The New Chelsey--Amazing!

This week I (Beth) took Chelsey to visit her new psychiatrist.  I liked her a lot.  After reviewing all the information and talking with Chelsey, the doctor gave us good information as to how things will probably progress. 

• She said that having a manic episode is very traumatic to the brain.  It is similar to the body getting a bacterial infection.  You may get so sick that you have to go into the hospital and be on antibiotics to kill the infection, but after a few days they send you home even though it still takes weeks or months to recover.  She said that Chelsey will still be recovering  from this over the next several months.
• She also said the chance of a full recovery is unlikely.   Chelsey is currently not the same Chelsey we knew before.  We can expect some improvement, but not 100 percent.   There has been some improvement since we left the hospital, so we can hope for more, but we expect to get to know her at her new level.
• She suggested that at Chelsey's current functioning a group home would be  the best option for her.  She does need constant monitoring for safety.  She was glad that we were already in process of getting it set up. 
• We were worried about side effects of medications.  She told us that at her current level there wasn't much risk.  She'll have to have liver function tests every few months, but if a problem shows up it is reversible.  Most people gain weight on these medications, but for Chelsey that would be a benefit not a risk. 

Overall it was a good visit.  We'll be going back every two to three weeks until it seems that she has stabilized.

So who is the "new" Chelsey?

Chelsey always had what they call "scattered skills".  In some areas her thinking was as complex as any adult's, but in some areas she functioned more as a child.  As we are getting to know the new Chelsey, there are many ways in which she is mostly the same.  She rarely tells the same complex stories she used to, but she still comes up with insightful comments. She still enjoys her makebelieve characters.  Most of the time the new Chelsey is like a sweet, delightful three year old.  All new sights or textures are "amazing!".   She loves to feel different textures, rubbing her hands back and forth across carpet, a chair leg, the fridge door.  She loves water and will spend 5 minutes every time she washes her hands, playing in the water and making a squishy mess of the bar of soap.  She sometimes has to be reminded to use the bathroom, and when she does  she will exclaim it is "amazing!"   She loves her music more and louder than before.  She is impulsive and sweet.  She has a much shorter attention span.  She used to play in her room on her computer or nintendo for hours, having to be reminded to come down to eat.  Now after a few minutes she gets up to go look out the window, go outside etc. She takes her shoes on and off several times a day.   Some of the things she used to enjoy are now boring.  She seems to focus on remembering that she is now 21 years old for some reason, and that will come up several times a day.  She will also frequently say "I'm finally figuring it out".  I haven't yet figured out what it is that she has figured out.

Sometimes when I'm with her I just smile at her simple enjoyment of things like textures.  Sometimes she makes me laugh and remember what it is like to be a mother of young children.  I don't usually feel terribly sad at the areas where she didn't recover yet, I just enjoy watching the simple delight she takes in things I considered mundane.  As I write this, she turned on the sink to wash her hands...it's been a while, but the water is still running and she is enjoying herself.

It is a whole new world for us in many ways.  Hopefully as we adjust we can find many more ways in which it is "amazing!"