Tina's Daily Blog: Julie's Psychiatrist Just Called...

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Julie's Psychiatrist Just Called...

Dr. Vergeese just called... very interesting conversation. He told me that she didn't show up for her appointment with them last week and that she has not called them at all about it. He said that usually they would call her to find out what's going on, but this time - they didn't because they wanted to see how long until she finally called herself.

He referenced the letter that they wrote for the court. He told me that the letter was Julie's idea - she wanted to bring it to court with her. He told me that, although it was signed by Vijapuri, Dr. Vergeese actually wrote the letter. He told me that the letter just said that Julie had been following doctors orders; attending appointments, taking her meds, etc.

He wanted to meet with Karen and I about Julie. I told him that - honestly - I don't think Karen would be interested in that. I told him that I knew for a fact that Karen was on the phone with Julie often and that Karen was just waiting to get the court ordered evaluation to find out if they are wasting their time or not. I told him that Karen was so busy, I would be surprised if she could make an appt there, but that he should try. We'll see what happens there.

He told me that he honestly felt that Julie had the mentality of a 10 year old and that she just simply doesn't have the ability to process the seriousness of what's going on around her. Just sad....

So... the kids! Let's move on to that subject. The toilet stopped up again last night. **sigh** Of course, none of them understand why and take absolutely no responsibility for it happening. We did notice that (don't know if I should say this or not, but here goes) - the girls... how do I say it... "Aunt Flow" is visiting... and there is no garbage cans in that bathroom yet. So, we wondered what they were doing with the plastic when they were done. They claimed that every time they run downstairs and throw it away. I don't believe that's the case, but that's what they say. I'm not sure if it's toilet paper or plastic that's stopping up the toilet, but it could very well be either of them, if not both.

Speaking of excess toilet paper... let's talk about that - the excess. Here is one thing that I identified last night that I'd like to 'fix' before they go home (or someplace else). They use excess everything. Hair product, they'll go through a bottle of conditioner in days... hair gel in days (by days I mean 3 or 4)... food.... everything. Example: Chris bought 3 two liters of coke for my birthday on Monday (which we didn't open that night). Last night - Tuesday night - they got home from school about 4 and by 9pm all 3 two liters were gone. Chris bought ice cream - 2 half gallons of Edys (my favorite). We didn't have any the night of my birthday - so again - from 4pm to 9pm on Tuesday they went through 1-1/2 gallons of ice cream. Two examples of everyday things at our house. Now, in our defense, we do not usually buy these kinds of things (the ice cream and coke). We've learned to buy the big tubs of cheap ice cream and they drink crystal light or kool-aid. When they first moved in with us, they would ask permission to have anything. So we made a rule, they didn't need to ask about eating or drinking anything -- just so long as at dinnertime, they were hungry enough to eat all their dinner. They've done really well with that, but I'm wondering if we've allowed them to over-indulge (in everything not just food). Or... is this the way it is supposed to be with 4 kids?? I don't know.... if you've had lots of kids and know what I'm talking about, I'd love to hear your comment about this.

Oh, and while you are commenting on that - ponder this one we are trying to overcome as well.... they leave everything out all the time. For example, they want a drink of kool-aid. They open the fridge and take out the kool-aid, open a cabinet and take out a glass. They pour the kool-aid into the glass, drink it there. Then they leave the cabinet open (from the glass), they set the glass down on the counter, leave the kook-aid out and walk away. Times this times 4 kids and you can imagine what my kitchen looks like all the time. It's driving us nuts! And Doug is now rather vocal about it. I've heard him yell at the kids a few times. Good for him! But I'd really like to fix this habit. I know what you are thinking... don't clean it up. I usually don't! I usually yell about it, call everyone downstairs. But nobody remembers having the glass of kool-aid. So then I make everyone stay and clean up (it's never just one glass, it's always many things - just using the kool-aid as an example). But I just hate having to yell to get it done. They should just simply put things away when they are done, right??? Am I asking too much???

Today is the end of their 9 weeks at school. Now we just wait for their report cards, which they won't get for about a month. (April 10th) **sigh** Smitty, why does it take so long??? I mean, by the time we know how they did last 9 weeks we are already 4 weeks into the next 9 week grading period. Inquiring minds want to know! I guess they'll need to stay on restriction until we receive their report cards, and then we'll need to decide what to do with them if they have any "F's" on them. Sigh... I'm not looking forward to that. I wonder if they know how much Chris and I want them to succeed... how much we want them to do well in school... how much we want them to go out after they graduate and make something of themselves...

