Supernanny

I remember a time when our daughter was spiralling out of control. The temper tantrums. The manic moments. The moments of being a Klingon and cling on. The looks we got. The comments made. Being told we need a "Supernanny" intervention. That our parenting skills were not what was best for our child. Then she was put on meds.

That's when our emotional and financial roller coaster went out of control. Getting her on the right med. combination was a huge relief. The process though almost killed us. $100 here and $200 there within the month, only to take a couple of doses and find out that these meds. made the situation worse.

And then we got it. One med worked WONDERS for the bipolar only to have it amplify a hyper kinetic core tremor. So we lower that med. dose and add another med. Also to discover that the base med. is being eaten by her liver at a high rate and without the upper dose, it will work less and less as she grows and the body develops a tolerance for that drug.

At the time we didn't know it was a hyper kinetic core tremor. We didn't know for certain without a doubt that it was a med. amplification of the the tremor or a med. induced tremor. So now we know, now after waiting exhaustively for 6 months the cause it's time for change.

I so dread this change. There will be a time period of no meds. We'll be further into the drama. We'll be deeper into the rapid swings. Waiting patiently for her to be able to start her new med. Thankfully we've implemented lots of support around her and given her tools to cope.

So with this dread, also comes hope. Hope that this med. will open doors for her. Less drug interactions. Less drug warnings. Less limits to allow her to be a proper 9/10 year old little girl. Hoping to see her on two meds. Hoping to only have 3 pills (maybe 4) a day to take rather than 9 or 10 pills a day.

That also helps our pocketbook. I don't want to look at the financial side. In four years, more than likely we'll have to file for bankruptcy just because of the mountain of debt tied to medical interventions. Not just with her, rather in general.

As a parent we choose the option to go into debt. To do whatever it takes so that she can succeed, be a productive HEALTHY member of society. Knowing full well that it does weigh onto what we have to work with. We are her advocates. If we don't advocate for her best interest, who will?

Supernanny has proven techniques that work with a good population of children and families HOWEVER, not every family fits into a box. Nor is every child going to respond to the same techniques. So being open is what we need to do. Trial and errors.

And that is where we are in our lives now. Everything is a trial. Somethings work. Some don't and others need a tweak here and there. And often families in our shoes, struggle to find that balance and know that not all things are options. Especially when hoops and red-tape are involved. (blog about Hoops and Tape tomorrow.

So in the meantime... we cling to hope and know that in the end, it's all worth it.