Birthday Week

We celebrated Kevin’s birthday a little early this year. With everyone’s schedule these days we were lucky there was one day we all had off together in our family. Truthfully, I can’t believe how big both of my boys are getting. This past week hasn’t been one of Kevin’s best weeks. He recessed into a fog and had to be reminder & prompted repeatedly. As you know the field trip to the Courthouse could have gone better. Later that night he started stemming a lot just before pill time, so I gave him his meds early. It took awhile, but he finally settled down that night. I did one thing for myself Friday night. I went on the internet and joined a discussion group with parents of Autistic children on the Gluten Free diet. There was one product mentioned to me that could come in handy one day, but in truth I don’t want to even need it. It’s called GlutenEase and it runs about $30. You take 1 pill for every meal you have that has gluten in it. Below I’ve pasted the information from their web site.

Enzymedica GlutenEase™; supports people suffering with gluten or casein intolerance. GlutenEase is not formulated to prevent celiac symptoms. GlutenEase contains a modified Protease Thera-blend with an enzyme activity called DPP-IV. Proteases high in DPP-IV activity assist in normalizing inflammatory response to the gluten peptide, thus better digesting and utilizing gluten containing foods. This proactively supports the gut, allowing proteins to be properly broken down and absorbed in their digested state; broadening the potential food groups a person may eat. GlutenEase may also be used by those who wish to remain on the GFCF diet to ensure complete breakdown of proteins safe and effectively.

Last night Kevin looked like he was coming out of the fog. Thank goodness because some parents told me it took their children 2 months. Their children are highly sensitive to Gluten they said, but for most it should take a few days to a few weeks. I’m hoping we’re over this dump in the road. Right now I’m waiting for Kevin and his teacher. Today is respite after school for Kevin. He loves these trips with his teacher. Oops, He’s home and he look so much better.

Sticker Shock

I’m in sticker shock after going to Lowe’s Food today. The main reason I driver there to do my grocery shopping is or was because of the price of Kevin’s bread. Today I was shocked by the new price. It went from $4.99 to $5.79 at Lowe’s Food and sure enough it went up a little on the bread company’s web site. I really didn’t need to see that after the week that Kevin’s had, but I’m NOT giving up on helping my son. I’ll either find a recipe for bread or accept the price.

Courthouse Field Trip

Today should have been a fun day for Kevin and it still may end that way. The day isn’t over. Today was the first day this year that his teacher called to say he was stemming pretty badly. They were at the Courthouse on a field trip. I could hear him in the background while I was on the phone with the teacher. Thankfully, we had started giving Kevin his afternoon meds during school last week and she had his meds with her to give to him during lunch time. It was just before lunch, so I told her to go ahead and give him his pills. She text me later to say he was fine. I haven’t heard anything since then, so he must be off with her for his after school outing. Anything could have caused today’s episode. Personally the courthouse would not be my idea of fun for a field trip, maybe it wasn’t Kevin’s either. By the way, the photo is from last year when we were helping my neighbor with her leaves.

Skating

Kevin’s been going to practice for Special Olympics Rolling Skating and he really seems to enjoy it. His teacher said he did great today. Now truthfully how well he skates I have no idea. I’ve never been able to get over to watch them during skating. His teacher tells me that he skates by himself and is doing great this year. She said she’ll video tape him next time for me. I can’t wait to see how well he does and for me it’s not that he does it prefect it’s that he can at all. I’ve never learned to skate. Maybe that’s from growing up on a dirt road. I do have to say one thing changing the time of day he gets his medicine has been a help, too. I was giving it to him after school, but with him doing the respite care after school a few days a week I decided to change it for him to get his medicine during his lunch break. You can tell a difference when he get s off the bus. He much calmer, but a little tired from doing so much during the day. He keeps saying “Good Night”. Sure sign he’s tired.

Not the Best Weekend Visit

I was hoping beyond hope that I could report that Kevin had another wonderful visit with his Dad over the weekend, but unfortunately I can’t. If you remember back in July I had Blogged about his visit and how nice it was for them. A lot of time has gone by since that visit, schedules get full and stuff just happens. It has been a while since they we’re able to have the boys for a weekend. From what I understand they had problems with him Saturday night and had to give Kevin an extra Ativan to help him settle down. I did find out that he had pizza for lunch that day, but I have no way of knowing if that was the cause or if Kevin was just over excited and maybe out of sync with the visit. Luckily, Kevin seemed to be feeling better last night and fell right to sleep with no problems. Today his off with his teacher after school for a few hours and I told her to bring him home early if she needs to this afternoon. So, far she said he’s been having a good day. A little stemming, but nothing she can’t handle. We’ll just have to wait and see how he does. I did ask a friend of mine up north, who has Celiac Disease, how long does it take for the gluten to leave his system. She has taken a lot of classes and is considering becoming a dietitian herself, so I feel safe with what she can tell me. She said it depends on the person, but it can take 1 to 2 days for the gluten to leave their system. Its ok stuff happens and we move on from there. I just really needed to document this for my records just in case there is something going on with Kevin.

Is This a Pattern or Something Else

The past couple of days I’ve noticed Kevin starting to stem a lot more to the point that it is close to taking over him again.  Example if he’s in the middle of one of his stems that makes him contort his arm way up in the air and trying to give him either his pills, lunch or a drink he doesn’t seem to be able to stop the motion and we have to wait for him relax.  Yesterday coming off the bus he was in one of those high strung moods, so I text his teacher to see how he was in school.  She said he was good, but a lot of stemming that day.  I told her I had noticed the same thing and wasn’t sure how to help him.   I know one thing it's very hard to concentrate on work with him like that.  I ended up shutting down my computer a little early for the day.  Thankfully, my boss that I work for here at the house knows and understands the situation with Kevin.  So, I’ve been pondering all morning about Kevin’s mood change.  I went back to my Blog and I think I may have found a pattern.  I started the diet just before Mother’s Day and 2 months into it I had to reduce his Risperdal by ½ a pill to help him with stemming.   It’s now another 2 months later and it looks like I’m going through the same thing with him.  I need to find an answer before his next visit to his father’s.  I’d rather those visits went well for everyone.  They’re not as use to this stuff with him and I’d rather not put anyone through what we deal with here at home with Kevin.  Don’t get me wrong he’s been wonderful all summer long, but we do have issues once in awhile.  Don’t we all?  Last night I did not give Kevin his ½ pill of Risperdal and he did seem to relax a little.  He even told me they did Basketball in Gym that day where as earlier in the day he couldn’t tell me anything.  Then he decided he had to play with the dog and then tell her to close her eyes while she was lying down near him.  She does love Kevin that’s for sure.