Enough pondering for today... I better run - time to get ready for work.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Okay, I have raised several kids. They 1) have no concept of being considerate; or 2) don't give a crap. I believe truly that Ron taught them something. Therefore, amanda's idea is best. Yelling, restricting, not working. Bust their asses, and get them into care for nutty kids!; 2:01 PM
Anonymous said...: The kids are all normal.Remember when you were A kid. You and chris had your moments and you know the rest. Just place A trash can in the bathrooms and post A note, saying " please place used tolet paper in trash can." Thank you. Then add lots of love. Remember, they are looking to you for the rules and aprovel. Saying this verbly seem to get lost some how. Called selective hearing. Leave notes and follow up. A grandmothers helpful hent. Lots of love..............NANA ps... I have two extra trash cans if you want them.; 9:33 AM

Post a Comment

In A Nutshell:

Here is a letter I sent to Dr. Phil which really sums everything up:
I am married to my high-school sweetheart (20 years this August), with two wonderful children (Amanda who is 20 and Jonathan who is 13). I have two sisters, both younger – I call them “my good sister” and “my bad sister”. My good sister is – well, good! Normal in every way. The bad one, Julie, has been in trouble since she was a kid. As a baby she cried all of the time. As a teenager she was in trouble all of the time. At the age of 14 or so I remember that she had run away from home to live with a grown man in Atlanta. This was one of many run a ways. As a teenager, she provided sexual favors to boys in school, as well as teachers. As a young adult she was arrested for prostitution. She’s done drugs ranging from marijuana to crack. She was diagnosed early on as bi-polar with personality disorder. She’s also a serious cutter to the point where she no longer hid the cuts. She’s cut things like “Ronald Cecchinni” into her arm… and “Fuck you Dr. XXX” on her stomach, in large letters. Julie is also a diagnosed sex-addict. She’s also recently (in the past year) begun ‘huffing’. (I honestly believe that this huffing has caused some permanent damage) She is currently 36yo.
Julie lost her husband Ron a year and a half ago as a result of Leukemia and Kidney Disease which the military attributed to his serving in the Gulf War. He left behind three children – Kayla who is now 15, Justin who is now 14 and Kayte who is now 13. Even when Julie was married, her psychiatric problems persisted. She has been hospitalized literally hundreds of times over the years. However, when her husband was alive, he would take care of the kids when Julie was mentally out of control. After Ron died, Julie lost control of the kids and her life. She began to spiral out of control, having pot parties at her home (to the point where the kids said a door would open and a cloud of smoke would come bellowing out of the room), smoking weed with her own kids, having sex all over the house with different men all the time, allowing young men (19 yo) to sleep over with her oldest daughter (only 14 at the time), and allowing Gang members to live in her home (she said she felt ‘safe’ with them there). In addition, she was attempting suicide daily, overdosing on medications hoping to not wake up the next morning. Mind you all of this while she was seeing her Psychologist every week and Psychiatrist once a month. Both of these Doctors knew what was going on at home, neither of them reported it to the proper authorities. I have even been told by one of them that he was told, by Julie, that she ‘heard voices telling her to hurt the children’ but that she was proud that she could ignore the voices. Still, these Doctors reported nothing.
I should add here that it was at some point in this period of time in Julie’s life when her children began suicide watches over their mom… each one taking turns to sit in a room with her at all hours (night and day) because their mom was less-likely to hurt herself while they were here. However, it didn’t always work – Julie constantly took pills in front of them trying to either dope herself up or overdose, and she would even cut herself in front of the kids.
Finally one day, she woke up furious that her last suicide attempt didn’t work. She got violent with her oldest daughter, police were called, and finally DCF was called. (I would like to add that we (other family members) had called DCF in the past to report things, but some of the cases were ‘unfounded’ and one other time the fled the state knowing CF only had jurisdiction in Florida.) DCF removed the children from the home in November 2005 and I gained custody of the Children shortly thereafter.
There are lots of things I could add here about my sister, DCF, and the horrible Foster Care or Custodial Care program we are involved with. However, that is not my main reason for writing to you.
Kayte, the youngest, seems to be adjusting pretty well. She has a tendency to trivialize what her mom has done and the seriousness of it, but I think that is normal given that it is her mom. Kayte was in counseling, but she feels it’s ‘a waste of time’.
Justin, the middle child, is okay. As a young boy I'm told he was a terror. He used to hit his mother and at one point (only 6yo) tried to jump off a building to kill himself. Since then, his anger has turned in to an endless smothering of love and caring. He does everything for his mom… from getting her whatever she needs to rubbing her feet and back. Justin has seen a psychiatrist since moving in with me who felt that his issues were brought on by trauma. It was also at that visit with the psychiatrist that he confided in myself and the Doctor that he had suicidal thoughts often while living at home with his mom in her ‘state of being’ after his dad died. However, since he moved in with me he has done so much better (and continues to improve daily) that she didn’t feel he even needed counseling at this time. He would, however, need counseling before he was reunited with his mom.
Kayla, the oldest, has serious issues. She is also currently in counseling but feels that it is ‘a waste of time’. Kayla has always lied and stolen things. Family members feel sorry for her because you can tell that she doesn’t really mean any ill will by it, but it’s been ‘the way she is’ for a very long time. By far her biggest problems are lying and her need for approval by men (young and old).
