Guest guest Posted December 15, 2001 Report Share Posted December 15, 2001 I wish you a peaceful night's rest, Sara. You sure deserve it. Your life sounds... for lack of a stronger word, utterly exhausting. I will keep my fingers crossed that BOTH you and Mikey sleep the whole night through and greet each other in the morning like brand new people. Well, there IS that matter of Gabe, but hopefully, he sleeps through the night also. Grace ER visit today Hullo, In the ongoing saga of Mikey And Sara's Sleepless Nights, you may recall that Sara was anxiously awaiting a call from her pediatrician today. Said call came at 10am. Sara begged the doctor for a more appropriate medication, and the doctor kindly responded by suggesting we double the dose of the sedative we are currently using, put Mikey in his own room, and shut the door. We could either do this cold turkey or Ferberize him. The sedative should reduce the length of time he screams to a tolerable level, although she admits Sara would still be up several times a night to re-medicate Mikey. Sara would also have to wait for the screaming to stop before she would be able to sleep, herself. Why this would be an improvement upon the current situation, neither Sara nor Matt understand; although Sara grasps the theory that eventually Mikey would perhaps learn to sleep alone without the repeated wakings. Past experiences with crying it out have proven otherwise. Our Heroine was in tears when she hung up the phone, although she tried mightily to keep this fact from her helpful doctor. After a lengthy discussion with Our Hero, Matt, the Byk family calls upon a dear friend, . suggests an ER visit in the hopes that a doctor at Children's hospital might have a different suggestion. also volunteered to babysit Gabe, which was absolutely saintly of her, especially since Gabe has returned to the land of Seperation Anxiety (I can't leave the room) and is teething and/or has an ear infection too. Gabe fussed most of the time we were gone but he was not hysterical or screaming. Gabe has a rather " nice " cry which actually makes you feel badly for him and want to help him, rather than wanting to smother him with a pillow or throw him out the window -- Mikey's cry tends to have that affect on people. Oh, Gabe also started crawling during his visit. We knew he was close. The doctors, nurses, and social worker the Byks spoke to were all wonderfully compassionate. They understood the gravity of the situation and the need for an immediate resolution. They heartily approved of an ER visit for this case and repeatedly stated that the Byks are Good Parents for coming for help before the situation got " out of hand, " by which they obviously meant mom deciding on the " beat the child into unconciousness " method of sleep training. The Byks are welcome back at any time they feel they might harm their child, or if any of their child's symptoms intensify. The end result is a long list of phone numbers to call to ask for help, a prescription for valium, and a promise to call The Autism Doctor first thing monday morning and try to get us an appointment quickly. We are to call monday afternoon and beg. The social worker suggested we use the words " at risk " to describe our situation. She assured me I am obviously a caring, patient parent and by no means did she think I would intentionally harm Mikey, but when we are exhausted we sometimes over-react. I assured HER that is precisely why we were there today in an attempt to get help before that happens. She gave me several 24-hour hotlines, one of which can provide respite services for parents who are afraid they are going to harm their children. She also gave me her home phone number and said I could call her anytime. Valium? Yes. We presented our theory of anxiety caused by sensory issues to the attending physician, and he immediately agreed that this makes perfect sense. Oh, and he said that the symptoms I was describing whem Mikey wakes up could be called panic attacks. So it made good sense to him to approach this from an anti-anxiety med perspective, and valium is the safest med for children Mikey's age. There aren't a lot of meds like this approved for kids his age. It is primarily used for seizures at this age but is also indicated for anxiety and sleep disorders. Huh. Go figure. So. Here we are, Mikey is sleeping soundly after his first dose of valium, and we shall see what 4am brings. I'm going to sleep now, I hope for a long long time. -Sara. wife to Matt SAHM to nurslings Mikey, 9/14/99, Autism, and Gabe, born at home 5/17/01, GERD