I know, I know, I'm a bad blogger

I have been terrible about updates so here I am to post a bit about everything that's going on in my little world :)


As I mentioned Orions hamster passed away and that brought back all those sad feelings about the cat Sparky and so we have been dealing with all that. Orion did go out and buy himself a new hamster but soon found out why mom said it wasn't really a good idea...you can not replace one pet with another no matter how cute it is. He likes the new hamster, but he did not fix the sadness of losing Bounce.


Last week I also had a Parent/Teacher meeting at the school. The teachers asked me if he was on medication at all these days because they do not see it working at all. 18 mg of Concerta clearly is not enough. He's distracted, fidgety, bouncy, and pretty much all over the place. Of course I had expected this response from them and was basically waiting to hear it from them before calling the doctor to get a different dosage. I have seen him at home on the 18 mg and I knew it was not going to be enough.  Of course hubby didn't want to up the dosage for 2 reasons...1) he's afraid that a higher dosage of a different stimulant will only cause the same moodiness we had before on the higher dosage of Adderall (Orion has been such a happy boy on the 18mg, it's nice to see) and 2) he doesn't want to spend the money on the co-pay for another bottle of medicine when he haven't gotten through this first bottle. Of course I can not, in my right mind, send him to school with only 18mg in his body for an entire month just because we don't want to spend the money...he'll fall behind and have way too much to catch up on. I can't allow it to happen! I spoke with the pediatricians office and we are basically doubling his dosage so I can give him 2 of the 18mg to use up the bottle. On 2 pills he's much more stable, in control of his actions and much easier to deal with. 


Then this past Thursday our older cat Rex came home after being attacked by a coyote! He has some good bite wounds and some bruising. Nothing is broken but I am worried about him none the less. He's almost 15 years old  and weighs 30 pounds...NO FOOLING! He loves to be outdoors hunting and chasing rodents...I worry because usually he's fighting me to get outdoors and the past few days he's done nothing but lay on his pillow in the basement. We're giving him antibiotics and hoping for the best. The skin on his belly is bright red and hot to the touch suggesting some kind of infection, we're hoping the antibiotics will work for him and kill off whatever is in there.  Of course this is not good for Orion's mental state and he's now very worried that he's going to lose yet another pet!  I spend my days consoling the boy, trying to get the cat to eat and drink and trying to keep his wounds clean with warm compresses. It hasn't been a very fun Columbus Day weekend for us.


I did take Orion to a new playground yesterday. It just opened up last month and according to the newspapers it's the largest eco-friendly playground in the country. It's an elaborate 10,000-square-foot playground made out recycled plastic milk jugs and soda bottles! Even the base for the ground is made out of the milk jugs and soda bottles and supposedly (although I don't want Orion testing it out) can absorb a fall from a height of 9 feet. Orion had a good amount of fun until he saw a bunch of yellow jackets flying around and then he wanted to go home...he's terrified of yellow jackets ever since he got stung a few years back. Anyway, I am hoping to get him back there often since it's nice and new and clean...and eco-friendly.

That's about it for news this week. I'm sorry there was no Thoughtful Thursday again but as I mentioned that's the day the cat came home all banged up so that wiped everything from my mind..I didn't even facebook LOL I promise next week I'll have something for ya :)

Weekend observations

Well after 2 days of the new medication I am definitely feeling I have made the right decision and I'm feeling I really should have followed my gut months ago and switched earlier. Although Orion is still a little hyperactive on this dosage, I know that we can go up from the 18mg and I am betting that's exactly what we will be doing. I have written a note to his homeroom teacher requesting that she and the other teachers please report to me his distraction level at school so that I can know if he is just letting loose at home and in reality is able to control himself on this dosage. He seemed to have some level of distractability this past weekend even though he was medicated, but the changes to his attitude and emotional health were what has me sold that this is the right decision for him.

Previously, if he was distracted from a task and you reminded him what he was supposed to be doing, you would have found yourself getting screamed at and then he would melt down, call himself stupid and he would fall apart emotionally. He was constantly angry and verbally abusive to the extent that you wanted to send him to his room and close the door and not even be around him. It broke my heart, but he was just too much to deal with. It was like a teenager on steroids! He treated me and  his father like he hated us and treated the dog even worse. But now, on this new medication, when you point out that he is off task you get nothing but an "I'm sorry" and then right back to what he was supposed to be doing. There is no more fighting, no more yelling, and I am happy to spend tons of time around my child. I am eager to watch him play, laugh and smile. I can see and feel his happiness and it's a wonderful thing. On the adderall he told me he could not feel happy, after just 2 days on the Concerta he says "It's nice to feel happy again"  I feel like this is almost a miracle drug and the best part is hubby agreeing that I did indeed do the right thing and that perhaps he really should have listened to me months ago when I told him the adderall was messing with the boys emotions and that we needed to switch medications. I love it when I get an "I told you so" Just goes to prove (yet again) that mommy gut is always right and people (aka hubby)  just need to respect that! Mom truly does know what she's talking about when it comes to the child so shut up and listen...geez life would be so much easier if people (again aka hubby) would just let me do what I do best....be a great mother to my boy!