Well, I had a brief glimpse of the promised land earlier this summer. For a long while, Monster was going to bed, in his bed, with little or no fuss. We even had stretches of DAYS where he went to sleep on his own.
A big part was summer camp. He loved camp and would come home so bloody exhausted, he wouldn't have any problems sleeping. Finally, something that provided enough sensory input and fun that he was comfortable. I think the kid really is a whale-or has the soul of one. Keep him in water all damn day, and he is comfortable and happy.
Alas, nothing lasts forever.
It all started when I started traveling a bit more for work. I've done occasional trips in the past, but over the last 4 weeks, I've been gone about 7 nights-and the first trip I was gone for three nights in a row. One night, he started crying in that heart-wrenching way as if his best friend had died. After that trip, he was a bit more clingy than he had been, but he was still in camp. Then I went away again, just for 2 nights. His clinginess got worse. I wasn't allowed to sit in the next room, but had to be in his room with him. I would have to tell him where i was going (to the kitchen to cook, to the bathroom) and even then, he would come and check to see I was there every few minutes.
Then the surgery (see last post). For a few nights, I had to reassure him that he wasn't going to the doctor's the next day several times until he would go to sleep. He also has been telling me "no school", now that camp is over.
And now I'm, once again, gone. Mr texted me tonight that Monster just wasn't going to sleep, he wanted his mommy.
So it feels as if we are back to square 1, with the added torture of knowing what a "normal" bedtime is like.
In so many ways, it was so much easier when he was living in his own world. He didn't notice or wasn't interested in the rest of the world. That's not really correct, though, is it? He just couldn't express himself then, the way he can now. I wish I didn't have to travel without him and Mr. But seeing as we need my salary, and this job allows us to live in the school district of my dreams, we'll just have to find a way to get through it all.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Dental Surgery
It has always been a struggle to get Monster to let anyone look in his mouth. When he was younger, the danger was him biting anything (especially fingers) that came between his teeth. He's gotten a lot better with time and maturity. He will open his mouth for the doctor to look in his throat, let us brush his teeth and look in his mouth, things that.
A few months ago, it looked as if some of his teeth were chipped or broken. We made an appointment with a pediatric dentist (who was awesome-did the whole examination in about 5 minutes and started out with "No guilt is allowed, you are here now") who said his four primary molars were rotted and had to be removed, and that his secondary molars had cavities that needed to be filled. He advised we have Z put under to have the extraction completed-given his autism. A next option would be for an oral surgeon to do it with gas or the ped could do it in the office (no pain meds). We started with the "putting him under" option. The pediatric dentist sent us to a clinic in Providence. Our appointment there was a few weeks ago. That dentist got Z to allow him to look with the mirror doohickey (first dentist didn't use one at all) and agreed with the extractions but said the secondary molars would likely need crowns. We went ahead and scheduled the surgery.
Today was the big day.
Monster didn't want to go to bed last night. He was more clingy than usual. Since I've been traveling a bit the last few weeks, he has not wanted me out of his sight. He follows me to the bathroom or the kitchen. He'll check up on me if I'm in another room every few minutes and yesterday when I got home, he came out of his room and said "mommy, in here". He didn't want me to let the dog out and I was suppose to stay in his room with him. Bedtime was tough, we think he had a headache. He wanted "4-mommy and daddy and zachery and diego". Which is a tight fit on a queen sized futon.
He did sleep all night-which is not normal-in his own bed. I had to wake him up at 5:30 this morning. Why is it that on weekends, he is up 4-5 am but the morning we need him up he decides to sleep in? Waking him up isn't easy. He has too much of me in him. We get him up and to the car. Now we are running late (which is typical) and Mr figures he needs to speed the whole time to get there at 6:30 (as if they are going to start without us). This freaks me out, so I spend most of the drive trying not to panic and scream at him.
The hospital is great (Our lady of Fatima in N. Providence) and they have experience with children with autism.
Once we got there, the lady behind the desk was wonderful as I went slightly panicky-couldn't fine insurance card, etc. She kept saying "don't worry, no rush". Finally got the paperwork finished and were ushered back (took a bout 5 minutes, it just seemed longer to me). When we got there, Z apparently didn't like the little TV w/ VCR they had. He wanted to leave. He asked for a "new TV". Eventually, he calmed down. We brought his portable DVD player (which he generally isn't allowed away from home).
