A few nights ago, we sat down as a family to play Skipbo--a fairly simple card game that even Ellie can play well. It was the end of the day and the ADHD was running rampant.
When we were done, Emily put her arm around my shoulders and our conversation went something like this:
"Mom, you and I have to stick together since we're the only ones without ADHD."
I replied, "Yeah, I guess you and I can commiserate together."
Her eyes brightened. "Yeah. Let's go shopping!"
Emily's solution to every situation.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Friday, October 22, 2010
The evil ADHD
She's so cute isn't she!
I love her to pieces and am never truly angry with her. She is very mild-mannered, always wants to please, and is the peacemaker in our home.
So if I'm going to vent a frustration, here it is--the evil, skulking, ever-lurking-in-our-lives ADHD!
Now I'm not saying Ellie has ADHD. Perhaps I'm in denial. I'm not ready to have her tested, medicated or labeled with it yet. Let's just say the tendency is there--and I would like to banish ADHD from ever rearing it's ugly head in the vicinity of our home again!
This afternoon, I picked Ellie up from school and she informed me that when she opened up her backpack, her homework was not in it--but that the teacher would give her (some) credit, if she turned it in Monday. This is homework that she worked and slaved all week on with me by her side. I of course asked the oh so useless question, "well, why isn't it in your backpack?!"
She replied, "I thought it was in my backpack."
This is not the first time this has happened--or even the second or third. This is a constant struggle! When we got home and started looking for it, we found it on the floor of her room--all stapled together, ready to turn in, signed, sealed, but not delivered.
I can picture the scene. Paul helps her staple the papers together, hands it to her and watches her walk toward her room to put it into her backpack before leaving this morning. She gets to her room, is distracted by some toy, the bracelet she's wearing, or something outside the bedroom window; she sets the papers down and continues on her path of distraction until Paul calls her saying it's time to go. She grabs her backpack--without having put the papers in it--and they head to school.
I know, I know, you're sitting there saying, "she's eight, it's normal, it could happen to anyone." But all the time??????? I ask her put her jacket away. I watch her pick it up and head toward the coat rack. I turn to finish what I am doing. When I look back a moment later, the jacket is on the floor again maybe six feet closer to the coat rack and Ellie is browsing the books on the bookshelf. This may be repeated as many as 4 or 5 times before she can complete the task without being sidetracked. These occurances are happening several times a day!
Getting the homework from the desk to the backpack and then to school is a daily battle that I fear I am losing more often than not. Ellie is not a defiant child, nor does she argue with me about doing homework or other tasks--she is simply highly distractable, like most of her siblings and father before her who have been diagnosed with the unmentionable.
Still I'm holding out some hope that this is a stage she will outgrow...please, please, please!!!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Ellie's letter
Ellie has a very tender heart. For many years we've had beloved pet rats that the kids play with, talk to and generally adore. A couple of weeks ago one of them (Bare) passed away and Ellie has been teary over the loss. Yesterday she wrote a letter to him:
Dear Bare,
I wish you had lived longer. I hope you are enjoying hevn (heaven). I just know Jesus is taking care of u (text talk for you). Are u having a great time?
From Ellie
Dear Bare,
I wish you had lived longer. I hope you are enjoying hevn (heaven). I just know Jesus is taking care of u (text talk for you). Are u having a great time?
From Ellie
Emily's new look
Emily and I went shopping Saturday with her birthday money. She got clothes and accessories, including this dress, earrings and hair clip
Oh--and she also cut her hair!
Oh--and she also cut her hair!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Flashback #4--October 2009, Ellie
The weekend before we went down for Rachel's wedding, all of us had some sort of stomach bug. Ellie got it first; she said a little girl in her class at school had been sick the day before Ellie got sick. By the end of the weekend, we'd all been sick and gotten better...or so we thought.
Everyone went back to school Monday except Maddie who I think just needed another day to recoup mentally. We were supposed to leave Tuesday right after school to go to Salt Lake for the wedding. When I picked the girls up from school Tuesday, her teacher said Ellie had been complaining of a tummy ache and running to the bathroom frequently. I took a mental note of this, looked back at Ellie who grinned at me and then we headed home to do the last minute prep before heading out of town
As soon as we got home, Ellie ran for the bathroom. When she came out, she said there was "pink stuff" in the toilet. Being the nurse that I am, I had to go look, of course. My first thought was that it was blood, but it really didn't look like that, so we went ahead with our plans to go to Salt Lake, figuring that if needed we could visit an Instacare there to get an antibiotic or whatever she might need.
As the week went on, Ellie didn't seem to get any better. There were moments when she seemed a little more energetic and I'd think, "okay, she's on the mend." And then 30 minutes later she was laying on the couch again with a tummyache and looking very pale.
