A Christmas to Remember

Hello Friends! 

I hope everyone had a nice Holiday, whichever one you celebrate! 
We had a great Christmas! 

Since starting Bella's recovery, I have learned many things about her. One thing I never knew was how much she would really enjoy rocking out at a concert or going to see a play or show. The music used to be too loud, and to get her to sit still and quiet proved too much for her and overwhelmed her years ago. Nevermind actually paying attention and understanding whats going on. Now , its a whole new ball game. Her first concert was in 2012 and since then we have been going to more concerts and shows every year. The music and volume no longer effect her. She is very attentive to who we are there to see and actually enjoys and follows along just fine now. It has become a great way for us to have fun and spend time together ,especially with her older sister. We all enjoy music, shows and going to see them together so now its become "our thing" we girls do together. Especially as Bella improved its become even more enjoyable for us all. Also allowed for some fun overnight stays, or as Bella calls then "field trips". This year was no different a few shows we got in, and for Christmas we were blessed enough, and got to go see two! Thanks to Grandpa for helping out with the first one, Justin Timberlake at Mohegan Sun! We got to rock out with JT a few weeks ago. Awesome Christmas gift! Its always an adventure going too. We stayed the night , so Sabrina got her "field trip" in. She loves packing up her bag and going on these trips with us. Especially when it involves FUN stuff like ferries and hotel rooms! 

  So on an overnight adventure, that seemingly we would NEVER of been able to go on and do BEFORE we started the recovery process. Going would never of mattered or even have been an interest. And if we did go then, it would of most likely been a living nightmare. A unstopable sequence of unfortunate events as this would have been very stressful and overwhelming for her in the past. 
But now? Now, she LOVES it! She ENJOYS it and she is always asking if we are going to a show. That my friends IS recovery! So obviously , as I see her improve and ask for it more, we are going to do everything in our power to make sure we get to go to some kind of show. Its not always concerts. We have been to NYC and saw The Lion king and Rockettes and others like that. Musicals and Plays she enjoys as well. Local or affar we try to get there.             

For Christmas I thought to take the girls to see The Nutcracker ballet. Since Bella started dancing again this year, and her favorite is ballet, so 
I thought it would be quite appropriate. Also its a local show which always helps. I'm not always into overnight traveling. So we got to check that out. She seamed to enjoy it. got a kick out of the little kids on stage. She loved the costumes and of course..the Nutcracker himself! What was also nice, she recognized that soon, she too will be the one on stage as well. That seamed to make her happy and excited. 

Great times and then

Our Christmas morning...

The beginning opening gifts started out shaky. She was on a hunt for a certain toy so she was opening only the small packages as that would be the correct size box it would be for this item. She began to dig through the lot of gifts like a little mad woman. She was beginning to obsess about that toy she wanted. It also so happen to be a toy she asked for last minute and not exactly cheap. She was opening gifts and started to repeatedly ask about this toy. 

again and again 

It was visibly starting to stress her out, her mood changed ,her demeanor changed the tone of her voice stressed. Her hand cupping stimm started to become repetitive. I had to get her out of this and quick, so I got her attention and do what works 

.. get next to her, get her to look me in the eyes and repeat..

"I am so sorry hunny, but your toy is going to be late because the elves ran out of time to create it and now when they are done, they will send it to you. It is coming in the mail. I promise! " 

 I say it calmly in a happy steady tone and a little slower then I usually talk. That seams to be the best way to get her brain to process and listen to every word , especially over the stress she is under. I did that a few times, until it registers , I know that happens when she starts repeating what I said. Then when I have her attention I remind her of the happy event that is going on and the happy event it will be when her package arrives,

" Its a happy happy day, keep opening presents lets see what ELSE santa brought! Remember you also asked for... " 

