March 2017 – Page 4

He’s making himself sick over this stupid State testing

As of 1:30 AM this morning, both Elliott and Emmett will be returning to school. I should say that they are healthy enough to return to school. Elliott shouldn't be a problem but I think Emmett's going to be. Why would I say that? He's already so nervous about going back that he's woken up and climbed into bed with us twice. Apparently, there was State testing last week and he missed it cause he was sick. These tests always make him sick to his stomach, even though he's the kid with the highest scores. In fact, the last test had him scoring the highest in the school. He's never done poorly on one but he puts so much pressure on himself, it literally makes him nauseous. Unfortunately, he doesn't…

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March 20, 2017

Gavin / My thoughts

It’s the not knowing that kills me as a parent

It's becoming clear that Gavin's struggling more and more. Unfortunately, there's no way to know if this is another leg of his journey with Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, the result of changes to his medications or just par for the course. His level of functionality is decreasing and doing so in weird areas. Things like self-awareness are slipping. There's never been a great deal of that to begin with, so this change is noticeable. What do I mean by self-awareness? Gavin had an ice cream sandwich this afternoon. About three hours later, I took the boys to the park to hunt Pokémon for short while before picking up their pizza for school tomorrow. I wasn't paying attention to Gavin's face, like I usually do before we leave and I was caught…

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March 20, 2017

Gavin / My thoughts

1 BIG reason I’m worried about Gavin

This is an important update on Gavin's current overall status and one that's a bit concerning, although not entirely unexpected. Gavin's officially off of Lithium for the first time in over a decade. We were a bit caught off guard at the timing because we were supposed to stop this coming Thursday but when his new box of meds was delivered this weekend, it was devoid of Lithium. By the time we would be able to address this, it would be close to the original cutoff date anyway. Frankly, it doesn't matter, aside from finding out why they pulled it in the first place because we never told them to. Anyway, Gavin's off of Lithium for the first time in over ten years, and we're bracing for a major unknown.…

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March 19, 2017

My thoughts

I feel like I’m being held hostage by my sick kids

Both Elliott and Emmett we're home from school, as I mentioned earlier. Both boys also seemed to be doing better during the first half of the morning. Unfortunately, shortly after the lunch hour, things went downhill. Lizze and Gavin were both sleeping. It was just the E's and myself in the living room. Elliott fell asleep on the one couch and ended up sleeping for well over four hours. The poor kid would stir a bit, cry and fall back asleep. 🙁 Mr. Emmett climbed up on my lap and fell asleep in a really awkward position. He was clearly comfortable but I was far from it. I was twisted in a weird position and all I wanted to do was straighten my leg out but I couldn't without moving…

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March 16, 2017

My thoughts

We just can’t catch a break

After I finally got the kids to sleep last night, I ran into another mini-crisis. Out of nowhere, Gavin wakes up sobbing because his back and neck hurt so bad that he couldn't go back to sleep. I woke Lizze up. It took her and I both, to calm Gavin down. The only thing we could do was give him an Advil and try to get him back to sleep. He did eventually go back to sleep, and when he woke up this morning he was feeling better. We have no idea what caused his pain last night but suspect that perhaps he was sleeping in a weird position. Lizze let me sleep this morning and she got up with the boys. Actually, she pulled the wife card and ordered…

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March 15, 2017

My thoughts

The past 5 days have taken their toll

As I'm writing this entry, it's 12:35am and I'm not sleeping or even in my own bed. Both Elliott and Emmett are awake, feeling like shit and running fevers. To make things even more unfortunate, I'm running a low grade fever as well. What I need more than anything is a good night's sleep but that won't be in the cards tonight, once again. Unfortunately, the medications (and they are necessary) Lizze has to take at night preclude her from being able to help out much in this area. Having said that, she will be good in the morning and I can go back to sleep, in my amazing new bed. At least we have nothing going on today. I've been doing this since last Friday and I'm dying at…

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March 15, 2017

My thoughts

The past 5 days have taken their toll

As I'm writing this entry, it's 12:35am and I'm not sleeping or even in my own bed. Both Elliott and Emmett are awake, feeling like shit and running fevers. To make things even more unfortunate, I'm running a low grade fever as well. What I need more than anything is a good night's sleep but that won't be in the cards tonight, once again. Unfortunately, the medications (and they are necessary) Lizze has to take at night preclude her from being able to help out much in this area. Having said that, she will be good in the morning and I can go back to sleep, in my amazing new bed. At least we have nothing going on today. I've been doing this since last Friday and I'm dying at…

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March 15, 2017

Family Pets / Ferrets

Meet the ferrets helping my kids with #Autism

If you've been following our story for awhile, you already know how I like to share about the positive impact animals have on my kids with Autism. I've been raised around animals my whole life and have always benefited from having pets. It's widely known that animals can have a profoundly positive impact on kids with Autism or Special Needs. I won't pretend to know exactly why this is but I know it's true. When my kids met their first ferret about a year and a half ago, there was an instant bond. What really surprised me was how they've never lost that bond, even after all this time. My kids both seek and gain comfort from our ferret family, every single say. Snuggling a ferret is often the first…

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March 14, 2017