http://home.earthlink.net/~thebyks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 15, 2001 Report Share Posted December 15, 2001 What a saga. My heart goes out to you. From one sleepless parent(s) to another. and I are doing the your night/my night routine with still. Ugh. I am so pleased to hear that Mikey is asleep and that you have something that should in theory help with the anxiety he seems to be experiencing. I wish for you blissful slumber in quanities only dreamed of. I hope that the ER visit will prompt a more timely visit with the autism doc also. Keep hanging in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 well sara, as i sit here at 4:30am reading this, i am hoping that you are all still sleeping soundly " Why is it that everytime I think I know the answers, someone goes and changes the questions?? " - Fox Mulder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 SARA!!! I am SO HAPPY the doc gave you valium!!!!!!!! So........how was last night??????? Jacquie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 > I am SO HAPPY the doc gave you valium!!!!!!!! Thanks, Jacquie. You don't know how much I needed to hear that. > So........how was last night??????? Well, I forgot to mention that he started throwing up on the way home from 's. Lovely. He was up throwing up a lot. We did go ahead and give him some, he gets just 1/4 tsp so we thought he'd keep it down & maybe it would help...I really don't know what it did. He hasn't thrown up for 6 hours now so hopefully we are past the worst of it & I'll be able to tell more tonight. Of course, I'm on my own again tonight so if it doesn't work we are back to square one. I am anxious over what's going to happen next. I don't know when we'll be able to get in with someone and we didn't get very much valium. I don't know how my ped will respond. (The hospital will call her to let her know they saw her patient.) Matt says f*ck her, if she doesn't like it we can find another ped, there are plenty around here. But I have gotten 3 decent nights in a row now and I know if it gets bad again we can return to the ER or make a call to the emergency respite care place. Thanks so much, all of you, for being there. -Sara. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 Sounds like you may get the help you need. I hope he sleeps through the night for you. I know how hard it is with two waking at different times and I feel for you. Ebony has started waking again....crying. I don't know what the deal is. She had stopped this when we started the risperdal, but now she is waking at least two times and crying. That plus the baby takes a lot out of you. My husband works nights, too. Anyway....good luck and I sure hope it works so you can get some well deserved sleep. Tamara > >Reply-To: parenting_autism >To: " parenting autism " <parenting_autism >, " CAP " ><CatholicAPParenting > >Subject: ER visit today >Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 23:53:26 -0500 > >Hullo, > >In the ongoing saga of Mikey And Sara's Sleepless Nights, you may recall >that Sara was anxiously awaiting a call from her pediatrician today. Said >call came at 10am. Sara begged the doctor for a more appropriate >medication, and the doctor kindly responded by suggesting we double the >dose >of the sedative we are currently using, put Mikey in his own room, and shut >the door. We could either do this cold turkey or Ferberize him. The >sedative should reduce the length of time he screams to a tolerable level, >although she admits Sara would still be up several times a night to >re-medicate Mikey. Sara would also have to wait for the screaming to stop >before she would be able to sleep, herself. Why this would be an >improvement upon the current situation, neither Sara nor Matt understand; >although Sara grasps the theory that eventually Mikey would perhaps learn >to >sleep alone without the repeated wakings. Past experiences with crying it >out have proven otherwise. > >Our Heroine was in tears when she hung up the phone, although she tried >mightily to keep this fact from her helpful doctor. > >After a lengthy discussion with Our Hero, Matt, the Byk family calls upon a >dear friend, . suggests an ER visit in the hopes that a >doctor >at Children's hospital might have a different suggestion. also >volunteered to babysit Gabe, which was absolutely saintly of her, >especially >since Gabe has returned to the land of Seperation Anxiety (I can't leave >the >room) and is teething and/or has an ear infection too. Gabe fussed most >of the time we were gone but he was not hysterical or screaming. Gabe has >a >rather " nice " cry which actually makes you feel