Gavin had his first of four blood draws today.  This will be checking his lithium levels to make sure he's maintaining the property levels.  More blood will be taken Monday,  Wednesday and Friday of next week,  for the same purpose. The hope is that these tests will provide more information about how the lithium is being processed in his body. He did really well today and didn't scream.  He was polite and respectful as well.  Before going back,  I reminded him of how he should act while he is there.  Great job Gavin.  One down,  three to go. **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Autism Help Forum Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store This was posted via WordPress for Android,…

Gavin is significantly increasing the stress in the house. His behavior has been worse,  but it could certainly be better.  We're still afraid to pick any of the battles that we are presented with. In truth,  we're letting a lot of things slide that we shouldn't,  simply out of fear. We go in a few minutes to get is first of four blood draws,  over the next week. I'm trying to find so sort of balance,  but with Gavin,  it's usually all or nothing. **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Autism Help Forum Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung's Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how…

These pictures were taken from inside the psychiatric unit,  where Gavin recently spent the better part of a week. While I'm a little bit confused as to why he was able to build with Lego's after everything that happened,  this is impressive. Regardless of the circumstances,  he really did do a pretty amazing job.  In many ways,  this is probably the most impressive Lego creation I have seen from him. Brilliant job Gavin. I would love to see him do something positive with his passion for Lego's. **Thanks for reading**        -Lost and Tired Please join our Autism Help Forum Look for "Autism Help" app at the Google Play Store This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung's Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I…

I wanted to update you all as to how Ms. Bella is doing.  If you recall,  that we had a bit of an emergency this morning when she ripped one of her toe nails partly off. It was all twisted and mangled.  The boys were all freaked out because she was bleeding everywhere. We got her into the vet and they had to cut the nail off,  well past the nail bed. It was quite painful for her but they didn't have to muzzle her.  The vet said that most dogs would have to be muzzled but that Bella did really well and it wasn't necessary. This was quite a scare, especially for the boys.  Blood is a scary thing to see when your a kid.  She should be good…

We met with Dr. Reynolds today and have a tentative I place to manage his medications.  For the next 7 days,  Gavin will have blood work done every other day. We need to get more data points,  if that makes sense.  We did learn that Lithium is not metabolized in the liver.  Instead it has more to do with the kidneys as it's a salt. Basically,  we aren't sure what the impact of an autonomic disorder would be.  It doesn't make sense that Gavin's numbers would be higher because Gavin is on medication to increase water retention,  in order to bolster his blood pressure. This would dilute the lithium and cause the numbers to be lower, if anything. This is really unusual and I just don't know what to do.…

We have an emergency on our hands. Somehow,  Bella ripped her toenail almost completely off.   It's still connected and so she has to go to the vet this afternoon, 45 minutes prior to Dr.  Reynolds.  They quoted us about $100,  worst case scenario. They said the nail will likely have to be removed and that just sounds like torture. I can only assume that I've done something to bring this on my family.  It's like we have this black cloud following overhead and when we are at our weakest,  it unleashes on us.  Statically,  nothing else makes sense. I mean honestly, what are the odds of all this happening in the first place,  let alone to the same family? The boys are all in a panic about this because they…

This is not going to be fun. Having everyone in our room at night is a bit overwhelming. Unfortunately, with Gavin now home, we don't really have a choice. I slept like crap and I don't think Lizze slept at all. The boys however, slept well and that's good news.  :-) We have to get the alarms and locks this afternoon as Gavin was wandering around last night. New rules are in place but it's absolutely exhausting to enforce them. For example, for Gavin to be upstairs while his brothers are, it requires either Lizze or myself to be present. The same goes for anywhere else in the house. There has to be constant supervision and I can't even begin to explain how difficult that is.  We see Dr. Reynolds this afternoon…