And named off a few I knew were there and knew were on her top items list. Them she opened one of her favorites on her wish list and everything shifted immediately into Happy Bella. She never mentioned the other toy after that and we were able to continue and finish the rest of the gift opening without incident. Christmas was saved! lol No but seriously, a melt down is hard enough but when it on a day that is like the happiest day ever and/or a special event for the family
its tragic 
and I was so happy we didn't have to relive that nightmare. Especially since Bella has been "up and down" lately. Puberty has proven to be challenging this year. So NO melt down craziness is a good day, and "KNOCK WOOD LOUDLY" its seemingly better, but even more so since she has all her gifts she wanted and was stressing about the past month or so, driving us coo coo bananas lol. Hopefully the toys and such will help keep the calmness a bit longer. I guess only time will tell. 

       This is definitely a Christmas to I will not forget!

       " Chins UP ! Spirits UP! "

A time to reflect ..

Well life has been a roller coaster here .. thus a major reason why I haven't been writing much , and please accept my apologies for that. We have been dealing with many things , besides binas fight with Autism. 
Through it all However, we remain in fighting mode spirits up and staying strong. Trying to keep the faith that everything happens for a reason and to be thankful for all we have at this moment in time. Anything can happen in a second that can change your entire world in a blink of an eye and this year has proven this to us on more then one occasion. It Seams perfect timing that tomorrow we are to celebrate and give thanks to all we have and show love and appreciations to those we love, to Those whom stand beside us and have supported our journey. Today as I clean up and prepare for our family dinner tomorrow, I cant help but to think about all that has happened, where we where last year to where we are this year.. and give thanks to God that as we continue to climb this mountain , Sabrina's progress steadily continues and that I can't ask for anything more or be anymore grateful and or thankful just for that.

 

She LOVE going to concerts , we went to 4 thus far.. Paramore and Fallout Boy
One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer 
Demi Lovato with 5th Harmony and Little Mix
Justin Timberlake

We also recently saw Disney On Ice


She has been many new places and tried new things...

 

6th grade trip NJ Medieval Times
A Skate Skate camp Brooklyn NY
Bowling Team "Team Kitty"
Dance class Tap and Ballet

Every Time this year I start reflecting. Bella continues to fight and make me proud. Reflections mean more now, especially since we started our own recovery journey      ( Oct 2011 ) . Its crazy to think about all that has happened, the good the bad the ugly... and then see where you are today. Not only in a physical sense.. but mentally, as a person , as a parent , as a family ...just everything. Sure I've been told before I maybe over analyzing  things at times.. but I'm sorry I am so not the person I used to be, and my family definitely forever changed. We are all definitely in a different place now, a better place.. and reflecting may remind me of past lessons but it also feeds me and motivates me for how far we come, how proud I am of us all and excited to think what the next year may bring. So although thanksgiving is just a "dinner" its abit more to me then just that. For me its the beginning of our yearly reflections.. 
I think its a great time for everyone to stop, take a step back and reflect. 

It helps us learn , grow and keep us focused to stay on the right track! 

Summer School Play and Playing around :) 

Parasite, Nematodes, Microbes and Autism

Parasites? Nematodes? Microbes? Autism?        YES! 

