Phase 5 and Going Strong!

Kale has been in phase 5 of our homotoxicology protocol since the end of January.  We are going strong and seeing some great little improvements.  We have finally hit intracellular detox with our protocol.  Kale is on biosode and doing great on it.  During the first 4 phases, we went slow and spent some extra time making sure his body was ready for intracellular detox, opening up his detox pathways.  Kids on the autism spectrum have tremendous difficulty detoxing on their own like many of our bodies can.  They need support through this process.  They need to get those toxins out!  Toxins block their ability to learn new skills, motor and cognitive.  Open up those pathways so they can detox.  That's what we did.  We were ready for intracellular.  I was anxious.......but ready.  I knew it could get ugly as his body got rid of the toxins.  I was prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.  4 weeks into biosode and guess what.........it has been mostly positive changes.  For the exception of some sleepless nights and a few skin rashes, he is doing very well!!

Positives during phase 5:  Increased eye contact, increased awareness, receptive language has increased including following multi step directions, behavior has improved, sensory defensiveness is down (continues to brush his teeth independently, let me trim his nails, got a haircut the other day and sat in the chair by himself with a cape on with no crying, hitting, slapping, etc., exploring and enjoying sensory messy play with no aversions, seems more regulated and not seeking as much input as he was).

His verbal stimms are definitely increased during this phase.  We are waiting for the increase in verbal language.  Some of his words are very clear!  Much clearer than his typical approximations.  Although, not a huge surge in his expressive speech yet.  He has become mischevious again.  He is making messes and destroying his brothers room.  These are behaviors he had years ago.  Mary warned us that he would go backwards with this behavior and that he would need to do this in order to move forward.

In January, we also added SLIT (Sublingual Immunotherapy) to the party with Kale.  This protocol will help to decrease the inflammation in Kale's body, which is caused by the foods he was eating on a daily basis.  When we had Kale tested with the naturopath, we found out we would need to remove the following foods from his diet:  potato, tomato, corn, all berries, red apples (green were ok), grapes, blk pepper, green and red pepper, all purple and red foods, etc.  He was already GFCF.  We went to all organic and I make all of his food from almost scratch.  I am cooking constantly and washing dishes and going to Whole Foods twice a week.  He will remain on these dietary restrictions for about 6 months while he is on sublingual drops which will desensitize the reaction he has to the foods.  We will be able to reintroduce the foods at some point in the near future. I struggled at the thought of removing all of these foods from his daily diet in the beginning.  Honestly, it has not been that bad and he has done AMAZING with all of it.  He has tried new foods along the way and he is eating more foods.

Overall, things are good and we are plugging along!!  :)  We are looking forward to the next few phases which could bring about tackling yeast and bacteria. 

Thanksgiving, 2012 Homotoxicology style

Thanksgiving was at my brother and sister in laws new, beautiful house.  It was also with her family.  Let me just say that my sister in laws family is so unbelievably nice and amazingly friendly.  I was nervous though, because Kale can be loud, stimmy, destructive and just over the top to those who are not use to his everyday actions.  Well....Kale proved his old mom wrong yet again.  He was amazing this year on Thanksgiving....in my brother and sister in laws new house which he had never been to yet, among her loving and friendly family, he was amazing!  He sat AT the table with us, his family, and ate dinner.  I sat next to him, as he took his food that I had brought for him, out of his lunchbox and put it on his plate.  He sat and ate with us, as one big family.  I had tears in my eyes as we enjoyed Thanksgiving together, T.O.G.E.T.H.E.R.  Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?  Being with those we love and counting our many blessings?  Well.....this girl was speechless that day!  I was so very grateful!  I was grateful for my brother and sister in law for inviting us to be with her family.  I was grateful that Jaden had an amazing time with his cousins who adore him a ton!  I was grateful to have my mom and dad there along with Mikey and I.  Finally, I was grateful that my son sat with us, and enjoyed dinner.  It was a day to remember.....for sure! 

PHASE 3 AND 7 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Well, time got away from me again and it's been forever since I posted last.  So....let's back up.  Kale did extremely well on phase two of his homotoxicology protocol.  So good in fact that most of his numbers decreased.  However, even though we were not intending to go intracellular for detox yet, Kale's body took it upon itself to go intracellular and he crashed on some of his numbers.  This just means that his body really really wants those toxins out and it was moving them out too fast.  Therefore....depleting the energy in his cells and we needed to spend this next phase rebuilding the energy.  Although we did not see any HUGE gains in phase two, overall I can tell you that there were small noticeable gains.  Kale's eye contact has improved tremendously, along with his receptive language skills.  He is listening and following directions like he never has before.  I can stand at the bottom of the stairs, yell KALE and he will come to the top of the staircase and look at me like, "what do you want mom?"  THIS IS HUGE PROGRESS!!  I use to stand at the bottom of the staircase and yell for him, just to see if he would respond in any way and let me tell you......I could have stood there all day, yelling his name frantically, and he never came to see what I wanted.