badly for him and want to >help him, rather than wanting to smother him with a pillow or throw him out >the window -- Mikey's cry tends to have that affect on people. Oh, Gabe >also started crawling during his visit. We knew he was close. > >The doctors, nurses, and social worker the Byks spoke to were all >wonderfully compassionate. They understood the gravity of the situation >and >the need for an immediate resolution. They heartily approved of an ER >visit >for this case and repeatedly stated that the Byks are Good Parents for >coming for help before the situation got " out of hand, " by which they >obviously meant mom deciding on the " beat the child into unconciousness " >method of sleep training. The Byks are welcome back at any time they feel >they might harm their child, or if any of their child's symptoms intensify. > >The end result is a long list of phone numbers to call to ask for help, a >prescription for valium, and a promise to call The Autism Doctor first >thing >monday morning and try to get us an appointment quickly. We are to call >monday afternoon and beg. The social worker suggested we use the words " at >risk " to describe our situation. She assured me I am obviously a caring, >patient parent and by no means did she think I would intentionally harm >Mikey, but when we are exhausted we sometimes over-react. I assured HER >that is precisely why we were there today in an attempt to get help before >that happens. She gave me several 24-hour hotlines, one of which can >provide respite services for parents who are afraid they are going to harm >their children. She also gave me her home phone number and said I could >call her anytime. > >Valium? Yes. We presented our theory of anxiety caused by sensory issues >to the attending physician, and he immediately agreed that this makes >perfect sense. Oh, and he said that the symptoms I was describing whem >Mikey wakes up could be called panic attacks. So it made good sense to him >to approach this from an anti-anxiety med perspective, and valium is the >safest med for children Mikey's age. There aren't a lot of meds like this >approved for kids his age. It is primarily used for seizures at this age >but is also indicated for anxiety and sleep disorders. Huh. Go figure. > >So. Here we are, Mikey is sleeping soundly after his first dose of valium, >and we shall see what 4am brings. I'm going to sleep now, I hope for a >long >long time. > > >-Sara. >wife to Matt >SAHM to nurslings >Mikey, 9/14/99, Autism, and >Gabe, born at home 5/17/01, GERD >http://home.earthlink.net/~thebyks > _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 Sara: This sounds great! So glad you got some real help and that their response to your problem was empathetic, respectful and caring. And Hooray for too! A friend in need... Salli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 Sara- Finally! Some Help!! Thank Goodness!!! Sleep long and well....both of you... Penny :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 Yay ! Yay Mikey! Yay Matt! Yay ! Sleep well. Tuna --- The Byks wrote: Hullo, In the ongoing saga of Mikey And Sara's Sleepless Nights, you may recall that Sara was anxiously awaiting a call from her pediatrician today. After a lengthy discussion with Our Hero, Matt, the Byk family calls upon a dear friend, . suggests an ER visit in the hopes that a doctor at Children's hospital might have a different suggestion. also volunteered to babysit Gabe, which was absolutely saintly of her, especially since Gabe has returned to the land of Seperation Anxiety (I can't leave the room) and is teething and/or has an ear infection too. The doctors, nurses, and social worker the Byks spoke to were all wonderfully compassionate. So. Here we are, Mikey is sleeping soundly after his first dose of valium, and we shall see what 4am brings. I'm going to sleep now, I hope for a long long time. Sara.<BR> wife to Matt<BR> SAHM to nurslings<BR> Mikey, 9/14/99, Autism, and<BR> Gabe, born at home 5/17/01, GERD ===== ______________________________________________________ Send your holiday cheer with http://greetings.yahoo.ca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 Sara, Wishing you several good nights of sleep and the full return of your sanity! (Glad to hear you found a solution that was very welcoming of you bringing him in) Sleep tight! Sue ---------------------------------------------------- Sign Up for NetZero Platinum Today Only $9.95 per month! http://my.netzero.net/s/signup?r=platinum & refcd=PT97 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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