Doctor update...

Yesterday we took Faith to see a new doctor. Actually this visit was the first and last visit for us. It was actually a nurse practitioner who can write prescriptions for us until we can find a new doctor. The ironic thing is she is leaving at the end of the month also. There is such a shortage of child psychiatrist out there. One the way home Renae and I discussed how happy we are with our psychologist. It sometimes seems as if he is so against giving Faith the "Bipolar" label. This is good because there is no doubt that he is ruling out everything else that can be the cause of her issues. We are still finishing up on the IEP. He updated our EFMP (exceptional family member program) paperwork with the Army. We are getting all of our ducks in order so that Faith will qualify for ABA therapy. Someone who specializes in working with children and they will come to the home, school or wherever the child is and work on the behavioral part of mood disorders. Our doctor is a firm believer in this, which makes us feel so much better. Instead of fixing everything with just medicine, our goal is to get her stable with medicine, work on the behavioral issues, and if absolutely necessary add some medicine. It is just nice knowing this doctor will be around and working with us for years to come. Battling mood disorders is hard enough, having to deal with a lack of doctors in this area is only more stress that we do not need to deal with. But I can understand a little. Imagine having to keep all these troubled children at work and not letting their lives and troubles come home with you. Impossible I say. Kris

long week...

The last week has been a long one. Actually had a really good time in the field. Minus the last day of thunderstorms and hypothermia, it was great to getting back to shooting our howitzer. Faith on the other hand has had a terrible week. We went to the doctor once, it was great that he was finishing Renae's sentences, however we still are not able to pinpoint what is causing her this pain and misery. Pretty much every day and evening she has been suffering. I hate hearing my child crying that she cannot go on this way or please, please help me. I hope when she gets older she can look back and know that we are doing EVERYTHING in our power to help her. This is just not a big fix. Hope everyone has a great day. Kris

Sunday morning...

What a week..what a week. This next week I will be going to the field for some much needed training with my section on the Howitzer. I just have not had time to work this blog and send out the letters that I need to do. It does not seem like I will make the timeline necessary to pick this dog up this summer. It is looking like it will be December. I just only have so many hours in a day and we must have so much money down towards the dog before they do the final 60 days training towards Faith's specific needs. It is just impossible to do it all by myself. Renae is absolutely wore out and physically past the point of exhaustion with the day to day stuff we are doing right now. Three kids, testing for Faith, doctors appointments, the support needed for my career, and so on. I know this is the story of every parent out there. I just hate that it feels like I am letting her down when I know it is something that will help her. I am going to keep this post short so I can send out a letter to the stables/arena to get us permission to put on the speed show to raise money for Faith. Have a great week everyone. Kris

Long week...

It has been a long week. I have been going to bed right after dinner every night. At work we are preparing for a field exercise next week where we will certify on our Howitzer and live fire for the first time with a new crew. Faith has been doing ok. She has been testing at the school. Which in itself has been a challenge to just get her there. At the same time she has been feeling terrible. We also found out her new psychiatrist has up and moved to another state with not even a word of warning. Oh how things seem to work in this world. Longer posts to follow. Kris