Anna's Story
Birth-One
One-Two
Two-Three
Four-Five
Anna's Pictures
Anna's Pictures, Part 2
6 years: Anna has only had 3 seizures in the last year, amazing! She weighs 48 pounds and is 47 inches tall. Anxiety, impulse control, mood swings, and socialization continue to be problems, but is overall making very good progress in school. They are recommending repeating kindergarten in the fall with more inclusion. She can write her name, draw a circle, and can sight recognize about 15 words using the Edmark Reading Program.
5 years, 5 months: Anna is now a kindergartner! She's made it 6 months without a seizure! We tried her on Topamax for mood swings this summer, but the medication made her dopey and anxious. We then put her back on Lamictal to help with her anxiety, but she started having absence seizures. So we are back to just Risperdal... it seems that anticonvulsants may have been increasing her seizure activity. We found some wonderful help through MHMR for respite and behavior. Anna is truly thriving and blossoming. She's even slept through the night a couple of times all by herself! She's also lost 2 bottom teeth.
5 years, 3 months: She's potty trained!!! Woo-hoo!!!
5 years, 2 months: The Risperdal has made a big difference in Anna's behavior. Her attention and impulse control are much better, and her aggression is back to normal. She is still having lots of anxiety. The school district has completed their assessments and evaluations for kindergarten placement. Anna is considered to have Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD-NOS) and will qualify for autism services. The IQ testing showed her to be in the mild-moderate range of mental retardation with an IQ of 56. They are recommending Life Skills for kindergarten with pullout to mainstream kindergarten for lunch, PE, and recess. She will attend ESY (extended school year) this summer to help her manage the transition and hopefully prevent a major regression.
5 years, 1 month: The med-free experiment was very disheartening. Anna had no seizures, but her behavior was out of control. We saw loss of impulse control, aggression, anxiety, inattentiveness, and hyperactivity. After a disastrous trial of Focalin for ADHD, the neuro now thinks Anna has a mood disorder like bipolar. We've started her on Risperdal.