A small victory

So where I left off.... We had the appointment with Joey's psychiatrist. He didn't necessarily agree with my theories however he agreed to start trying to tapper Joey down off the medications. I guess all we can do is see. The psychiatrist doesn't celebrate the small victories like we do but Joey is making small, baby steps in forward motion. The only stipulation to taking Joseph down from medications is he has to see an improvement in violent behavior or at least no back sliding, which I can agree with. We started with the propanolol  which is the least of my worries but it's a start I guess. If Joey does well over the next month we will look at the Abilify next which is defiantly on the top of my list. With the elimination of Abilify we can also tapper him off of cogentin. So with fingers crossed we go forward. The hardest part of the appointment was when Joey looked at me and said "Mommy when am I going to get better?" Ugh break my heart and all I could say was soon.

Joseph has been doing well. That same week he performed in the facility's play The wizard of Oz. Joseph has always been involved in drama so I am glad he can continue. To my great surprise he also performed a piano song he had learned this year. Joseph's artwork is also a huge accomplishment as many of you have seen on my facebook page. With all these new outlets opening up to him I can continue to hope he will find coping skills and outlets to express himself in a healthy way.

Tomorrow is a big day. I will be waking up at the crack of dawn to drive to Toledo for Joey's neuropsych evaluation. I just hope and pray that this gives us a direction to continue to help Joseph.

In the meantime I try and stay positive and continue to advocate for Joseph. I had gone on a letter writing tirade when the insurance company continued to deny us residential coverage for Joseph. I wrote letters to the Senator and even President Obama. I had received phone calls from various agencies in the government giving me avenues to explore. I was unbelievably surprised however when I received an email from The White House and President Obama himself. It's great to know that my frustrations and concerns have not fallen on deaf ears. On any level I will take these small victories last week and pray that this is the beginning of things looking brighter for my family. Stay tuned for more on this journey and thank you to all those who read and share.