

Another Glorious (Not) Morning at the Davis Household

So much for two great days in a row! I myself woke up with a migraine. So having to deal with a moody teenager was not on the top of my list this morning. I was hoping for another awesome morning, and some sympathy and cooperation from her when I explained that I had a migraine. Instead I get "You really don't have a migraine" and "You are lying, b____" in response to "Momma has a migraine, so can you please get ready by yourself this morning." So much for peace and quiet this morning. I was able to keep her somewhat controlled this morning. She did manage to get herself dressed, her hair brushed, but she refused to brush her teeth (that is a struggle I still have yet to come up with a solution too). All the while ranting and threatening me and telling me that it is my fault that she is aggravated (but she could not tell me what I had done). And then like someone switched a light on she went from "psycho" mode to "I"m gonna miss the bus, bye" and out the door she went to wait for the bus and no more problems for the rest of the morning.

This Week In Our Journey: Ending April 10, 2009

This week has been relatively quiet. Starting yesterday she started throwing up and I do not know if it is from the Lithium or if she has the nasty bug that is going around. When we had her on Lithium for the first time last March she was sick to her stomach for a couple of weeks. So we shall see which it is over the next couple of days.

I am still trying to get her an appointment with the Learning Center at Texas Children's. I called again on Thursday and was told by admissions that the paperwork is still up in the clinic and they could not make the appointment until it was returned to them. Ughh!

Have a Happy Easter and don't stop fighting for your families!

Because He cares for you

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."- I Peter 5:7

That verse has become Megan's verse this week. She asked me on Tuesday night for some scripture that would help her not to worry about how she did on her TAKS test (a challenge for someone who has an anxiety disorder). I wrote that verse on an index card for her to carry in her purse to pull out whenever she needs it. I pray that she truly can cast all her worries on Jesus and that she can rest in His peace and abiding love.

Have a blessed Easter weekend. He is Risen!

Crossing the Creek

That's the name of the 8th grade graduation ceremony for my daughter. We received the information for it yesterday. It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks my daughter will be leaving one phase of her life and entering into another phase. I look forward to it, but it also scares me. A lot. What is it like at the high school? How will they respond when she has a complete meltdown? Where will she go for her cool off spot? If she doesn't do well in inclusion where will she go? How will her lack of maturity be seen? Etc. So many questions that I hope to have answered before the end of this school year.

On another note, my daughter just got invited to a sleep over. This will be a first for her. She only knows the girl having the sleep over. I am excited for her, but also nervous. How will she do? What if she gets over stimulated? Will the other girls think she is immature? At times she acts very mature and others she acts more like a ten year old. And how do I handle the medications?

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

From this day forward, for better or for worse...

"I do."

Those two words said after the wedding vow are so little yet so very significant. According to Webster's dictionary some of the meanings of "do" are: to carry out, commit, to give freely, and to put forth. So when you say I do you are really saying I carry out, I give freely, I put forth, etc.

My husband lives the "do" part of "I do" everyday of our marriage. When we said I do six years ago not only did two become one, but we became a family of three. You see I had a precious daughter from a previous marriage. She had been diagnosed as having bi-polar a couple of months before we became engaged. Dear daughter was at her worse during this time period. Jimmy could have walked away and I would not have blamed him one bit. Instead he carries more than his share of the burdens, he gives freely of his love even when it is not so freely given back to him, and he puts forth more into this marriage and family than I have at times. He has stayed by my side during the worse times in our marriage even when some of the worse times meant him getting hit, spit on, yelled at, cussed at, and having things thrown at him by our daughter. He continues to love her and honor me by staying committed to the covenant between me, him, and God.

Jimmy, thank you for being a man of God and for living the "I do" part of our vows everyday. I love you.

What My Daughter Thinks I Want for My Birthday

On the way home from the doctor's offiice this afternoon, dear daughter and I had the following conversation (We were passing by Splashtown):

DD: Have you thought about what you want to do for your birthday?

Me: Not really.

DD: I want to take you to Splashtown for your birthday.

Me: I don't want to go to Splashtown for my birthday.

DD: But I want to take you and it opens on your birthday.

Me: I have school on my birthday, so I wouldn't be able to go.

DD: Then skip school, because we need to go to Splashtown for your birthday.

Me: I can't skip school.

DD: Oh.

End of conversation.

What Ifs and Only Ifs

Be still and know that I am God...sometimes that is hard to do. Especially days like today. Jimmy and I are sitting here wondering what brought on today's meltdown. Jimmy took this round while I tried to finish up making the grocery list through tears streaming down my face. It is so hard seeing her this way. The hardest part about it was when she was calming down-she was asking God to please take her home. She says she is ready to go home and that she is tired of being the way she is. It breaks my heart to see her this way. I feel so guilty on days like today and the what ifs and only ifs start up. Like, what if I hadn't married her biological father. If I hadn't eloped then I would not of gotten pregnant, and she would not be suffering the way she is. When I am feeling like this, Jimmy is so great at reminding me that God is in control and that if He did not want her to be born then I would not of gotten pregnant. Psalm 139:16 says that God has ordained her days before they came to be. I am praying that God's hand will guide her and his right hand will hold her fast (Psalm 139:10).

Keep fighting for your families and know that God is God and He is in control.

New Diagnosis Method for Food Allergies

A lot of parents have children who suffer from food allergies. Nightline had a very interesting article on last night, called Allergic to Everything. A new treatment out of Denver's Jewish Hospital allows children to eat food they once could not eat by rediagnosing them using a series of food challenges.

