Update on INTUNIV.....Week 3

After speaking with our doctor's nurse this last Friday or Saturday, I was watching to see if the 2 mg. of Intuniv really was making much of a difference. Saturday evening Grant did something that I've NEVER seen him do in his entire 7 1/2 years of life.

He fell ASLEEP on the couch at 5:30 pm!!

To some of you, this may be coincidental, or insignificant, but he has NEVER done that.....even if he was sick. He goes to sleep at night, pops awake in the morning, and is go, go, go until bedtime.....always. He has never, ever complained that he was tired or asked to go to sleep.

His older sister started messing with him of course, and it irritated him. So he went into his own bed voluntarily, and went back to sleep. When I tried waking him for dinner, he said he wasn't hungry, and that he was tired.

I'm going to just go ahead and say that was due to the Intuniv.

All the info. we've heard so far says that "drowsiness" is one of the side effects.

For me, that is a blessing, not a side effect.

He was back up within the hour, though he was very calm and cooperative. Normal bedtime came and went without a hitch!!

He had a really great day on Sunday too, even with the friend over of one of his sisters. Usually that sets him off and highly excites him, and he is running around more and is more irritating than normal. But he was very under control that day.

I also noticed that Grant was totally getting the humor in a movie we put on for the children Monday night. We watched Toy Story, which is not new to us, but we haven't seen it in a while. All the children were mesmerized. I don't remember Grant ever laughing and truly enjoying a film like he was this one. I was amazed to see him sit there and just flat out laugh at some of the funny things the characters did. His 3-year old brother was sitting there belly-laughing right along with him, but Grant usually either doesn't find things funny or doesn't get why it was funny. He wasn't being over-the-top or silly, just appropriately having fun. It was monumental to see him enjoying this as much as he did!!

So, this morning, we started the 3 mg. tablet. We are to keep in touch with the nurse this week to update her on how he is doing, but we did get a 30 day supply. I'm very hopeful that this new dosage will be even more of a benefit to him. School this morning was a PLEASURE!!! No anger or raging through the house!!

Just for informational purposes I thought I would tell you about our cost

for this medication so far.

The first two weeks were "samples" from the doctor, so that didn't cost us anything. This bump up to the 3 mg. came in a month's supply and would've cost us $174.79 for 30 tablets at our Kroger Pharmacy. Because this is such a new medication on the market, it doesn't fall under our "preferred prescriptions" with our insurance, so we will have the highest co-pay on this that will run us $40/month. This first prescription though didn't cost us anything because the Intuniv Starter Pak included a card for $50 towards the purchase of our first prescription. I believe that once we complete the final survey that is a part of activating the aforementioned card, we will again receive a coupon or something toward the next month's prescription.

Still have lots of work to do, but have been pleased with Grant's progress so far!!

Update on INTUNIV....Day 11

So we still aren't seeing huge benefits yet from this new medication called Intuniv. We're about 3 days from running out, so I called our doctor's nurse, per her instructions when we were there a couple weeks ago, and gave her the update. She asked me if he was getting worse, and I could honestly say that he is NOT worse. He still has his emotional melt-downs and disrespectful responses when corrected and impulsive reactions to his siblings irritations, but it has been softened somewhat. When I told the nurse all that, her response was, "Well, then he needs a higher dosage, I'm sure." We are to finish out the remaining 2 mg. tablets that we have and if we notice a dramatic change for the better, we are to call her back on Monday because the doctor would probably want to keep him at the 2 mg. If we don't note much of a change, we are to move on to the 3 mg. pills. She did encourage me to continue to be patient as this medication takes a while to get established in his system, and they say the wait is worth it. (I hope so!!!)

She did ask me to call my pharmacy tomorrow though and make sure they have Intuniv in stock, and if not to ask them to ORDER IT!! Apparently that has been a problem in some places. Doctors prescribe it, but the pharmacy doesn't have it?? How crazy is that?

Anyway, that is the update from the frontlines!! I certainly had a lovely day yesterday, and hope you have as equally as lovely a weekend.

P.S. This Bible verse has been trickling through my mind here lately. Most likely because of the milestone birthday I celebrated this week!!!

"So teach us to number our days,

that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

I reminded my husband that in just 5 years we will be looking at our oldest daughter about to turn 18 years old. 18!!! That's not very long. I don't have much time left with her to model Christ's compassion and grace and love, and to teach her His values for young women and His design for her as a lady!!! I better go get busy!!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Here is a picture of my lovely, wildly creative, recklessly giving,

high energy 12-year old delight of a daughter, Alexis.

