Re: Re: little more advice = Rhonda Keep Us Posted

April 20, 2012

1 am Saturday morning - He's in the ER, changed, showered, lying in bed getting

pampered by the nurses and looking delighted.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

He slept til 3 pm, got up & was in bathroom 3 hours. Came out with his pants

changed! His fingernails cut! His hair slicked down! He was ready to go. Who can

explain OCD? I can't. I was kinda worried he didn't look bonafide emergency

anymore, but his hoodie still reeked, so we were okay on that count. He walked

outside for the first time in 4 months, looked at the baby ducks, got in the

car!

Thanks for confirmation of OSU . At the last minute, I called their ER to

see about wait. They were on a " psych serge " with so many child psych patients

they were putting them in beds in the ER halls, with curtains up around as

temporary rooms. I did not think my son would do well in that environment, other

than that the whole place would clear out if he came near, which might have

worked, or might not have. OSU told me to go to any ER, which would do the same

intake process and could then refer him to any teen psych unit in the state.

Okay. I picked the newest, finest hospital in the city. Called ahead, they knew

we were coming. We waited about 5 min in the waiting room. Back to station one,

he let them do BP, lots of questions. Station two, this nurse meant business,

gave him a gown, he put it on! Then she told him to take a shower; he did. I

didn't even recognize him when he came out. Praise God. The only compulsions I

saw were some handwashing and some blowing dirt away. I'm not sure if more will

come back or not. The OCD is still there, for sure. I'm not really sure what the

next step will be. But at least for tonight he's clean.

Of course I got to see how the whole group responded to a person with severe

OCD. The desk person was great, did not blink. But I saw the whole nurses'

station watching as we were escorted to a room. I heard the NEXT desk person

calling for the social worker on the phone, saying, 'Yeah, it's someone with

OCD, he's had some problems cleaning. " The nurse who made him do the shower said

to him afterward, " Oh, doesn't that feel so much better? " Like " you naughty boy,

why haven't you been showering?? Look how easy it is! " I felt like a total crumb

a number of times, since it was my house he was escaping from. But these are all

totally minor, they did such an incredible job with him. The only thing that

really bothered me maybe a little was when the social worker was doing the

assessment for further treatment. She asked why he hadn't been seen by a

psychiatrist. I said he was being treated by an LISW specializing in OCD

therapy, who had special training. She said, 'ANY PSYCHIATRIST CAN TREAT OCD.

IT'S JUST ANOTHER SPECTRUM DISORDER LIKE BIPOLAR OR SCHIZOPHRENIA. " But hey, she

referred him on for further treatment! I'm not complaining!

Anyway, I'm so proud of my son, so incredibly proud. It's this group here who

knows that the walk he made tonight out to the car was a bigger accomplishment

than any trophy or award that gets the applause of the crowds.

Thanks so much ladies, I could not have done it without you. You are the best.

And thanks from my family as well.

Rhonda

Re: little more advice = Rhonda Keep Us Posted

Dear Rhonda,

I think OSU Hospital is the right choice. (The Cinci Hospital can't compare in

regards to reputation) OSU has a wonderful reputation & a teaching hospital has

two advantages. 1. Lots of different folks involved ie. adding thier advice,

experitise. 2. They are truely up on the latest and greatest treatments...I'm

sure they will know the appropriate treatment.

Keep up Posted

> > >

> > > Thanks, I'm beginning to accept this! Spin cycle - great word picture

there.

> > >

> > > Thanks to all good advice and support, my head cleared up and I realized

that driving him down 1 1/2 hours to Cincy for treatment that I can get right

here in Columbus doesn't make sense. I thought if I took him to Cincy they would

make sure he got into the teen psych unit that is housed in the Lindner Center -

which is an OCD treatment center for adults and outpatient children. Then MAYBE

he would get some treatment time with therapists from the Center itself, rather

than just the psych staff in the unit.

> > >

> > > Well, turns out there's no guarantee he will get into the psych unit

connected to Lindner. If he doesn't, he will go to any of their teen psych units

and they will just do their regular group therapy, talk therapy, blah blah.

Friend said her son was in there a couple days and they had a couple suicide

attempts, kids on feeding tubes, stuff that it's okay for a kid to be exposed to

but maybe not what you're looking for in treatment.

> > >

> > > Maybe he could get stabilized, cleaned up and on meds in that situation.

But there's no help for OCD there. What's more, when I spoke to ER social worker

about his concern about clothes, she said he was just making up excuses and if

that were satisfied, he'd make up another excuse. What really worries me is that

this morning another of their social workers called and asked when I was getting

him down there, asked for my address, said they were very concerned. I asked if

they were going to have him removed from my home. She said she was considering

calling children's services. Yeesh. I said, hey, he said he would come on

Friday. If he doesn't , I'M calling children's services. Plus, I don't even

really want to come down there if you can't guarantee Lindner - I might as well

take him to Columbus Children's. She said okay, and I said I would call her on

Friday. Haven't seen CPS so far today. :-p

> > >

> > > Then I put a call in to a therapist in the Cols Children's system asking

her for help and guidance in getting into the Cols system. She offered help

before but we were stuck on Lindner at that point. Haven't heard back from her

but I think she will call; she offered to email ER for us before & help us walk

through.

> > >

> > > Question -- when should I tell son plans have changed? I've actually

shown him pix of Cincy ER and Lindner Center and told him how nice it was. . ..

oops.

> > >

> > > thanks

> > > Rhonda

> > >

> >

April 21, 2012

Rhonda, such great news!Â I could feel your relief in your post.Â fingers

crossed for you, keep us posted!

Â

________________________________

To:

Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2012 12:33 AM

Subject: Re: Re: little more advice = Rhonda Keep Us Posted