Where We're At

As you can see, this blog is brand new. I've had it for about two weeks but was chewing on when I should do something with it. Last week, we sat Tobi down to talk to her about this grand idea we had. It was time.

On Monday I got a call from Tobi's teacher. They were concerned that Tobi's eye blinks and body spasms had increased again. Since the last time it had been this bad, the psych had prescribed Vyvanse - a stimulant medication for ADHD, so they thought it was a reaction to the meds. But we'd stopped giving them to her a month ago because they were making things worse. As soon as I got off the phone, I called and made an appt. with Tobi's primary care physician, as the psych in Farmington was only 'on loan' and they now have no permanent psych to take the cases.

Tuesday we received a call home from the school. Tobi had had a meltdown and was removed from two of her classes. They put me on the phone, as they sometimes will when Tobi is having a hard day, but this time they asked us to come and get her. It wasn't even 11am yet but they felt Tobi would not be able to have a productive day.

Wednesday was her doctor appt. Tobi laid down on the exam table on her belly and drew in her sketch book while we talked.We like her doctor very much. He's always been extremely good with Tobi and listening to what's going on with her and we never feel rushed. After expressing our displeasure with the last psych experience, he has decided to send us to Portland to a different psych he has far more confidence in. That could take another 8 months. In the meantime, we have to up her meds and check back with him in 4 weeks.

When we talked to Tobi about a service dog, we kind of expected the familiar reply of "ok" but what we got was a lot of questions and animated interest. We explained the kinds of things a SD could do for her and the expression on her face just made me want to cry. She was actually imagining this dog that would really help her and I get choked up every time I think about it. Explaining to her how long it would probably take to get this special dog was harder for her to understand. "Can I sleep for a year until it comes?" and "Can Munchkin be my service dog until then? Can Ronat?" She needed a great big hug then (or I did!) but her dad and I were so moved by this little talk that we knew without a shadow of doubt that we were doing the right thing in pursuing this.

So where we're at - waiting to get in with the new psych who will focus primarily on her Aspergers and having a more in-depth talk with her physician about the SD. Her counselor said it was a really cool idea, so we'll ask her to put something in writing to support us when we see her next. Started working on the application for ASDA, talking to a couple of independent trainers, and have begun working on fundraising ideas. Definitely keeping us busy!