The Lodger and Us

I hate food. Now don't get me wrong, I know food is vital for life and choosing a healthy diet is something myself and my husband have always done, long before Prader Willi Syndrome came into our life. Truthfully, we might have felt a lot less guilty when it came to having a  takeaway and treat food but we have always chosen to fuel our bodies healthily.  Then came PWS and we made our home a safe haven for our son right from the beginning, right from diagnosis day 1st August 2012. We cleared out the junk food, we put our rule book into play; No eating outside the kitchen, no free access to the kitchen, healthy food fills our fridge and cupboard... we've made our home as secure as we possibly can.  And for 4 years and 15 days we never mentioned the word 'Hungry' infront of The Lodger.  And then that day came. The day we never wanted to have. The day we wished wouldn't happen... as part of us has always hoped he'd be the one person with PWS not to feel hungr...

Sometimes you enjoy spending time with your child. I'd even go as far as saying most of the time it's enjoyable. But then there are those other times... It's 5am. I know because I've checked the phone, undetected, hopefully, as The Silent Shuffle Monster makes his way through the darkness. The Lodger is awake.  I always check the time in trying to understand this next crazy symptom of Prader-Willi Syndrome.  The dreaded early waking.  I not sure on the specific reasons or causes for this. Possibly hunger or a low blood sugar level or possibly anxiety relating to the ' Will they remember to give me breakfast?' A consistent worry in the world of PWS. Ive captured this moment before, the waking and slow approach, It happens like this. The Lodger wakes, reaches out turns off his sleep apnoea machine and carefully removes his mask. He then slips carefully from the bed making sure not to wake  Walter  and pulling the covers back up on him. Imp...

Firstly I can't say I am in any way qualified to discuss this subject. There are no letters before or in fact after my name. I went to college but didn't learn anything about stress, anxiety or Prader Willi Syndrome. And I don't get paid large quantities of money to discuss these topics. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a 4 year period. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you.  The last part is factually not correct but if it's good enough for Liam Neeson it's good enough for me. My skills are a little different and totally self taught through nothing other that necessity. The necessity to deal with the wonderful symptom of anxiety in a 4 year old with Prader Willi Syndrome.  Again I'm only 4 years and 7 months into my journey of involvement with Prader Willi Syndrome so my experiences and thoughts are just mine and not the silver bullet of PWS. If it was, maybe more people would rea...