An Update...

Well as usual we have been very busy and have many updates to share...
Last week Tom was diagnosed with Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome. We spent the better part of a day talking to a few different doctors, psychiatrists and nurses. We were given a lot of great information and have worked out a plan for treatment. Tom is now on Amitriptyline to help reduce his anxiety and excitability- these are the triggers to the sickness. We have had to start him slowly on the medicine and he will be up to his full dose in a few weeks, it will then take about 3 months to see if it is working. He takes the pill at night and it really puts him into a deep sleep, I have noticed since he started that he seems more refreshed and less easily aggravated during the day. Perhaps the sound sleep is part of what he needed also. The doctor also concluded that there is a problem with his mitochondria- basically his body has a problem with the way it uses food and energy. His body uses up everything right away and then after awhile it will crash, as if he is starving- this can be another trigger for the sickness. In the morning Tom has to take 2 tablespoons of uncooked corn starch mixed in pudding, this will slowly and evenly break down throughout the day to keep his energy level up. He will also be drinking energy drinks, sports bars and other foods that provide extra energy. Next time Tom gets sick we will have to bring him up to Children's Hospital to get blood work done while he is actually sick. This will give us a better understanding of exactly what he might need. We also talked to a psychologist. She was very helpful in giving us some ideas as to how things with Tom need to be done a little differently than with other children and how we can do some relaxing exercises that he can use when things become too much for him. She also offered that she would be happy to talk to his teacher/school if they need a better understanding of CVS or Tom's specific behaviors. Now we are just waiting to hear when our appointment will be at the Autism clinic. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me if you have any other questions.

In other news, as many of you know we are still battling with the people that we bought the house from about the work they did in the basement. They got the building permit to get everything fixed months ago and we are still waiting for this all to end. Last Saturday night, something in the basement started fire and we had to call the fire department and evacuate the house and everything...in the rain...with the kids...at midnight!! At the time we had been doing the laundry and they suspected that there was something wrong with the electric running to the washer and dryer. For now we cannot do laundry here- which is a huge drag. And as many of you may understand with the demands of 2 little boys, 1 of which gets sick often, we were a bit behind on the wash as it was- this is not helping!!! Oh well, as we see it, it is more important to take our kids to the park and for walks and spend time with them than make sure every last load of laundry is done everyday. When they are grown they will remember the walks and trips to the park, and as for the couple of laundry baskets in the basement- I'm sure they will forget. Adam has an appointment with an attorney today to discuss the basement and what we should do at this point.

Well that is all for now, hopefully next time I will have some new pictures to go with our updates! It has been so hectic lately that we have not even taken many pictures...sorry!