This thread could fit into parenting, medical or anger management but I have chose to post it here as it's the closest to how I am feeling.
Four weeks ago my eldest son (the one with autism) started to lose his appetite and then became very lethargic and started to have incredibly strange mood swings.
For a couple of weeks I fretted and pondered (as mothers do) spoke to people about it and put it down to his transition to both college and a part-time job.
There was still something niggled at the back of my mind throughout this time and two weeks ago I sat him down and with a communicative towrope pulled out of him exactly what he felt like... this for a person with autism was a stressful and pressurizing conversation but after it I knew he had to go to A n E.
I had a job on my hands there to get them to test him they wanted to know on 4 separate occasions why I thought my "tired" son needed to come to A n E I begged them to take tests and nothing could have prepared me for the outcome of them.
He has a palpable liver and spleen, liver enzymes where up, white blood cell count was low hemoglobin was low, and again by another miracle because he lived like a monk they admitted him, after telling us had he been like a normal 18 year old and been out drinking they would have sent him home!
After more tests it was found he had a bleeding stomach ulcer so that was injected with adrenalin and he also had a blood infection, they then found that all the lymph nodes in his stomach where enlarged.
We have had a preliminary diagnosis of aggressive Lymphoma they are testing to find out which one.
I have been through so many emotions... has my son not already suffered enough in his life with all he has struggled through?... Should I go back to therapy? will it open things I simply don't have the emotional resources for at the moment... utter anger and a real sense of helplessness as I am watching something eat my son and there is nothing I can do, he has went in four weeks from being a normal teenager to being unable to to stand or walk... his fate is in the hands of others.
His communication issues have had to be highlighted at every step and turn I have had to speak to medical people who think it is okay to blabber a load of medical jargon at someone with autism and they will cope.
The hardest part after this and definitely the most frustrating has been in dealing with others everyone wants an answer you cannot give, they want to fix and help in the same way I do and as I am the first line of information you get everyone's emotional baggage dumped right at your feet.
Previous therapy has definitely helped me in that I can sort through it and prioritize in my favor... my son needs me and he needs me mentally able so I have had conversations that under other circumstances would have made me shrivel up and die with shame but I have no time for tiptoeing round others at the moment.
We find out his latest round of biopsy results on Monday/Tuesday which will hopefully pin down what type of cell it is as it's being quite elusive!
So uni is on a back burner, nothing else in life matters and we are fighting this head on.
I am not particularly religious but I know many on this site are and at times like this find comfort in it...
Pray for my son... and thanks for listening
Four weeks ago my eldest son (the one with autism) started to lose his appetite and then became very lethargic and started to have incredibly strange mood swings.
For a couple of weeks I fretted and pondered (as mothers do) spoke to people about it and put it down to his transition to both college and a part-time job.
There was still something niggled at the back of my mind throughout this time and two weeks ago I sat him down and with a communicative towrope pulled out of him exactly what he felt like... this for a person with autism was a stressful and pressurizing conversation but after it I knew he had to go to A n E.
I had a job on my hands there to get them to test him they wanted to know on 4 separate occasions why I thought my "tired" son needed to come to A n E I begged them to take tests and nothing could have prepared me for the outcome of them.
He has a palpable liver and spleen, liver enzymes where up, white blood cell count was low hemoglobin was low, and again by another miracle because he lived like a monk they admitted him, after telling us had he been like a normal 18 year old and been out drinking they would have sent him home!
After more tests it was found he had a bleeding stomach ulcer so that was injected with adrenalin and he also had a blood infection, they then found that all the lymph nodes in his stomach where enlarged.
We have had a preliminary diagnosis of aggressive Lymphoma they are testing to find out which one.
I have been through so many emotions... has my son not already suffered enough in his life with all he has struggled through?... Should I go back to therapy? will it open things I simply don't have the emotional resources for at the moment... utter anger and a real sense of helplessness as I am watching something eat my son and there is nothing I can do, he has went in four weeks from being a normal teenager to being unable to to stand or walk... his fate is in the hands of others.
His communication issues have had to be highlighted at every step and turn I have had to speak to medical people who think it is okay to blabber a load of medical jargon at someone with autism and they will cope.
The hardest part after this and definitely the most frustrating has been in dealing with others everyone wants an answer you cannot give, they want to fix and help in the same way I do and as I am the first line of information you get everyone's emotional baggage dumped right at your feet.
Previous therapy has definitely helped me in that I can sort through it and prioritize in my favor... my son needs me and he needs me mentally able so I have had conversations that under other circumstances would have made me shrivel up and die with shame but I have no time for tiptoeing round others at the moment.
We find out his latest round of biopsy results on Monday/Tuesday which will hopefully pin down what type of cell it is as it's being quite elusive!
So uni is on a back burner, nothing else in life matters and we are fighting this head on.
I am not particularly religious but I know many on this site are and at times like this find comfort in it...
Pray for my son... and thanks for listening
