Never give up

August 5, 2013 ~ A lesson in perseverance:

We were told at the end of our son's 5 week hospitalization that he would need continued treatment and they recommended the State Hospital. THE STATE HOSPITAL???

Surely, there had to be another option.

So I got on the phone and started calling around for any adolescent Residential Treatment program in our state that would take an 18 year old. I was desperate.

But after countless phone calls, I found that there was no one that would take an 18 year old into an adolescent treatment program. I didn't know what I was going to do. I couldn't bring him home but I certainly couldn't take him to the State Hospital. That was a nightmare on the same scale in my mind as the suggestion that ECT (Shock Therapy) might benefit him.

I just couldn't do it.

On a last ditch whim, I called the well-renowned Children's Hospital 45 minutes away to see what they might be able to do. And then a miracle happened. Even though he was 18 they took him because he hadn't finished high school yet.

I remember the feeling of being told yes and realizing that my son was not going to be in an environment with adults of all ages who not only had serious psychiatric issues but also had a whole bag full of bad life experiences to go along with them.

Honestly - I started to cry. It was the first time I had felt any hope, ANY hope, in over a month.

I have been amazed at the strength of parents dealing with these issues but have been equally saddened at older people with mental illnesses whose families have given up on them. I don't judge them; I don't know their situations.

But I can tell you this.

I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give up.

Addendum: Reading this post now, after my son has spent 3-1/2 years at the State Hospital, makes me disappointed that we didn’t take advantage of their great care then. Perhaps he wouldn’t have had to suffer as much if I had been more open to the idea at the time. The point is: don’t hesitate to do the hard things.