Antonio and his ripple effect...

Yesterday Joyce took Antonio to a child 'psychologist' at the request of his child 'psychiatrist'. The new doctor confirmed everything the prior one had diagnosed and made it even clearer that Antonio has serious, serious issues. He agreed that as Antonio gets older and stronger he will continue to get more and more aggressive and his acts will begin to get more and more physically harmful. They tell us that his personality does not allow him continuous satisfaction; he must have new conquests each time to satisfy the urges and lusts of his body. This causes him, or will cause him, to do whatever is necessary to create his next 'high' regardless of what bodily harm it may cause others. For this reason the doctors are telling us we must separate Antonio from the others, particularly in the bedroom...he must have his own bedroom! They also told us we can never leave him alone with the other children for an extended period of time.

The new doctor has prescribed a new depressant medicine for Antonio, but it is difficult because he is epileptic many meds are not suitable for him...and we asked the doctor to be sure we don't end up w/a zombie. The new meds will most likely prolong his bed wetting days as well. The doctor wants to try to help us, but warns us that it will be a very long process. He says it will be two years before he can give us any reliable prognosis for Antonio's adult life...although for now he says it looks very, very bleak. He believes if he isn't able to reverse the mind of Antonio that he will eventually have to be separated from society. Obviously we need all the prayers you can muster for Antonio...it certainly looks like we need a direct intervention from God to save this young man from what the tortures of his early life have done to him.

The other side is...money! Everything takes money as you know: more meds, more doctors (now he will have two appointments/week, one w/a psychiatrist and one w/a psychologist), and the necessity of moving to a house where we can provide a bedroom for Antonio alone. It's tough and we need your help prayerfully and financially.

Reliant upon you and our God,

Bob, Joyce, & Kids