New Med Trial

I wanted to give you all a little update on son#2's latest issues at "camp".

Since the incident on the highway with son#2, Hubby and I have discussed what we think we need to see in son#2 before he comes home to us.
He has to be able to control those impulses to harm himself & others when he gets upset, doesn't get his way or gets uncomfortable.(Too hot, hungry or diaper issues.)
He's been on his "good med" since 2006. Unfortunately the main side effect is it causes him to be thinking of food continually. Which leads to weight issues. With him having lost so much weight at camp, we felt that was a good sign it was controllable.
However, the inability to control his other impulses when he doesn't get his way, isn't healthy for him or anyone else around him. And the "good med" doesn't seem to be able to curb all of those. So Hubby & I decided to talk to his therapist about trying something new to take the place of the "good med" while he is in a controlled environment like camp. In the past we've been able to see within one day if a pill/med would work or not for him. But this time the doctor didn't wean him off the "good med", she just jumped in cold turkey off one, and onto the "bad med" starting  little by little increasing it's dose.

 There has been no change in his behavior for the good. It's all been steps backwards and if anything has caused more damage in progress. He is taking his clothes off again, the holds were more frequent & for longer periods of time. And the first three days he barely slept at all.  I was ready to abandon ship last Sunday night when during a hold son#2 banged his head on the floor and split open his eyebrow area. Of course he wouldn't allow them to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. But once he calmed down & went to sleep, the nurses could see it didn't need stitches. That incident just set the tone of the entire week. It's been one phone call after another; every day bringing more phone calls & worse incidents involving his anger and aggression. One of the hardest weeks during his 8 months away for me. (That's right folks, it's been 8 months!)

We went to see him on this Saturday the 28th, and he was so happy to see us. He smiled, laughed and held tight to me. He walked us around the courtyard lap after lap, holding on to my hand or arm. And sometimes just smiling & jabbering up a storm. It was so great to see him happy. He even let us redirect him verbally when he veered off course or tried to duck into the cafeteria early. But because of his behavior that week he lost the privilege of going on a pass with us. As we left, the director stopped us for a brief chat. During that time, I guess son#2 got upset with us leaving after lunch & he was in another 20 min hold. Later that night they called to tell us he had shattered a window in his bedroom with his head. He was actually fine, but the window had to be repaired Sunday. We've had an average Fri/Sat/Sun of four phone calls a day/night.
This morning they called a little before 9am to tell me that he had been in a hold at 1am and again that morning after he woke up. BUT, the saving grace is this morning the doctor is taking him completely off of the "bad med" and putting him back on the "good med"!! Thank God!

What I believe has happened on this "bad med" is a placebo effect. It's as if he has had no medicine in his system at all. As the reserve of the "good med" has leeched out of his body, we're left with the behaviors we've seen when we've taken him off all meds once or twice in the past. Carson Raw. And it ain't pretty people. Autism can be an ugly beast when it's in the buff.

It's difficult as a mommy in those situations to be far away from your children. Especially when they can't speak for themselves. Part of the conversation we had with the director Saturday was about the continued bumps to the head in the same spot. Which in other kids with the same issues as son#2, has gone on to cause a seizure disorder. So it's important we get the aggression under control, especially since the obvious end result we want to see is him home with us. It's been a tough 10 days but I'm happy and so very relieved to think we're over this hill. I got another call this afternoon that son#2 was in a hold, but the "good med" should start building up in his system soon and hopefully with that will come less and less meltdowns. I thank God & hope that we are on our way down the other side of that hill. Prayers are welcome & appreciated.