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Sunday, 01 November 2009

Jaden and Aspergers
People don't quite know how to take Jaden. They don't think he is different by looks so it surprises them the way he acts sometimes. The one symptom that I don't remember being Aspergers is the advanced language. Before he started having seizures his speech was typical for his age. He completely quit speaking at all after they started. The doctors thought it had affected his hearing but it tested fine. A while later he started speaking again, I don't remember how long, but maybe a year? Then when he started speaking it was strange that his language was very advanced. At the time I just tought it was cute or sometimes funny seeing this little person speaking like an adult.
Jaden will progress and regress over and over. He has gone through various stages but he has never completely gotten over things like what he will wear or not wear. He always wants to wear this certain torn up coat that is way too small, a winter hat, even in the summer. We can't wash his hair. He loves to sit in a scalding hot shower but you may not get water on his head or he goes ballistic. He still does not like me to drive on the highway because he thinks it's too fast and he starts telling me ok thats enough, you can stop now.
He will basically eat nothing but cereal for breakfast and sandwiches all day, he won't try anything else he won't eat anything else (except we found out he would eat my friend Pam's potato soup last night)
He likes to line up his care bears (yes he's 8 and still loves care bears...SO?) he stacks things....anything. He draws these line pictures that are just abstract drawings but he goes over the same lines at least 5 times.
He can't stand the windows in the car to be down, he says the wind hurts his ears and he covers his ears and screams, same if the radio is too loud.
He gets his feelings hurt and cries a lot, but runs away and hides to do it. When he's upset he will run away and hide and we have to frantically search for him. He used to try and run down MacArthur, which is one reason I had to move. He walked in the pool without his lifesuit on one time and stood on the bottom of the pool staring at me, not flapping his arms trying to get up and save himself. He gets very very angry and starts balling up his fists and grunts and flares his nostrils. He is usually fairly uncontrolable unless you bear hug him and talk softly to him no matter how much he fights.
The good things are that he does not rock back and forth anymore. We are able to change some things a little bit without his freaking out. He doesn't really chant anymore.
Here is an article I found explaining more about Aspergers. Symptoms wise I think it way over rules the Severe Sensory Processing Disorder he is suppose to have also.
Asperger's Syndrome - Symptoms
Although there are many possible symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome, the main symptom is severe trouble with social situations. Your child may have mild to severe symptoms or have a few or many of these symptoms. Because of the wide variety of symptoms, no two children with Asperger's are alike.
Symptoms during childhood
Parents often first notice the symptoms of Asperger's syndrome when their child starts preschool and begins to interact with other children. Children with Asperger's syndrome may:
- Not pick up on social cues and may lack inborn social skills, such as being able to read others' body language, start or maintain a conversation, and take turns talking.
- Dislike any changes in routines.
- Appear to lack empathy.
- Be unable to recognize subtle differences in speech tone, pitch, and accent that alter the meaning of others’ speech. Thus, your child may not understand a joke or may take a sarcastic comment literally. Likewise, his or her speech may be flat and difficult to understand because it lacks tone, pitch, and accent.
- Have a formal style of speaking that is advanced for his or her age. For example, the child may use the word "beckon" instead of "call" or the word "return" instead of "come back."
- Avoid eye contact or stare at others.
- Have unusual facial expressions or postures.
- Be preoccupied with only one or few interests, which he or she may be very knowledgeable about. Many children with Asperger's syndrome are overly interested in parts of a whole or in unusual activities, such as designing houses, drawing highly detailed scenes, or studying astronomy. They may show an unusual interest in certain topics such as snakes, names of stars, or dinosaurs.²
- Talk a lot, usually about a favorite subject. One-sided conversations are common. Internal thoughts are often verbalized.
- Have delayed motor development. Your child may be late in learning to use a fork or spoon, ride a bike, or catch a ball. He or she may have an awkward walk. Handwriting is often poor.
- Have heightened sensitivity and become overstimulated by loud noises, lights, or strong tastes or textures. For more information about these symptoms, see sensory integration dysfunction.
A child with one or two of these symptoms does not necessarily have Asperger’s syndrome. To be diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a child must have a combination of these symptoms and severe trouble with social situations.
Although the condition is in some ways similar to autism, a child with Asperger's syndrome typically has normal language and intellectual development. Also, those with Asperger's syndrome typically make more of an effort than those with autism to make friends and engage in activities with others.
Symptoms during adolescent and teen years
Most symptoms persist through the teen years. And although teens with Asperger's can begin to learn those social skills they lack, communication often remains difficult. They will probably continue to have difficulty "reading" others' behavior.
Your teen with Asperger's syndrome (like other teens) will want friends but may feel shy or intimidated when approaching other teens. He or she may feel "different" from others. Although most teens place emphasis on being and looking "cool," teens with Asperger's may find it frustrating and emotionally draining to try to fit in. They may be immature for their age and be naive and too trusting, which can lead to teasing and bullying.
All of these difficulties can cause teens with Asperger's to become withdrawn and socially isolated and to have depression or anxiety.³
But some teens with Asperger's syndrome are able to make and keep a few close friends through the school years. Some of the classic Asperger's traits may also work to the benefit of your teen. Teens with Asperger's are typically uninterested in following social norms, fads, or conventional thinking, allowing creative thinking and the pursuit of original interests and goals. Their preference for rules and honesty may lead them to excel in the classroom and as citizens.
Symptoms in adulthood
Asperger's syndrome is a lifelong condition, although it tends to stabilize over time, and improvements are often seen. Adults usually obtain a better understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. They are able to learn social skills and how to read others' social cues. Many people with Asperger's syndrome marry and have children.
Some traits that are typical of Asperger's syndrome, such as attention to detail and focused interests, can increase chances of university and career success. Many people with Asperger's seem to be fascinated with technology, and a common career choice is engineering. But scientific careers are by no means the only areas where people with Asperger's excel. Indeed, many respected historical figures have had symptoms of Asperger's, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and Thomas Jefferson.
Other conditions
Many children with Asperger's syndrome also have coexisting conditions and may have symptoms of these conditions also. They include:
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
- Anxiety disorder.
- Depression, especially in adolescents.
- Nonverbal learning disorder.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
- Social anxiety disorder.

