Thomas was discharged shortly before Christmas. I mentioned the doctors in the hospital had stopped the meds that control aggression and lowered the dose of the mood stabilizing medication. The Christmas holiday went well, I was looking forward to the holiday and the kids enjoying new toys to keep them busy during the school break, yet I was so worried about Thomas and the meds being discontinued. Tommy had to work, he had already taken unexpected time off to attend meetings and visit Thomas while he was hospitalized.
I remember the day after Christmas was when Thomas started acting odd. It was around 11am and he refused to get dressed. I had no real plans to go out or anything but we’re not a “stay in your pajamas all day” kind of family (unless you’re sick). Instead of getting dressed Thomas took off his pajama shirt and walked around in his pajama pants with no socks and cleaned my dining room table over and over and over. I didn’t know what to make of this. He kept scrubbing the tile top table, go back in the kitchen to rinse out the sponge and start over again. I may have gotten him to eat lunch and then get dressed but he cleaned my table for a good hour I’d say. He also became very worried about how his things were in his room. Shoes had to be lined up just so, no one was permitted to move his shoes unless Thomas himself were the one moving them. I wondered if he was developing OCD now?? Turns out this behavior was anxiety related to the mood disorder that wasn’t being treated appropriately now that the meds were all “off”
The next few days are a blur of wild behavior from Thomas. He was not aggressive towards the girls at all. But he didn’t know what to do with himself. I asked my parents to come over to help me out not that any of us knew what to do. At least the company was nice. When my parents were here Thomas started running around the house. Our house is the type where you can walk in a circle: living room, kitchen, dining room; back to the living room. He ran this route over and over and over. My Dad and I just watched in amazement and worry, why?? Finally my Dad caught Thomas on his way around. He seemed to be on a happy mission to run and determined to do so. I remember my mom talking to him and she managed to stop the running.
On December 30: I only remember the date because the next day was New Year’s Eve, Tommy was home so this must have been after work/late afternoon. Thomas started having a fit and came after me hitting and punching me. I have no idea what started it but Thomas then grabbed the silverware drawer and pulled the whole thing out from the kitchen base cabinet. Crash! The drawer fell to the floor. I remember the girls were in the living room and stayed there. Thomas then ran to the other side of the kitchen and Tommy caught him for fear he would hit me again. My son’s eyes were glassy and he was so, so angry and upset. He hit Tommy repeatedly and thrashed around trying to escape his father’s hold on him. We didn’t know what to do. I did not want to call an ambulance as I had no faith in the psychiatric units at our local hospitals, we had no doctors orders to give any meds to calm him down and Dr.F was still on vacation. We had called the hospital that discharged him and they said to “bring him back”.
Finally with Tommy holding him, Thomas calmed down enough for Tommy to get him ready for bed. We talked things over and decided this couldn’t go on, tomorrow I would bring Thomas back to the hospital that just discharged him. It was a safety issue for our whole family. I called a close friend who lived in that area and asked her to meet me there, that I had to take Thomas back to the hospital and they told me to go through the ER. My friend, Diane has experience in this behavior with her own son so I knew she would be wonderful to have with me. Once again God provided, he always does.
Menay O; mom to 4, Christian and thrift shopper on the side... 