The other day,  while Elliott was in Cleveland,  we had some special time with Emmett. Because of his food allergies,  Emmett doesn't get to partake in some of the more traditional childhood activities, like eating ice cream.  However,  there is now a frozen yogurt bar near us that offers non-dairy frozen yogurt.  This is Emmett's favorite place to go. When he's here,  he gets to do what everyone else is doing.  He makes his own ice cream and this always puts a huge smile on his face.  We can't do this very often but when we do,  it's absolutely worth it,  just to seen his little face light up.  It really feels good,  as a father to see your child get to do something that makes them so happy.  I…

The boys are in rare form this morning. Lizze is miserable and I've lost a great deal of motivation. I have to make a phone call this morning that I never thought I would have to make.  I have to call a residential treatment facility and make arrangements for Gavin to be admitted. Just writing this makes me sick to my stomach.  The place he would be going is by Lake Erie,  north of the Cleveland Clinic.  I haven't seen it on a map but I'm pretty sure I'm at least close. They come highly recommended and we've checked them out before. I don't want to make this call.  I don't want to have anything to do with this. No parent should ever have to do this to their child,…

I wanted to let you all know that at some point Monday morning,  the doctors and staff at Akron Children's Hospital are going to be meeting to discuss Gavin and what needs to be done to help him. Something that I forgot to mention earlier was that they are going to do another EEG. This a stress EEG which is basically where they deprive Gavin of sleep and monitor for seizures. It sounds cruel but it's not really.  When he is tired,  he's more susceptible to seizures and they can find more information that was missed during the last EEG.  The last one was basically a wash because of the autonomic crisis.  This could prove very beneficial in helping to control Gavin's seizure activity. We expect to hear from the…

The police showed up at my house a few minutes ago.  Someone,  decided that we weren't going through enough already. They decided to create more drama and turmoil in our lives. A few years ago,  one of my neighbors from a few doors down was drunk and driving his car all over the neighborhood.  Up and down the allies and through people's yards.  One of those yards,  happened to be mine.  He drove through my yard with such speed that he literally sheered the Do Not Enter sign off, flush with the ground. He barely missed my car as well. I wrote about it at the time but can't find the post to link back to.  :-( The sign has set in my back yard since then. No one ever…

Lizze and the boys are extremely stressed out over this whole thing with Gavin. I have decided to try and give them a distraction from this recent trauma.  Trauma is an accurate word to describe what we experienced in Friday with Gavin. I'm taking the family out for the afternoon.  I don't know what we are going to do,  but I have to try and do damage control and give these guys a break from the stress. Hopefully,  I can pull us out of this rut. This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung's Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct is working against me.  

Elliott and Emmett have been reunited this morning after a day or so apart.  Emmett was already sleeping last night when Elliott arrived home. Lizze is not doing well this morning so she is still sleeping.  Emmett came downstairs and and his little face lit up when he saw his big brother Elliott. They were both excited to see each other. We have to figure out a way to distract the boys from worrying about Gavin and when he's coming home. Hopefully,  we will figure out a way for all of us to regroup and recoup. This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung's Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct is working against me. -Lost and Tired Please join…

The impact of Gavin's behaviors are far reaching and long lasting.  Lizze is simply incredibly stressed out. I don't ever remember seeing her this bad. She's really struggling with this because she loves Gavin so much but in truth,  she's afraid of him. This is in many ways,  her worst nightmare come true.  She had done everything superhumanly possible to provide Gavin with love,  compassion and acceptance.  She doesn't want Gavin to turn out the way his biological father did,  none of us do.. There is this ever present fear that nothing is going to change his course.  The future isn't predetermined and Gavin is still very young,  so he hold tightly to hope.  Having said that, his behaviors are scary,  for all of us,  and they continue to escalate.…

Elliott just came home from Cleveland tonight and wanted to know why Gavin isn't coming home. We never told Elliott that Gavin was going to the hospital.  Elliott was surprised to find out that Gavin wasn't home. How do you explain to a 6 year old little boy with autism,  that his big brother is locked up in the psych unit? I've never had to do that before and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say. I aways dislike moments like this because no matter what I say,  Elliott is going to be upset. This was my explanation to him.  I wanted to make it something that he would understand and relate to. I told him that Gavin is sometimes like the Hulk. I explained that when Gavin…