This made me laugh so hard I almost passed out.

She went to school with no complaints for three days this past week, even though her wrists were hurting from whatever it is that's ailing her again. Then Thursday, she complained in the A.M. of throat and ears hurting. So I let her stay home.

We had an appointment with the nurse-practitioner at her psychiatrist's office Thursday afternoon, to check in and see how the new meds are doing. If you remember, the last time, she prescribed Zoloft (25mg) for her. So we had been cutting Zoloft tabs in half for two weeks. Stephanie said it was working, and she didn't feel anxious any more. She was cheerful at the appointment and it went well. Even so, the nurse wants us to go ahead and give her the whole Z pill each day instead of just half. So we are now giving her 50mg each day, still a very small dose.

We ate at the Mexican Inn after the appointment, then went home. Christi and I began trying watch Tuesday night's recording of American Idol. Stephanie proceeded into major meltdown mode. It started with trying to get out of school the next morning and escalated into demanding to be taken to the emergency room. She was literally screaming at us at the top of her lungs. Again. Of course, we refused to take her to the ER. She didn't need that. There was no life-threatening anything going on. Last year, while this was happening, we did go, twice, to the ER. They did nothing that helped (we reminded her of this) and it wound up costing us somewhere around $700. Anyway...it finally got over with (after an hour and a half), and we finally got to finish our tv program. We were all exhausted, and all night at work, I felt like crying. I was so depressed, it was awful. Things had gone so well for three days and then, "Poom!" (As John Madden would say.)

Friday, we let her go ahead and stay home again, and I took Steph to the doctor that morning. We were due for a follow-up, anyway, from the last visit. Her wrists were hurting badly, and they were very warm to the touch. She was experiencing occasional pain in other joints as well. Plus she had a major headache and was also experiencing dizziness.

The doctor is clueless. He doesn't think it's tied into last year's illness because she didn't experience the same kind of rash previous to the joint pain. She did have a rash, but of a different nature. He also doesn't want to prescribe anti-biotics (which was what seemed to stop this last year) because he doesn't see any evidence that it's bacterial. So he's referring us to another rheumatologist. Last year, all the rheumatologist said was, "This is a tough one."

We are at our wits' end. And losing faith in the medical profession by leaps and bounds. The older I get the more stupid the doctors get. I'm wondering why we pay them so much when they know so little. What do they do all those years at school? They seem to only know about the major stuff that everybody gets. If it's the least bit different than the usual stuff, they just scratch their heads and throw drugs at it.

And while I'm complaining about the doctors, with autism rising in the exponential percentages in which it has been rising over the last decade, you would think that doctors would be trying to learn something about it. Not happening folks. We have not found a doctor in the Fort Worth area that has a clue about autism, and they don't seem interested in learning about it. They have bought the APA line that there's no cure, and they aren't interested in any other position. How can you have any respect for an organization like that? Just for information, the American Pediatrics Association was categorically opposed to any funding for autism research. These are your children's doctors! They are not interested in finding any cause or cure for the disease that is taking our country by storm.

Ok. I'll step off my soapbox now. That just gets me going.

I'll update more when there's more to tell.

For now, we are looking forward to our vacation on Spring Break. We are going to Arizona. We will take in a few spring training games with the Rangers in Surprise, AZ, then move up in the state for a trip to the Grand Canyon and Sedona and other parts. Should be fun.

TTFN, y'all!

Missed anything?
The Beatles--Abbey Road/Alice Cooper--Killer - July 04, 2012
The Beatles Eponymous Album - June 26, 2012
Autism's False Prophets - February 12, 2011
Santana--Guitar God? - November 11, 2010
Tribute To the Red Sox - September 29, 2010