Joshua had not eaten much in the past 5 days. He also has not had a real shower. For that matter since he has been in the hospital he has only been in two room his room and the quite room. The staff had not been able to get him to go to the common areas to engage with the other patients.
When we arrived Joshua was laying in his room on his bed. When he saw us he began to cry and shake. Not once making a motion to get off his bed and move in our direction. We were told the visit could not be in the room so Joshua would have to come out of the room to visit with us. So with a little coaxing he did get up and start moving in our direction. When he approached his mom he did so raising hands as though he was going to hit her. She was able to have her hands in place that when brought his hands up they met hers and he did not hit her. This is progress considering the events of the past few weeks.
After some pretty serious hugs he was able to go to the center of the common area where there were three sofas. He sat in the middle of one, I sat to his left and he told me almost immediately that I was too close holding up his hand with palm facing me which is his sign that I should give him a little more space. This is something we have been working on for years and he has retained it pretty well. It works nice when he is able to restrain himself long enough to use this tool. Mom was standing a few feet in front of him and he told her as well. "To close mom". Mom however was prepared. We had known he had not eaten anything and we wanted to kick start his appetite so we had brought some of his favorite snacks. The only ones that made it through security at the front door was Rice Krispies Treats. The other snacks were held at the security desk because they were in ziploc snack bags. I had called ahead and gotten clarification on how to package the snacks to avoid this issue. But still had to have someone from the ward go down to get them. Joshua ate what we had brought in just a few bites and I could tell by the way he ate it that he was hungry. But is not eating because things are so out of the norm for him.
After Joshua had eaten the treat I noticed he needed to get those teeth brushed so his attendant went and got his tooth brush and we had brought his favorite tooth paste. Without going into his room to his bathroom to do this the brush was a little to dry and he gagged on it a little. All of a sudden since Joshua was allowing this to take place we were allowed access to his room and bathroom. Amazing. So we went on to the bathroom and brushed his teeth and he had to use the restroom too. After that he was looking over at the shower and decided he would take a shower while we were there as well. We got him undressed in between glasses of water which he had not been drinking much either while there. He was in the shower for about 20 minutes. This was the first time we have been able to get him in a shower for over two weeks. Now for the bad news this is when he put in for us to take him home. He would not let it go. He wanted to go home cause he was now clean. So this is where our heart tugged. We had spent only 52 minutes of the hour and a half visitation with him and we had to leave. All of the time was spent doing things with him we normally do at home before bed so it was kinda normal. But we really wanted the full hour and a half.
Not sure if we will visit tomorrow as we don't want him unstable. When we leave and can't take him with us it really bothers him and us. We called the hospital as soon as we arrived back home to see what happened when we left. He carried on for a bit was upset ended up finally getting dressed but also go a shot of thorazine to help him calm down. They asked him if he wanted to be in his room or the quite room. His choice was the quiet room. So he grabbed his blanket went to the quiet room and fell asleep.
Tomorrow is another day.
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