Day Twenty-Two: Sunshine on Our Faces

Good morning. I trust your weekend was a good one. Ours was!

Katie and I hung out together on Saturday... played a few games of cards... ran a few errands... and did a lot of nothing. Her temperament was good for the most part, and she spent much of her time either sketching or creating a fun craft on her own. There were only a few times that she became extremely angry and caustic over the weekend. In the afternoon we were scheduled to go to a party of one of our friends... but for whatever reason, Katie suddenly became angry and couldn't regain her good demeanor... so I told her that her anger wasn't something that they would want at their party... so we wouldn't go. She became even more angry (a normal kids response) but within a 1/2 hour, she was watching TV and settled with the fact that we weren't going. We had a very pleasant evening after that... and there were no more outbursts.

On Sunday, she went to church with Bea while I slept in (till 11:00 am!!! HALLELUJAH!!) and then they went to lunch and had a fun afternoon together. Later on in the afternoon, they returned home and we all went to the grand opening of the new Target near our house. We found out they had a Starbucks inside the store... so we got ourselves a Frappechino and played a few games of UNO together. That was fun.

A strange phenomenon we noticed with Katie was that when she did have a season of anger, it occurred with a sudden flip... sometimes in the same breath... and then, just as sudden as it came, it would go.... and she would be absolutely charming. For instance, on one occasion, Katie was happily coming downstairs to kiss me goodnight... very cheerfully... and then suddenly she stopped in the middle of the stairs... got this weird look on her face... and then shouted angrily, "I'm not tired and I'm NOT GOING TO BED!!!" When asked why she was angry, she said, "I AM SO ANGRY AT MOMMY!!" Why??? She didn't know... but she was fuming, caustic and defiant. She continued to pitch this fit... refusing to go to bed (with fire in her eyes)... and when I applied one of the techniques that I have learned at the clinic... she suddenly FLIPPED again... and within a second, she smiled and very sweetly said "Okay... let's get me to bed. Goodnight mommy"... kissed me goodnight... and bounded upstairs as happy as a lark. Bea looked at me stunned... "Now that was freaky," she said... "She changed so fast it made me dizzy". No kidding. This has been happening with more regularity... and more noticeably since the current medications she is on are helping to stabilize moods. She is FAR LESS angry as she has been... actually very delightful... unusually so... but when she does get angry... it is sudden without any warning, and the contrast is very apparent. Black or white... flip flop... within a second or two.

Through the night (she slept with me) she had a few bad dreams and I would roll over and pray for her. She talked a LOT in her sleep last night... and around 4:15 she was wide awake and ready to get up. It's nice to have the company when I can't sleep either. So Katie and I got up and took a shower together and got ready in the same bathroom. It was great fun. We gathered our stuff together and were out of the house by 6:00 am. When we got to the hospital I reminded her that she needed to get her blood test this morning... and with practically no response at all, she said "Okay..." and had it done very easily. I was astounded. No fight. No whining. No anger. Who is this person??? Can she stay? ((wink)) It's like we are getting our girl back finally... I have so missed her... I feel as if we all are finally walking out from beneath that dark cloud and we all can feel the sunshine on our faces. Ahhhhh.....

So she is upstairs with the others... working through her day... while I make my phone calls, send my faxes, and play a few games of Scrabble with my sister online (the highlight of my day). Mark comes home from Texas tomorrow afternoon, and I can't wait.. I have really missed him. We have talked on the phone a few times, and he has said he has had a few good cries, a lot of good sleep, wonderful fellowship with his family, caught some fish out of the pond, and is now ready to come back and give me a break. Katie, on the other hand, has mixed emotions.... she is very excited to have daddy come home (she has missed him a lot), but she isn't too thrilled to give up her spot on daddy's side of the bed.

The days end report on Katie was very positive... she is showing signs of good improvement. The doctor said that her medication levels taken this morning were theraputic levels and we will hold at this dosage for now. We had a wonderful ride home... absolutely NO traffic (where was everybody??)... and Bea had dinner waiting for us when we got home. (YAY Bea!!) What would I do without her???

Bea and I sat up for a while and watched "Dancing with the Stars" on TV (I had never seen it before). It's not something I would watch again... but it did pass the time and helped me unwind. When I looked up at the time, it was 9:30 pm.... "Why am I up watching this when I need to be in bed", I asked her. We giggled at my poor choice... so I bid her goodnight... finished this blog... and am now on my way to bed.

Chow 4 Now.
Susan