apprehension.

Feeling a bit of apprehension today.

Yesterday I took my 8 year old son to see a Developmental Pediatrician for an evaluation. Today we go back for his analysis, diagnosis and recommendations.

Some history - My oldest son (10) was diagnosed last September with Tourettes Syndrome, ADHD - primarily attentive, and Anxiety Disorder by this same doctor. He was in bad shape before the diagnosis and medications. Now he is doing really well, tics are under control, attention is better making school work better, and his anxiety is manageable.

Recently my 8 year old started frequently exhibiting symptoms very similar to my 10 year olds, motor tics (mostly head thrashing) and verbal tics (throat clearing, grunting, laughing sounds). He has done similar tics in the past, occasionally, but at the time I really thought it was just because he saw his big brother doing it and was mimicing. However, now that big brothers tics are under control I am more concerned about the behavior.

Now in reality I know this is not a life threating issue. I know that in the scope of all diseases, issues and problems in the world, this is minor. But, they are my babies and I hate to see them in any kind of distress or discomfort. I hate to know that their developmental years will be somewhat controlled by this disorder. I worry about the teasing and ridiculing that they have, and will probably continue to experience due to things that are completely uncontrollable.

It truly breaks my heart.

So, today we go find out if another of our children is affected with this disorder and if so, what we can do to minimize the impact on his life.

If you are the spiritual or praying type, I would appreciate any positive energy you could send our way :)

Some additional information on Tourettes Syndrome:
Very recent article from US News & World Report on Tourettes here. Statistics say 1 in 3000 children have TS.
20/20 recently did a great show on kids and TS.
Tourettes Syndrome Association website.