17: Week 3 Continues - With Improvement!

    I feel like I am getting my days all messed up this week as I try to remember back. It is all such a crazy frantic blur. I think the night time temper tantrum was actually Wednesday night of this week. Not Tuesday as I say in my last post... Therapy was Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri. Tantrum on Wednesday night.
    Anyway, my husband and I have our meeting with Dr. G, on Thursday, to talk about how our daughter was so nice and mature asking me if she can prove herself to us if we stop the therapy. We all agree that we need to stick this out until the end. She says it is all normal during this kind of therapy. She wants to make sure that my husband is fully on board with everything and feels secure in what she is trying to accomplish. 
    He sees this as just a huge way of our daughter trying to be in control. She fully agrees and talks about how this whole therapy is not just about getting her comfortable with vomit, but also about stripping her of her control. He is able to ask questions and get answers. He has not gotten to talk to her as much as I have since he was away and also has work. She coaches us on how to explain to her that we will be continuing therapy as planned. If she wants to be done with therapy faster, it is all in her hands. She will need to show us that she can accomplish everything Dr. G is doing with her at the clinic and she needs to prove she is better with her tasks at home and at school.
    Dr. G brings her into the room and we tell her all of that. She understands that the only way out of this is to get through it. And, get through it in a better way. We leave them to do their therapy. In addition to the photos and chair spinning this week, they have been working with a bowl full of vomit and trying to get closer to it. They stay in the hallway for a while and play some games to get her closer and closer. She is now able to get about 4 feet away from it. This is a major improvement from having a 4 hour panic attack last week after seeing the vomit in the bathroom. She is scared, but learning to cope.

    Back to Wednesday now. This was the day she was to have a break but after Dr. G calls me, we decide to come in for just an hour in the late afternoon and have an ice cream celebration because she got to school 3 days in a row and is washing her hands less. So we can keep up the momentum of getting her there. I bring ice cream and cupcakes. It is not only a celebration, but a way to get Dr. G to see her eat and get in some exposures around eating. She does not want to eat anything, but agrees to take a few bites. Then Dr. G starts encouraging her to be "ice cream buddies" with her. She gets her to have a bite from Dr. G's container and share some germs. Then they do the same thing with the cupcake. I am so impressed that she has done it. And without washing her hands first. She NEVER eats without washing her hands first. Wow! Then Dr. G wants to do some spinning and physical stuff. Some of the tasks have been spinning in a chair and running in place. This is to get her used to feeling dizzy or out of breath or sweaty. She needs to be used to all of those feelings and be able to cope with them until they feel like a normal part of life. She asks if I can do it with her and we do. We leave on a good note and we both have a sense of accomplishment.