I've mentioned many times on this blog about Oksana's imaginary people. She's always had them and they've always been a part of our lives. We feel sure that she created them in the orphanage as a coping mechanism. In the last few months we have seen those people consume her. It is all she does, it is all she talks about, it is all she thinks about. That world is as real to her as our world. There are multiple people and animals involved in this world. Recently she has indicated seeing black things on her floor at night that scare her. She spent an hour this weekend looking for a bird that she heard chirping, and of course we heard nothing. When asked if she sees and hears her imaginary friends she will tell you yes. She pointed one out to me the other day and told me what he looked like. His name is Betch. He has dark skin. Today at school one of the paras had a scratchy voice. Apparently this set her off. Oksana expressed that she was very irritated by her voice. I have no idea why since we have had our fair share of scratchy voices and I'm sure this para wasn't the first one at school to ever have a scratchy voice. For some reason she couldn't cope with that today. She was on the playground and starting to get agitated. Apparently Betch showed up during this time and she told him he had to go away. At some point she snapped and went after a kid on the playground. They had to restrain her to calm her down. That's actually the first time in months I have gotten the "we had to restrain her" call from the principal. They came frequently at the beginning of the year.
We saw her psychiatrist yesterday and obviously I voiced my concern about this imaginary world and the impact it is having on her. She heard me out and even talked to Oksana about it. She addressed the black things on her floor and told her that they are not welcome in our home. She went on to talk to her about how to get them to leave, told her that no one but our family is allowed here, and told her that especially if someone is mean or scaring her they are not welcome. Despite the fact that Oksana says they scare her she was very reluctant to let them go. She argued with the psychiatrist about why they could stay. She said there are nice ones, she can control them, they just need a family, etc. She doesn't want to let them go. So the psychiatrist has decided it is time for Oksana to see a therapist. She said that as of right now we aren't calling this psychosis but we also aren't ruling it out. She is hoping that the therapist can help sort through some of this and based on the kind of progress that Oksana makes we will see if there is any true psychosis involved.
I don't know what to think. Is this hallucinations or is it just that the line between reality and fantasy are so blurred for her that she really doesn't know which is which? I found this video recently. Oksana does not have schizophrenia. If she is hallucinating she would have bipolar with psychosis. Still, this video had me picking my jaw up off the ground. I've never seen another child do this with imaginary people.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Catching up...
It's been awhile since I blogged! To get back in the swing of things I'm just going to give some bullet point highlights.
-Last week was spring break for the girls. It was peaceful even though it was a little crazy. During this week there was a stomach bug that was thankfully only in one person, a trip to the doctor for a suspected UTI that thankfully was fine, and a week of potty training Anya. Does that sound fun to you?! On Friday we took the girls out to lunch and to get some ice cream so they could at least get in some fun on their spring break.
-This week is spring break for the boys. Their number one goal is to be as lazy as humanly possible so that's what I'm letting them do. They sleep in late and lounge around in their pjs. Luckily they both have good books right now so this is providing plenty of reading time. :) Their one request was to go out to breakfast. It was pancake morning on Friday!
-If you are wondering from my first bullet point...yes, Anya is potty trained. The first two days were pretty rough. I decided that because of her limited language the best way to potty train Anya was to go right to underwear. She needed to see and feel what she was doing. After cleaning a lot of wet pants those first days we started to see successes. By the end of the week she was having minimal accidents and after one accident at school Monday (likely simply because she was figuring out how it was all going to work at school) she has been dry ever since. She even poops on the potty! She is a rock star!
-We are keeping a VERY close eye on Oksana. There are just some things happening that are causing a little check in my spirit. Nothing major, just some stuff that might indicate that she's not quite as stable as she has been for the last few months. We are just watching and documenting right now.
-I just finished an amazing book that chronicles the childhood of a woman who has bipolar disorder. I will warn you that there is some pretty explicit and heavy stuff in there so if that bothers you in a book don't read it. Actually it very much bothers me in a book. I tend to only read Christian fiction for just that reason, but this is reality and I needed to see what this looks like for other people. This girl is a very different situation than ours but it was still a fascinating read. The author's name is Terri Cheney and it is called "The Dark Side of Innocence". She also wrote a book called "Manic" about her life as an adult with bipolar but I haven't read that yet. Now I am reading "Parenting Mentally Ill Children". It is very good to read things about parents who have many of the same struggles and feelings that I do. Clayton commented on the number of books I read about bipolar disorder and mental illness. I told him that I understand autism, CP, Down Syndrome, microcephaly, but mental illness is new territory for me. I'm trying to learn all that I can.