We had our 3rd phone call with Mary on December 18th.  Our new protocol came in the mail for phase 3 on December 22nd.  I made a very wise decision to put off starting the new stuff until the day after Christmas so that our family had a shot at a memorable and enjoyable Christmas.  Well....guess what, Christmas was awesome this year...for ALL of us!  YEP, you heard it, for ALL of us!  Kale did great opening gifts on Christmas Eve and he was excited when he woke up on Christmas morning to see the pile of gifts waiting for him to open.  He opened every single present that morning and had an excited look on his face as he grabbed in his pile for more!  We left our house at 2:30 pm that day for my aunts house...and then onto my parents house for more and we didn't get home until almost 11 pm.  Guess what?  Kale opened presents at both houses, didn't have one single meltdown and enjoyed himself all day long.  IT WAS AWESOME!!

December 26th....started phase 3 of our homotoxicology protocol.  This phase, we are clearing his lungs, respiratory and large intestine.  3 days after the start of the new protocol, my cousin came over to cut the boys hair.  This is usually a flippin nightmare for Kale.  He is SOOOO sensitive to getting his haircut because of his tactile defensiveness.  He is a sensory boy through and through.  All of these years, and the haircuts just don't get any easier.  He has managed to work through brushing his teeth, washing his hair and brushing it, but the haircuts are just herendous.  Well......not this time!  Jenna walked in, told him what she was going to do and we put a chair in the kitchen in front of my little tv.  Kale sat in the chair by himself and hardly whined for about 3/4 of the way through her using the big clippers on his head!  Then, he whined a bit but still was a gazillion times better than he usually is with haircuts!  It was time for the little clippers......he stood up, put his arms around me as if he were hugging me, I had to hold his head a bit but he tolerated the little clippers on his neck and around his ears.  This is the part that is usually the worst when he gets his haircut.  I mean, Mikey is usually trying to pin him in the chair, while I assist the girl who cuts his hair by holding his head in a steady position, anyway that I can basically having his head pinned against my body.  Last time, Mikey and I both had scratches on our faces from him trying to flee the position.  SO, needless to say, when my cousin Jenna was finished and Kale ran out of the kitchen......I nearly melted right there on the floor.  I looked at my body in disbelief.  I didn't have any scratches on my face, I was not sweating from holding him.  He did it!  HE FRICKIN DID IT!  He got his haircut and he did not freak!  I think I told my cousin Jenna a zillion times the amazing situation she just witnessed.  This my friends, was HUGE!
Then, when I thought I had seen it all..............my son, the ubber hyper sensitive sensory kid, let me cut every single one of his toenails.  Again, I almost fell over in disbelief.  I have not been able to cut his toenails without Mikey holding him or while he was awake for over 7 years.  This time, he sat voluntarily on the edge of the bed, held still on his own, and let me us the clippers.  Unreal and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.
So, that brings us to today!  The very first day back to school after two weeks off for Christmas break.  Typically, I would expect a note from his staff at school saying it was a rough day.  For the love, my typical 9 year old had a rough first day back because it sucks going back to school after being home for two weeks.  Well....not Kale.....no way......he had a great day.  Not only did he have two 30 minute speech sessions at school today that he did ok with, he had a great day overall.  He has been up since 4:30 am because his sleep schedule is jacked up from Christmas break, but he hung in there all day long and fought through his early morning rise.  He even had private speech therapy tonight after school and he rocked that out as well.

About an hour ago, I was going up the stairs to take Kale his melatonin for the night.  He met me half way down the stairs.  I told him to drink his juice and that it was time for bed.  He drank the juice and I set the cup down on the stairs.  Kale then gave me a huge hug.  He is a cuddly, lovey boy all the time, but this hug was different.  He held me tight and squeezed his mama.  After the hug, he stared at my face.  I remained silent because these moments have been happening frequently and I suck every little second of them in.  He is awakening....in so many different ways and I can see it right in front of my eyes!  I have to shut up, watch what is happening and really focus, or I will miss it.  At that moment, he took his little finger, pointed to my nose and said nose.  Then, he pointed to my eyes and said eyes, then he pointed to my forehead and said head, then mouth, then ears and then he touched the top of my head and said head.  Now, many of you are probably thinking....ok, Sadie, so he knows his body parts....he should, he is 9 years old and I would say, yes...you are right.  However, until about a year ago, Kale could not identify body parts verbally or on someone else.  This moment was different though, because this moment was completely unprompted, it was not in imitation, it was spontaneous.  I did not model this for him at any time this evening, it was spontaneous and completely out of the blue.  It was awesome!  At that very moment, that my son was touching my eyes, my mouth and my head, I knew it was happening.....he is experiencing things he has never experienced before because Autism and the underlying medical conditions that are Autism had such a tight grip on him that he was never able to experience moments like this.  He is unraveling.  He is peeling back those layers and layers of toxins that are built up in his body after years of exposure.  He is coming back to us...slowly but surely it is happening.  I can see it, Mikey can see it, Jaden can see it, my mom and dad can see it, his amazing team of teachers and therapists can see it, his family members can see it, we all see it slowly but surely in the way he looks at us and the way he looks at things that are happening around him.

