Monday, November 16, 2009

Doha Diaries, no 3: Small Steps

After meeting with the counselor at ASD and finding out that she could give me no recommendations for a psychiatrist, I wasn't feeling to great about how we would find one we'd be happy with. I'd noticed before that there was a sign on the same road as Hannah's school, fairly close to the school actually, that advertised the name and phone number of a licensed psychiatrist. So, after the meeting, I drove by the sign, took down the number, and figured, what the hell---we'll see how it goes.

I call and find out that he does treat children and he does see patients with ADHD---good so far! I set up the appointment, and we went last night, and to my endless surprise, I really like him. He listened to her entire history, asked all the right/relevant questions about her medication, adjustment to the relocation, behavior in school and at home, etc. Just as good, he agreed with my belief that it's time to increase the dosage of her meds. She's been on it for two years, and given her growth and the fact that she's approaching the age where hormones may start to be a factor, the medicine has become less effective and is wearing off earlier in the day. I couldn't believe that we walked out of his office last night with a new prescription in hand!

Unfortunately, we got home just in time for her to start puking her guts up! Looks like she caught the stomach bug that Eliza and Amelia had over the weekend. She'd already been home yesterday with a nasty cold, so this was just icing on the cake.

In an attempt to make the Thanksgiving holiday feel like a "normal" one, I decided to throw a Thanksgiving dinner party for some colleagues and friends. This first required me to poach a couple of friends from a colleague who has become a friend, but the point is that they're all people Hubby and I really like. I'm doing the turkey (Alton Brown's brined turkey!), dressing, a pecan pie, a pumpkin pie, coconut cake, and appetizers, and everyone else is bringing a side dish. We've got a couple other kids coming, so I bought a kid's table for them to sit at, and I'm even going to get some fresh flowers, a new tablecloth, and some decor for the house. Planning this has made me quite happy, despite the fact that I'll need to take Thursday off work to get started on cooking, cleaning, etc. We should have our alcohol permit by then, too, so yay for lots of wine!!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

glad you have some semblance of normal in your otherwise crazy experience!

Anonymous said...

At least she started puking her guts up at home, and not in your car! Especially given all the trouble you've had getting a car loan. Seriously though, I hope she's feeling better and that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Intlxpatr said...

Getting together to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends is about the best antidote to holiday loneliness and blues. Good for you. And good for you, taking a chance on the psychiatrist, and finding out he's not bad. Well done!

Anonymous said...

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laura said...

Thank you for opening up and sharing the highs and lows of your absolutely fabulous and epic life! This was just the inspiration I needed to be ok with my decision to return to grad school after a leave of absence and the birth of my second daughter in October.

You are one bad a$$ mama! The best thing we can give our daughters is an example of courageous (and somewhat reckless) abandon in pursuit of ones dreams, even if that means rocking the boat and being a stay-at-home-more-often mommy! You can make it up to your girls by being a hands on grandmother while they are busy pursuing their dreams...

Again, thank you for sharing, and hang in there- memories are memories, even if they are somewhat traumatic :)

AcadeMama said...

Haile: I think you may be the only person to think my life either "fabulous" or "epic" :) I think you're absolutely right about the importance of even traumatic memories...just remember that as you go through the trials of graduate school ;)