Halloween Mask

A few days late, but happy halloween! This year we kept on with the Star Wars theme and Greyson went as Chewbacca (he was Yoda last year). Despite having several costumes, and changing her mind daily, Roslynn decided to go as Vamperina. Halloween last year was fun, G only made it down the walkway at my parents house before he freaked out, so he stayed back and gave out candy while Derek and I took Roz around the neighborhood.

This year, we came equipped with the double stroller and supplies to keep G happy while we walked around. Unfortunately, he only lasted two houses before he had a meltdown, so I took him back to my parent’s house and let him run around.

An hour or so later, Roslynn and Derek returned to the house with two giant buckets filled with candy. Luckily, Roslynn was a nice big sister and shared some of her treats with Greyson.

I’m thinking next year, it may be smart to take G to a sensory friendly trick or treat someplace, just so he can experience the fun too.

Greyson’s true Halloween mask came on Friday, when he had another laser treatment in Baltimore. We woke up extra early on Friday because Starbucks was giving away reusable holiday cups with a holiday drink and I was not missing that, so we had to stop before we got the road to Baltimore. Roslynn accompanied us to Baltimore this time, but I kept her in the waiting room to avoid having too many people in the procedure room. We finally got on the highway around 8:10 for a 9:30 procedure, so I knew I would have to make good time for us to get into the city, fight through traffic, find a parking spot and check in. Fortunately, the parking spot we found was right next to the entrance to the children’s dermatology hospital, so I knew Jesus had my back.

We checked in and they immediately took Greyson back. Roslynn and I used the restroom and as soon as we finished, Greyson was done. I could hear him coming down the hallway, screaming and crying as Derek carried him over his shoulder. At the time I was only focusing on checking out and getting back on the road, so I didn’t notice the bruising on G’s face until we got out of the parking garage.

I think it looks a lot worse than it probably feels. We give G a dose of Valium to calm him and he receives a hefty duty numbing agent on his face, so he doesn’t feel any pain from the laser. Once we got home, G was still pretty grumpy and tired from the Valium, so we let him rest.

I received a phone call from our pediatrician when we got home. She stated that she spoke with Dr. Stein (local neurologist) and they agreed not to increase G’s Trileptal, but they both recommended a trial of Cyproheptadine, which is commonly used as an antihistamine. After looking into the drug, I read that other uses for the medicine was to assist in weight gain, makes the patient drowsy and less-likely to have insomnia at night and also to prevent cluster headaches or migraines. Migraines have been a concern of ours for over a year, so we were very relieved that we finally had a doctor that listened to us and is willing to try something else than Motrin or Tylenol. We started the medication on Friday night and Greyson finally slept through the night for the first time in months. He also seemed to have an appetite again on Saturday, after barely eating and living off pediasure for the past month. He was not fussy at all this weekend, with exception of when he was hungry and cried because he wanted food. Things finally seem to be falling into place. I don’t want to speak too soon, as we know that one step forward is often three steps back, but we want to remain optimistic.

The next challenge we will work on tackling, is the loss of daylight savings time and how the dark afternoons impact our children and us.