Friday morning when she went to the bathroom there was obvious blood in her stool. In hindsight, I wish we'd packed up early and come home to see our family doctor. However, at the time my thought was to just keep monitoring her and again-if needed-we could go to a doc-in-the-box in Salt Lake.
Sunday morning, we woke up to get ready to return to Boise. When I gave Ellie a bath, I thought she not only looked pale, but was starting to look jaundiced. She was still having blood in her stool and now she was nauseous and throwing up periodically. We got home as quickly as we could and put her to bed hoping she would be better by morning.
Monday morning she was still just as sick so I got her in to our family doctor who examined her and ran some labs on her. They called us later that day to bring her to the hospital to be admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with a condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome. Her kidney function was compromised, platelets were low (17 when they should be above 130), and her hematocrit was 20 (should be above 36). We were told later that many kids who get this end up on dialysis--some with permanent kidney damage.
We were very fortunate. The pediatric nephrologist said he expected that she would have no permanent kidney damage and would completely recover. They gave her a unit of blood that first night and then just monitored her for the next four days, releasing her on Friday about 11pm.
It took about a month to get her hematocrit back up to where it should be, but now she's back to her old self and we are so grateful to have her healthy again!
Everyone went back to school Monday except Maddie who I think just needed another day to recoup mentally. We were supposed to leave Tuesday right after school to go to Salt Lake for the wedding. When I picked the girls up from school Tuesday, her teacher said Ellie had been complaining of a tummy ache and running to the bathroom frequently. I took a mental note of this, looked back at Ellie who grinned at me and then we headed home to do the last minute prep before heading out of town
As soon as we got home, Ellie ran for the bathroom. When she came out, she said there was "pink stuff" in the toilet. Being the nurse that I am, I had to go look, of course. My first thought was that it was blood, but it really didn't look like that, so we went ahead with our plans to go to Salt Lake, figuring that if needed we could visit an Instacare there to get an antibiotic or whatever she might need.
As the week went on, Ellie didn't seem to get any better. There were moments when she seemed a little more energetic and I'd think, "okay, she's on the mend." And then 30 minutes later she was laying on the couch again with a tummyache and looking very pale.
Friday morning when she went to the bathroom there was obvious blood in her stool. In hindsight, I wish we'd packed up early and come home to see our family doctor. However, at the time my thought was to just keep monitoring her and again-if needed-we could go to a doc-in-the-box in Salt Lake.
Sunday morning, we woke up to get ready to return to Boise. When I gave Ellie a bath, I thought she not only looked pale, but was starting to look jaundiced. She was still having blood in her stool and now she was nauseous and throwing up periodically. We got home as quickly as we could and put her to bed hoping she would be better by morning.
Monday morning she was still just as sick so I got her in to our family doctor who examined her and ran some labs on her. They called us later that day to bring her to the hospital to be admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with a condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome. Her kidney function was compromised, platelets were low (17 when they should be above 130), and her hematocrit was 20 (should be above 36). We were told later that many kids who get this end up on dialysis--some with permanent kidney damage.
We were very fortunate. The pediatric nephrologist said he expected that she would have no permanent kidney damage and would completely recover. They gave her a unit of blood that first night and then just monitored her for the next four days, releasing her on Friday about 11pm.
It took about a month to get her hematocrit back up to where it should be, but now she's back to her old self and we are so grateful to have her healthy again!
Flashback #3--October 2009
October was a very exciting time. My youngest sister, Rachel was getting married in the Salt Lake Temple and we were traveling down to Utah for the occasion. 
My mom commented on how much different it was preparing for this wedding because Rachel was a little older than Wendy and I had been and had more clear cut ideas about what she wanted.
Nate & Rachel
Cousins: Ava, Lucy, Ellie, Olivia
Siblings: Jared, Kelly, Rachel w/ new husband, Nate, Wendy, Daniel
My mom commented on how much different it was preparing for this wedding because Rachel was a little older than Wendy and I had been and had more clear cut ideas about what she wanted.
Nate & RachelThe wedding was absolutely beautiful! Everything turned out wonderfully. The younger nieces all had matching outfits and were adorable.
All of the nieces Cousins: Ava, Lucy, Ellie, OliviaNate and Rachel make a very lovely couple and I'm so excited to have another great brother-in-law!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Flashback #2--November 2009, Daniel's mission call
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, dozens of interviews (okay, I'm exaggerating) and a mountain of paperwork, Daniel finally got his mission call!
We invited several friends over including our bishop and previous bishop to witness the opening of the call and got grandparents on the phone to hear the moment and...drum roll...
He will be going to the Albuquerque, New Mexico Mission! He enters the MTC on January 27th. His farewell address will be on January 24th.
Flashback #1--July 2009
Many of you know some of the challenges Holly (and we, her parents) have faced over the last several years. In a nutshell, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 8.
