The past few months have been crazy and what happened to blogging? It went to the wayside. Sure, I meant to do it and had the best of intentions. But, we know what road is paved with good intentions.
So let's start with August 2014:
Family vacation time. It was well spent. We went to to the desert in the summer. It wasn't bad and the home we rented was beautiful. We needed family time and I had time to read and relax for a week, which I never get to do.
We remodeled the bathroom which took much longer than we thought it would. The baseboards are still not done and the linen tower isn't done yet. But we have a beautiful, new bathroom and my wife has a true soaking tub which she enjoys often. I like the shower but maybe I'll take a bath. Just maybe.
School started for Brighitta and she entered into the 3rd grade. Our beautiful little girl is getting older and I love watching her grow but it pains me as well. Liam entered into his 2nd year of preschool and we started a reading program with him.
School started out well.....
Family vacation time. It was well spent. We went to to the desert in the summer. It wasn't bad and the home we rented was beautiful. We needed family time and I had time to read and relax for a week, which I never get to do.
We remodeled the bathroom which took much longer than we thought it would. The baseboards are still not done and the linen tower isn't done yet. But we have a beautiful, new bathroom and my wife has a true soaking tub which she enjoys often. I like the shower but maybe I'll take a bath. Just maybe.
School started for Brighitta and she entered into the 3rd grade. Our beautiful little girl is getting older and I love watching her grow but it pains me as well. Liam entered into his 2nd year of preschool and we started a reading program with him.
School started out well.....
September 2014:
The problems started. Brighitta was having even more emotional issues than we encountered the previous fall and Steffani and I began to feel as if we were standing on a precipice. Jumping looked like a good option.
The problems started. Brighitta was having even more emotional issues than we encountered the previous fall and Steffani and I began to feel as if we were standing on a precipice. Jumping looked like a good option.
Every day was becoming a battle with our little girl. She was becoming more oppositional with schoolwork, with school, with us, with just about everything. We couldn't function in a dysfunctional home and we were coming apart at the seams.
Medication changes from her psychiatrist looked like an option but we didn't want to do that. In fact, getting her off the medication is what we want. The opposition and dysfunction was increasing every day. The anxiety for the smallest of things that most would consider benign was getting out of control.
We looked for options and considered Brain Mapping to find out what was going on with her brain. Brighitta described it after fits of raging and temper tantrums that it was 'zapping' and was 'on fire.' Scary stuff to hear. Even more scary to hear what came out of the mouth of that beautiful little girl when she raged.....
Steffani looked up places and received no answer. I suggested The Drake Institute. I heard about it on KFI radio advertised by Bill Carroll. She called, talked to the doctor, Dr. Velkoff.
We got an appointment. We saw the cost. Family stepped up and helped us with a large amount of the bill.
Brighitta's brain really is on fire. From what we learned from her Brain Mapping is that at the higher cycles when the brain is generating Beta Waves, her brain has so much going on that she cannot focus and there is so much going on in her brain that it literally looked as if her brain was 'on fire.'
The cost of not helping her was greater than the cost of the Drake Institute. At this point we are in the middle of her treatments. We have been through major up and downs since her treatment began and wondered if it was even working.
I cannot even express what Steffani and I have felt and have felt like doing during the month of September.
Which brings me to the present....
Medication changes from her psychiatrist looked like an option but we didn't want to do that. In fact, getting her off the medication is what we want. The opposition and dysfunction was increasing every day. The anxiety for the smallest of things that most would consider benign was getting out of control.
We looked for options and considered Brain Mapping to find out what was going on with her brain. Brighitta described it after fits of raging and temper tantrums that it was 'zapping' and was 'on fire.' Scary stuff to hear. Even more scary to hear what came out of the mouth of that beautiful little girl when she raged.....
Steffani looked up places and received no answer. I suggested The Drake Institute. I heard about it on KFI radio advertised by Bill Carroll. She called, talked to the doctor, Dr. Velkoff.
