Up, Up Up

Just thought I'd update.

The boys are both doing well in school and we're all keeping VERY busy.

Johnny is holding steady at his 10MG Focalin XR dose.  But Timmy has now been up'd to 20MG Focalin XR in the morning and 10MG Focalin in the afternoon.  This higher dose is definitely an improvement but isn't as great of coverage as we used to get.  It seems like this wears of quicker the more active he is as it must be metabolizing quicker.  So we might see some change as winter weather settles in.  For now he's pretty much living outside until he forced to come in. 

I also wanted to be sure to share something I learned this month.  We have had issues with our medical insurance and will be covering the cost of these prescriptions out of pocket for three months.  That is a HUGE amount for our budget.  But there are programs direct from the manufacturer that can help.  Check out sites like needymeds.org to see if the Rx you have has coupons or other programs to help you afford them.  For Focalin XR Novaris had $60 off coupons on line.  That was a big help for us and I just wanted to pass along the tip.

And another one makes 2

Yesterday we added a second son to the list of Dx'd kids in our household.  Johnny has been struggling a lot in school, not academically but listening and staying on task.  So after an evaluation the Dr agreed.  So today we began him on the same medicine (Focalin XR) that Timmy takes.  We're again starting on 5mg and will see how that does.  Yesterday I picked up his Rx as well as Timmy's refills.  Anyone who says medicating them is the easy way out obviously hasn't had to pay for these scripts!  But whatever it takes for them to have the best chance in school and in life, is worth it!!!

Ding, Ding Ding, Round Two

Well, it appears we'll be starting the process all over again...except this time with Johnny. Because his symptoms are different and in some cases less intense, its taken a bit longer to be sure it was time to investigate. But it was questioned 3 years ago when he was first tested for speech (but denied that time for speech therapy only to be approved the next time a year and half later). But honestly in the throws of the chaos Timmy created, Johnny's "energy" barely seemed noticeable.
However, as he's started school this year its become pretty undeniable. He was given time to settle into the expectations of class but still has MUCH difficulty staying seated when he's supposed to, waiting his turn to speak or simply staying on task. So I called for an appt. Of course now it'll be almost 2 months before we can even SEE the Dr. So likely we won't get him much, if any help this year. But hopefully we'll be able to get things working before he enters the higher expectations of 1st grade!

It would be amazing if the proper treatment could also help with his tantrums but I think that is an unrelated behavior issue. But I'm still HOPING since we've been as consistent with this issue as humanly possible but it continues to be an issue. Thankfully not on a hugely regular basis but when they do occur...MAN, LOOK OUT!!

Took Timmy in for his med check appt today.
He's back up 3 1/2 pounds so that made me feel better.

We've noticed that the afternoon dose has been doing very little if anything many days. So the Dr gave us a Rx for 60 of the 2.5's so that we can try doubling up but if we don't like what that does we don't have to go back and get another script we can just go back to one pill. I really can't express enough how much I love our Dr he has really made this as easy as he can. I know some people go through a lot to find something that works and part of it was just luck for us. But I love that the Dr really 1, trusts me and my input and 2, has Timmy's best interest in mind! He seems so genuinely thrilled to see how Timmy has grown!

Holding Steady

It's been awhile since I posted here so I thought I'd just give a quick update.

So far it's been a pretty good summer.  Mornings are a little rough sometimes a Timmy wakes up and is going at 90 mph when everyone else is barely moving.  But over all he's doing well.  I'm surprised he hasn't been willing to do much reading but when he does, he is doing really well.  For the most part he's out and going when he can.  He played TBall this summer (where they actually pitched most of the time) and did really well.  A complete 180 from the kid playing in the dirt all last year.  He did great on the field but I also noticed at their end of the year picnic/pool party he really is doing well making friends and getting to know other kids.  THAT makes me happier than anything!

He will be starting Cub Scouts which I think he'll really like.  Hopefully if all goes well he'll be going on his first overnight camp out with his dad and brother middle of August.  Hopefully that will be a chance to make some more good friends too.

Then school will start before we know it.  He will be in First Grade.  I will just keep my fingers crossed that they will be able to keep him challenged and not bored and that he has another amazing school year.

Afternoon dose

We have finally added an afternoon dose of Focalin. We're doing 2.5MG and it seems to be working for now. The difference in behavior seems to be becoming more pronounced so this really is a big help. It leaves us with about an hour of chaos at the end of the day. Of course the mornings are still very hard. At this point I'm thinking if I had something to take in the morning it might help. He just wakes up and is going on all 8 cylinders straight out of the gate. The rest of us simply don't function like that so it causes tension.
But like I said the behavior seems to be getting even worse when the meds have warn off so we really need to figure out where we can be getting some extra help there soon too. I really feel like we're pretty darn consistent and the issue isn't really anything horrible, its just a constant not listening and having fits when he doesn't get his way. He so obviously has a truly amazing heart but it is just very frustrating to feel like a 6 year old really wants to control our household and sometimes really can!

Spelling Check Up

Apparently they don't call spelling tests, spelling tests anymore but instead call them spelling checkups. Maybe they're less intimidating that way, I don't know. But Timmy had his first one this week. He did really well, I think. He got three wrong but 2 were words that weren't on their list for the week. Not sure if they were from weks prior that he hasn't been in this class for or if they were just bonus, can you figure it out thing. Ang then one he got wrong because despite him being able to tell you how it's spelled, he wrote a letter ('p') backwards so it was a ('q') so it was wrong.
He's still really struggling with a few letters in that way. So now I need to do some searching and see if this is still to be expected or if we should be looking into it further.