My son had a follow-up visit with his opthamologist on Friday.  The outcome - an eye patch.  His vision is still getting worse and since he’s ambylopic we’re afraid that his brain is going to shut off his right eye.  Even with the glasses, he’s still over-compensating and using his left eye more.  Now he gets to wear an eye patch for three hours a day, every day, and we go back to the doc in two months.  I think this will be good for Alexander because he’s been slacking a bit on wearing his glasses (he’ll take them off for something and forget to put them on, etc).  This way he knows that this is serious business but he doesn’t have to worry about wearing the patch outside of the house.

I cannot get him to say “arrr” for me though, I’ll do it in my best pirate voice and he just giggles but refuses to say it.  I asked him if I should buy a parrot for his shoulder to which he enthusiastically responded “yes!”  I forget that rhetorical questions don’t usually work with six year-olds or Aspies.  hehe  The office gave us a package of four sample patches and recommended a company based out of Tucson, Arizona - Ortopad USA.  I ordered the patches yesterday and selected priority UPS next day shipping (as we don’t want to run out).  A representative from the company called me back and said UPS doesn’t deliver on Saturday and since I’m also in Arizona the standard priority mail shipping would likely get here by Monday.  Guess what arrived on my doorstep today?  Yup, 100 fancy boy-themed eyepatches.

As I’ve mentioned (repeatedly, I’m sure) Alexander is tactile defensive.  Thankfully the patches only irritate him a little bit.  Hopefully when we go back in two months his right eye will have made improvements and we can stop.  Until then, I have a happy little Aspergic pirate. 

April is recognized throughout the United States and in many countries across the world as Autism Awareness Month.  The symbol most commonly associated with autism awareness is the puzzle.  Sometimes the images have a puzzle piece missing representing that bit of information that is mysterious with regards to autism spectrum conditions.  Some people find the puzzle symbol and even more-so the missing puzzle piece offensive.  While I understand the reason behind this, I kind of like the puzzle symbols (without missing pieces).

Here’s my thinking - my children are most definitely little puzzles.  They aren’t those nice puzzles with flat edges that neatly go together, they are those tricky 3D puzzles.  They aren’t missing anything, well except maybe for some sleep, but other than that they are most definitely whole.  However, I think children are all little puzzles.  Trying to figure out what your child needs and/or wants can be difficult at six months, six years, and even harder at sixteen years from what I’ve been told.  So in an essence, everyone is a puzzle.

My goals, with regard to autism awareness, are to help people understand that autism has many faces.  Yes my little girl who will look you dead in the eye, smile, and say hi is on the autism spectrum.  At this point outsiders see her as a sweet little girl.  I want them to understand that next time they see her if she’s having an all-out meltdown that she’s still that sweet little girl and not some spoiled brat who’s throwing a tantrum because she’s not getting her way.

Autism is not a death sentence for our family.  We embrace the differences that our children have from their peers and provide them with the necessary tools to enjoy life.  In the end, that’s all we want right?  To enjoy life.

When Trivial Pursuit first came out I used to read all of the questions, write down my guesses, then read the answers.  I’d do this outside of playing the game.  I’d merely sit on my bed and soak in the information.  Geography was my favorite at the time.  Here’s a fun little geography quiz I ran across.

69

Not bad! 

Thank heavens I had a vacation before my son’s dentist appointment - the day started off rough and just got worse.  My husband and I had a great time in Vegas and got back Monday afternoon - we met my parents and the kiddos at dinner.  After dinner we headed back to the house for a relaxing evening.  Alexander was not to take anything for sleep - no melatonin, no clonidine, nothing.  Ugh.  Not only did he have a hard time falling asleep, he had a difficult time staying asleep.  Then morning comes with a surprise accident in bed, he hasn’t done that in ages and we don’t have a waterproof cover.  So our day started about 1.5 hours early.  Not good because not only can he not eat or drink, we can’t give him his morning medicine (ADHD/aggression meds).

So the time comes for daddy to go to the airport for a business trip that he couldn’t cancel and for me to drop off my daughter with my mom.  We got to the dentist’s office about ten minutes early and Alexander was just as chipper as could be.  He didn’t seem nervous and was in a fantastic mood.  The dentist came to talk to me and told me what was going to happen then they went ahead and checked Alexander’s lungs, pulse, and blood pressure.  Everything checked out and per his weight he was to have 3.7 of Versed (I think mls) but they chose to give him less - 3.5. 

We were taken to a little room with a chair, TV playing Cars, and a little mat, pillow and blanket for Alexander. He was given the Versed.  At five minutes in the dentist checked and he was still acting normal.  At six minutes in the giggling started.  At seven minutes in he said he was missing a finger.  At eight minutes he wanted to lay down on the mat and at nine minutes he said his hands felt funny.  Ten minutes in I was in tears from laughing so hard and he was just giggling.  Someone came and picked him up and carried him back to the treatment room. 

