I am so sorry Hereandhere. So very very sorry. These new normals just don’t stop coming.
Oh, I am so happy that your child was out with friends. How nice that there was an outing and that there are friends. The miracle of the meds is continuing to give you other miracles. Perhaps someday that will be my daughter: out with friends. So normal in most people’s lives, but so missing from our lives.
I have tears rolling down my face at what you posted about your divorce. I am so sorry. I do hope that you make it through this hard time ok. I wish you some peace in your struggles with the break-up.
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I am truly happy for your/your loved ones’ achievements and milestones and I am very sorry for the ones having hard times
Today, my 7 year old cousin visited and my afflicted diagnosed unmedicated isolating sister who I haven’t seen verbally communicating with anyone for two years, looked at my little cousin, smiled at her, hugged and kissed her and talked briefly with her… it was beautiful to see that! So beautiful
But it made me wonder and recall when some of you here mentioned that the affliction isn’t a choice but for those with a bit of insight about the illness, not wanting to improve lifestyle and take medicines are choices…
Wish you all happier holidays
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I am so sorry hereand here. The changes in our lives living with family members with schizophrenia are indeed dramatic.
Good to here about the nice dinner and stability.
Finding gratitude in even the smallest of things lessens our burdens.
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Hereandhere, I’m so sorry to hear of your sad news. After all you’ve already been through with your child, I imagine a broken marriage is just a terrible addition to your grief.
It’s so nice to hear that your child has friends and is able to socialize with them.
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Jeb bought presents for his brother - my joy spot for today.
We miss having Jeb with us, but it is so nice that he reached out to his brother and wanted to do a present exchange.
Our day will be board games and just being with our other son.
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Christmas isn’t always a happy time for those of us in the sz family- and I give my heartfelt sympathy and empathy to those not having a peaceful time. I am having a non-celebratory time because I choose not to buy in (pun intended) to the frantic commercialism I see everywhere.
One of my sons feels the same way, so he is here doing porch remodeling work for me today and I’m cooking a nice dinner. Yesterday we went to the hospital to have dinner with my sz son. This is the first time my elder son, or any other family member except his dad has seen the younger in two years, since before his second episode of psychosis and violence that landed him, ultimately, in the hospital. Homemade soup, bread, salad, chocolates, and Scrabble, it was a good visit for all of us.
It is the season for gifts, though, and what a gift that was, having elder son willingly go to see younger son, in the hospital, on a holiday he doesn’t care to celebrate. Keeping family ties is so important, and such hard work sometimes.
I’m wishing all of us in the forum a new year full of hope and strength.
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So sorry about the divorce news. My wish for you is that this marks the beginning of a new, wonderful stage of your life 
Out with the old and in with the new!
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Thank you for sharing. You are a wonderful husband to be supportive for and caring to your wife, and to recognize the need to have your child in different environment, although I hope that can change at some point in the future so that your child can re-join you. I hope that NAMI will be a helpful resource for you. This is a very challenging journey to have a loved one with a serious mental illness like SZ, but there IS hope!!
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Another year going and another year coming. Wishing us all peace and progress in managing this monster.
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I’m having a bad day, with anxiety. I feel like I’m hanging by a thread. It takes nothing to set me off these days. I used to be so strong.
Even something as basic as “Where can my son go to get his next monthly injection?” is a problem. WTF. You can get birth control injections at CVS Minute Clinic, but I can’t take my son there to get his invega Sustenna injection, even if CVS is the pharmacy the prescription was sent to? WTF.
There’s just too many obstacles to keep our family members sane. I’m tired.
CVS is not who I’m mad at. I’m mad at this illness, this f’n illness that took my son’s future away and changed our lives forever.
I guess its not really accurate to describe my emotions as anxiety. Actually, I’m just frightened, as I always am, that everything will fall apart and we’ll go back to complete and utter insanity again. I just can’t…
@Day-by-Day I’m sorry. Sometimes it just sucks. I hope you find a place. Where have you gotten it in the past?