They had the hospital pj's waiting, but they said if he wouldn't wear them, no big deal. He was a trooper and put them on. He even put on the slipper socks. He let them take his temp, his O2 levels, etc. He kept asking to leave, but we were able to re-direct him to his DVD player. All of the doctors came out and said hi, explained everything to us (even had a model of with teeth to show us what everything looked like). The anesthesiologist brought out the mask for us to play with-DH breathed through it, then me, then Z. We even got Z to hold the mask himself.
When we asked, Z asked for Mr to go back with him instead of me. Mr put on the lovely gown and hair net. Z did NOT like M wearing that "hat". However, I asked Z if he wanted to wear a "hat" and he said yes. Then he proceeded to amuse the doctors by pulling the hair net over his face, peaking out from under neath it and smiling-Z being charming.
He started to freak a bit when we moved the gurney to the OR, but they were cool about his bringing his DVD player into the OR (until he fell asleep). M told me that everything was fine until they put the mask on-M did the "daddy's turn, Zachery's turn"-but when it was Z's turn, the mask had to stay on. M said he held Z's hands, another doctor/nurse held his shoulders and Z glared at M (all of this according to M, since I was left in the waiting room).
So now we wait. Doc said they are going to first take x-rays, then clean his teeth. Likely 4 teeth pulled, 4 teeth crowned and 4 teeth sealed with 4 spacers cemented into place.
For your amusement, here are some pictures I took while we waited:
"Go this way"-out of pre-op
Chilling out waiting
Daddy's turn:
Z's turn:
Z got upset when DH had on the blue hair net, so I asked if he wanted one of his own. Here he is in his awesome blue hat.
The surgery took 4 hours. 4 very long hours for me. Doctor came out to talk to us and said Z was waking up fast. She told us it all went well and gave us the rundown on care and the next appointment. In the end, he did get the 4 molars pulled, plus one of his upper front ones (which was very, very, loose), 2 crowns, 4 spacers, 6 back teeth sealed.
Z was crying, with blood drooling from his mouth, watching a Disney movie and just looking pathetic overall. He started crying when he saw us and M picked him up and put him in my arms. Z sat there, curled up, dozing for about 30 minutes. Then he asked for his DVD player. Then for water. Then to change his shirt. Change his pants. Go home. It was a very trying final 10 minutes before we were cleared to go. In that time, he woke up enough to drink two glasses of water.
On the way home, we passed by a Golden Arches, so he asked for french fries. And soda. We let him have both. By the time we got home, he had drunk a medium diet coke from McD's and a medium order of fries. When we got home, he put on his shoes and ran to the door. He did (briefly) crawl into bed (for like 2 minutes) before moving his DVD player and the like to the corner closest to his DVD collection.
We've been home 5 hours now and he's eaten yogurt, veggie booty, veggie chips and another order of french fries. He's watched DVDs, Jumped on his trampoline, done flips and rolls, run around, taken a bath and is currently playing on his computer.
Little dude's a freak of nature, I tell ya!
A few months ago, it looked as if some of his teeth were chipped or broken. We made an appointment with a pediatric dentist (who was awesome-did the whole examination in about 5 minutes and started out with "No guilt is allowed, you are here now") who said his four primary molars were rotted and had to be removed, and that his secondary molars had cavities that needed to be filled. He advised we have Z put under to have the extraction completed-given his autism. A next option would be for an oral surgeon to do it with gas or the ped could do it in the office (no pain meds). We started with the "putting him under" option. The pediatric dentist sent us to a clinic in Providence. Our appointment there was a few weeks ago. That dentist got Z to allow him to look with the mirror doohickey (first dentist didn't use one at all) and agreed with the extractions but said the secondary molars would likely need crowns. We went ahead and scheduled the surgery.
Today was the big day.
Monster didn't want to go to bed last night. He was more clingy than usual. Since I've been traveling a bit the last few weeks, he has not wanted me out of his sight. He follows me to the bathroom or the kitchen. He'll check up on me if I'm in another room every few minutes and yesterday when I got home, he came out of his room and said "mommy, in here". He didn't want me to let the dog out and I was suppose to stay in his room with him. Bedtime was tough, we think he had a headache. He wanted "4-mommy and daddy and zachery and diego". Which is a tight fit on a queen sized futon.