One of many things I have learned on this journey is that there is always something more to learn. Now I have heard of parasites before, you know the worms and stuff dogs can get. But humans? We deal with parasites? I didn't think so, and had not a clue how wrong I was! Typically a human body will carry many microbes with them throughout a lifetime. The problem occurs when they override and start to make complications in our bodys systems. There are good guys and bad guys and like everything else, a delicate balance is what the goal is to achieve for anyones health. Now typically a healthy person can tolerate,regulate even dispose of any microbes when need be. But sadly many of us are not as healthy as we think, and with Autism...well thats a no brainer...our kids are VERY sick medically. they have all sorts of issues, metabolically ,immune, gut I mean the list is endless. Since we know they are already compromised, we know that they are more vulnerable to these microbes and will have a harder time hosting and fighting them off. That brings us to our last homotoxicology protocol, which was focused on all I spoke of. We started intercellular and went after some Parasites and the harder Nematodes this spring. In May we say Mary, got our readings and protocol and the "heads up" as to what to expect. Knowing this was going to be a tough one, spread it out over a 3 month period to release our attack on the bad guys. 
It started off with Parasites and it went good. She was able to finish school with little to no issues. She did show some signs of anxiety, OCD, anger, emotional, impatience but nothing that we couldn't handle or redirect. Honestly it wasn't too bad where I though perhaps this wasn't an issue, what did I know? All I knew is that it seamed to go very well. THEN the Nematodes started. I was warned. Mary said that this was much more tougher. These were harder guys to get so that we may see more regression at first before the clearing. I have been told this before, but never saw a huge reaction. So onward we went. This started in July. Well this one proved to be quite a doozy! She was in summer school and started to have behavioral issues. She was going from 0 to 60 without any precursors so no one knew when she would meltdown.. The biting, smacking, kicking, hitting, swearing not happy kid has shown herself. Luckily I had a receptive teacher whom knew what we were doing and this poor guy did all he could to help me get Bella through the summer. It was hard, I did have to go pick her up twice and got a call quite a few times. This is not and was not typical for Bella. Her teacher had her last year and he noticed the change. She went from a happy, laid back ,chill kid to crazy mad woman. I am so glad that he was a trooper and got Bella though the summer. I did keep her home alot , but I didn't care. I just wanted to fight the bad guys and get her through it. I have to say it was the toughest protocol we have done. When this one was at its end I remember it still not getting much better. I remember saying is she going to get happy again and come through this like all the other times better? I was so scared it wasn't' gonna happen , I was so happy to end it to see and find out. 

                                      First day of 7th grade 2014

It took about a week but she started to show signs of "clearing". The blocked language subsided and her communication was back and even better. Cognitively and receptively she was better. She was eating more and starting to enjoy things again. Laughing more, less obsessive thinking, less OCD , less behaviors and 0 to 60 became nonexistent. 
I thought we were cleared. I took a deep breathe and thanked God for getting us through that mess. Well I spoke way too soon. We had an appointment to see mary again after it ended but I had cancelled it due to financial stress. BIG MISTAKE. Now a second week goes by all is ok, then the third was the first week of school. Back to Middle school starting 7th grade. Same school, teachers kids..nothing new. The year started good! She was happy excited to go, couldn't wait to get to "jr high". Well a few days in she had learned her only "typical" friend moved so her lunchtime became a huge issue. Her BFF Sapphire was gone. Bella was Devastated. That began the initial displeasing of the year.. she had such a hard time she was eloping from lunch, having fits and had to be removed from the cafeteria. It got to the point they made an alternative place for her to go and have lunch.  I got a few calls but we (teachers and I) were still able to keep her calm and redirect in the beginning. By the second,third week she started to lose more control. Self injury, lashing out at others physically and verbally. Eloping from classes.  All the old manifestations were coming back and in full swing at school AND at home. At home I was able to redirect (for the most part) but school, not so much. I was called almost daily and up there weekly and one of those calls I got was to go up and get her. Well in a mist of a meltdown she scratched her TA and it drew a little blood. Long story shot, they suspended her. I had the fight of my life with the school principle and the head of special ed, and even went to the superintendent about all this. Manifestation of a disability is not grounds for suspension, I did end up getting it removed from her record but that didn't help the situation of how they can deal with her at school when and if these manifestations happen. I was informed they would hold her down arms and legs when she was on the floor flaring. My heart sank. In NO WAY is it EVER OK to hold down MY child Especially during a meltdown! that amplifies it and makes it worse! And it did! I had many meetings and eventually a CSE in which a FBA was made and I also made it clear she was going to be staying home now. I explained the medical issues and the puberty and combination of things were causing her manifestations. With a medical doc note from her MAPS I was able to get her approved for home teaching for now. I am beyond upset about what happened and will be in more further detail in another blogpost, but to get you up to date ... all this was going on , I was in touch with her MAPS doc as well as Mary our homotoxicologist. PUBERTY seams to be a huge culprit for her issues then add the already autism BS and detox on top. MAPS doc, related it to allergies and puberty biological changes. Mary, related to those 2 things but also she told me that a full moon phase had passed since we last ended our protocol and it was very possible the parasites came back or whatever didn't get killed off awoken or stirred up the microbes ..also her blood sugar was dropping from that stress which made her go to 'fight or flight' mode and thus behaviors. Her MAPS gave her a cortisone IV for to help with allergies, and then Mary gave me a protocol to do until I could get back to see her. To help regulate her, started end of September. It helped but not enough for the school staff to handle so HOME was the way to go for sure. Once these kids get out of elementary they treat them hard, police,security,pin downs, quiet rooms...sorry..NOT my kid!