January 10th, 2013 will mark 7 years since my son, Kale was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Little did we know that day would have the impact on our lives like it has.  I thought we would be further along in the recovery process by now.  However, now is not the time to beat myself up for missing out on a protocol or for going down the wrong treatment path or for not reading the right blogs, etc. etc.....because we have done A LOT for Kale.  We have sacrificed our entire lives for his health and recovery from the underlying medical conditions that make up Autism.  JADEN has sacrificed the most.  BUT, now we are on the right path.....this is going to be an amazing year of firsts for all of us.  I am going to document every new experience like crazy.  I am going to stand there, be quiet and suck in every little look and word that comes out of his mouth because I DO NOT want to miss a single second of it.  I will celebrate the little things for both of my boys.  I will encourage them to fight harder and to celebrate harder.  7 years may have come and gone, but this year is the most important for our family.  We will win.  I can feel it. 

PHASE TWO, WEEK ONE

Kale has been on phase two remedies for 6 days now.  I started with only the emotional supports.  There are 4 that are supporting him through this phase of the protocol.  He has 3 drainers that will work to continue to open up the pathways so the toxins can release from his organs and get OUT of his body. 
I started with one drainer last night, that targets his kidneys.  I only put two drops of the remedy on his wrists.  He also started a new supplement that will help him to sleep better (hoping!!).  He slept 8 hours and woke up fine.  By 7:15 am he was hitting himself (no hitting throughout the entire weekend on only the emotional supports), hitting me and then crying a cry that I have never heard before.  I picked him up to stop the hitting, held him tight and he held me tighter.  He actually clung to me for minutes on end as he sobbed.  It was horrifying as a mom because I know he was scared of how he was feeling, he had never cried that hard before and has never clung to me that hard or long before.  Mary had said that this specific remedy could bring on fear.  As his body awakens and the toxins come out, my son could experience fear.  To my knowledge, he has never experienced this emotion before...not that I could ever tell.  He could not get on the bus this morning.  He requested a bath but we had to get Jaden to school.  So, we dropped J off at school and returned home.  I called my dad and he jumped in his truck to come over and help.  Kale LOVES his papa.  Actually, he is a bit obsessed with his PAPA.  PAPA can do no wrong in Kale's eyes.  He actually makes everything a bit better....Kale took a bath and when he got out, PAPA was here!  Kale laid in bed with PAPA and calmed down.  PAPA spent a few hours with Kale.  Grama came over after work to check on him as well.  This child is so loved and supported by sooooo many!  We are so fortunate.....we could not do it without them!  Nope.....not ever!!  Grama also laid with him for awhile, staring at his big brown eyes all the while.....worrying.  Worrying if we are doing the right thing but knowing that we are.  Focusing on what the next 10 months may bring us, hoping for what the next 10 months will bring us.  We are seeing little things already.  We have all experienced different looks from Kale...like he is really seeing us.  He is noticing details that he had not paid any attention to before.  He says "bye" to his caring bus driver and monitor (our beloved Ms. Beth!!) without being prompted for the first time. 

This afternoon, I gave him his emotional support remedies, burbur to support his emotional instability, and two more drops on his wrist of the kidney detox (at 6:30 pm)....along with his George's Aloe Vera Juice.  By 8:30 pm, Kale had a bath and red dots were already noticeable on his cheeks and his nose.  Not again.....detox is happening so fast.  TWO little dots of liquid could produce a reaction this quickly.  I gave him his new sleep supp (just half a capsule) and he was out by 8:45 pm.  Detoxing burns energy all day long!  So, he is exhausted much of the day.  He was so tired tonight, his little body couldn't stay up a minute longer.  I have been watching him very closely.  We have had many moments of clarity, he and I.  He is seeking me out more throughout the day to just give me a hug.  These moments are getting me through the hard moments.  It is hard to put my son through this detox process.  It is hard to put myself through this process!  BUT I know that this is the right journey for us right now.  And that was just week one of phase two.....

VERBAL STIMMING

OH MY!!!  Still on phase one remedies....and Kale is a verbal stimming machine!  OH MY GOODNESS!  He was up at 2am, verbal stimming like a maniac...ALL NIGHT LONG!  It was so loud it was almost a scream.  The stimming has continued today as well. 

