Dr Appt for Isaac

Isaac had a consultation with his dr this morning to discuss the possibility of him having ADHD. He is not at all hyper, but we were looking at the not-being-able-to-pay-attention side of it.

Dad and I had to take a test first. We had to answer a questionnaire that asked questions and you had to answer something like "not at all, partly true, sometimes true, always true".

I skipped about four questions. They were questions like "Is your child perfect?" Is your child an angel?" etc.

The dr was going through the results and when he saw the skipped questions he asked about them. Dad said the questions seemed to be testing us. He said that is exactly what it was doing. He has to see if our concern is valid or if we have unattainable expectations for our kids. I told the dr him no one was perfect, that he could be an angel when he wanted, but typically he gets in trouble when he is with his brothers or other kids. Basically he is a normal kid that does normal kid things, including getting in trouble. I also told him that I expect different things from each of my kids because they are all different and capable of different things.

Turns out we passed OUR test. Isaac LOVED that WE had to take a test and he didn't! On the questions where they were asking about his activeness he scored where he should. On the questions about his attentiveness he scored as high (which you want a low score on) as he possibly could.

The dr did a great job of explaining everything where not only we could understand it, but Isaac could too. This includes the medicine he is going to be taking, why he is taking it, what the side effects could be, etc. Then he asked Isaac if he had any questions and told Isaac he was doing a great job in school. He pointed out that his conduct is perfect and is grades are okay, but that he is struggling and we are going to try and help that. He also said he did not have to tell ANYONE about his medicine if he didn't want to, that it was noone elses business.

The last thing the dr said to Isaac was "Okay Isaac. Why are you going to take this medicine?" Isaac replied "So I can pay attention and get better grades!" YAY!!!!!

So, about the meds: He is on the lowest dose of an weaker medicine. The dr thinks this is all he will need and if this isnt enough, we will go up from 5 mg to 10. The medicine only works when it is in his system. He will take one dose a day, right before he goes to school. It will be wearing off by the time he gets home. He does not have to take it on weekends or holidays if we don't want him to. Just when he needs to concentrate for a long period of time.

I hope and pray this will do the job and Isaac can get back on track with school. The dr said that often he sees kids when they are four or five (the hyperactive kids) or after they have failed a grade and are giving up (have the "what's the point in trying" feeling). He said we did good to figure this out as soon as he started struggling and before he had given up on his abilities in school.

His teachers are going to give me their feedback on how the meds are helping. We are supposed to see an IMMEDIATE difference if he is at the right dosage. Since he will be at school when the meds are effective, I have to depend on his teachers to pay attention and give me feedback (including signs of side effects). Luckily, he has great teachers that WANT to help him. I am glad this came to light this year with these teachers.