About 15 minutes later the front desk calls me up and says that the tooth ended up being the “worst-case scenario” - he needed to have it removed.  I gave the go-ahead and then after about ten more minutes he was done.  I settled up the account and the dentist came to talk to me.  He said that all of the rest of Alexander’s teeth look great - his enamel is good, no cavities etc.  He said that this was an anomaly as usually with a cavity to this extent there are other problem teeth.  He said Alexander did great and giggled throughout and would pause to say “what the heck?” - yup that’s my boy.

I then went back to the little room and Alexander was on the mat with cotton in his mouth.  The dental assistant told me they were trying to keep him from chewing his cheek and tongue.  I took over duties and ended up picking him up and holding him in my lap.  He was still giddy and I had to take a picture of him to show him that his lip/tongue looked normal even though they felt weird.  About 15 minutes later, all hell broke loose.  The Versed started to wear off and Alexander became more aware of the numb lip feeling.  For a sensory-defensive child, especially one who is orally defensive, this was not a pleasant sensation.  He started his banshee screams and the mommy abuse began.  I could get him distracted for short periods of time but not long.  The dentist and assistants all came to help distract him as well.  After an hour he passed the test to go home - the ability to stand up, take a few steps, and blood pressure/pulse were OK.

Thankfully I had the foresight to engage the childproof lock on the car door.  The ride home was a nightmare.  Alexander kicked and screamed and generally thrashed about.  I even managed to get kicked in the head while driving 65 mph down the freeway.  Thank heavens he’s a stickler for the seat belt because he never unbuckled.  He started off telling me he was leaving me and moving in with Auntie.  Then started the “I want to kick your butt, no really I want to kick your butt” which was followed by “No, I’m going to kill you.”  After awhile that changed to “I just want to be dead.”  Alexander has never said anything like this before so I knew it was the medicine.

Once we got home I had to deal with a few more hours of these random outbursts/meltdowns.  He wasn’t able to just eat right away - I had to start with clear liquids and then move up to soft foods.   Once it faded off I kind of casually asked about his day and he’s one of the lucky winners who don’t have an amnesiac effect from the drug.  He remembered everything - from being carried to the chair to all of the things he said to me.  He said the leg straps felt weird but that he didn’t freak out.   He’d get this real sheepish look when I mentioned the car ride home.

Around dinner time he brings me a note that says “I love you mommy, sorry for attacking you.”  My heart swelled, I felt so bad that he had to feel like this.  I gave him a big hug and kiss and told him that not only was it mommy’s job to be attacked but that he wasn’t doing it, the medicine was.  He reassured me that he didn’t want to move in with Auntie, kill me, or be dead.  I told him that I knew that Alex wasn’t saying those words, that the Versed was.

The day ended with Alex and I cuddling in my bed.  He bounced back quickly and was at school yesterday.  I told my husband that if Alexander needs something like this again that I was not going alone - no way can I go through that again, it was physically and emotionally draining.  I’m not even the one that had to go through the tooth extraction!

Angela, my favorite chaotic mommy, has bestowed me with a beautimus blog award - the Less Than Three award. Less than what?  How is less than anything an award?  Unless I’m some prodigy I’m older than three.  Well, I *am* a prodigy but I’m also a heckuva lot older than 3…like more than 30 years older than 3.  *gasp*  Okay kidding, I’m not a prodigy.  What I am is a sleepless mommy who is looking forward to a vacation. More on that later.  Less Than Three is <3.  In emoticon speak that is a heart, Angela *hearts* my blog - awww!  Thanks for putting a smile on my face!!

I am exhausted, absolutely drained.  I dropped a class six weeks into the course and with a 95% in the class because I just don’t have the time or energy to continue.  The class was taken through a different school than the one my degree program is housed at so there is no impact on my grade.  Since the school is a junior college I’m only out about $200 as opposed to $700.  I can handle losing $200 for some peace of mind.  I’m still taking two classes - phonetics and anatomy & physiology of speech & hearing.  Last week I had what was likely the most difficult test of my life - the focus of the text was the larynx.  The two inches, or so, of space in your neck known as the larynx - I know all of the bones, muscles, cartilages, etc in the larynx.  For the record there is only one bone, the hyoid bone.  Now you’ve learned something new for today! 

