After nearly three weeks, Sarah is coming home from the hospital. While I'm sure it wasn't a magic cure and she won't suddenly be a compliant child, I think that the things that put her in the hospital have been taken care of.
I'm a little nervous about things going back to what they were but am working on planning how to keep that from happening. More structure, goals set each day and a system that allows for earned rewards. The hospital uses a system that never takes something away . . . they just don't earn it if they don't get all of their checks for the day (they have about 50 things that they get checks for each day). They also have grounding (24 hours, in general, and it means they are not able to watch TV at all or to watch the movie in the evening with their group) and being restricted which means they are not allowed to leave their rooms except to use the bathroom.
She still has a lot of work ahead of her . . . she needs to learn how to apply coping strategies before things escalate out of control. She needs to slowly rebuild the trust of family and friends (easier said than done, unfortunately).
She won't go back to school until next week. The school has requested a PPT tomorrow. I realize how blessed I am to live where we do . . . the school system has been unbelievably supportive from Day 1 of kindergarten. I've heard so many stories where parents have to hire advocates to get kids the help that they really need. I think some of this is probably back to what I mentioned in my original blog - the fact that many don't understand mental illness. Often, whether they mean to or not, they assume it's behavioral and that the parent just doesn't discipline well enough. Or, the school system doesn't want to, or doesn't have the budget for, some of the required testing. It's not easy for the school systems and their staff either.
For now, I will enjoy the pleasant time with Sarah and will continue to pray for healing for her and patience for me and my family.
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