OMG! Just got a call from the residential treatment center where Kitty is currently residing. She might be discharged this weekend! They'll let me know for sure sometime this week. We're sooo not ready! (Neither is she).
Apparently the Center hasn't been keeping our funding source (the state she's adopted from) updated on Kitty's progress (or lack thereof) despite repeated requests from our funding source. When the fiunding source exasperatedly reminded them that their contract is up at the end of this month, the Center hastily submitted a 200 page, mostly (poorly) handwritten document. The funding source can't review it in time to get the contract extended.
Of course the Center had already said Kitty wasn't progressing well (her cognitive and processing issues are hindering her ability to understand and use the treatment effectively) so they were going to send her home anyway, but we'd been told they would wait until a new medication had time to get up to therapeutic levels - which won't be for another few weeks.
The good news is it doesn't interfere with Hubby and my birthday plans. We were already planning on going to the city where the Center is located, visit her and go to family therapy on Friday, spend the night alone in a hotel(*woo hoo!*) , and then visit with her again on Saturday. If she comes home, the only thing that will change is instead of visiting on Saturday, we'll be picking her up and taking her home.
We can't really fight the Center sending her home before the med is at therapeutic levels, because unfortunately, she doesn't exhibit any behaviors at the Center (gotta love RAD and having a child who would "rather die" than let anyone see her problems), so they have no way of telling if the med is already working or not. Honestly they didn't see a need to add this second mood stabilizer, but we insisted because we knew she was going to need it when she came back home to the stress of family and school.
We're expecting a honeymoon period, and maybe we can count on that to get us through to Summer when things usually go a little smoother.
It should help that Bear is no longer living at home... for now. He recently decided to quit all his meds cold turkey and over the next 6 or 7 months as they wear off we can expect to see at least some of his symptoms return. Which is scary. He's already starting to skip school, although I'm sure he'll blame this on the suicide of his current roommate's father (Bear and friend lived with the mother, but the friend visited his father occasionally - Bear didn't go because he and the father didn't get along). Of course he can't move home if he's off his meds... not that he's likely to ask.
In the meantime we'll keep pushing our funding source to get partial day hospitalization (aka intensive outpatient) where Kitty can get therapy, psychiatric care, and school during the day (like being in residential or at a hospital), but still come home at night.
Not sure when we'll know for sure about Kitty coming home. Will keep y'all posted.
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