I know it's been a while since I've posted here. The truth is, I didn't want to feel like I was complaining since the majority of the time lately we've been dealing with severe rage episodes. The rage has got to be the worst thing that any of us, including Monster Man, has been dealing with in our journey through life with Tourette Syndrome. I do want to take a few moments to catch you up on the positives, though, and to give you an update on how he's doing.
Last weekend, Monster Man took a trip with some friends from school to Tybee Island and Savannah for a competition with their school. I was very nervous about letting him go, especially since his rage has been so bad and I wouldn't be there to control him if he got upset. I talked with his teacher and with a father that was chaperoning, though, and they assured me that they would help make sure that his temper stayed in check. I gave him some of his medication before the car ride down, and he took more right before the competition, just to be safe. He did really well, and they didn't have a single problem with him during the trip. His team came in third place, so he was very excited about how well they did.
Softball season is back in full-force. This is Monster Man's last season on his division, and he'll be moving up to join Angel Baby on the next division in the fall. He is so excited to be back at the fields, where he can see many of the friends he has made over the past few seasons. Being a Christian softball league, the atmosphere at the ball fields is usually very positive, so it's a wonderful place to have all my kids, especially Monster Man, spend their time.
As I mentioned previously, his rage has gotten out of hand, and he's actually starting to become violent on top of saying horrible things, throwing things, attempting to break or actually breaking objects, and slamming doors so hard that they've come off their hinges. He's also been having issues with short-term memory again. He'll start saying something and stop mid-sentence, forgetting that he was even talking to begin with. We originally associated it with his head-shaking tic, since it was only around when his head-shaking tic was around, but he's been having short-term memory loss all week without the head-shaking tic being present. He seems to be developing more tics daily, and they haven't always gone over well at school (most of his teachers are starting to be understanding, but the school still hasn't gotten his IEP or 504 in place and many teachers don't want to acknowledge the TS without the IEP).
I finally broke down today and called the neurologist to make another appointment. I've been putting it off since we'd decided we wanted to try to avoid medication if possible. He's reached a point, though, that we've had to come to realize that he needs more help than we can give him on our own. His appointment isn't until June 25, but it's better than the original wait we had to see the neurologist the first time for the initial diagnosis. I'll be counting down the days!
