One step forward and two steps back

The boy. Oy. He had a really great day Sunday. Superman visited him (I stayed home with Diva) and the whole visit was smooth, friendly, not a discouraging word was heard.

But this evening we got a call from the nurse saying that he lost his cool this afternoon. He was being verbally, then physically abusive to the staff. He threatened (or maybe actually tried - I'm not sure) to throw a chair through the window. He was banging his head against the walls again. They put him in the observation room for a while, and when he didn't calm himself down they gave him a sedative pill. He stayed in the observation room for another half hour, but did not sedate. It's like the sedative didn't work at all.

The unit nurse called us, talked to Superman at 6:30-ish. He was still in the observation room, not being calm. I called back about an hour later because I had questions for the nurse. All the nurses were busy, so I talked to one of the aides. He's a big guy named Leonard. Pretty tall, very broad, and very black. It's nice to have that kind of presence on a mental ward. Nice guy, too. Anyway, I got to talk to Sproing. He had calmed down enough to come out of isolation/observation, though Leonard said he was still being disrespectful.

So I talked to him. He sounded great. We had a very nice conversation. I told him that he'll be leaving there tomorrow. He was very excited about that.

The insurance company has approved his stay at the hospital there until tomorrow, so he'll transfer to a longer-term facility. Superman was on the phone for an hour or more this afternoon trying to get that arranged. Of the facilities we know about from info received from that hospital, only the one in North Charleston has an opening for him. North Charleston is really far from here! Superman made some more inquiries (mainly from the insurance company, I think) and he found out about a place that's a few miles north of Greenville. That's much closer to us. By the time he got that information, though, the people he needed to talk to at the current hospital had left for the day. First thing tomorrow he will make more calls. The boy might go to Charleston, or he might go to Greenville. Wherever he goes, he goes tomorrow. Superman is all anxious again.

I will be in school all day tomorrow and won't be able to go with him. I HOPE Sproing keeps his shit together for the trip.

So I talked to the boy this evening. I asked about his rough afternoon. But when I told him that he will leave there tomorrow he started talking about "being good." He says he'll be good so he can leave the hospital. So why was he so disruptive and violent today? Well, he tells me that he can decide to behave. Today he didn't want to. I totally believe him. I've seen him turn that kind of attitude around in 30 seconds when he is adequately motivated. The motivation is inconsistent, though. What works one day doesn't work another day.

I wonder if the good folks at the hospital can give the boy a sedative before he and Superman take off for the next place.

Light and I saw Sproing on Saturday. That's the day I picked up Light, dropped Twitch off at his school, then took Light down to Columbia to see the boy. We had a pretty good visit with Sproing for the first 10 minutes. He was talking about his plans for when he got out of the hospital. He planned to come home, stay home all day and play his P-ess-P and watch TV. Here at home, alone, unsupervised while his dad and I were out doing our daily things. Uh-uh. So I had to disabuse him of that notion. He didn't take it well. The visit deteriorated quickly. He got huffy and left the room.

What does it all mean? Is he making any improvements? Do the professionals even have a definitive diagnosis? Do they know what they're dealing with, exactly? Or even vaguely? The plan was for this hospital to stabilize him, then he'd move to another facility where he can stay for a longer time. How long? I've heard 3-6 months. Frankly, I think he needs a longer stay, but who really knows? Maybe after a few months he will move to yet another place for a more moderate level of management. He needs intensive management right now. Duh. 24/7 supervision for sure.

In other non-Sproing related news, I took my Monday quiz today in Psychotherapies class. I actually studied for this one! I mean like really, for more than just the two hours before class. I actually knew the answers and everything! It was great. I should have started studying a few days earlier than I actually did. Today I felt so good about the whole study-and-know-the-information thing that I started studying for next week's quiz today! I'm thrilled. I made note cards from today's lecture, then went back and made up a bunch of study note cards for the other class I had today. There's a test in that class next week, and I got started on it today. I feel so much like a student today! This is the groove I like to be in, the one that's been eluding me since the start of the semester. I still have a hideous amount of work to do in the other two classes, and I'm afraid to look at those now. But I will.

Last night I finished the play- and character- analyses that were due last Tuesday in my Theater class. I talked to the instructor last week, explained how my life was falling down around me, and asked for an extension on that assignment. She told me to take all the time I needed. Nice, and I appreciate it, but that was a tiny bit too much leeway. I work well with deadlines. (usually) I really could have had the assignment completed by last Thursday, but since the pressure wasn't on to get it done, I dawdled more than I should have. But I did finish it last night and took it to her office this morning. So it's done. Good for me.

We're going to try for a reasonable bedtime tonight. With that in mind, I'll leave you with this.