COLBY’S PROGRESS
3/3/08 - HISTORY
I’M STARTING THIS JOURNAL TO HELP ME REMEMBER WHAT I NEED TO TELL THE DOCTORS AND THERAPISTS. SOMETIMES HE IS SO OVERWHELMING THAT WHEN IT COMES TIME TO EXPLAIN, I JUST GET OVERLOAD AND CAN’T REMEMBER THINGS THEY SHOULD KNOW.
COLBY WAS DIAGNOSED ALMOST A YEAR AGO WITH PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENT DISORDER, NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED (PDD, NOS); DEPRESSIVE DISORDER, NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED; AND DEVELOPING BI-POLAR DISORDER. HIS IQ TEST SHOWED HIM TO BE "SUPERIOR" IN KNOWLDGE, BUT HE HAD MANY ISSUES WHICH NEEDED ADDRESSED.
IT WAS A LONG AND ARDUOUS PROCESS IN WHICH I FELT LIKE I WAS THE ONLY ONE ADVOCATIONG FOR MY CHILD.
BUT I FINALLY SUCCEEDED AND SINCE THEN HAS A WHOLE REGIMIN WE FOLLOW. HE SEES AN OCCUPATIONAL AND SPEECH THERAPIST WEEKLY, A BEHAVIOR THERAPIST (PSYCHOLOGIST) WEEKLY AND A PSYCHIATRIST MONTHLY. HE HAS BEEN PLACED ON RISPERDAL (ANTIPSYCHOTIC MEDICATION) AND HAS HAD 4 DOSE INCREASES.
JUST 3 DAYS AFTER STARTING HIS MEDICATION NOTICED A DIFFERENCE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LITTLE LIFE (4 YRS) HE ACTUALLY PLAYED WITH ANOTHER CHILD! THEN, ABOUT 2 WEEKS LATER, THERE WAS SUCH A HUGE CHANGE IN MY BABY. IT WAS AS IF HE “WOKE UP” AND FOR THE FIRST TIME I COULD SEE HIS ACTUAL PERSONALITY! COLBY WAS FUNNY – HE HAD A GREAT SENCE OF HUMOR.
AS THE MONTHS WENT ON, AND WITH SLIPS BACKWARDS AND DOSE INCREASES AS INDICATED, HE WAS BETTER AND BETTER. IT WAS EASY (AT TIMES) TO FORGET THAT HE WAS DIFFERENT. PEOPLE STOPPED STARING AND MAKING COMMENTS ABOUT CONTROLLING MY UNRULEY CHILD. COLBY PLAYED WITH OTHER CHILDREN WITH RELATIVELY FEW VIOLENT OUTBURSTS. THERE WAS PERIOD OF ABOUT THREE WEEKS WERE HE DIDN’T HAVE TO BE RESTRAINED EVEN ONCE. IT WAS NICE, AND I FELT RELIEVED, AS IF LIFE WAS GOING TO BE OK.
BUT WE RECENTLY DECREASED COLBY’S MEIDINCE FROM 1MG DAILY (IN DIVIDED DOSES) TO ½ MG. HE WAS HAVING TROUBLES TALKING (COULDN’T GET HIS WORDS OUT, WOULD LOOSE HIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT, STARTED STUTTERING), HE WAS HAVING INCREASING DIFFICULTY DRESSING AND PERFORMING HYGIENE FUNCTIONS (BEGAN TO PUT CLOTHES ON BACKWARDS ALL THE TIME, QUIT WIPING HIMSELF AFTER USUING THE TOILET) AND HE WAS DROOLING. HE SAW SHAWNA (HIS OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST) LAST WEEK FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2 MONTHS (DUE TO HOLIDAY SCHEDULES) AND SHE ALARMED AT HIS LOSS OF ORAL TONE AND THE AMOUNT OF DROOLING HE WAS EXPERIENCING. ANYWAYS, I CALLED DR. EDWARDS; HE DECREASED THE DOSE AND SAID COME BACK IN A MONTH.
SINCE HIS DOSE DECREASE I HAVE NOTICED AN INCREASE IN BEHABIORS. HE IS OBVIOUSLY MORE VIOLENT, LESS ATTENTIVE, MORE OBSTINANT AND LESS SOCIAL.
FEAR OF THE FUTURE CONSUMES MY THOUGHTS AT TIMES, I CAN ONLY WONDER WHAT THE NEXT MONTHS WILL BRING.
