We think this is helping...

Caroline sounded much better last night, far more positive.  She did get a carefully picked roommate because they had another admission, and she was concerned about that, mainly because she is worried that her sleep will get messed up, or she will wake her up accidentally. We didn't want her to have a roommate at all, but I am sure that the business office of these RTCs push for full occupancy.  We have been adamant that she and her roommate be closely watched at all times.  Caroline is too fragile to take another mishap very well.   

Her meds have been adjusted, with an increase in the new one, Amandatine, and a decrease in her anti-psychotic, Seroquel (which made her gain so much weight), and a splitting up of her Lamictal (mood stabilizer) into two doses.  She said she feels like she has a lot more self control since the Amantadine was introduced, especially as far as anger goes, but that her brain is foggier.  She tells us that she isn't getting the math help she needs somehow.  It sounds like they are just handing her worksheets.  One more thing to look into when we visit.  We called the unit nurse today and she said that Caroline had some difficult moments yesterday, being very defiant toward adults, especially the night nurse.  She has already told us she doesn't like this nurse at all, that she is harsh, but we don't know if this is true or just partly true, or if Caroline is misjudging her.  Always hard to tell.  

I am really enjoying all of this time to myself every day, catching up on laundry, organization, and hopefully starting to paint rooms this week.  I am not looking forward to giving this up again when Caroline comes home.  And there is always that shock of the first two weeks after school gets out for the summer.  Yay for the pool!  Hopefully Caroline will be in school all day when she comes home.  I'm thinking about using the fall to start my own Ebay business, selling classic children's books.  We'll see.