5 of the Phase 2 remedies arrived today.  We will be starting a few of the support remedies, the non-drainers.  Once the drainers arrive, we will be adding one in per day to see how he handles them. 

Hoping for a quiet nights sleep!  :)

IEP Meeting and progress update

Today, I had Kale's annual IEP meeting.  The reports were good.  He is making progress with eye contact, receptive language, keyboarding and writing, personal information, sensory regulation, PE activities,etc.  He is able to eat lunch in the very loud and crazy cafeteria just fine, he follows multi step directions in the educational environment, he is progressing.  He handles changes in his day without meltdowns, he is working with different aides throughout the day versus his 1:1 and handles the transitions pretty well considering he absolutely adores his 1:1.  He is regulating his body when he needs to (sensory wise).  His goals were all changed to focus on the holes in his development.  The goal is to fill those holes and build upon learned skills.   This was all awesome to hear.  :)  His team reported that the last two weeks have been pretty good...different they said.  They said HE is different (in a good way)and that yesterday was an absolutely FABULOUS day all around.  He had two speech sessions yesterday, 30 minutes each and he was a rock star for both!  :)

What kind of progress am I seeing on this homotoxicology protocol?  I see increased eye contact, moments of pure clarity where he looks at me or someone else with those gigantic brown eyes as if he were seeing us in a different way, more compliant, laughing at appropriate situations that should be laughed at.  He is also writing his phone number when asked what is your phone number?  He is also attempting to write more.  His verbal approximations are clearer and he is able to produce better sounds. 

Do I think this protocol is making a difference?  ABSOLUTELY.  The emotional fall out is minute to minute still but when he is ON....he is ON and I am sucking up every bit of awesomeness that is coming from him!  Mary Coyle believes he will get better on this protocol....the toxins will detox, they will leave his body and he will be a healthier kid...there will be LESS of AUTISM and MORE of KALE.  Oh am I praying.....

WEEK NINE???

OMG!  SOOOO much going on and so little time to post.  Let's get caught up here!  OK, we had our 2nd call with Mary Coyle finally!!  Our second round of samples finally arrived and after Hurricane Sandy ripped through New York Mary's office was not fully functioning...but we got the phone call in this past Monday.  Initially, she wanted to know how Kale was doing on the first round of remedies.  Now I have been emailing back and forth with her every time he had a negative reaction (red bumps on his face, aggression increasing, etc.) so she had been up to speed on almost everything.  She asked how he was eating (a lot and often) and she explained that as the kids detox, they burn calories.  This makes their blood sugar drop and they in turn are hungry more frequently.  That makes sense considering Kale requests food all of the time!
She asked about his sleeping (ummmm....Kale doesn't sleep much, often is a nighttime waker and hardly ever enters the REM stage of uninterrupted sleep), so she has recommended a supplement to add to his nighttime routine in addition to the 5 mg of Melatonin he has been on forever.
She asked about his aggression (bad bad bad aggression for awhile but has been better the last two weeks).  We chatted for awhile and then she hung up with me to go run his samples in her super awesome machine.
20 minutes later....phone rings and it's Mary!  I jumped to get the phone and answered with excitement to obtain the results of his hair and saliva samples!  Did the remedies work?  Were the toxins beginning to come out?  Was he responding to this new protocol we have put him on?  All answers were a BIG FAT YES!!!!
Mary said, good news!!  He is a great responder!  His detox pathways are opening up, his toxic levels are going down and I am happy with what I am seeing!!  SAWEEEEETTTTT!!!!!

Mary explained that his adrenals and kidneys were still stressed (high load of toxins) so we will focus on opening up the pathways to his kidneys this round of remedies.  His skin, liver, endocrine, lymphatic, central nervous system and spleen are all opening up nicely.  He is not fully ready for the intracellular round of detox (that will happen in phase 3 in another 6 weeks) so she is going to detox at the intermediary level for this round.  Because Kale is 9 years old (considered "older" in the recovery process) he has a lot of toxins to get out and we don't want to move to fast with the detox process because it will be hell on him and on me.

She then went on to explain all of the remedies she was suggesting we put him on for this phase.  There are many....but in this batch we will have a remedy for calming, a remedy for anti-stress and a remedy for emotional support.  All of which will assist in the process as his body goes through detox this round.  Now, we wait for the little bottles of remedies (hope) to arrive in the mail from New York and we will start phase two ASAP.  My excitement is over the moon.  I KNOW this is the path we have to travel in order for Kale to get healthy, in order to give him the best chance at the life he is suppose to lead.  I am thrilled to have found Mary and feel so blessed to be a part of this journey.

I will post the remedies we are going to be on once I receive them.  Please continue to pray for my son as we enter phase TWO!  :)