He did sleep all night-which is not normal-in his own bed. I had to wake him up at 5:30 this morning. Why is it that on weekends, he is up 4-5 am but the morning we need him up he decides to sleep in? Waking him up isn't easy. He has too much of me in him. We get him up and to the car. Now we are running late (which is typical) and Mr figures he needs to speed the whole time to get there at 6:30 (as if they are going to start without us). This freaks me out, so I spend most of the drive trying not to panic and scream at him.
The hospital is great (Our lady of Fatima in N. Providence) and they have experience with children with autism.
Once we got there, the lady behind the desk was wonderful as I went slightly panicky-couldn't fine insurance card, etc. She kept saying "don't worry, no rush". Finally got the paperwork finished and were ushered back (took a bout 5 minutes, it just seemed longer to me). When we got there, Z apparently didn't like the little TV w/ VCR they had. He wanted to leave. He asked for a "new TV". Eventually, he calmed down. We brought his portable DVD player (which he generally isn't allowed away from home).
They had the hospital pj's waiting, but they said if he wouldn't wear them, no big deal. He was a trooper and put them on. He even put on the slipper socks. He let them take his temp, his O2 levels, etc. He kept asking to leave, but we were able to re-direct him to his DVD player. All of the doctors came out and said hi, explained everything to us (even had a model of with teeth to show us what everything looked like). The anesthesiologist brought out the mask for us to play with-DH breathed through it, then me, then Z. We even got Z to hold the mask himself.
When we asked, Z asked for Mr to go back with him instead of me. Mr put on the lovely gown and hair net. Z did NOT like M wearing that "hat". However, I asked Z if he wanted to wear a "hat" and he said yes. Then he proceeded to amuse the doctors by pulling the hair net over his face, peaking out from under neath it and smiling-Z being charming.
He started to freak a bit when we moved the gurney to the OR, but they were cool about his bringing his DVD player into the OR (until he fell asleep). M told me that everything was fine until they put the mask on-M did the "daddy's turn, Zachery's turn"-but when it was Z's turn, the mask had to stay on. M said he held Z's hands, another doctor/nurse held his shoulders and Z glared at M (all of this according to M, since I was left in the waiting room).
So now we wait. Doc said they are going to first take x-rays, then clean his teeth. Likely 4 teeth pulled, 4 teeth crowned and 4 teeth sealed with 4 spacers cemented into place.
For your amusement, here are some pictures I took while we waited:
"Go this way"-out of pre-op
Chilling out waiting
Daddy's turn:
Z's turn:
Z got upset when DH had on the blue hair net, so I asked if he wanted one of his own. Here he is in his awesome blue hat.
The surgery took 4 hours. 4 very long hours for me. Doctor came out to talk to us and said Z was waking up fast. She told us it all went well and gave us the rundown on care and the next appointment. In the end, he did get the 4 molars pulled, plus one of his upper front ones (which was very, very, loose), 2 crowns, 4 spacers, 6 back teeth sealed.
Z was crying, with blood drooling from his mouth, watching a Disney movie and just looking pathetic overall. He started crying when he saw us and M picked him up and put him in my arms. Z sat there, curled up, dozing for about 30 minutes. Then he asked for his DVD player. Then for water. Then to change his shirt. Change his pants. Go home. It was a very trying final 10 minutes before we were cleared to go. In that time, he woke up enough to drink two glasses of water.
On the way home, we passed by a Golden Arches, so he asked for french fries. And soda. We let him have both. By the time we got home, he had drunk a medium diet coke from McD's and a medium order of fries. When we got home, he put on his shoes and ran to the door. He did (briefly) crawl into bed (for like 2 minutes) before moving his DVD player and the like to the corner closest to his DVD collection.
We've been home 5 hours now and he's eaten yogurt, veggie booty, veggie chips and another order of french fries. He's watched DVDs, Jumped on his trampoline, done flips and rolls, run around, taken a bath and is currently playing on his computer.
Little dude's a freak of nature, I tell ya!
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