Ben

A wonderful trip home to Canada brought many surprises including our return home and the effect it would have on our 12 year old son. Benjamin was born with Asperger's and severe sensory defensiveness. As a result he's never been really good at peer relationships, fine motor activities, self-care and personal hygiene. During the trip home in July, we noticed some frequent handwashing going on. It seemed unusual, especially after he hugged or touched his mother.
Reluctant to go back to Hawaii and filled with anxiety, he made the trip and actually really did do quite well. Upon our arrival home and as the onset of a new school year approached, the frequency of the handwashing escalated to an uncontrollable degree. The middle school start up date of August 1st came and went and he was unable to begin a new school year.

Meeting after meeting, and appointment after appointment, and this is what we know... Ben has developed an acute and severe case of OCD. It has literally taken over his life and ours and has left him imprisoned in his own body. In a sense, his brain has been hijacked. Under advisement of a psychiatrist, we have initiated a treatment plan which includes the administration of an anti-anxiety/ anti-depressant drug called Lexapro. It takes 8 weeks to reach the desired effect. 2 weeks have gone by so far and no relief is in sight. The frequency of the handwashing has decreased although increased in length, and he has compensated the former with a painful looking head tic.

Blood tests are in the works...drawn this morning...tests for a complete chemistry panel, heavy metals panel (ie. for lead, asbestos, etc), a complete blood count and a celiac panel have been ordered (we threw the last one in for good measure as 4 out of 6 siblings in Laurie's family have recently been diagnosed with Celiac Disease - including Laurie). September 12th we head out to Oahu for a pediatric neurology consult and possible MRI to rule out any brain lesions. Our psychiatrist is concerned at the acuteness and severity of the symptoms and just needs to rule anything serious out.

It has been a difficult 3 weeks since we've returned home to Hawaii. We're feeling pretty helpless right now as we try to offer Ben some kind of relief. We have been offered placement in the adolescent psych ward on Oahu but.....yeah, okay really....over my dead body that's all I have to say.

Please pray that the rest of us can keep it together until the meds kick in, and pray that they will work.