The Day of the Scope

The morning after the discovery of the cutting that my daughter had been doing - apparently for several months - was the appointment for the scope. As we waited for her to be called, I called her regular doctor for a referral to a psychiatrist. I figured a teenager who was cutting should be a pretty high priority and should be seen as soon as possible.

While the regular doctor worked on the referral and getting the appointment, she underwent the scope procedure. During the recovery she had a bad reaction and had to be put in a private room for a while so the recovery took a bit longer than usual. They said that happens with some of the children/teens that age. It was more of a wailing/weeping than anything.

The doctor who did the scope spoke to us and told us there was nothing wrong on the inside. He suggested this was the end of the road for physical tests. He seemed to be indicating what we were already just discovering on our own - there was something emotionally or mentally going on that needed attention. When asked directly about that possibility, and revealing our discovering, he confirmed that he felt she was probably on that path and needed to be seen and put on anti-depressant medication.

The family doctor called back and had an appointment that was almost two months away with a psychiatrist! I asked for the doctor to start her on something in the interim so she could start healing and feeling better as soon as possible. They did give her a drug to help her calm down when she became upset - Lorazepam. The generic for Ativan. One mg tablets to be taken as needed for stress.

Because I had been on these pills at many points in the past, that's what I'd asked for. I explained to my daughter how and when to take them.

In the meantime I had to figure out how to get her into the psychiatrist sooner than the appointment they'd scheduled. That was just too far out. We were a family in crisis with a teen that desperately needed help. I was horrified that the wait could be so long. I was told the wait would be at least that long at any psychiatric office in the city.