Last night my daughter was in my bed by midnight absolutely petrified.  As I’ve mentioned previously she sleeps on a toddler bed in my room so the migration was all of two feet but it made her feel comfy.  Then about 2:30 my son comes running in because he had nightmares.  Daddy was already on the couch sleeping (he’s smart, no one gets any sleep in the damned bedroom anyhow).  The two kiddos proceed to argue about who gets to be in the bed.  Those two can’t sleep together.  My daughter finally gave up and decided to go back to her little bed.  Now I’m glad she has the language to do something so typical as arguing with her big brother - why oh why does it have to be at 2:30 am though???  *yawns*

This weekend hubby and I are getting.out.of.town!  Three nights in Vegas.  We are planning on sleeping…a LOT!!  We have three nights comp’d at the Wynn Las Vegas so the trip is actually a pretty reasonable one.  Airfare…show tickets…fancy dinner…martinis…buffet…martinis…martinis.  Yes I indulge in a martini from time-to-time; not often since I usually have the kids with me.  I foresee a few “extra” martinis this weekend.  I figure if we’re going to sin city I’m going to indulge in some of my vices - fine food, fine martinis, and POKER!  LOL

I have a busy couple of days ahead of me - if you don’t see me post please don’t be sad, I’ll be back!  hehe  <3

Jenn over at Good Job Mama! posted that Bertolli (the pasta company) has followed Lowe’s and pulled their ads from the Big Brother show on CBS.  A representative from Bertolli called, as in picked up the telephone and made a personal phone call, to Jenn to inform her of their decision to pull the ads.  Fantastic!!  I am going to go buy some Bertolli pasta to show my support!  I wish they made organic but I’ll make an exception in this case.  Jenn, YOU ROCK!

So I watched Big Brother on Tuesday night and had this horrible feeling of resentment everytime I saw Adam Jasinski.  Grrr.  Then I’d laugh because he’s sitting there absolutely clueless about the horrors that await him once he gets evicted.  Oh how I’d love to see his face.  Too bad it is likely that it won’t be discussed in his exit interview. 

Wait, don’t leave - you’re in the right place.  This is mindlessmommy.com.  This post isn’t about autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, anxiety, or Adam Jasinski.  This post is about my dad.  *insert awwww sound clip here*

I’ve posted previously that my dad is a member of Superstition Search and Rescue and has started a new business - Superstition Wilderness Adventures.  Yesterday my dad picked my son up from school and was going to take my daughter out for a little drive in the mountains but he received a call that he needed to go on a rescue in the mountains instead.  Evidently an individual felt like he was having a pretty nasty allergy attack and he didn’t think he was able to walk out on his own.  So I headed over to my parent’s house (three miles away) to pick up my son so my dad could get out to the rescue ASAP.  My daughter was a bit saddened but when I said that poppa had to go rescue someone she was OK with it.

So off my dad goes and we continue on with our Wednesday night which included a lot of dancing fun.  As I get back in the car the phone rings and it is my dad to tell me of his adventurous evening.  I love listening to his rescue stories - whether it is helping to find a boy scout troop lost and stranded in a rare winter storm or searching for a hiker lost for days, my dad always has a great story to tell.  Last night was no exception.

They quickly found the hiker with the allergy attack and escorted him back to the parking lot.  At that point they heard a woman screaming and yelling that someone had fallen.  My dad and other members of the Superstition Search and Rescue quickly scrambled up the mountainside to get to this person.  The challenge was that these two people were rock climbing and not hiking so there was no trail to follow.  In addition, we’ve had a lot of rain lately so there is an increased amount of underbrush.  My dad told me that he was the second person on the scene and the young man (turns out he is 20) looks to be in pretty bad shape and that his head was pretty smashed up.

My dad’s business partner, and Commander of the Superstition Search and Rescue, was next on site and together they worked to assess the situation, stabilize the young man, and offer reassurance to his female companion.  EMTs from the area then followed suit, the Department of Public Safety helicopter flew in a stokes basket, and a life flight helicopter was summoned to the scene.  Once the young man was stabilized and placed in the stokes basket, Cooper (my dad’s partner) attached himself to the basket and the pair were long-lined out by the DPS helicopter.  Upon arriving at base camp the gentleman was rushed to a local hospital.  The news later reported that although he had broken his neck, he was able to move his hands and feet - definitely good news.

The rescue was filmed live by a few local news stations.  The video on the news was a lot more comprehensive but here is a brief video by our local CBS affiliate.  Hiker rescued after fall in superstition mountains.  My dad is in the light-colored hat on the left kind of at the base of the mountain.  The gentleman in the bright yellow shirt and white hard hat is Cooper.  The news broadcast showed the actual long-line evacuation.

I showed my daughter the broadcast this morning (I love my DVR) and she said she wanted to go rescue with poppa! 

So all of this motivated me to get my behind back in the gym this morning.  I would love to be able to join my dad on these rescues.  I love the mountains, I love hiking, and I am cool-headed in stressful situations.  Unfortunately I’m nowhere near athletic enough to qualify.  In time dad, in time!

