Just a quick update for now...went to our appointment at Childrens on Thursday. I like the Dr. and her nurse. Also met the teacher and OT that work the adolescent program there.Meeting was thorough, covered all aspects of Sarah's life, although some of it briefly.They want a series of appointments to work with Sarah before admission, to prepare partly ahead of time (I agree) but also because Sarah is not on board. Of course they said we both have to be before she can be accepted. They could see that I was agreeable. While I found some of it a bit harsh I can understand the need for rules, routine, etc. and wouldn't interfere. (might go to my car and cry though). Sarah, however, was not so understanding and is not accepting of the need for all this in her life. It does seem overwhelming - a lot all at once, like they want to fix everything about her life in one hospital stay ( like boot camp) when we were both expecting more of a medical approach to the symptoms, fatigue and pain she's been in. Sarah had a regular hospital bed pictured that she would be in while dr's ran tests, fixed her meds and figured out what's going on. They want her up, dressed. participating in a daily routine, getting "activated" they call it and not lying around watching TV. Also the individual rooms are small with no TV and early bedtime, one main TV off at 10, etc. -- has Sarah in a KNOT. Now she's saying she's not going to hospital at all. GREAT!!She scared me the 1st day because she said she was going to fix herself...not going to take any meds at all, didn't need these stupid dr's....thought I might really have a problem.Fortunately after a night's sleep she got up and took her meds. She's still very negative about the whole hospital thing but at least she's cooperating at home. I feel for her. I was overwhelmed too at the visit and for her. I did feel that she got "picked on" a bit, as if they thought she chose to do this to herself. Feel they need a better understanding of the big picture and how we arrived where we are. And I say we because Sarah has not been in this alone....I've been with her for the past 7 years of her health miseries. I know what she's been through and she most certainly did not choose any of this. Need to talk to our regular dr. and make sure she gave a full story to new dr. Will have better results I think than just coming from me. I always worry about new people who don't know me yet thinking I baby my kids or exaggerate their medical stories. I don't have credibility with them yet. Would figure that Dr.J (old dr.) just left on holidays for 10 days. That's the story of the last 6 months. Everytime we've needed someone they've just gone away. This is getting really old.Just realized this was not exactly a "quick" update-- oops! better go now and get something else done.
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I was once hospitalized for my depression and anxiety. They do go at things a bit different than you would expect. I could hardly even talk about what was bothering me because they were so caught up in me participating in groups and such. I do pray that your daughter has a better go at this than I did. I won\'t ever go back to where I went before. They made things worse. They were making me take this pain med that I was getting addicted to, and I could tell what was happening. When I brought it up, they just dismissed it and then I got in trouble for refusing it. I was also told (with no medical testing I\'ll have you know) that I was allergic to everything and that if I stopped eating corn, rice, wheat, and dairy, that all of my symptoms would go away. It was a mess. I am not telling you this to scare you. I am very happy that you are taking an active role in helping your daughter through this difficult time. That is more than I can say of my parents. I wish you the best of luck dear friend. *HUGS*
I was never hospitalized, but I wish I was when I was a teen. I was a mess, too. But when I did my student nurse rotation in psych, I got to see how one of these wards work. I was on the adolescent girls floor. I agree that there\'s not so much time to talk as one might expect. (At least at this facility.) The routine is very strict and doesn\'t leave them much free time. This is intentional, \'cause most kids in the facility needed structure and a predictable routine. And they do need to be up participating, \'cause that\'s as close as possible to a regular day for her. It\'s only under these circumstances that the staff will be able to assess her psych issues. If she were purely medical, then a hospital bed would be fine. But lab tests aren\'t gonna diagnose her. :-( This isn\'t going to be easy for either of you, but I have faith that you\'re doing the right thing. I hope Sarah will come to understand that in time, that she\'ll be so fed up with feeling bad that she\'ll be ready to go. By the way, what do your sons think of this? I assume the older one is understanding, but the younger one? Good luck to you and all your kids!!