We returned from our trip to New York and were very glad to have had a wonderful trip together as a family and that we all stayed healthy and in good spirits for the trip. Sasha did very well throughout in regards to his food issues. As I reported in my last post, we took advantage of the great food in New York and relaxed our normal lower carb regime quite a bit. Sasha gained a little bit of weight (2/3 of a pound or .3 kg) during the trip... I'm sure I gained much more, LOL! Because we were away, I was late in re-ordering the refill for oxytocin so we are now using slightly expired (on 4/13) medicine. I'm not too worried about it though because despite its very short half-life, it has been shown in the literature to have lasting effects for up to 7-10 days even after complete cessation of the drug. It will be interesting to see if any of his food intensity returns in these last two days before his new batch arrives. In any case, a fresh supply will arrive on Tuesday.
If you recall, we had quite a bit of trouble with Sasha when he got into his sister's Halloween candy supply last October (despite it being locked up) which is what prompted my getting him to start Naltrexone (he remains on 100 mg of this opiate antagonist drug). Another candy-intensive holiday is before us today with Easter. For today I agreed to let the kids have an egg hunt (with those plastic eggs you fill with candy). I went out and bought some M&Ms to fill and his sister was in charge of hiding them for Sasha and his friend (who was over). She hid the candy-filled eggs in our backyard and ended up stashing the remaining candy it in her room, unbeknownst to me. Sasha and his buddy were occupied with a computer game.
No more than one hour after Sasha's sister hid the eggs and the remaining candy, she told me that the bag of remaining candy was missing! She swore that she hid the candy in a safe place in her room, that she kept her bedroom door closed when she was in another room of the house, and that when she returned to her room, the door was open and the candy was gone. I took Sasha aside and asked him about it and he denied taking the candy. His friend even vouched for him saying that Sasha had not left his side in the last hour. Ugh... here we go again, I thought. His sister kept insisting that the candy was hidden away and that it was now missing. He kept saying that he did not take the candy. I decided to drop it for the time being since he had a friend over and to look for it in his room later. When he and his friend were playing in the living room, I had a chance to check his room and I found no candy.
Hours later when I was out for the evening, my husband texted me and told me that his sister found her candy in another hiding spot in her room! She apologized right away to her brother and he graciously accepted her apology and moved on.
In the past, it was always Sasha accused (rightfully so) of stealing his sister's stash and Sasha melting down while his sister experienced her own mix of emotions: anger for the unfairness of losing her treat to her brother, frustration at her brother for his behavior, sorrow for herself, compassion and understanding for his inability to control himself, and finally, submission to her role as the sibling of a brain tumor survivor with HO. She has not told me with these words per se, but has expressed all of these feelings throughout the time we have had to deal with his issues as a family. When I asked her later how she felt about finding her stash of candy, she said that she felt "really bad." I was slightly annoyed at her for the wrongful accusation but I understood why she did it; he started quite a precedent for her accusations, after all.
Despite whatever embarrassment, guilt or remorse any of us may have felt for this mistaken accusation, we all felt great relief and happiness for Sasha's vindication.
Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Spring!
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