Click here for the article.

Service Dogs: Not Just for the Blind Anymore

Dogs are being trained to help more than just blind or visually impaired persons. I am checking into getting a service dog for DD and have found a wealth of information on the Internet. Some examples of other types of service dogs are:

Hearing Dogs;
Mobility Assistant Dogs;
Walker Dogs;
Seizure Alert Dogs;
Autism Dogs; and
Psychiatric Service Dogs.

I have included links to some of the websites I came across. Some places even offer "combo" service dogs that are trained to help persons with multiple disabilities.

disabled children

This Week in Our Journey: Ending April 3, 2009

I believe that my two previous posts have touched on what all has been going on this week. I will say that DD has received 100's on her behavior chart for the days she has been in school. We have the math TAKS next week and I pray that the stress will not be too much for her. The night before the reading TAKS she had a panic attack. She did go on to pass it. We are proud of her for doing so. Her Language Arts teacher had a 95% passing rate for all her classes, so they are having a celebration today in class.

We have been studying Job the past few Sundays in worship service. Here is a man who lost his family, his fortune, and was sitting in the dump because he was unclean and could not be within the city gates. Through it all he was still able to say to God: "I know that you can do all things, no plan of yours can be thwarted." Job 42:2. Wow! I know that God can do all things and He has great plans for my precious child. I just have to sometimes be reminded of it and that even though things seem bad now, God is not going to let anything or anyone get in the way of His plans.

Been a While: Part Deux

Can't sleep so I thought I would blog.

As you know we were working DD off of her meds. At the beginning of January we were down to just Risperdal, Tenex, and Lexapro. We went down 1/2 mg on the Risperdal and that was as far as we got. Mid-January she started having meltdowns at home and school. Nothing like they were before, but enough to cause concern. Mid-January through March are always a rough time of year for DD. So working her off any more meds was put to a stop and we actually increased the Risperdal and Lexapro. That helped some but not enough. She was still having mild meltdowns up to about a week ago when they really started getting bad and culminated with her having a major one in the doctor's office and the doctor admitting her to the hospital. The doctor added lithium back into her med mix and told me that I am just going to have to come to the realization that she needs to be on these meds. I am torn as I know that we can have very good days without a mood stabilizer (the six weeks prior to mid-January), but if I take her off again will it only last just a short time? She was released from the hospital on Tuesday. I hate the way she is right now. She is sleepy all the time and she has that swollen look about her again. There has got to be another solution out there...I just don't know what. She sleeps pretty much from the time she gets home until the time she goes to school so I really don't know if she has improved or not. Even though one doctor in the past told me that I should be grateful that she sleeps so much, because the solution to that would be to have her angry all the time. I refuse to let her sleeping all the time be okay. It's not. That leads me back to getting a proper diagnosis. I was told that next available appointment for the Learning Center at Texas Children is in September. I am still waiting for the packet to fill out and return before I can get an appointment so the next available appointment may be past September by the time I can make one. I was hoping to have some definitive answers before she starts high school in August. I am so worried that because of the improper diagnosis that whatever the correct diagnosis turns out to be, the treatment plan we start will be too late to do her any good. I am so angry with myself for being so naive and trusting in thinking that the doctors (five of them) were correct in saying that she was Bi-Polar. They are suppose to be the experts afterall, right? So why not trust them. Her current doctor has migrated away from that diagnosis and on her discharge papers listed her Axis I diagnosis as Mood disorder NOS (not otherwise specified). I hope I am making sense and not rambling on. I am just frustrated.

I am still believing God to work a mighty miracle in DD's life and to bring back my precious daughter to me. Have a blessed Friday.

Been a While: Part 1

So much for blogging on a regular basis! Going back to school has taken up a lot of my time. I am going to try to blog on a more consistent basis for now on. I don't have a lot of time so I will try to bring this blog up to date in parts.

Where to begin to bring everyone up to date without writing a book. Let's see. We finally were able to get the psychological evaluation completed. I feel that in some aspects it was a complete and total waste of time. When we went to the feedback session to go over the results, the doctor said to take his diagnoses with a grain of salt because he is not even sure he got it right. As of right now she is diagnosed with having: major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, cognitive disorder nos, and oppositional defiant disorder. He also put in that we need to rule out mood disorder based in a neurological defect and pervasive developmental disorder. He also said that if she is diagnosed with PDD then the first two diagnoses would just roll up under that. So I am in the process of trying to get DD into the Learning Center at Texas Children's Hospital and feel that it is going to take an act of Congress to get it done. I have to say that her pediatrician's office has been very helpful in getting the referrals done and keeping me up to date.

More on the journey tomorrow....

Till then don't stop fighting for your families. Nehemiah 4:14

This Week In Our Journey: Ending January 2, 2009

Okay-typing 2009 took a little thinking! It is hard to believe the new year is upon us. I have great expectations for this coming year for DD. I am believing God that He will continue to work a miracle in her life and that she will continue to have great days, weeks, months, and years to come.

The year ended a lot better than it began for DD. She finished up school with 2 great weeks and the holidays have been so pleasant. I can't remember a Christmas holiday in which there was not some sort of conflict, meltdown or some other issue. We even went on a four hour, multi-store, multi-stop shopping trip and I enjoyed it. She was so pleasant to be around. It felt--dare I say it?- "Normal". She finished her depakote on December 28. We go back to the doctor on January 9 and will proceed from there. She goes back to school next week and on January 12 she will start going to a Gen. Ed. Science class.

Blessings to you and yours in 2009.