questions... lithium and discharge

buddy

New Member
OK, so much for the take lithium level friday morning and make a discharge plan.... THey still dont have the levels. doctor had said to me that he will only be concerned if they are really high...that otherwise we can adjust outpatient. So they have called the lab but now the lab says it takes two days! That means he may not be out till tomorrow. And I was hoping he could get another therapy ride in to make up for ones he missed, this is the last weekend of the session. (last time the results came in hours, they raised it that night)

So what exactly can happen if it is high? I have tried reading but mostly just get that it has to be in the therapeutic window to be effective etc..... is it the cardiac issues, can it cause him to go all rambo on me again? If I was used to this medication as I am the others I would be comfortable lowering it at home, but this is so new and it feels like a different level of danger to me. I am sure I am scared because of the recent negative experience with the other medication.


They said he is really needing a lot of redirection, well...duh, he does worst with uncertainty. (as we all saw Oct 30 when I got punched) Poor kiddo. I feel terrible for him. Now what? Only thing I can do is sit here and wait and wait and worry.
 

keista

New Member
I just looked this up and thought I'd share it with you. It may not answer your questions but should give you an idea about the medication. Maybe Q is psychic when he was adamant he was leaving on Sunday?LOL
You know, I so totally believe this! I think the different 'wiring' of our kids is very often so much more different than the scientific community cares to admit.
 

buddy

New Member
Well, the social worker just called and said that Q is really getting agitated, saying he is going to hurt me, being aggressive throwing things etc... I told them that by saying he was going to maybe go home tomorrow they were going to really get him in a state of uncertainty and it would not be pretty. Now how long do they continue this. I wonder if they should just say, forget it he stays till tomorrow. I asked that they not push this too much if he is escalating which he has not done for a week. It just shows how much anxiety triggers him. Doctor said it is 50/50 if he can come home. I told him the plan yesterday and nurses this morning said he was good with everything. Until this. Now he has been in the time out room twice. and am I going to be able to drive him home??? I asked about discharge procedures and they sound like there would be a lot of talking in front of him, signing things, medication explinations, etc... well I asked if i could come and do all that with his not knowing anything, then we just pack him and go.

I asked the doctor to call, social worker said she will tell him. I reminded her that I asked three times last weekend and nothing...so?????

The other irritant is that this social worker and a couple of nurses are so young and dont really seem to get the big picture. I know they are sweet and trying, but this girl sounds so condescending and why did she call me to tell me he was so upset if there was no options but to just wait... she said she really called just to see if I had appointments made. I was like..huh??? I already had this talk last night. Probably nothing to do with her, just that powerless feeling again.
 

keista

New Member
I know my suggestion is NOT how these places work, but since they have been working with you and him so well, could they "change" discharge plans for him? IOW AFTER they decide he is going to be discharged, he stays for another 24 hours for that 'transition'. All this *maybe*, *maybe* KOI is doing him no good and making everything worse. At least if he knew he'd have a 24 hour window of KNOWING, it may reduce his anxiety.

Am I making sense?
 
T

TeDo

Guest
Poor kid. First he spends a lot of time arguing that he's coming home on Sunday and being told no, Saturday. Now that it has probably gotten through, they tell him Sunday. I myself don't like that kind of uncertainty.

The other thing is that he is scared of the transition back to home no matter how much he wants to. I know difficult child 1 did that at respite because he was told "good kids don't get to stay here" so he turned into a terribly bad kid to get to stay there. None of it was intentional, just his twisted way to keep the familiar. Once I packed him up and we got in the van, he was perfectly fine. There again, it was the uncertainty.

Give Q a hug from his board auntie. And here's one for you too {{{{(((HUGS)))}}}}
 

buddy

New Member
That is a good idea Keista, I said a similar thing to sw and you make it clearer.... I asked doctor to call me and of course he hasn't. My question to sw was, when do we call it quits. HIS doctor yesterday said if no labs by 6 forget it, he stays because we need to prep him. I want the same thing today, and maybe even more like you said, because if the labs show a problem he has to stay anyway and we go thru it all over. I wish they just wouldn't have said anything to him.
 

buddy

New Member
doctor just called and lithium is only .6 after doubling it.... well, still we can increase it from home. At least it is not high. So he said he has calmed an we can discharge him. I am going to go now. praying it goes well.....
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Whew. It's making me crazy just reading these notes, so I can imagine what he's going through! Poor guy.
Fingers crossed for a smooth transition.
 

keista

New Member
Yeah, they shouldn't be telling him the discharge play by play. BUT if they tell him the 24 hour plan, then at least he'll have the 24 hrs to hold on to once the play by play KOI stops.

Part of the problem is that he's old enough to be informed of this stuff, but to disabled to process the information appropriately. I think they're forgetting that part.
 
T

TeDo

Guest
Fingers and other body parts crossed. Let us know how it goes........please......
 
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