therapist handing us over to his associate...

[gcvmom]

Apparently the psychologist saw way more in difficult child 2 today than he feels qualified to address, so he is going to speak to his associate, who has more experience dealing with school age BiPolar (BP) kids, about following difficult child 2's progress. He's also going to get a checklist/questionnaire for me to use to monitor difficult child 2's behavior and wants me to try to journal a bit each day to keep track of my observations.

He said he seemed very "ramped up" today compared to last week (5 days today @ 250mg Depakote, we increase to 500mg tonight). He had him draw some pictures for him, and what he drew and the explanations he gave indicated that his thoughts are very disordered and fragmented. What I saw was him being goofy and silly, but that's how he is right now (among other things) and therapist said I'm probably "normalizing" his behavior in my mind because I'm living with it daily (... yeah, and trying to maintain my own sanity) :crazy:

I also let him know about difficult child 2 trying to go for a ride in my laundry basket down the stairs (only made it to the first landing before I stopped him -- Thank GOD!), the flashing of his privates he's been doing, trying to pants kids in the pool, saying cruel and heartless things to his sister about her injuries from a bad bike accident this weekend (landed her in the ER with a mild concussion and multiple bruises and the whole left side of her face scraped up) -- saying things like it was her fault it happened and that she looks ugly with her face so messed up. Good thing he's my flesh and blood... :grrr:

We tried stopping at a store on the way home -- what a joke that was! Climbing in and out of the cart, touching everything, knocking stuff off shelves, pacing, swinging his arms wildly in the aisles as he walked, annoying his siblings, being very loud and generally obnoxious... I'm exhausted!

 

[busywend]

Ugh! That just sounds exhausting. I hope you get a break soon. Glad psychiatrist was able to admit he was not the right support for you and difficult child 2. Hopefully the associate will have good ideas.

 

[smallworld]

Wow! I'm sorry things are so rough right now.

Have you considered a day treatment program for difficult child? That might give difficult child more intensive interventions at a time when he seems to really need it.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

gvcm,

I think it's good that therapist wants to pull someone more experienced in - I'd say that was a good therapist! The psychiatrist difficult child and saw yesterday during his multidisc evaluation suggested I journal difficult child's moods, etc. as well. I think we are going to take difficult child off all medications, journal, add a new medication, and journal.

The laundry basket on the stairs is something my difficult child has done as well as with a sleeping bag and a comforter! The nastiness to his sister, the flashing, the inappropriate water play is definately disconcerning.

Hope you are able to find some rest!

Sharon

 

[Wiped Out]

You must be exhausted! Good for the therapist for recommending someone more qualified! You sound like you need some serious "me" time. Hugs.

 

[gcvmom]

Well, I had a very fun night out with a half doz. friends from my Bunco group and am feeling recharged and rejuvenated :smile:

What I'm not clear on that smallworld mentioned is a day treatment program and what they do for kids? Do any of the insurance companies cover this? How can this help a difficult child who's technically not medicated? I mean, is it realistic to expect him to "learn" or retain anything when his executive functioning is out the window?

 

[smallworld]

A day treatment program is usually run by a hospital and staffed by hospital personnel, but the child doesn't stay overnight. There is a psychiatrist on staff who manages medications. Therapeutic staff -- the psychiatrist, psychologists, social workers, etc -- observe the child closely, refine the diagnosis, run group threrapy and art therapy, and come up with a treatment plan once the child is discharged. When my daughter M was in day treatment last summer, insurance covered almost all of it. It was jus tsomething I thought of for you because you're having such a difficult time with your difficult child.

 

[gcvmom]

Thanks for that clarification -- I will ask about it when we go for our consult on the 6th at the university hospital. I believe they do have an outpatient program like that.

What constitutes a large peds-psychiatric INpatient facility? The one they have at this hospital has 12 beds. That seemed small to me, considering what a large population we have in my area...