Sunday, 04 October 2009

HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Saturday, 18 July 2009

SURGERY STORY PART 1

I dont' know what has taken me so long to get this done, but I've been a huge procrastinator. I was very nervous this time. I'm not sure why besides the fact that every time I've gone in (besides the sinus surgery, those are a breeze) has been worse than the previous times...little did I know.
Robert and I got up there at 11:00 with surgery at 1:00 (yeah right) so we went through everything uneventful. My mom showed up right before they wheeled me in and gave me an early birthday present of 2 p.j's (you will need to remember this later) the ENT came in and told me that he would be cutting the cartilage out of my nose and moving it over to get the instruments in and I would likely need to have more surgeries to reconstruct...ha thats just great isn't it? ...and I was wheeled in....nothing like having something like I'm disecting your face right before you go in when your already straped down huh?
The next thing I know I'm waking up and my tongue is beyond stuck to the roof of my mouth. It's stuck to my teeth which is stuck to my cheek which is stuck to my throat...you get the picture. For someone who's face was numb it sure did hurt like hell. I would try to tell the nurse my head was pounding but she couldn't understand me. I can't reach up and pull my tongue off what felt like my chin because I wasn't really with it enough to find my face, and of course you can't be wearing glasses so its a loose, loose situation. I can't feel anything above my neck but pain so I'm not going to be able to find my tongue.
Everytime I tried to tell her what was wrong she would pull the oxygen mask off until one time she lost her grab on it and smack right in the nose....Oh My Gawd that hurt. I know I made noise then a whincing moan. ....She changed to an open mask after that
They let Robert back to sit with me the rest of the time in recovery..I don't remember him getting to do that before but maybe I just don't remember it clearly.
I was up in my room late late so Robert went home. I got up to go to the bathroom when out from under my beautiful fashion statement of a gauze pad straped around each ear, started pouring blood. I didn't notice until it hit my bottom lip. The nurse ran back to me and said get in bed! get in bed! Well alrighty then.
The next morning (mind you it was only like 7 hours later) the neuroa**of a surgeon came in and said "You can go home" Hell...-WHAT? Ok I'll be the first to let you know I don't want to be in the hospital but are you kidding me? Do you see my swollen face my squinty eyes can you hear my head pounding from over there????? You freak of nature!
The only other time I've been this miserable was when they fixed the leak in the first place.
Then in comes the ENT's assistant or something I forgot to catch his name, especially when he came in and yanked those rolled up log sized tubes of cotton out of my nose...Where did that stop? My big toe? How do you fit all that in there?!?

Monday, 06 July 2009

My sweet Fiona passed this morning.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Sunday, 07 June 2009

another quickie

for those not on facebook.
Surgery was done but not uneventful
had a slight leak coming from my nose and they think the lumbar drain was leaking
was re-admitted on the 17th on the 18th I stopped breathing and had code blue called right in front of Robert
grew 4 more things in cultures
had a lumbar tap (I think is what they called it) to draw fluid out of my spine to test it for the mrsa (which I still have)
got a picc line and am on week 2 of antibiotics at home for 2 psuedmonas and maybe the vancomyacin after tuesday's appointment with the infectious disease since insurance doesn't take too kindly to me needing a drug that costs 4300.00 and I don't take too kindly to my 500.00 co-pay.
I promise I'll start my story soon...soon