-Speaking of that I've tried to get into NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) classes 2 times now and they've both been cancelled for lack of enrollment. These classes are designed for parents of children with mental illness. They just announced the class again so I've signed us up hoping the third time's a charm.
-No news yet on the scholarship for Joni and Friends Family Camp. I'm trying not to be impatient. I finally caved and told Larry :). He is very excited.
-Oksana had her third respite weekend recently. This was the best yet. She was excited. She knows the staff, she knows the kids, she knows the routine. I feel the exact same way and because of that I was relaxed and comfortable leaving her for a weekend of fun knowing that they were fully capable of handling her. She did have a couple of outbursts there but they keep reminding me that they see a lot worse. I, on the other hand, was able to really relax and enjoy my weekend. She was excited to come home on Sunday and we were excited to hear all about it. She went bowling, watched Frozen, and had a blast. What a blessing that program is to our family!!
-I said awhile back that I would post a video of Oksana using her forearm crutches. She really does not use them much at all. She only uses them at places where she needs some increased stability, especially if there are a lot of people, like stores and church. She doesn't use them "right" but she uses them just right for her!
-Just for fun here is my new favorite picture of Anya. :)
-Last week was spring break for the girls. It was peaceful even though it was a little crazy. During this week there was a stomach bug that was thankfully only in one person, a trip to the doctor for a suspected UTI that thankfully was fine, and a week of potty training Anya. Does that sound fun to you?! On Friday we took the girls out to lunch and to get some ice cream so they could at least get in some fun on their spring break.
-This week is spring break for the boys. Their number one goal is to be as lazy as humanly possible so that's what I'm letting them do. They sleep in late and lounge around in their pjs. Luckily they both have good books right now so this is providing plenty of reading time. :) Their one request was to go out to breakfast. It was pancake morning on Friday!
-If you are wondering from my first bullet point...yes, Anya is potty trained. The first two days were pretty rough. I decided that because of her limited language the best way to potty train Anya was to go right to underwear. She needed to see and feel what she was doing. After cleaning a lot of wet pants those first days we started to see successes. By the end of the week she was having minimal accidents and after one accident at school Monday (likely simply because she was figuring out how it was all going to work at school) she has been dry ever since. She even poops on the potty! She is a rock star!
-We are keeping a VERY close eye on Oksana. There are just some things happening that are causing a little check in my spirit. Nothing major, just some stuff that might indicate that she's not quite as stable as she has been for the last few months. We are just watching and documenting right now.
-I just finished an amazing book that chronicles the childhood of a woman who has bipolar disorder. I will warn you that there is some pretty explicit and heavy stuff in there so if that bothers you in a book don't read it. Actually it very much bothers me in a book. I tend to only read Christian fiction for just that reason, but this is reality and I needed to see what this looks like for other people. This girl is a very different situation than ours but it was still a fascinating read. The author's name is Terri Cheney and it is called "The Dark Side of Innocence". She also wrote a book called "Manic" about her life as an adult with bipolar but I haven't read that yet. Now I am reading "Parenting Mentally Ill Children". It is very good to read things about parents who have many of the same struggles and feelings that I do. Clayton commented on the number of books I read about bipolar disorder and mental illness. I told him that I understand autism, CP, Down Syndrome, microcephaly, but mental illness is new territory for me. I'm trying to learn all that I can.
-Speaking of that I've tried to get into NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) classes 2 times now and they've both been cancelled for lack of enrollment. These classes are designed for parents of children with mental illness. They just announced the class again so I've signed us up hoping the third time's a charm.
-No news yet on the scholarship for Joni and Friends Family Camp. I'm trying not to be impatient. I finally caved and told Larry :). He is very excited.
-Oksana had her third respite weekend recently. This was the best yet. She was excited. She knows the staff, she knows the kids, she knows the routine. I feel the exact same way and because of that I was relaxed and comfortable leaving her for a weekend of fun knowing that they were fully capable of handling her. She did have a couple of outbursts there but they keep reminding me that they see a lot worse. I, on the other hand, was able to really relax and enjoy my weekend. She was excited to come home on Sunday and we were excited to hear all about it. She went bowling, watched Frozen, and had a blast. What a blessing that program is to our family!!
-I said awhile back that I would post a video of Oksana using her forearm crutches. She really does not use them much at all. She only uses them at places where she needs some increased stability, especially if there are a lot of people, like stores and church. She doesn't use them "right" but she uses them just right for her!
-Just for fun here is my new favorite picture of Anya. :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)