I apologize for not posting anything new over the past few days....I have been super busy. Aside from daily life duties (housework, being a mom, paying bills, etc)....I've had school events to deal with, numerous meetings, and other family issues. Why on earth does the school district insist on trying to cram as many events as possible into the last few months of school? Book fairs, field trips, "fun fair" days, IEP meetings, etc -- seriously don't they realize that life is hectic enough for parents without trying to squeeze time into an already busy schedule for all of these extra events as well? Anyhow enough venting about that for now.....on with our story.....
Although my husband and I had many concerns regarding the transition for Taz to public school, we were excited by his progress and hopeful that this transition meant we were heading in the right direction. I wish I could tell you that things have gone smoothly over the years....but that would be a lie. Each new school year brought with it a new set of challenges, new issues to deal with, and new battles to fight.
After surviving the first transition to grade K, the transition to First grade wasn't that bad....at least in some aspects, since Taz was in what they called a "multi-age" classroom with the same teachers from grade K.....and classmates that were at the same grade level as he was, (kids who had advanced from grade K to First grade) thus they had become familiar with some of his issues & quirks. We dealt with the issues, meltdowns, etc the best that we could.....switched around the medication a bit and continued on with the journey. Second grade meant a move to a different school building.....more transitions, more meetings, more battles. Sigh.....
During his Second grade year, after trying numerous medications each with different (negative) side effects.....we decided it was time to go "med free". Part of that decision was due to the problems the current medication was causing with his heart. It was causing his heart to race, almost like he was running a marathon during slow calm times (like when he was reading a book, playing quietly, or sleeping)....and during high activity periods (like recess and P.E. class), the medication was causing his heart to slow way down. After several tests and consulting with his doctor, we determined that the majority of medications on the market contained similar ingredients.....so switching medications wouldn't solve the problem. Thus if we continued with medication, we'd be putting him at risk for serious heart problems. Although the school balked at our choice -- I explained very clearly to them that I would NOT risk having my son have a heart attack just because they wanted him to be on medication so he'd be easier for them to deal with. In all reality, no matter what their argument -- the choice was OURS to make....NOT theirs, because he was OUR child.
Neither my husband nor I were prepared for what happened next. Within a few weeks of stopping all medications, it was as if someone flipped a switch.....our son began to change for the better. He began sleeping through the night, he was eating better (still picky but didn't have as severe of a gag reflex), was more focused, and seemed to be overall a lot happier and "normal" (for lack of a better word).....and most of all, there weren't the daily meltdowns like before. Now his meltdowns were few and far between, and for the most part were no where near as severe as they had been when he was on medication. It was like a night vs day difference! To top it all off, our son was doing amazingly well academically -- needless to say, we were thrilled with the changes! I can't say for certain if these changes were 100% due to discontinuing the medication...or if they were due in part to growth spurts, etc. -- but I can say that regardless of what caused the changes, we were thrilled with how things were going.
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