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@Day-by-Day I know this may not help at the moment but recently came across this and now it’s on my fridge. With your wtfs I have a feeling you’re a pretty strong woman 
.
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This made me chuckle, and then I cried. Jeez, clearly I need a good sleep.
I am brave. I am strong. I am smart. I know these things. Thank you @DianeR and thank you Winnie the Pooh.
My son’s pediatrician office (the one he’s been going to since he was born) was allowing us to pick up our injection prescription at CVS and bring it to the pediatrician office for one of the nurses to administer. Now that my son is too old (22) to be going to a pediatrician, he’s been assigned to an adult internal med doc. This new doc has no relationship with my son or me. He basically said “Good luck lady. We’re not doing that.”
It’s just another hurdle to jump through, since our son’s prescribing psych doc doesn’t have an in-house nursing facility that can do injections. I guess we have to switch psychiatrists or wait to see if there’s another option, like visiting nurses? I don’t want to switch psych docs. It’s hard enough getting my son to go see the one who’s developed a relationship with him since his first break. Relationships are hard to develop, especially for someone with paranoia.
What would happen if my son was left to deal with this on his own? He wouldn’t.
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@dayby Day. I am sorry you feel so anxious today. We all have an absolute right to be angry about our children’s illness. It robs them of a good, decent life.
Does your son have a psychiatrist or a primary care physician who could give the injection? Not sure why CVS is not authorized, but it may be because it is an anti psychotic and must be given in a medical setting.
It does seem like it is always something. We have to jump through so many hoops. Hang in there. This too shall pass.
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Sigh, I think you need a good hug from people who understand.
I get you, I really do. This illness sucks. You stated it exactly. Even on the good days, we worry about the bad days that might happen.
I’m so sorry there is so much trouble getting the shot administered. My daughter got one in the hospital, then one at Directions for Living. They have a dedicated nurse who only does injections. I’m hoping my daughter will walk in on Feb 8th and get her next one.
I wish your son could just walk in and get his.
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I have gone back to secretly giving my daughter the Profrontal formula. It takes a little time to get asstimulated into the body, but wow!!
She is applying for jobs non stop and watching movies (that normally didn’t happen) and talking a lot. She even corrects me in my mistakes of speech, which is her old self.
One little problem with the profrontal is that the N-Acetyl Cysteine began to cause her legs to itch terribly, so I am still giving her the sarcosine from www.brainvitaminz.com and removed the NAC and replaced it with phosphatylserine (PS in the supplement world), I am using the Naturebell brand, which also has great results for schizophrenia.
I thought 2018 of not helping her with meds would wake her up to her illness, but all that happened was eight 51/50’s and no gained insight. A friend of mine told me that those with schizophrenia and a mindset like my daughter’s would never agree to supplements while in psychosis, which is true, I have to help her be psychotic free for as long as possible before telling her of the supplements and that she has her mind while taking them and only hospitalizations without taking them.
Btw, I learned of these supplements on the first page of www.schizophrenia.com
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FRUSTRATED!! But not with my son. Frustrated with the agencies designed to help. He lives independently and I would very much like to keep it that way for both our sakes, but he cannot work. He needs assistance. Part of my paying job is insurance paperwork so am used to mindless paperwork. BUT the paperwork and appointments for assistance make that look easy!! I thought last month I had everything sorted out, but I guess that was a short term sorted! Methinks a shot of a little something in the coffee this morning might be needed. 
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Awww, I’m sorry to hear you are having a bad day.
Regarding the injection - I went thru the same thing! At the time, my son had a case manager, and she did the calling around and found a pharmacy that would do the injection. It definitely was another one of those senseless obstacles!
At another point in time, we were able to set up a visiting nurse to come to the house and give him the shot.
It can just be so exhausting to have to keep on top of all of this stuff. The thought that my son could NEVER have done this without my involvement fueled my frustration with the whole system.
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Can you do the injection yourself?
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