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update on us -- psychosis, Clozaril for older difficult child
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<blockquote data-quote="barneysmom" data-source="post: 369317" data-attributes="member: 1872"><p>Hello all,</p><p></p><p>I wanted to write and update. </p><p></p><p>My gfg16 had been in an unlocked juvie after his third assault on our family -- first his little bro, then me, then his dad. He has been to the psychiatric hospital 5x from June 2009 to Jan 2010. Each time he was discharged aggressive and unstable, and we were told to access CMH. That's pretty stressful when we're dealing with a violent kid, and getting services from CMH takes awhile.</p><p></p><p>Anyway he became psychotic in juvie and spent 70 days in a psychiatric hospital locally, then transferred to a residential facility which is not long-term, but just until the kid gets stable (it could be four months or so). The staff specialize in "tough" cases and are dedicated clinicians. It's the best place he could be and we're very satisfied with it. It's through CMH. I had to hire an outside consultant and call our state representative's office to get him there. The state representative's office was <u>extremely</u> helpful in bringing our case to CMH's attention. </p><p></p><p>He's been there since mid-June. The diagnosis they gave us is schizophrenia, and also on the spectrum -- not sure whether AS or Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified, that hasn't been clarified yet. He's on a pretty high dose of Clozaril and I'm not sure what other medications -- I mean, I know what they are, we signed all the consents, but I can't think of them right now. </p><p></p><p>His psychosis has had good results from the Clozaril but last time we visited for family therapy he was pretty dysregulated when he saw us. Meaning he blew up. We have had some good visits, but when we start talking in therapy about things that won't go his way when/if he gets home (like no BB guns/gun games on PS) he can't handle it, and explodes. </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile gfg13 is slowly recovering from the trauma of his big brother being gone, and the violence which was the norm at our house. His recovery is progressing faster now -- he spends a lot of time at the community pool instead of isolating at home, and is on a sleep-over there tonight, bonfire, smores etc. He had some encopresis going for awhile there, but has recovered. </p><p></p><p>husband and I are barely making it but we are taking care of ourselves -- amazing how much sleep we need after all this trauma, just to be able to function. We drive there once a week for family therapy -- 2.5 hours each way which is exhausting, but we know we are lucky it's so close. </p><p></p><p>I'm hanging in there. I'm glad I have you guys -- reading here always gives me a boost. Life is normalizing a little! We have a home-based service which is required when your kid goes to this particular residential facility, mostly to coordinate services when the kid is discharged. It's kind of weird when gfg16 isn't home, but the case manager is helping us with getting our lives back into a healthy routine and recovering from the trauma.</p><p></p><p> Psychosis is really hard to handle for the psychotic person (as many of you well know) , and for the family as well. We have a family meeting with the CM for two hours a week which is great because I would never get husband and gfg13 to sit down for a family meeting longer than ten minutes! And we're finding it gives the three of us a sense of solidarity, and the fact that we include gfg16 in our discussions makes his situation less scary. </p><p></p><p>Best to all and hugs</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barneysmom, post: 369317, member: 1872"] Hello all, I wanted to write and update. My gfg16 had been in an unlocked juvie after his third assault on our family -- first his little bro, then me, then his dad. He has been to the psychiatric hospital 5x from June 2009 to Jan 2010. Each time he was discharged aggressive and unstable, and we were told to access CMH. That's pretty stressful when we're dealing with a violent kid, and getting services from CMH takes awhile. Anyway he became psychotic in juvie and spent 70 days in a psychiatric hospital locally, then transferred to a residential facility which is not long-term, but just until the kid gets stable (it could be four months or so). The staff specialize in "tough" cases and are dedicated clinicians. It's the best place he could be and we're very satisfied with it. It's through CMH. I had to hire an outside consultant and call our state representative's office to get him there. The state representative's office was [U]extremely[/U] helpful in bringing our case to CMH's attention. He's been there since mid-June. The diagnosis they gave us is schizophrenia, and also on the spectrum -- not sure whether AS or Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified, that hasn't been clarified yet. He's on a pretty high dose of Clozaril and I'm not sure what other medications -- I mean, I know what they are, we signed all the consents, but I can't think of them right now. His psychosis has had good results from the Clozaril but last time we visited for family therapy he was pretty dysregulated when he saw us. Meaning he blew up. We have had some good visits, but when we start talking in therapy about things that won't go his way when/if he gets home (like no BB guns/gun games on PS) he can't handle it, and explodes. Meanwhile gfg13 is slowly recovering from the trauma of his big brother being gone, and the violence which was the norm at our house. His recovery is progressing faster now -- he spends a lot of time at the community pool instead of isolating at home, and is on a sleep-over there tonight, bonfire, smores etc. He had some encopresis going for awhile there, but has recovered. husband and I are barely making it but we are taking care of ourselves -- amazing how much sleep we need after all this trauma, just to be able to function. We drive there once a week for family therapy -- 2.5 hours each way which is exhausting, but we know we are lucky it's so close. I'm hanging in there. I'm glad I have you guys -- reading here always gives me a boost. Life is normalizing a little! We have a home-based service which is required when your kid goes to this particular residential facility, mostly to coordinate services when the kid is discharged. It's kind of weird when gfg16 isn't home, but the case manager is helping us with getting our lives back into a healthy routine and recovering from the trauma. Psychosis is really hard to handle for the psychotic person (as many of you well know) , and for the family as well. We have a family meeting with the CM for two hours a week which is great because I would never get husband and gfg13 to sit down for a family meeting longer than ten minutes! And we're finding it gives the three of us a sense of solidarity, and the fact that we include gfg16 in our discussions makes his situation less scary. Best to all and hugs [/QUOTE]
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