Day 9

So obviously, I missed some days.  Today is Tuesday, 12 January 2010.  After a fairly long weekend I stepped on the scale and weighed in at 252.2 pounds.  I'm 11.2 pounds down and just 19 from my birthday goal.  I know it'll begin slowing down even further, but I'm enjoying the loss while it lasts.  To be honest, I wasn't sure how I'd be doing since I snacked some this weekend.  I didn't eat anything horrible, but I had a small handful of white cheddar cheez-its.  Then I was at safeway yesterday and they had JUST taken some bagels out of the oven.  I've never had one of them that fresh before and the Jalapeno and cheese one looked too good to pass up.  So I got a blueberry one for my son and the jalapeno myself.  Despite that, I stayed on track and kept losing. 

Now, to the reason we were at safeway yesterday morning.  My oldest son had a follow-up doctor visit to discuss the results of the questions his teacher and I answered.  Once she tallied up the scores of the provided answers it was clear, even to a layman, there was a very strong possibility for ADHD.  He scored very high in struggling with impulsivity and hyperactive behavior on both assessments, while getting a 0 from both myself and the teacher on any questions implying any willful disregard for rules or other people.

After reviewing the scores and likely cause we began discussing how to address the issue.  He's been in counseling a couple times and is still going, but that's only having a little, if any, success so far.  I've tried multiple ways of dealing with his behavior myself and met with varying success personally.  However, that doesn't help if he just reverts back when I'm not there.  And in this day and age, teachers aren't authorized to dull out corporal punishment like they could when I was in a Christian school.  It's amazing what just knowing the threat exists can do for your behavior.  However, that's another topic for another time.  Finally, we got to the topic of medication.  As anyone who knows me or has read this blog knows, I don't like this idea.  However, in the research I've done on the topic and people I've spoken to (including two doctors, and parents of adhd kids) the possible results can't be ignored.  The one she was interested in starting him on is Concerta.  After a detailed discussion, we decided to give it a try.  What it really came down to was that it will help his ability to focus.  It might make him lose a bit of his appetite, but I don't have to give it to him every day.  If I decide I don't want to give it to him on weekends, there's no weening period.  He takes one pill early in the morning, before school, and that's enough to last for about 8 hours, which should be enough to get through school.  Today is his first school-day on it, so I'm really anxious to find out how he's doing.  Good or bad, I'll have it on here.