[rsbg]

Oh Anna, that breaks my heart. I am soooo sorry you are going through all of this. It sounds like she is in the right place to address her issues. Is she off the meds temporarily (to switch to different meds)? Stay strong, and enjoy your time with your Mother. Again, you are in my prayers!

[HappyMomAnna]

They are taking her off the medications to see what her normal is and put her on some different kinds more suitable for Bipolar--there is a possibility that if she is Bipolar the meds she was on would aggravate the Manic stuff... So hopefully, this may lead to a better situation if the correct meds are found and used....

That's one of the top-3 reasons she is staying the 30-60 days, as changing meds can be very difficult and risky.

They have suggested some Anti-Depressants but, we are not in huge favor of this due to the increased risk of suicide with children and teens...... So far we have no clear Depression indicators.... They will be trying Depakote (?Spelling?) which is pretty powerful.

[rsbg]

Anna, I hope and pray that changing the medications will make all the difference in the world! I think I read somewhere that she feels like her brain is broken, maybe being on different meds will help that. I know medications can do funny things to people, so I am positive this will help. They say it gets worse before it gets better, I sure hope that is the the thing that works. For her sake and for yours....

[gina00]

Anna, I'm so sorry you have to go through this. We'll be praying for you.

[mcmama]

How is she doing?

[mommy2067]

Anna I have just read through this thread and some of the blogs you have written and I don't know quite what to say...My heart wrenched for you as I was reading and for your DD Makala...When I read the words that you wrote that were words that came from Makala I felt like I was reading a very powerful sad poem..I can see it, as it was written here, as a page in book....
I went on to read some of the blogs you have written and your are a beautiful, eloquent, straight from the heart, gifted writer with an amazing life story to share. As you stated many times throughout your writings God was the overseer of all of this...from the very beginning...As I was reading your account of your son Sean's accident and was reading about the scar tissue...even before I got to the part where you made the connection to Makala' s scar tissue...I knew in my heart that this was in preparation for becoming her mom...and Jeremiah's too. Is he in treatment too or is he still at home? How is Makala doing today? I could go on and on about how moved I am about what I have read but I will just say this, I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers and I know that through God all things are possible beyond what we can ask or imagine. I think you mentioned something about writing a book and if you do I would absolutely buy a copy...God bless you all and peace....

[shaysboy]

Anna,
I am so sorry that you all are struggling right now. My heart breaks fro Makayla that someone else's decisions have hurt her so deeply. I also know that God knows what is best (so much easier to say than hear) and has a plan for her life. I will be continuing to lift her up and look forward to hearing of her successes along the way
On a side note, my son had a Stage 4 Brain Bleed at birth and has the exact same trouble with words in songs. Most songs he sings make no rythmical sense and are mostly a story with a sing song melody. It is comical, however, he does not like to be corrected about it either. He is 6.
Keep us posted and we will be lifting you up to the throne of the Great Physician.
Shayla

[HappyMomAnna]

Thanks for the posts that I somehow missed... It has been a year already!?

Makala was released from residential last April... and it has been a long hard year. We home schooled her until this past November when we were finally able to get an IEP at school.

It took 4 long years of begging someone to recognize that she has real problems. Finally they did the evaluations and testing and I was right. Her overall IQ came out to be 80. But, that is a misleading number. She did very well in most areas except "Working Memory" and "Processing" where she was nearly 0.......

These results have fully confirmed the speculation that Our little girl was exposed to alcohol before her birth. All of her testing confirms that she is suffering from a Medical/Health issue rather than simply behavioral or emotional problems. Yes she has emotional and behavioral problems and that I expected who wouldn't? But it has been the very fact that expecting her to overcome her emotional issues is not going to fix the world she finds herself struggling in!

At this point, in our state we have run out of most options for services we have received the highest levels of interventions and if things don't resolve or we can't protect Jeremiah in order to have any more help we would have to sign over parental rights.

Part of the reason I have been so absent on the forums and blogging here has been the fact we have been doing everything we can to keep our family together and protect Jeremiah.

We are attempting to find out if it's really legal for the state to ask us to give up parental rights just because our little girl needs more help than a family can offer. In my efforts I have discovered that there are MANY families in the same situation.

On the good side it does appear that we have found the right medications to help Makala deal with her biggest issues. The summer was difficult with violence especially toward me and without a safety net I finally found myself backed into a corner with no choice except to stand up. In August Makala and I had what I call the WWF Staircase Showdown... It was going to be me or her and after nearly an hour of a pure female Smack-Down I won!

She has not smacked me, pushed or been violent toward me since I stood up. Not that I would ever want to do this again but, the fact remains when a 120 pound 5 foot tall Child tries to beat mommy up all the rules go out the window... Thankfully I was able to keep myself from hurting her but--I didn't and will never tolerate abuse toward me.

Makala will be 10 years old in a few days and either her medication, maturity or my no longer tolerating her abuse seems to be making a difference... Of course, once I feel things are going well is usually the time some New Big problem shows up!

Tomorrow the kids go back to school and I am very much looking forward to returning to my writing and at least a few hours of normal in the day!

[QueenAngie]

Anna, you must have a special place waiting in Heaven for caring for this very special child.

Don't know how in the world you have such patience.

And now, I know not to get into a wrestling match or anything similar 'cause you'd come out the winner.

Cannot even begin to imagine.

May God Bless you and your family and heal your DD.

[kiwittc]

oh my goodness - i dont know the history behind all of this but it does seem quite a journey for you and your family. I have a friend with a 14 year old who behaves similar and they refuse to pin her with a diagnosis - my friend is scared she or the youngest child will be killed in their sleep one day. I can see why when such violent reactiosn occur to such a simple thing.

My heart breaks for you - I hope there is ongoing treatment avialble for your DD. YOu have done so well not to simply walk away. It must be so hard.