If she could've had any amount of money, she would've gone shopping and bought me

some lavish thoughtful gift. She's just that way. It's God-given, that nature, that spirit.

So because she couldn't do THAT, she thought of something else she could do.

She wanted to design a special cake for me.

This is what she came up with....

....and I love it!!!!

Forty is Fabulous!!!

Wow. Forty!! Seriously?? But I don't feel forty. I FEEL more like......say......26. But I guess because I've got to do some serious work to cover up those gray hairs now, and because I have to start my morning with a pill, that I should accept the fact that I am really....40!!!

I've been posting some funny, yet thought-provoking, quotes about turning 40 on my Facebook status throughout this week.

Indulge me and let me share them with you here:

Anonymous

At the age of twenty, we don't care what the world thinks of us; at thirty, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at forty, we discover that it wasn't thinking of us at all.

Arthur Schopenhauer

The first forty years of life give us the text: the next thirty supply the commentary.

To be 70 years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be 40 years old.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgement.
Benjamin Franklin

Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Jack Benny

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age.
Robert Frost

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~Chili Davis

And as a matter of film trivia:

Do you know who shares a birthday with me today?

This lovely lady was born on the EXACT day as I, so she is also having her 40th birthday today.

Do you know?

What I love is that she starred in one of my favorite films of all time...

It's a chick flick....

(I know she has been in other films also, some of which I'm sure have not been wholesome or ones I would recommend, so please no comments on that....just indulge me again since it's my birthday!!!)

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken????

Yes, the lovely Gabrielle Anwar...

I wonder how she is spending her day?

My plan is to go get my hair done, do a little shopping, and just be quiet and by myself. A little regrouping time. I may even drop in on a Starbucks for a Mocha Frappachino. I NEVER do that, so that might be my big adventure of the day!!!

I have such a lovely husband who has taken the day off to take care of things so I can enjoy the day away from things for awhile without any worries. Gotta love a man like that!!!

He is even going out and doing the routine grocery shopping for me today....in the frigid cold and rain!!! Love him!!!

Happy Birthday to all you who share a February birthday with me!!! I don't run into a lot of you, but you definitely know who you are!! So put on your amethysts and enjoy yourself!!!

Update on INTUNIV....Day 9

Today was the second day Grant took the 2 mg. dose of Intuniv as we slowly work toward finding the right dose for him. Let me just describe our day in several words:

Meltdown

Train wreck

Screaming

Crying

Irritable

It was basically like he has been taking nothing. Needless to say, I was very discouraged and feeling a bit hopeless.

February

The robin on my lawn,

He was the first to tell

How, in the frozen dawn,

This miracle befell,

Waking the meadows white

With hoar, the iron road

A-gleam with splintered light,

And ice where water flowed:

Till, when the low sun drank

Those milky mists that cloak

Hanger and hollied bank,

The winter world awoke

To hear the feeble bleat

Of lambs on downland farms:

A blackbird whistled sweet;

Old beeches moved their arms

Into a mellow haze

Aerial, newly-born:

And I, alone, agaze,

Stood waiting for the thorn

To break in blossom white

Or burst in a green flame......

So, in a single night,

Fair February came,

Bidding my lips to sing

Or whisper their surprise,

With all the joy of spring

And morning in her eyes.

Francis Brett Young

Update on INTUNIV....Day 7

I do have to say, that even though we are still only on the lowest dosage of INTUNIV (1 mg.), our weekend was MUCH less emotional and angry!! I did not get any comments yesterday at church on his behavior (either good or bad), but I did talk with some friends and in telling them about what we're trying with Grant, they did notice that he was sitting quietly by me and playing with something in his hands rather than scooting around in the chair or just running through the room.

He was also easier to get engaged in something constructive rather than being frustrated about Sunday afternoon boredom. He was less edgy and explosive. Overall, it was a pleasant weekend.

I have also noticed that, as a family, we are going to have to be more aware of our responses to Grant now, and be willing to adjust our attitudes as he is adjusting also. For so many years now, he has habitually responded angrily or argumentative when being corrected or even teased by his siblings. Now that he is becoming more calm, I want to focus on training him how to recognize when he is becoming frustrated or upset and how to constructively handle those situations rather than just immediately popping off. In correlation to that, his siblings and his parents are going to have to learn how to be less defensive and not as quick to respond harshly to him.

That's where the grace comes in.

Tomorrow morning we start on the 2 mg. dose for the next 7 days. Already looking forward to some great moments with my son!!