I’m writing today’s entry from the hospital emergency room.  There’s not much else to do as I sit here waiting for the tox screen and EKG results to come back. 

 

It’s 8:19 and we’ve been here since around 4PM.  I’m tired.  That’s probably an understatement… I suppose I should back up a bit.  I can’t really begin at the beginning because I wasn’t there.  I had appointments today and didn’t get home til about 2:15PM.  When I pulled up my mother’s car was there.  I thought that was strange since I hadn’t asked her to babysit today.  I figured maybe my daughter had gotten sick and the school had called her when they couldn’t reach me.  I brought my little girl inside and found my mother inside with my older daughter asleep on the couch.  My mom held her finger to her mouth, shushing me to be quiet and herding me upstairs to talk.  She looked serious.  I wondered if my daughter had gotten in trouble or was sick.

 

When we got upstairs, my mother gave me a sealed envelope from the school nurse and then explained what happened.  She said the school nurse tried to reach me and couldn’t.  She then tried my mom, my brother and eventually his girlfriend and SHE finally got hold of my mom, who went down to the school.  The nurse was concerned because my daughter had been brought down from the classroom with droopy eyelids, complaining of dizziness, feeling like she was going to pass out, looking very lethargic with constricted pupils.  When they checked her vital signs her blood pressure was normal but her heart rate was 120 sitting down and went up to 160 when she stood up.  Her heart rate would not go down and my daughter became very agitated.  The nurse wanted my mother to take her to the hospital emergency room, but my daughter became upset about the idea.  She thought if they went it would mean she would be committed again and would end up in a long-term inpatient state adolescent psychiatric hospital (this had been recommended previously but we managed to avoid it).  She didn’t understand that the hospital ER they were going to did not handle psychiatric evaluations at all, and could only refer her for evaluation if they thought it was needed.  There was no way they would admit her for any mental health reason (other than an overdose).  Anyway, my mother was worried my daughter would try to run away if she tried to take her to the hospital by herself.  So she decided to take her to McDonalds instead to eat, and then took her home to sleep.  Probably not the best course of action but she thought she was doing the right thing.  She meant well.  And nobody could reach me for a decision.  I would have rather had the school nurse call an ambulance when all this was happening… they could have just sent her over to the ER, I would think.  I mean I know I signed consent to treatment forms when she started attending this school. 

 

Anyhow, while we were in triage she did admit one of her girlfriends gave her pills this morning… she didn’t know WHAT they were and wouldn’t rat out who gave them to her.  She said a lot of the kids at her school deal.  No surprise there.  I kind of had a feeling that is what had happened when I spoke to the nurse on the phone and read her note about how my daughter looked when she saw her.  Of course when we spoke she said they had questioned the kids on her bus and at school and nobody had seen anyone give her anything… LIKE THEY’D TELL!  My daughter does see a drug and alcohol counselor at this school, along with her regular counselor.  I guess they will have plenty to talk about now. 

 

I insisted the doctors run an EKG in the ER since my daughter had an abnormal one a few months back after she had a shot of Zyprexa in her butt during a hospitalization.  Since we didn’t know what kind of drug she ingested and her heart rate was so rapid I thought it would be a good idea to make sure everything was ok, and thankfully it was.

 

Whatever pills she took didn’t show up on the tox screen.  The doctor said they didn’t show up as normal drugs like cocaine or pot or narcotics.  I had thought maybe she had taken Vicodin or Tylenol with Codeine, since she had thought they were pain killers and they were medium sized white pills.  But the doctor said narcotics would have stayed in her system for 24 hrs.  So this was probably some newer designer drug.  Lovely, eh?

 

So anyway tomorrow I have to take her to the pediatrician.  At first they said I could let her go back to school, but when I asked for a note saying it was ok to go back, they told me I should have the pediatrician write it (why should THEY be liable when they can pawn it off on the pediatrican?).  Now I already have a neurologist appointment tomorrow at 10:30AM for a nerve conduction study.  I’m not canceling that.  I will have to make the pediatrician appt when I get back from there.  Hopefully there will not be any emergencies in the interim.  My mother will baby-sit the girls while I’m gone.  Crossing my fingers and praying for peace…

 

We have an appt already for my daughter with her psychiatrist next week, but she may want to see her earlier.  I’ll have to try to call her also when I get back from the neuro tomorrow.  More chasing my tail.  And if I’m really lucky, Sprint will have the new phones in and I’ll be able to finally get a new cell phone, so the school will be able to finally get hold of ME directly!  I had planned on going over here today, until I got sidetracked by all this drama…

 

Ok, I want that economy box of Calgon now… oh hell, just buy me some stock and a big rig full of it!

Hey there. Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm glad you like it. Wow have you got your hands full. I was telling my kids about all the single mom's I've talked to and read about (via blogs) who have multiple kids and many times with special needs. I hope everything will be ok with your daughter. Hang in there.

Hi found ya via ~Human Woman~...
I just want to say I feel like you're writing about my adolescence. I did what your daughter did. And I went to a shrink... It got much worse from then on. I am NOT trying to scare you or make the matter worse. I was sent to a long term treatment center. I spent 16 months of my life there.

If I could go back I would tell my mother to be there for me. Talk to me. Not to judge me. To protect me from bad friends as much as possible. My mother was verrry lenient, too lenient. My life may have been very different had I made better decisions as a teen. But when I was that age I had no idea what was going on. I thought I was an adult and had all the answers. Your daughter has her whole future ahead of her, whether she takes that into consideration or not.

Best of Luck, truly.

*HUGS* Was she in pain? is that why she took the pills?.... Did they ever find out what it was? ... Hope everything is okay, thinking about you!

I've been sick but not to sick to pray for my dear friend . Keep us posted.

So sorry you are having such a rough time,I will keep you and your family in my prayers.