As of three weeks ago, Wednesday nights are dance class night in the Mindless Mommy house.  Both kids attend a combo (ballet, jazz, tumbling) class at 6pm on Wednesdays - separate classes.  My son just loves them and there is another boy in his class unlike last time we tried dance when he was the only boy.  He’s better at dance than he was at swimming and tee-ball.  So for now it is dance and chess for Alexander.

My daughter is a natural.  She picked up the moves so quickly.  It is great because now that she is day trained and has acquired the skill to imitate, dance is perfect for her.  Tonight when all of the girls were doing the tumbling she was a little uncoordinated but had fun.  Then it came time for the somersaults, okay all four year-olds know how to somersault, right?  Nope!  Ava has not figured out how to do it on her own.  Miss Tina, the instructor, is fantastic and scoots on to the mat with Ava and helps her.  After she was done she went and sat criss-cross applesauce with her back to the mirror.

The rest of the class did their somersaults and then Miss Tina said class was over and called all of the little girls (3 and 4 year-olds) over to Miss Tina and put a hand on their head for stickers.  Ava didn’t move, this girl loves stickers but she just sat there.  She saw the girls putting their hands on their head so she followed suit, but she still sat there.  I decided to hang out and see what she would do.  The little girls all went and got their dance bags and filtered out of the room.  Miss Tina had seen me so didn’t do anything.  Ava didn’t budge and didn’t really appear to notice that she was basically alone in the room.   So I poked in and said “Ava, class is over”; she promptly got up and walked over to me while saying “ohhhh”.  I just giggled and asked her to get her dance bag then off we went.

Dental work, Asperger’s syndrome, and anxiety - those three phrases do not go together!  They are, however, my reality.  Well actually, they are my son’s reality.  He was complaining of a toothache on Friday night and yesterday I managed to get him in with a fabulous pediatric dentist who has experience with children on the spectrum.  The dentist’s niece has Asperger’s Syndrome so he “gets it.”  Alexander did great yesterday - he let the tech take x-rays which involved foreign objects in his mouth.  He also did a great job during the cleaning only gagging a couple of times; he probably only swallowed half of the fluoride this time!  It has been a year since his last cleaning (I know, bad mommy) but the sensory integration therapy and Wilbarger brushing protocol helped tremendously.

So the bad news is that he has a between the teeth infected cavity!  The dentist said no more raisins, gummy worms, fruit roll-ups, etc.  I let the dentist know that Alexander doesn’t like raisins and can’t have the other foods as he’s on the Feingold Diet which eliminates artificial flavors and colors of which gummy candy has.  I then went on to explain that Alexander doesn’t like anything chewy as he has low oral-motor tone and chewing is a chore.  I wish he’d eat raisins, it would help build his muscle strength in his jaw!  The dentist asked about juice - nope, not much in the way of juice either (maybe a few days a month).  So here’s my conundrum of a child with an interesting cavity.

So we’ll go back in two weeks and they will sedate him with Versed, then give him laughing gas, and follow-up with local anesthetic.  They did let me now they’ll wrap him in a Velcro blanket.  My son is tactile defensive and claustrophobic.  Dear God help us on March 11!  I explained it all to my son and practiced rolling him up in a blanket.  Thankfully he’s a smart guy so understood everything I said.  I think we’ll be fine before and during the procedure but afterwards is where I’m concerned.

Alexander is to skip his clonidine the night before and the day of the procedure he will not be able to take his Focalin XR nor his Risperdal.  Alexander is combative under stress and I’ve been told that Versed can make even the most docile child combative as they come out of it.  Woohooo, yay me!  Alexander is a scrawny little guy (a whopping 41 pounds now) but when he’s in the throes of an outburst someone always gets hurt.  My mom is going to try to come with me to the appointment so she can help me afterwards.  I’m going to stay positive and think that Alexander wil just be giddy and loopy coming out of it - I don’t want my butt kicked my a six year old!

If you’ve had experience with Versed - please, please share them with me.  I’ll take the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I woke up from a rather sleepless night (one child with an asthma flare-up and the other with a toothache) to see that Angela from Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy awarded me with the E for Excellent blog award.  I’ve seen these fun awards floating around many of the autism-themed blogs I subscribe to and today I get to join in on the fun!  Angela found my blog after the EOnline article mentioned mindlessmommy.com.  I’ve since subscribed to her blog and traded a few comments.  She’s a cool momma - from her blog “earth-loving, organic food cooking” - my kind of momma. 

Now it is my turn to award a blog with the E for Excellent Award - Feebeeglee is an amazing momma.  Whether it is patience in the midst of a sensory-seeking binge or knitting the cutest lil bum covers for her new wee one, Phoebe has got it together and is a wonderfully positive person.