difficult child 2 home "sick" today...

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Funny, I never thought I'd have to keep my kid home from school because of mental illness, but here we are.

He didn't even make it into the classroom for more than a minute before having to be sent to the office. He had head-butted one kid and threw wood chips at another.

I went up to school to help in his class' library time like usual, and when they came in his teacher took me aside and explained what happened, then took me to get him. He was sitting at one of the corral desks by the principal's office trying to work on some papers. He says he's very tired and groggy, most likely the clonazepam that's now having an effect since we pulled the stimulant. Doesn't do a thing for his mood, and his writing is still all over the place (but that's typical when he's not on a stimulant, too). I'll probably either cut it in half again or just forego that medication for now.

Stopped at McD's and got him something more to eat since he said he was really hungry (only had a bowl of cereal today). He wolfed down his breakfast sandwich, juice and potatoes and now seems satisfied. Wait -- I take that back. He just grabbed a package of crackers and is sitting on the couch with them...

Despite feeling groggy, he IS restless and has been standing in front of the TV swaying or alternately pacing while he watches cartoons.

psychiatrist can't get us in until Wednesday morning, so I'll be keeping him home at least through Thursday, if not the entire week. Next week is the last week of school. I'm partly glad it's almost over and partly sad that he has to miss the fun things his peers will be doing over the next 9 days. Maybe he can go back next week...

To complicate my day further, difficult child 1 has an appointment 50 miles away in Los Angeles at 4pm today, so I had to see if my mom could come over to pickup easy child and watch difficult child 2 until husband gets home. Thank goodness she's available (currently unemployed due to layoff but sometimes gets called to sub at the school district)!

I sure hope we are able to stabilize him within the next two weeks or our vacation trip that starts on the 14th will be hell.
 

smallworld

Moderator
Am I wrong in thinking that the school could find a way to have difficult child 2 stay there, even if an aide had to be assigned to him? Or are you OK with letting him stay home?

FWIW, Klonopin never did anything for my kids.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
No, you're not wrong in your thinking. But honestly, in the mental state he's in now, he cannot function. He can barely follow simple directions like "Open your backpack," or "Sit down." It took me sitting next to him and walking him through every single step of an English sentence problem this morning (identifying prepositional phrases, verbs, etc.), with the rest of the page covered up so he wouldn't be overwhelmed visually. The aide that's in his class is not assigned to him technically, and he doesn't have an aide writtten into his IEP (because at the time (April) it wasn't deemed necessary). Clearly, if he cannot be stabilized and his attention and focus restored, the need for a full-time aide will become a HUGE issue.

I'm okay with having him home. If he was sick with the flu, he'd have to stay home. This is just a different form of illness, and I guess that's why I'm not completely freaking out today. I feel strangely calm about all this -- maybe it's just resignation. I think having him stay at school in this state would only further damage the already lousy perception his peers have of him. And although he's transferring to another school for September, he'll still be seeing these kids in the community. I'd like to preserve what little "face" he has left with these kids.

The Klonopin was supposed to help his handwriting/tremor. But he can't even pay attention to write, so what's the point? It's just making him tired. I told husband I think I'll just stop giving it to him.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I agree it was a good choice! Saying a prayer he is stabilized soon so the vacation can be enjoyed by all.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
WG, BBK, WO, KTM, thanks so much for the good wishes!

husband said when he called home to let my mom know he was leaving work around 5:20pm, she told him difficult child 2 was already asleep on the couch! I decided to forego the clonazepam last night because that's the second consecutive night he's zonked out early like that. Plus it really didn't seem to help his handwriting... He's only been on it a few days, and at a very low dose, so I'm really not worried about withdrawal.

He's still pacing today. Cannot sit still for very long, even if he's watching a TV show he likes. He's up and wandering around the room, walking in circles or back and forth across the room. I'm concerned this could still be akathisia, even though he stopped Risperdal over a week ago. There's some info I got googling that indicates akathisia can persist for months after long term anitpsychotic use. Sure hope that's not what I'm seeing. There's a guy in our neighborhood whom I've seen doing this (pacing) and I've always wondered why he did that. He would walk up and down the sidewalk in front of his house for hours at a time with a wacky grin on his face. difficult child reminds me of that guy right now to a lesser degree.

One thing that's a little different, he's a little bit more responsive to my requests for him to do things today, like turning off the TV and coming downstairs; taking out the kitchen trash and then asking him to put a new bag in the can, reminding him to eat his food at the table, closing the door behind him when he goes out back... I might have to repeat what I've said once, but after he's processed it he seems to be compliant and cooperative so far.

We'll take another stab at some school work this morning, but I'm not going to make a big deal out of it.

difficult child 1's GI appointment went well. His Crohn's is in remission, but we learned he also has EE (Eosinophilic Esophagitis). Also, his white blood cell count is too low (due to his medications) so he needs another blood draw this week to check things out.

So we're just in a holding pattern today. I'll know more tomorrow hopefully.
 
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