Neurologist appointment day

Today Liam had quite a busy day. He got home from school, had lunch, and then had to head off to swimming at Lifeworks. After that, he had his appointment with the neurologist.

His swimming class today was another excellent one. Jill said Liam had swam across the width of the pool on his own several times. She said this by far the best she has ever seen him swim. When his class was over Miss Karen asked him to stick around for a little bit. She wanted Liam to ask Addy (a girl with cerebral palsy) if he could swim with her next week. Miss Karen told Liam to ask Addy. Jill said it very cute how Liam so shyly and softly asked Addy if he could swim with her next week. Addy in turn shyly kept looking at the water and softly said yes. Jill said it was so sweet to see. Miss Karen wants to use Liam an inspiration for Addy. She apparently is not responding too well to her lessons. She thinks Liam will have a positive effect to show her what she can do. We think this is a great reflection on the progress Liam has made swimming. Way to go Liam!

Once his swimming was done Jill had to take Liam to see his neurologist. Jill explained everything that has been going on with Liam. She believes the fits and tantrums we have been seeing are a result of more anxiety. She believes part of the problem is that Liam becomes so anxious, that he loses control and ends up having more of an anxiety attack. The neurologist also said that another problem is Liam’s inability to communicate with words how he feels. This is something Jill and I have thought as well. When he has had his fits and meltdowns, we have tried to ask him how he feels, to try using words. When he can’t any words out, we will try and describe for him what he may be feeling. Sometimes we get an answer, sometimes we don’t. The risperdal he is on is supposed to help his anxiety as well, but it does not seem to be working as well as it should. She has decided to prescribe a very small dose of prozac in the morning with his risperdal. She believes this will help alleviate some the anxiety he feels. When Jill told me he would be taking prozac, it was another one of those things you hear that makes you stop for a minute. Prozac has one of those stigma’s attached to it. We both feel anxiety ourselves about giving this to Liam. It is really very hard to keep shoving drugs in Liam. Each time we try something new I know I get very apprehensive about it. I do it with the hope that it will help Liam relax, learn to communicate better, and improve his ability to learn. We’ll see how he responds with his new medication.

When Liam came home he looked exhausted. He came in, showed me a movie mommy bought him, and just sat down on my lap. If I had held too long he would have easily fell asleep. He started to watch his movie and then went outside to play. As expected her went to play with Kelly. We saw him down there playing and it looked like he was doing well and having a great time. Just after 7pm he came home and told me he was ready for his bath. No surprise there. He took his bath and sat with me in the rocking chair. He seemed to take a little longer to settle down, but once he did he was out.