It's To Darn Hot

It's like a kabillion degrees outside today, which wouldn't really bother me except for the fact that it is humidity.  Heat doesn't bother me.  Humidity sucks the life right out of my soul, leaving me a wringing wet mess.  The cats are also way unhappy with the heat as they lay sprawled out in various places around the house, looking as sleepy as the heat makes me feel.

The countdown has officially begun.  On Sunday, it will be exactly four weeks until school starts.  The summer has been a whole new challenge with Aaron, but I am fairly certain I have finally diagnosed him.  I believe with my whole heart he has Reactive Attachment Disorder and you can read more about it here.  He hits all but two of the symptoms and it would make a lot of sense given his background.  So, now the fighting begins.  I have found a few email support groups of RAD children and what I'm gathering is that a RAD kid needs a therapist that specializes in RAD.  He currently sees two different doctors; one for his therapy (a behavioral therapist) and another doctor for his meds.  The problems at the moment are that his med doc is pushing on me that Aaron may be bipolar (for which he hits very few symptoms).  I don't believe for a second that this child is bipolar and I told the doctor that and asked him what the difference in the two disorders was.  His response (are you ready for this?) is that bipolar disorder can be treated with medication and RAD cannot.  OH!  So, the bottom line is that you want him to have something so he can have more pills to take?? 

So, now I'm pushing.  Pushing to get him a RAD therapist, pushing to get this thing officially diagnosed, pushing to get one doctor both for meds and therapy.  It makes next to no sense to me to have a doctor who spends 10 times every 1-2 months prescribing my child meds, and this therapist, who sees him an hour a week and knows his behaviors, not prescribing meds.  Does this seem insane to anyone else?  His med doctor now has him on a bipolar med in addition to his Adderall and today the kid punched his younger brother in the nose (no damage done, thankfully).  So in researching this new medicine, Zyprexa, I found this under side effects:

Always Notify Doctor:

More Common: Agitation; behavior problems; difficulty in speaking or swallowing; restlessness or need to keep moving; stiffness of arms or legs; trembling or shaking of hands and fingers.

Now, did he punch JJ in the nose because he is on zyprexa?  Who knows, but I am watching this situation closely.  Fact is, he has been on a low dose of this med all summer and let's face it...this has been the summer from hell.  I even told the doc that behaviorally, he has been WORSE since starting this med, but the doc opted to simply up the dosage.  Supposedly, this is "the best" medicine for bipolar (which I don't think he is) and if it's "the best" anything, I am totally not impressed. 

What I really don't understand is why it is so difficult to get anyone to really HEAR me about this kid.  The med doctor even told me last week that I was "one smart lady who really knew her stuff".  I simply informed him that this was my child, and it was my job to know this stuff.  I hate being a silent participant in his therapy and his medications and I simply won't be.

Okay, I think that is all for today.  Kind of dull really, but then again, it is rather interesting when I live it everyday.


                                                 
                                             Ya need a front row seat in this house in order to keep up!