Over the years, we've seen three different psychiatrists and four or more therapists to help Holly cope with changing moods, frustrations and emotions. We've tried many different types of medication with marginal results. Counseling was very effective, but she was only able to make progress with it on "good days." And last year we were starting have more bad days than good.
Several years ago, my mother started sending us articles on Asperger's Syndrome. This was something I had considered but only in passing. However, with my mother's encouragement, I brought it up to the psychiatrist. He was dismissive about it and others concerns we had. He steered us back in the direction of treating her for bipolar disorder.
We kept Asperger's in the back of our mind, but continued with the treatment the psychiatrist suggested. A few months later, he quit private practice and we had to find a new psychiatrist.
We found one that we liked okay, but as time went on, we became frustrated because we didn't feel like he was listening to us much like the last psychiatrist. He spent all of 15 minutes with her once every three months and we weren't seeing any improvement. We decided to look again for another psychiatrist.
While we were looking for a new psychiatrist, we decided to go to an Asperger's support group to find out more information. The people we talked to there suggested we see a developmental pediatrician and recommended one in the area. We made an appointment and waited...
When we finally got in to see him at the end of July, he spent 2 1/2 hours evaluating her, talking and listening to her and then discussed his findings and made suggestions. His diagnoses were as follows: Asperger's disorder; ADHD (we already had this diagnosis); a nonspecific mood disorder--possibly bipolar or something else; anxiety--(finally! someone besides us and her teachers who recognized this); and possibly oppositional defiance disorder. His recommendation as far as medication was to continue the Adderall for ADHD, start Prozac for the anxiety and discontinue the Lamictal (a mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder).
Within days of the change, we saw a marked difference in her moods, level of frustration and general level of happiness. At first, we were holding our breath waiting for the next wave of bad days to come--they didn't.
A month later, she started school. The teachers, principal and counselors at school noticed the difference in her right away. I stopped in to the school in mid-September to drop off something and the principal commented that she was like "a new kid." She started her internship at the school and they were overwhelming pleased with her--so much so that they started paying her in mid-November.
In the next couple of months she will start a new internship at the middle school in our area. She is looking at colleges for next year and making plans to become a special education teacher. Her progress over the last few months has been phenomenal and we are looking forward to a great future for her!
Over the years, we've seen three different psychiatrists and four or more therapists to help Holly cope with changing moods, frustrations and emotions. We've tried many different types of medication with marginal results. Counseling was very effective, but she was only able to make progress with it on "good days." And last year we were starting have more bad days than good.
Several years ago, my mother started sending us articles on Asperger's Syndrome. This was something I had considered but only in passing. However, with my mother's encouragement, I brought it up to the psychiatrist. He was dismissive about it and others concerns we had. He steered us back in the direction of treating her for bipolar disorder.
We kept Asperger's in the back of our mind, but continued with the treatment the psychiatrist suggested. A few months later, he quit private practice and we had to find a new psychiatrist.
We found one that we liked okay, but as time went on, we became frustrated because we didn't feel like he was listening to us much like the last psychiatrist. He spent all of 15 minutes with her once every three months and we weren't seeing any improvement. We decided to look again for another psychiatrist.
While we were looking for a new psychiatrist, we decided to go to an Asperger's support group to find out more information. The people we talked to there suggested we see a developmental pediatrician and recommended one in the area. We made an appointment and waited...
When we finally got in to see him at the end of July, he spent 2 1/2 hours evaluating her, talking and listening to her and then discussed his findings and made suggestions. His diagnoses were as follows: Asperger's disorder; ADHD (we already had this diagnosis); a nonspecific mood disorder--possibly bipolar or something else; anxiety--(finally! someone besides us and her teachers who recognized this); and possibly oppositional defiance disorder. His recommendation as far as medication was to continue the Adderall for ADHD, start Prozac for the anxiety and discontinue the Lamictal (a mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder).
Within days of the change, we saw a marked difference in her moods, level of frustration and general level of happiness. At first, we were holding our breath waiting for the next wave of bad days to come--they didn't.
A month later, she started school. The teachers, principal and counselors at school noticed the difference in her right away. I stopped in to the school in mid-September to drop off something and the principal commented that she was like "a new kid." She started her internship at the school and they were overwhelming pleased with her--so much so that they started paying her in mid-November.
In the next couple of months she will start a new internship at the middle school in our area. She is looking at colleges for next year and making plans to become a special education teacher. Her progress over the last few months has been phenomenal and we are looking forward to a great future for her!
Flashbacks
Well, it's been nearly eight months since my last post. I read somewhere that you shouldn't apologize for not posting so I won't...and I'm not necessarily going to try and catch up either. That would be too daunting. So I'm just going to do a few "flashbacks" to fill in some gaps since May and move forward. Note new pictures of kids and family (Thank you, Jill!) to start our update!
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