Well, it's been a month now. I have seen a lot of progress for Gabriel. He has been so much more "subdued". I can only see him going forward from here.
Tuesday, he had his one month follow up with the neurologist. I was expecting good things. He has been eating like a madman, and he's been doing so well. I was no to medicate him before the appointment due to him doing a test when we got there. The test he did was called TOVA test. It's a computerized test that takes 20 minutes to complete. I did not get to go in the room with him, but basically it's like a game and they gave him buttons for each hand and there were various activities. One he described, was blocks. And when the block went down, he had to push a button. From what I read on Google, the test is to measure your attention span. It's not really reliable though. Gabriel could sit in front of a video game or computer for HOURS. So he passed that test reasonably well, and the neurologist said he doesn't put much emphasis on that test, it's just another stepping stone to follow.
The bombshell for me, was that he lost 2 pounds this month. Gabriel is a stick figure to begin with. He has no weight to loose already! I knew a side effect of this medication is weight loss and loss of appetite, but I just figured that since he didn't get the loss of appetite and has been eating more than he's ever eaten before, that he would be fine. Honest to God, he ate 2.5 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches AND 2 huge handfuls of chips for lunch yesterday. Then an hour later was hungry so had some blueberry mini muffins. He's constantly hungry. I just couldn't explain the weight loss. So as per doctor's orders.......he is to eat cookies and ice cream. He is to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack between lunch and dinner, and a snack before bed. And by snack, he means ice cream and cookies. Fine with me, except that I don't want him to get in that mode of thinking and end up an adult with poor eating habits. He DOES love his fruits though, so hopefully he keeps that.
One thing I found interesting, is that now he has a follow up visit in 3 months, in February. But his prescription is only for 30 days at a time. I guess I have to go every month to pick up the prescription. It's not a med to mess with. In fact, on the prescription I have, it has specific instructions to NOT fill it until the 8th (today).
One more milestone, is last night. He wanted to join the beginner precision team at skating. I didn't let him try out at the beginning of the competitive year because he just didn't have the focus and would have been frustrating to both the coach and himself. He's been asking to do it every week, and I finally thought he would be able to do it. So I talked to the coach and she said to let him do it one week and see how he does. Much to all of our surprize, he was extremely successful. I knew he could do the content, just wasn't sure about the attention. He did so well! I literally was crying!!!!!!!! This morning, he was saying how much fun he did and asked if he could do it all the time! He did get invited to join the team permanently!
That's all for now! On to make more positive moves!
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