ADHD

Wow, what a week this has been! hubby's appointment on Tuesday was totally uneventful! He was supposed to start the Med Board process to either reclass him or Med Board him out of the Army, and instead, somebody messed up and scheduled him for a diagnostic appointment. Obviously they already know what's wrong or they wouldn't have him doing Physical Therapy and all that stuff. So now his appointment isn't until July 31st! Wow. This is the same hospital that was supposed to schedule me with a Rheumatologist knowledgable about Fibromyalgia, and scheduled me with a Rheumatologist in-training instead. Refer to that blog to see how that went! *Sigh* This alone pushed hubs to almost WANT to be Med Boarded out because he's just so unhappy with the lack of care that exists here. We're still praying for what is BEST for us, though, and God's Will.

Then yesterday Bubs had his appointment with the Developmental Pediatrician. I was unable to go because we didn't have a sitter for the little princess so early in the morning. We had already discussed this, but due to the nature of (once again) the doctors not really listening or caring about what hubs had to say, he was really frustrated and told me the rest of the day he wished I had gone. Apparently the doctor asked about medical history, of course, and Joey explained his reading disorder, and the doctor insisted it was dyslexia. He NEVER had dyslexia, he had a word association disorder. It may seem similar, but it's different. But this doctor INSISTED he knows that's what it was. He also told him that toys wouldn't help Bubs calm down because apparently he was in one of his screaming, kicking, biting modes when they got there. Hubs simply replied with "wow, so you already know my son then I guess." He said he knew at that point that this doctor already had an idea in his mind and nothing he said would change it anyway.

So needless to say, I'm a little leary about anything this doctor said anyway. He diagnosed Bubs with a communication disorder and ADHD. Now, we have suspected he has some form of ADHD, but ADHD is very commonly connected to other problems, and generally if you treat those problems, the ADHD is controlled as well. But if you ONLY treat the ADHD, you're not addressing the overall issue. He did suggest we pursue further evaluation from the Child Psychiatrist to check on Childhood Onset Bipolar Disorder or possibly another mood disorder. He said Bubs is too young to diagnose anything like that, but I've heard that's generally how the process starts when a child DOES have it - they are originally diagnosed with ADHD and eventually it is found they have Bipolar Disorder as well. So I don't even know what to think. It's not like I WANT him to have something so serious! But ADHD alone is serious as well! *Sigh*

In the meantime, he wants us to think about putting Bubs on medication. Apparently, it's just slight medication to help "mellow him out," but there is no specific benefit for HIM. It would mostly benefit US as we wouldn't have to try to work around his outbursts as often. I know I have my own problems with the Fibromyalgia, but I don't want to put my 3-year old on medication just for MY benefit. I want to help HIM. The whole reason we're pursuing further evaluation is for HIS benefit. He has an appointment at Pediatrics later in July (yes a regular pediatric appointment even had to be scheduled more than 30 days out - it's terrible!), so we'll talk more about it then. We'll then at least have the Ped fill out more current EFMP paperwork for him including the ADHD diagnosis since his last batch of paperwork was considered "incomplete."

Besides, that diagnosis, they did check the PDD spectrum and decided Brayden wasn't on it, so that is good news. They did confirm he has a slight speech delay, which we obviously already know. Physically he was noted as being healthy. They said his back is straight as well, which was another concern because at one point he was being monitored for a curve in his spine. Praise the Lord that is gone! It did say his muscle tone was "slightly decreased," but that's all it mentions about that. I'm just hoping the regular pediatrician can at least decode some of this for us! Otherwise, I'll check out these websites on the handout they printed out for us.

All this being said, I know how serious ADHD can be. I've alway hated how people just throw out the term loosely like "oh, I have ADD (or ADHD)" Even before Bubs's diagnosis I didn't like this. I want to just yell at them, which is obviously out of character for me. But it's NOT funny! It's a serious disorder and people growing up with it know how hard it can be! It's harder for them to learn and maintain good social relationships. I know it can be managed, and like I said, I want to do everything possible to make sure Bubs has the best chance he can get. But I really do wish people would just stop making those statements! They DON'T have it, and they should be grateful that they don't! Shame on them for making light of a serious disorder!

As for now, we're just praying for God's guidance. I'm leaning more toward walking it out without medical intervention for now, but I will still be in prayer for God's Will. And we will be pursuing further evaluation from the child psychiatrist and go from there. In the meantime just praying for Brayden and working with him like we have been because that's the best we can do. I know God will take care of him - and us. We don't always know why these things come about, but there is always a reason and purpose. We may not know for a while what that is, but even in those moments that I doubt myself as being the "right" mom for Bubs, I KNOW God intended it this way, and I am not only the "right" mom for him, I'm the best mom for him.