There is a complication, a side effect that Daniel has faced that isn’t often spoken about; but that is a real issue for children who have chronic pain, and hospital visits. This big complex feeling of anger – that when he has medications, steroids, worries, fears and pain all this can invoke anger in a way that causes him to lose control.
When moments like that happen and he is able to step back from it he will apologize profusely – like Jekyl and Hyde from the fairytale – he calls this part of him Dexter (yes…like the tv show, but also from the dexamethasone he’s had to take in the past)
“I’m sorry mom, I let Dexter out.”
The reassurance and time to talk about these feelings that are so big for children to understand and yet so much more escalated based on life experiences can be tricky to navigate, but we do. He is learning to step back after these moments, to breathe and refocus. I am learning patience, to breathe, not to react, to apologize when I do, and to LOVE both him and Dexter because that is how we quiet the anger.