{One Thing at a Time}

This week we met with Jayden's new primary care physician at duPont Children's Hospital. Actually he's not new to Jayden as he was on the team that services the facility that Jayden lived at.  I think I mentioned before but I'll tell you again, we had no idea that when we started visitation and transition with Jayden into our home that the same team of doctors that had been taking care of Jayden all his life also happen to be the same team that cared for our little boy Gavin right up until his death.  Pretty cool.  One less group of people we need to get to know, and also we are able to give Jayden consistency in his providers.  It's a win - win situation.

Anyway, Jayden's appointment went great.  Dr. R agreed that Jayden looked great and seemed excited that he had finally found a home.  We talked about Jayden's secretion issues -- both oral and trach, as they are both way out of control.  Jayden is currently on a maximum dose of Robinul and also has tried a Scopolamine patch to help control the secretions -- none of which have worked.  ENT had suggested trying botox after his tonsils and adenoids are removed which the doctor agreed with.  I'm thinking I'm gonna see if we can get that done prior -- we'll see.

Another area of concern, which is pretty normal for a kid like Jayden is behavior.  The facility that cared for Jayden was great.  He was loved by the staff and received great medical care.  But it wasn't a home and they were under lots of state regulations as to how they could discipline.  Jayden really has no concept of what it means to be near another child and play nice and a very limited understanding of no.  This can be very overwhelming at times but Adam and I have come up with a plan that seems to be working for us and for Jayden.

When Jayden came home we gave him the first two weeks to have free reign -- loved him to bits and gave him all the attention he could ever want.  But at some point we needed to start to set limits and rules.  Obviously Jayden did not like this.  I can imagine it's very confusing and overwhelming for him -- just as it is for us.  All the sudden people are telling him no all day long!  So we decided to just focus on one thing at a time.

The biggest issue in our eyes was Angela's safety.  I can totally tell Jayden loves Angela but Jayden doesn't really have any concept of space and what it means to play nice and it started to effect Angela to the point she would get frightened every time monkey boy came near. So every time Jayden would approach Angela and show aggression we would pull him aside and hold his arms down into his lap firmly.  This gave him the physical input, without the obviously inappropriate physical punishment, but since Jayden has both visual and hearing impairment, some type of physical input is important.  We wouldn't completely remove Jayden from the situation because he needed to learn to be near her and show control of his overwhelming desire to pull her hair and tear off her glasses -- and as pretty as they are, he just can't do that to her!

It seems to be working.  Just three weeks ago we had to remove Angela's earrings as Jayden would rip them right out -- now she has her bling back.  We can leave Angela on the floor and Jayden will show complete control around her.  It's a serious display of progress. He will even come near her at times and start shaking his head no -- as to remind himself.  So cute -- so amazing.

My heart falls deeper in love with this little boy every day.  His potential blows me away.  He has come so far since his trauma and continues to make amazing strides as a part of our family!