Diagnosis

Yesterday Phat Daddy and I met with Doodle's psychologist to get his diagnosis.
Unsurprisingly, it's ADHD - combined.
There was good news and there was bad news. The good news is that Doodle is smart - very smart. In all of the testing he did he scored really well - like 91st percentile and up. The only thing he was behind in was hand coordination (writing/drawing), but he was fairly typical, so not lagging behind.
Where the problem lies is with, as the diagnosis would suggest, hyperactivity and lack of focus/attention.
The long and short of it is that the psychologist is recommending medication.
We haven't decided.
When I asked him on a scale of 1-10 how bad Doodle's ADHD is, he said it was about a 7. That surprised me. I thought we'd be talking a 3. Although it is a random scale.
We're not talking Ritalin. There are other options and ideas to look into.
The major reason I would consider the medication is because of Doodle's lack of self control. He has so many moments DAILY where he does something and then wishes he hadn't. Or can't understand why he did.
And the medication would apparently help with that.
As he gets older I worry that he will hurt himself. For that reason I'd consider it.
So, we're at the point where we need to weigh all the options. Think about what we think is best for our child. And hope that we make the right decision.
But, really, at the end of the day, it freaks me out that we're debating giving our child medication for his brain that he could be on for the rest of his life. It scares me.
But, it also makes me feel like maybe the fact that I'm frustrated with him a lot means that I'm not a bad parent.
So, what's next? Well, thankfully we love Doodle's doctors. So, I called both his GP and Naturopath. Our GP, knowing my discomfort with medication, said I can meet with her or she can refer me to a pediatrician or both. We're going to see our naturopath to discuss options.
But, before all of that ....
We're getting a good night's sleep. Or maybe not. I promised Doodle a sleepover in his bedroom tonight. Well, at least Phat Daddy will get a good night's sleep!