We got an appointment. We saw the cost. Family stepped up and helped us with a large amount of the bill.
Brighitta's brain really is on fire. From what we learned from her Brain Mapping is that at the higher cycles when the brain is generating Beta Waves, her brain has so much going on that she cannot focus and there is so much going on in her brain that it literally looked as if her brain was 'on fire.'
The cost of not helping her was greater than the cost of the Drake Institute. At this point we are in the middle of her treatments. We have been through major up and downs since her treatment began and wondered if it was even working.
I cannot even express what Steffani and I have felt and have felt like doing during the month of September.
Which brings me to the present....
October 2014:
Life is not easy right now. Life is hectic and we are in the middle of a huge pile of.....
Maybe I am hopeful and I haven't felt this in a long time. But maybe, just maybe Brighitta is getting better and by better I mean that her symptoms aren't gone but her coping skills are better. At Drake, her brain is being reprogrammed so that the 'on fire' feelings are diminished and she can function better.
My poor wife has had the difficult task of taking her to Drake for treatment every day. This has put basically every aspect of life on hold for us. We are hoping for a good outcome. I am finally feeling hope.
Poor Liam. In all this, he, I think, has suffered most. During the rages and fits, Liam, I don't know, maybe he internalizes it or something else. But all the attention gets put on the girl and he gets the short end of the stick. Unfair to him. He's been acting out lately. However, his acting out is in reaction to everything he's seen and experienced. Steffani says to be compassionate and when he has a temper tantrum I put my foot down and get on him for his behavior.
Poor kid. He has been having trouble at preschool too and doesn't want to go anymore. I'm not sure if this is in reaction to what he's seen with Brighitta and treatment or circumstances at school. He says all his friends are gone, which is true. He also says that the kids are mean to him. So, we are making a change for Liam as well.
In one week he'll be starting a new school and he is showing excitement for this new school. I'll be taking him on the days he goes and picking him up since it's local and on the way to work for me. He and I will get to have daddy-son time in the mornings and a bit in the afternoons as well. I am hopeful this change will be beneficial for him.
Life is not easy right now. Life is hectic and we are in the middle of a huge pile of.....
Maybe I am hopeful and I haven't felt this in a long time. But maybe, just maybe Brighitta is getting better and by better I mean that her symptoms aren't gone but her coping skills are better. At Drake, her brain is being reprogrammed so that the 'on fire' feelings are diminished and she can function better.
My poor wife has had the difficult task of taking her to Drake for treatment every day. This has put basically every aspect of life on hold for us. We are hoping for a good outcome. I am finally feeling hope.
Poor Liam. In all this, he, I think, has suffered most. During the rages and fits, Liam, I don't know, maybe he internalizes it or something else. But all the attention gets put on the girl and he gets the short end of the stick. Unfair to him. He's been acting out lately. However, his acting out is in reaction to everything he's seen and experienced. Steffani says to be compassionate and when he has a temper tantrum I put my foot down and get on him for his behavior.
Poor kid. He has been having trouble at preschool too and doesn't want to go anymore. I'm not sure if this is in reaction to what he's seen with Brighitta and treatment or circumstances at school. He says all his friends are gone, which is true. He also says that the kids are mean to him. So, we are making a change for Liam as well.
In one week he'll be starting a new school and he is showing excitement for this new school. I'll be taking him on the days he goes and picking him up since it's local and on the way to work for me. He and I will get to have daddy-son time in the mornings and a bit in the afternoons as well. I am hopeful this change will be beneficial for him.
Mid-October 2014:
Here we are in the middle of October. The weather is nice but summer heat will come back yet one more time before SoCal Fall settles in. The stress of everything has taken its toll on Steff and me and we need to get away. She needs to get away. We need an individual and couples retreat. When is this going to happen?
Here we are in the middle of October. The weather is nice but summer heat will come back yet one more time before SoCal Fall settles in. The stress of everything has taken its toll on Steff and me and we need to get away. She needs to get away. We need an individual and couples retreat. When is this going to happen?