I got a phone call yesterday from Izzy’s other pediatrician at Fisher’s Peds. I say other pediatrician because her usual pediatrician is Dr. Scott. He’s been with us from day 1 of Izzy’s life and he’s amazing! He’s built this relationship of trust with her over the past 11 years (she used to give him time limits on his evaluations of her, but she actually gives him more than 3 seconds to look in her ears these days!). Scott has worked with Izzy’s mental health struggles beautifully…and we love him dearly…but Dr Miller has taken on Izzy’s needed referrals and medicine management for the ADHD, Anxiety and trich here recently. Dr. Miller is such a gentle and brilliant soul. She talks in that gentle tone, the one that makes me feel like it’s all going to be okay. The one that makes me know that we’ve done everything right to date, but now we just need to do a little more to allow Izzy to be even more successful. She’s positive, and always reminds me that this too shall pass and it will all get better with time, work and patience. She see’s Izzy’s brilliant mind and she see’s her potential. She knows the world of ADHD, Anxiety and Trich and she is leading us down paths we haven’t yet explored. She’s set Izzy up for a full psychology evaluation, including ADOS testing (for autism) in April and then a psychiatry evaluation for even better medicine management in June. Trying to get Iz to a good place before middle school starts on August 1.

Dr Miller called because Izzy is STRUGGLING at school with focus and attention. She wanders off to other worlds, while sitting right there in the classroom. She disengages. She doesn’t complete classwork. She pulls and pulls and pulls at her remaining hair. She really is struggling. Izzy is again truly blessed by a teacher who realizes Izzy’s struggles and doesn’t punish, but redirects and works with her (and me) to help in any way she can. Yesterday Izzy spent some class time covering her hands in glue and peeling it off….while a fun activity, not really what we want her to be doing in class. Again, she’s struggling, and asking for help…sometimes directly, sometimes with glue drying on her hands.

Anyway, Dr Miller called and talked to me about Izzy’s focus/attention struggles. She discussed our medication options and gently guided me to make the decision I thought might be best for Izzy…and then applauded my decision like it was absolutely the one she would have chosen (whether it really was or not). And then she paused and she asked “how is she doing with the hair pulling? We both know that medicine isn’t going to cure trich, but we also know that medicine can make it worse…so how is she doing?” I can be nothing but honest at this point. She’s essentially bald. She pulls through her hats and through her wigs. She pulls at school and at home. She pulls during counseling and BrainPaint with “The Amazing Brad” as we like to call him. The one time she doesn’t pull is in her sleep (yes, some people even pull in their sleep). Oh how I wish there were a magic pill she could take to stop. Or a therapy dog who could be trained to alert her when she’s pulling and guide her to another activity…wouldn’t that be AMAZING. Maybe that’s our next path – an anxiety and trich support dog

So today is the first day on a higher dose of her Concerta. I’m praying for a more focused day for her. For a day when she can complete her homework; be more fully engaged in class. A day when pulling isn’t as intense. A good, struggle-less day. A day we can report back to Dr Miller, the “other” best pediatrician in the land, as better…