Anyways, so we been VERY busy with all the drama...trying to get Bella regulated,happy and her schooling situation taken care of. It got very hard. The obsessive thinking and OCD was the worst. Well we finally got to see Mary yesterday. Learned more.. PANDAS flare ups were happening and everything that was going on was because the microbes were causing inflammation throughout because they were vamped up and unbalanced. Positive thing is , it can be and will be fixed. Second thing is, Mary is happy to see her readings were high then low. Low would signify her energy was low, but that wasn't the case. That would of made it harder..instead its high which she explained was sabrinas systems are doing the work. her body is taking the "signals" and utilizing them, and dejunking herself but the dump truck wasn't moving fast enough thus leading to the PANDAS flare, inflammation and behavior manifestations. Bella looked healthy, she grew taller ,gained weight its distributing properly..her body is fighting this and winning, just needs a little more help. So with that mary wants to move forward with just supporting her body through the puberty. She is due for her period anytime now, and after the body starts that cycle is when the hormones,microbes and all the other fun stuff will beable grow, expand then regulate and calm. Mary is very optimistic that Bella is going to come out of this in the end, awesome. We started with mary Aug 2013 an I have to say everytime we have utilized a protocol she gave for B, Bella has always gotten better and improved... it sucks this takes time and ALOT of money..but its working and worth it. We have to find a way to keep this going. Our bodies need to be detoxed off all sorts of toxins we come in contact with, but noone more so then a person with Autism. The immune system has been bulldozed and in order to help that and the rest of the body to heal recover and re regulate.. you have to take out the trash and thats what we started to do and what we plan on finishing through, even if it takes another year or so... 

More info about Parasites and Autism

Gone fishing

Got parasites? 

Parasites, why some autistic kids are not recovering 

Autism and ASD , A medical hypotheses for influencing autism 

A Holistic Aspect of Autism Spectrum disorder 

Yeast IS a Beast!

Well we are now in almost a year using our homotoxicologist. 
As each protocol comes and goes, so do all those fun "autism" symptoms and then Clarity. 
It has been a roller coaster ride, but nothing like what we are just starting to endeavor. 
Our newest fight started about a week ago, and its going to be a dooozie! 

YEAST is a BEAST!

I remember her as a toddler, and again after her vaccines for kindergarten ...
She didn't sleep well after 15 months anyways, but this was different..
she like NEVER slept. Crazy woman giggles and laughing, looking around the room all night. 
I was wondering WTF was going on. It seamed like she was tripping out on something! She 
was restless, itchy, eczema, didn't like her clothes much especially the tags..all had to be cut off. she was very OCD,  behavioral and just not right. It drove me out of my mind, and at times there were nights it was so bad I would cry myself to sleep as I had lack of it too. Of course I went to her pediatrician at that time, and of course he said that nothing was wrong and that it can happen...sleep disturbances with Autism...so NOTHING was ever done, as I didn't know that anything needed to be done since having a very uneducated doctor as guidance. So this lasted prob about a year or so, and after that dyed down. 
FAST FORWARD to today...
Yeast was never treated. I did have some tests done which didn't show anything , but her homeopath wanted to start up and clear out any yeast and fungus that might be there in abundance.. so onward to the next! 

