Things at the Younces have been pretty stressful lately. We, as always, are hanging in for the ride, but it's hard to focus on anything else when life is such a whirlwind.

Meghen has finally finished the harsh antibiotic that she was taking to deal with her stubborn kidney infection. Her infection seems to be gone (YES!), but her behavior has been erratic, irrational and somewhat out of control. The best I can tell, the antibiotic is making it so that her mood stabilzier (Risperdal) and antidepressant (Lexapro) are unable to function. She's anxious and angry that we are talking about moving, nasty, defiant and just plain difficult. She's screaming, yelling, and fit throwing several times daily. We are really hoping that once she's got the antibiotic out of her system she'll get back to her old self. Wow, I can't wait.

Ellie has gotten more stable with her medication (Lamictal) increase; however, I think she'll probably still need a little tweak. She continues to be tearful and easily upset. One moment she's crying that she wants to quit Girl Scouts (which she has loved for two years) and the next moment stomping her feet and yelling at me to "pinky swear" that I won't tell her Girl Scout leader that she spoke those words. Her clothes don't fit right (she claims), and she's fixated on painting, creating and has become very absorbed in her own thoughts. She is definately better, but I think there is still room for improvement.

Abbie has strep throat and an upper resp. infection. She's been out of school the entire week and feels pretty rotten!! She's on an antibiotic now, so hopefully she'll start to feel better over the weekend and be ready to return to school on Monday.

We're going to take it easy this weekend. There's been a bout of yucky, grey, rainy and foggy weather for the week which leaves everyone ready to 'hunker down'. We'll be watching movies, riding out the "Meghen Storm" and waiting for things to get back to our normal.

- posted by Angie Pangie @ 11:43 AM

 

I'm not even going to mention the gap in posting, because we all know that it has gone on way too long. After spending some time reading through the older posts I have decided that blogging is useful and interesting though, so I am going to go back to it.

Abbie has nasty cold right now, she's feeling very yucky - congested and coughing. Next week is her Thanksgiving Day feast at school and she invited me!! Now that I am working I can be considered a "special guest", not just the lady who drives me there and picks me up every single day.

Meghen is doing well in the fifth grade, she made the A/B honor roll! She is very happy to be back at her old school and has a good teacher who is willing to work with her and her ADHD challenges.

Ellie is in the first grade now. Unfortunately, she doesn't really like school. Ellie has to work harder at school, but her grades were good (mostly C/B). She's getting speech and OT this year and behaves nicely (thank goodness!). She just had her medication doubled, she had a rough 6 week period through September and October, but the medication increase seems to be making a difference. She is still a bit on the manic side, but the meltdowns and sensory problems have mostly subsided. We're going to pursue an autism spectrum screen for her, as we're still trying to find out what makes her tick.

Both Meg and Ellie start with a new therapist next week. She comes highly recommended, so I am hopeful that the girls will like her.

Things are very stressful here this weekend as we anxiously wait to hear if Bob will receive a job offer from Ivy Tech State College. Half of me wants it to happen, the other half is scared to death that it will happen. Meghen is adamant that she does not want to move, so that will be a bridge that we may have to cross as well.

That's all for this time. Happy Thanksgiving!

- posted by Angie Pangie @ 1:17 PM