Amber is still taking an assortment of meds and a valium or vicoden from time to time I think having a boyfriend who has stuck by her is alleviating much of the stress, so she is in better spirits. Though she still suffers the pain of the spasms and now on both the right and left sides of her body.

If she can hang in there and finish High school and her boyfriend doesn't dump her I think we just might see some improvement come graduation. Less stress means less pain and more smiles. 

Joey on the other hand has a long way to go to regain our trust and confidence. He is doing well but he needs to do better both at school as well as at home. We have given him more freedom to make choices for himself. It is up to him to make the right choices.

Joey has had some more problems and a few fights at school as well as arguments with us. He will attribute it all to his ADHD but he does not take his meds regularly so that may have a lot to do with it. We have grounded him several times and he does good till we let him have his freedom then it is right back to the bad behavior.

He seldom talks with us any more either spending time on video games or watching TV in his room. When asked to help he does so begrudgingly. I do believe the ADHD has a lot to do with his argumentative state but I also think it is just his age and the rebellious nature of a pubescent kid. Hopefully he will grow out of it.??

Amber too seldom will talk with us in normal conversation. Everything we say leads to an escalation and eventually she will just walk away.

Amber has seen several more DR's and has been seen for the 1st time at University of Washington's Movement Disorder Clinic. It was a long drive and we were late as traffic was bad so we got a half hour with the DR. then had to kill 4 hours and go back for another half hour. Amber texted her boyfriend ( who goes to UW ) and when he got out of class about 1 pm he met us at University Village where we had gone to get lunch . We hung out there till Amber's next appointment and her Beau was able to see Amber's movement disorder in all it's glory as the DR' put her through her paces.

He also saw how stress affected her ability to function and how it affected her ability mentally as well. She had great difficulty doing simple math problems in her head and I think this was due to having everyone watching as the Dr. questioned her. At home she generally is the one I ask for an answer to a math problem if I get stuck. As an example I always have a hard time with problems like 6 x 9 for some reason this simple problem will elude me so I ask Amber what's 6 x 9 and she will almost immediately pop out the answer 54 while I am thinking 63 or something. Anyway what I am getting at is that stress can affect her ability to use her cognitive functions.

I think this display may have had some impact on Amber and her Beau but time will tell as to what extent. But Amber wanted him there saying it is better he know now than later. I agree.

Afterwards we went window shopping at the village and the wife spent a few bucks on some small items but for the most part we just walked around and took Jay to have a burger as he had nothing to eat all day. After a bit of alone time between Amber and Jay we drove home. 

We also had our last annual accounting with the Courts for Amber's money and the Lawyer we hired for this did an amazing job of getting all his ducks in a row , cause the Judge said he had no problem with any of it and signed off on Amber getting her money. We now only have to pick up certified copies of his signing the court order and get any and all of the places Amber has any money placed in her name. We show proof to the court this is done and that will be last time we have to go to court. YEA!!!

Amber already has plans for most of the money and I think they are good ones. She left the court room crying cause the stress was over but in Court she did exceptionally well answering the Judge's questions, speaking loud and clear and stating her intentions without being withdrawn or demure. It was a good moment for her and she shined. I was quite proud of her self advocacy.

Joey got to be too much to handle so Tami and I decided to let him live with his Grandmother for a bit to see if he can calm down and control his emotions. He still does as he wants but seems to listen to his grandmother more than he did to us. I think she is more lenient as far as letting him do what he wants but at least he is not here disrupting our lives.

While Amber is doing as well as can be expected and is getting mostly A's and B's in school Joey is failing most all his classes. He just does not care and I believe he is doing drugs. We have had him in counseling , which he thinks is a joke, and he  has had some trouble with the Law but this has not made an impression. I fear unless Joey turns it around his life will be inconsequential. Amber however is doing her best to keep striving to attain her goals. She has her bad days but with Jay around more good than bad lately.