Medicated

Well, we did it.  We got a diagnosis from Corben's  therapist, and got our first prescribed medication to try.   We finally got him into a therapy program after all our travels during the summer.  A friends son, who was struggling with some similar issues was quick to recommend her sons psychologist.  I called, and within an hour and a half of leaving a message we had our first appointment with her.  We have spent the last two months going in once a week and talking about what we're concerned about.  We've told her everything we could think of.  She talked a lot to Corben, sometimes with us, sometimes without.  We watched a video and have read books on different styles of discipline, and we set up meetings between her and his teacher.  She's extremely involved.  She came with me to Corben's parent teacher last week, and got copies of his school records from Kindergarten on.  It finally came down to filling out tons of forms about his behavior, and based on all of this, she has diagnosed Corben as moderately ADHD, ADD, and ODD.  That's a lot of letters to swallow.  Now all of a sudden I'm learning about dosages, side effects, 504 plans, SST's and IEPs.  Most of these things I don't understand.  I'm still trying to figure out what all those letters are, and what I'm supposed to do besides just give Corben a pill!

After we got the diagnosis, we had an appointment with the pediatrician to work on getting him some meds.  He was ecstatic with how thorough Corben's therapist was (she sent me with a thick envelope explaining her findings, and her recommendations based on his personality, weight, and food issues).  After all this we were sent home with a scrip for Intuniv.  It is a non stimulant, and actually tends to make kids drowsy, so we're starting on the lowest dosage possible to see how that goes.  In two weeks we'll adjust as necessary.  We spent about 20 minutes teaching C how to swallow M&M's before giving him his first dose, because we didn't want to waste any of the pills.  They are also strictly no crush, break, or chew, pills.  So it was swallow, or nothing.  Thankfully they are teeny tiny, so once he was able to swallow the chocolate, the pill has been no problem.  We are definitely noticing the drowsy side effect, and we're hoping, (as with another friends child we know) that his body will become used to it, and eventually it won't be as noticeable.

It's a hard road, because I want to be sure that Corben is getting what he needs to succeed.  It has always been very apparent that he's a very smart kid, but he just can't seem to focus long enough to get what he needs done.  I hope and pray that we can find a dosage that will work well with him, and help him to grow to his full potential.   I'm so glad we were able to find someone who was so quick, and so willing to not only educate us about the frustrations Corben must be going through with all this, but to want to help and be involved with Corben.  Wish us luck!