Since the kids have moved in with us, my husband and I have set up rules. The kids already had myspace accounts, so we set ground rules for it. 1) We needed the login names and passwords. 2) Profiles must be set to private. 3) The only people they were allowed to have on their friends list was people that they actually knew. When Kayla’s list climbed over 300, and she was found to have inappropriate conversations (wanting to sneak out and ‘hook up’ with young men), we made everyone cut their list down to 30 friends, which included myself. 4) All vulgar language and inappropriate photos would come off immediately and would be monitored by myself at any given time. At times, they try to put up ‘sexy’ pictures which immediately need to come down.
However recently I have found that she has multiple website things going on in an attempt to pick up young men. I'll outline a few here so that you understand the gravity of the situation: 1) I found her 'normal' myspace account set to 'public view'. She has over 11,000 profile views(meaning people looking at her pictures and wanting to know more about her). I had reset it to private many times, but she keeps going back and resetting it to public. 2) I have found another myspace account which she went by the name 'Shannon' and used it to pick up young men, tease them, then later tell them that she was 'taken' but refer them to her 'cousin, Kayla'. She'd then give them all of Kayla's information. Of course thiswas also set to public. 3) I have found another social network website that was like myspace in which she had ONLY men (mostly from other states) as her 'friends' whom she corresponded with. The emails back and forth basically said the same thing as all of the others... more on that in #4 - only these were guys that not only did she not know, but they were not even in the area! 4) All accounts that I have found had basically the same thing... her emailing guys wanting to know if she was pretty, if they wanted to 'hook up', talking about going to their 'crib' or meeting up with them somewhere, and constantly seeking approval and affirmation from these guys.
I believe she gets this from her mom. And the sad thing is, if you met her, you would love her. She is truly a GREAT kid… but she has serious issues. I’ve described to you Julie’s behavior and Kayla’s seems to be the same way. Neither can make decisions on their own that are ‘the right thing to do’, and both lack the understanding of simple values, morals and ethics. I could go into so many examples. How do I describe the utterly amazing difference between Julie’s parenting style and my own?
I know... Both Julie and I have myspace accounts set up to ‘monitor’ the kids. To illustrate the difference between Julie and myself, here is something that Julie and I both put on our myspace accounts. You are supposed to put something 'about yourself' by your picture. Here is mine: "I'm 38 years old. I have two amazing kids, Amanda who is 20 and Jonathan who is 13. I have great husband, Chris. I love to sing - and have been singing in Toast of Tampa Show Chorus for 10 years. I'm raising my nieces and nephew (12, 13 and 14). I love God and my family."And here is Julie's: "I am who I am and if you dont like me for me........FUCK YOU........ Plus if you dont like me for me....... Im gunna tell my kids and there gunna kick yer ass!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Here’s the other dilemma we are having; the two girls are in counseling that is costing me $25 EACH in co-payments every time they go. The State of Florida provides NO financial support to me as a relative caregiver, other than providing the three kids with Medicaid. They received small SSI checks because of their dad’s death, but it barely covers the food they consume. The DCF worker, having spoke with the girls and being told that therapy is ‘a waste of time’, has referred me to a clinic that DCF uses for cases such as this to seek mental care for Kayla (aswell as the others). However, the kids have TriCare as their primary insurance because their dad died from Military causes. TriCare requires the co-payment, regardless of the Medicaid secondary. Having said that, please understand that I worked in referrals in a primary care physician’s office for 16 years… I totally ‘get’ what is required for primary and secondary insurances and all the red tape. But because of the uniqueness of this situation, the kids are suffering!
I should also point out here that I have the kids for an indefinite period of time. Right now Julie is doing things that she has been told to do to get the kids back. However, she is still awaiting a court ordered detailed Psychiatric exam to determine if she can EVER parent again. Even if that Psychiatrist feels she can parent again, she’ll most likely need to be ‘clean’ and ‘episode-free’ for 6 months to a year minimum. In addition, Julie is only allowed supervised visits and one phone call a day. This came about because of her inappropriate behavior when she was with the kids and because when she was allowed to call any time she’d call 10 + times a day.
The other problem with Julie ever getting her children back is that… she doesn’t understand what she did wrong. She parents as if she were 15-years old herself. If anyone has ever done something bad and been able to ‘keep’ their kids, she sees no reason she can’t do it. She brought her daughter at the age of 13 in for a HUGE tattoo on the small of her back. It’s Tigger flipping ‘the bird’ with her gang name under it. She was also planning on getting a large tattoo on her 12yo before the kids were taken. Again, she sees nothing wrong with any of her past behavior.
So, you see, I could have these children for the rest of their teenage years. I honestly don’t know where to turn to get them the help they need.
I feel as if I am in a psychiatric nightmare and I just can’t wake up. Eight months ago I was at home, my biggest ‘kid worry’ was if my son was going to get good grades on his report card. Now I find myself in a crux worried about whether or not the lessons I teach them, this late in their young life, are going to be enough to turn these kids around and help them to be productive adults in the near future.

Tina's Daily Blog

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Julie's Psychiatrist Just Called...

2 comments:

Have Tina's Daily Blog sent to your email address:

Blog Archive

Followers

About Me

My Favorite Places and People

Blog Stats

In A Nutshell: