There Was A Reason for Billy Ray's Communication by Behavior

Billy Ray’s credibility has been proved again!! Many times he communicates pain by extreme behavior and nothing in the medical procedures explain it. Eventually we find out he was having some medical issues going on that weren’t obviously.

Today was another case in point. When his behavior began to deteriorate in June, I investigated dental issues first. There was nothing in the x-ray or exam that showed he should be having major pain. There were some things to deal with but not believed emergencies. We scheduled an appointment to deal with needed work. However, that appointment had to be cancelled. He was hospitalized with leaking appendix and other issues. Then both the dentist and the medical provider felt he needed to be medically stable before pursuing the dental work.

Recently he went back to the dentist for an emergency appointment because he seemed to be having dental pain. X-rays were taken and Dr. Hester, a very kind and thorough dentist, put pressure on anything that might be causing pain and found nothing to explain the pain Billy Ray seemed to be communicating by his behavior.

Today he went back to Dr. Hester to have the work completed. Sure enough, a tooth with an extraordinarily difficult root and decay did not show on the x-rays. That is probably partially because it is very difficult to x-ray Billy Ray. Dr. Hester said that it had to be causing him extreme pain.

There are other issues involved in his communication by behavior such as the hypothyroid and difficulty maintaining appropriate blood level on his mood stabilizer. However, removing this source of pain will surely help.

I have been saying to several people involved with Billy Ray that I knew there was something we could not find. I didn’t know what but just knew that I knew. There was nothing else to do but practice the lighthouse concept. This morning I prayed that if the problem were dental he would help Dr. Hester to find it.

My advice is trust your gut for such things. When you have adapted his life to what works for him or her so you know it isn’t something at home or at school, keep searching for the answers.

I think about Billy Ray’s behavior when his appendice was leaking and the difficulty in demonstrating it to the emergency room doctor and this situation. Then remember the situation we talked about in My Outrage…Mother Gets Suspended Sentence For Killing Son and wonder if Patrick was trying to communicate something to his mother by his behavior.

Until tomorrow,
Peggy Lou Morgan
http://www.parentingyourcomplexchild.com/
http://www.lighthouseparents.com/