Grandparents Raising Children Support Group
This community is dedicated to grandparents who are the primary caregivers of their grandchildren. In cases where the parents are not willing or able to provide adequate care for their children, grandparents may take on the role of primary caregivers. Join the support group to find support, share your experience, and get advice from other members.
We took in our GS at the age of 3 months (my son's child). My GS was born blue and as time went on he has been DX with Severe Autism and CP and ADHD. We adopted him April 2012 and he will be 4 yrs old in march. I had to retire my job early due to having to take off 2 to 3 days per week for his therapies and other related issue with him.
He is a bubbly sweet boy who does show he loves us however; he is very high maintenance and it seems that every few months he has a new issue added to him. Lately, his ADHD has been getting worse and his Behaviorist and Preschool teachers told me that they are having a hard time working with him because he can't sit still. We also noticed that he is more Hyper at home, too. It just wears us down...and we feel sad for him because we can tell he can't help his hyper behavior. He has a Nero Dr apt in Dec and I hate to say it but I will ask about Meds. Has anyone given Meds to this young of child?
On top of all this my sister and 33 yr old daughter has cancer and they both have had it come back 3 times. My sister is in her 60's and it started out as breast cancer that spread to her spine which she has treated for 3 yrs and it just spread to her brain. My oldest daughter started out with Thyroid cancer, and they took out her thyroid and some lymph nodes around the neck. She went back 6 wks later to find out there is more Nodes that have cancer in them plus they told her she has a Rare Blood disorder called PNH which makes her anemic. She had to go back in and have the other Nodes taken out and she went back to the Dr again after 6 wks to find out that there is more nodes with cancer. My daughter live in NH and we live in California so it makes things even worse for all of us. She is married now for 6 yrs and they both finished with College 2 yrs ago when they moved to her husband's family's home. They both got job's related to their degrees and was talking about starting a family. I feel bad because I can't just take off to see my daughter or sister because we don't have anyone to help my husband with GS. I have gone to be with my daughter for 5 days but being able to do that again is hard now that my grandson has been getting harder to care for. We did get awarded Respite Care (only 12 hrs per month to start) however; there isn't many caregivers that do respite care and I just got my 1st interview with worker this Tuesday. As soon as I find someone to help with caring with gs I will work on getting more hours so I can fly to NH and Illinois to be with my daughter and my sister.
Well, bless you if you have read this far....I haven't been here in a long time and needed to share our updates.
He is a bubbly sweet boy who does show he loves us however; he is very high maintenance and it seems that every few months he has a new issue added to him. Lately, his ADHD has been getting worse and his Behaviorist and Preschool teachers told me that they are having a hard time working with him because he can't sit still. We also noticed that he is more Hyper at home, too. It just wears us down...and we feel sad for him because we can tell he can't help his hyper behavior. He has a Nero Dr apt in Dec and I hate to say it but I will ask about Meds. Has anyone given Meds to this young of child?
On top of all this my sister and 33 yr old daughter has cancer and they both have had it come back 3 times. My sister is in her 60's and it started out as breast cancer that spread to her spine which she has treated for 3 yrs and it just spread to her brain. My oldest daughter started out with Thyroid cancer, and they took out her thyroid and some lymph nodes around the neck. She went back 6 wks later to find out there is more Nodes that have cancer in them plus they told her she has a Rare Blood disorder called PNH which makes her anemic. She had to go back in and have the other Nodes taken out and she went back to the Dr again after 6 wks to find out that there is more nodes with cancer. My daughter live in NH and we live in California so it makes things even worse for all of us. She is married now for 6 yrs and they both finished with College 2 yrs ago when they moved to her husband's family's home. They both got job's related to their degrees and was talking about starting a family. I feel bad because I can't just take off to see my daughter or sister because we don't have anyone to help my husband with GS. I have gone to be with my daughter for 5 days but being able to do that again is hard now that my grandson has been getting harder to care for. We did get awarded Respite Care (only 12 hrs per month to start) however; there isn't many caregivers that do respite care and I just got my 1st interview with worker this Tuesday. As soon as I find someone to help with caring with gs I will work on getting more hours so I can fly to NH and Illinois to be with my daughter and my sister.
Well, bless you if you have read this far....I haven't been here in a long time and needed to share our updates.
fortress
Very sorry about your dgt and sister. I hope thingsgo as well as possible for all. The DS children with anxiety issues site has parents who have dealt with kid medication issues for a variety of reasons and may have info to help you with your decision.
Snippy
Sending prayers from way down south and know that you and your family will be in my prayers.
NannaKMS
My gs is 5 and we have him on ADHD meds he also has behavior issues, a lot of children who's mothers were using drugs during their pregnancies have these issues. We have him on Vyvanse 20mg in the morning and we have noticed a big difference, this is a capsule and has to be swallowed but there are a couple others that you can open the capsules and sprinkle the powder into some yogurt or applesauce. We had to do something with our gs he was the same very hyper couldn't sit still to read a book with or watch a tv show, and once he started school it was hard for his teacher. Also we noticed the behavior getting worse with his age. We first went to the family doctor then she refered us to the school board I had an on phone intake and she refered us to a pediatrician that works with children with behavioural issues. Our pediatrician diagnosed him as ADHD and we have been working closely with her to help him, we also have him on a wait list for a childrens center here that works with kids that have different issues they will provide behavior therapy for gs and support for us its been 3 months wait and could take up to 8 months. At least we're doing this now while hes young. I'm so sorry about your sister and your daughter, I hope this has helped you. Bless you
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