Yep. That's my Isaac. My sweet little love bug who is everyone's best friend, or at least tries to be. We have been introducing potty training to the twins for a little better than a year now. Our twins are 7 year old identical boys. They are both non-verbal, have Autism, Down Syndrome and Sensory Processing Disorder. Due to the assortment of diagnosis' the twins have we have not been to concerned with pushing them to toilet train. They are delayed in all areas already and we knew that potty training would be a difficult area to concentrate on when they were totally not ready.
We began introducing books and videos at about 5 1/2. Then we taught them the sign for potty. We showed them where their pee comes from and told them why they pee.. We let them stand by the potty before bath time and asked if they needed to go. They watched daddy go and thought it was funny. Caleb started to "try" a few months ago and has had some successes. Isaac however, always seemed really resistant and didn't want to.. As the months went on and Caleb was starting to go more and more (still not trained today) we decided to push Isaac a little more.
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It was at that time that Isaac began signing "hurt" when he was trying.. HURT?!! no that shouldn't hurt honey. "Its a different feeling but you can do it" we told him. This continued on so we talked to pediatrician and behavioral specialist. The guess was that he was perhaps trying to push the wrong way and was pushing to have a BM. Perhaps Isaac was associating his chronic constipation pain with standing at the potty and pushing and hurting?
We went with this theory for awhile. They started kindergarten in the fall and part of their daily routine involves trying to go potty twice a day. The staff documents if twins' diapers are wet, dry or dirty. They also comment on if they went potty or refused. On Isaac's paper, signing "hurt" was a daily report. We began to wonder if he was just signing hurt to get out of going potty.
I basically woke up this week and thought, that's it.. Why would a child who most likely is not capable of signing a word to intentionally get out of doing something keep signing that word?? If he was signing Hurt, then doggone it... he must hurt!!!
I took him to the pediatrician again yesterday and I said I want a total work up on this child. I want bladder, kidneys, penis, all the plumbing checked out. I want to rule out any pain before we move forward with potty training. Isaac is under the care of a urologist for retracting testicles but they have never really examined the structure of this man parts. The pediatrician said she would start there and go forward if everything looked right.
She grabbed her flashlight, we held down a screaming boy and she had a look.... Uh Huh... right away she said that we needed look no further. She said to go ahead and call Childrens Hospital in Pittsburgh and have the urologist take a look. She was certain that Isaac has Meatal Stenosis. Well, that's a new word for us..
She explained that sometimes boys swell up after circumcision as an infant and it fuses the urethra together. Its often caught around the age of two when typical children begin toileting. UGH!!! My Isaac is 7 1/2 and we are just now finding this?? Poor bugger, he really does hurt when he tries to pee. The doctor explained that it feels like a UTI without actually having a UTI. The urge to pee is there but often can't go. Its like going the the bathroom through a pinched straw.
Listen to Me...
So as I sit here typing once again feeling regretful for not "listening" to my child who is capable of communicating through sign language, I am waiting to hear back from urology. I am hoping that they can get Isaac in sooner than later to give this poor boy relief. From my understanding it is a quick 5 minute surgical procedure that is followed by full recovery. The only downfall is that anything requiring anesthesia for my twins must be done at Children's Hospital due to their moderate Subglottic Stenosis.. narrow airways..
Mama is sorry baby boy :(
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