The healthy gut contains both yeast and good bacteria, in balance with each other. In many Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) kids, however, one or the other can be out of balance. Bacteria can overgrow, or there can be a complete lack of bacteria. Also, bad bacteria can develop and take over, rather than good bacteria, causing major problems for our children. 
Keeping the gut flora and bacterial balance is KEY to keeping things under control. There are special Low carbohydrate and sugar diets that help ( yeast FEEDS on sugar! carbohydrates turn to sugar in the gut! ) Also a GOOD Daily probiotc is essential as well as a good digestive enzyme . BOTH in conjunction with watching sugar foods can help you maintain gut balance. BUT how do you get to that balance? Thats what we are in the mist of. Many don't see a homotoxicologist just for yeast. We are doing many areas one at a time and Yeast happens to be next. There are many ways to treat yeast naturally. Some prefer guidance like me, others go for it on their own. 

What Does Yeast Overgrowth Look Like?

Yeast overgrowth manifests itself in two forms – behavior and physical.

Behavioral signs

• Headaches
• Inappropriate laughter
• Sleep disturbances
• Unexplained intermittent crying episodes
• Belly aches
• Constipation
• Bed wetting
• Gas pains
• Fatigue
• Depression
• “Foggyness”
• Inattention
• Hyperactivity
• Anger, aggression
• Increased self-stimulatory behavior
• High-pitched squealing
• Increased sensory defensiveness
• Climbing/jumping off things
• Sugar cravings
• Confusion
• Lethargy
• Inability to potty train, or loss of this skill
• Self-limiting Foods
• Plateauing in skills

Physical Signs

• in the mouth, in the form of thrush
• on the skin such as diaper rash or eczema
• red ring around the anus
• rash or cracking between the toes or joints

What Should I Expect To See When Treating Yeast?

Die-off (rapid dying of gut bugs, leading to excess release of toxins) of massive quantities of yeast and bacteria can be physically hard on the body. That much dead or dying stuff flying around can wreak havoc so it’s common that we see a negative reaction, before a good reaction when starting yeast treatment. This is also called a “Herkshimer” reaction, a massive die off of pathogens. There are ways to help combat this reaction and bring your child through the process with the least bad reaction.

Things that can help lessen the negative reaction:

• Activated Charcoal capsules
• Nepro Rella ( Green fresh water algae ) 
• Drinking lots of water (8 oz every 2 hours minimum)
• High doses of Vitamin C or magnesium to get them to stool the toxins out faster
• Gut cleanout to remove the buildup* (see below)

Typically, the die off following initial treatments can be disconcerting. Witnessing a die off reaction in the first week is typically a sign that the treatment is starting to work.  Stopping the treatment regimen prior to its completion is not recommended as it can aggravate and make the condition worse. Consult your doctor for details and to address any concerns. Not every individual on a yeast treatment protocol experience “die off” or a negative reaction.

After the typical “die off” is over, usually lasting 3-7 days, most parents report that treatment improves their children’s behavior and concentration –– kids seem more aware and less “foggy.” Anecdotal reports claim that the frequency of inappropriate noises, teeth grinding, biting, hitting, hyperactivity, and aggressive behavior decreases. The child acts less silly and shows less inappropriate laughter, just to name a few.

Within all my own research.. I found this from an article by Health-reports.com  

I feel they explained it perfectly. Yeast and Autism , Candida Overgrowth

                                            

Bella's fight has just begun! She was up all night giggling. I SEE that we are starting to get the bad guys . This is going to be a super fun next couple of weeks! Thats OK, We are ready this time. We have fought through thus far, and i know Bella has no intention on stopping. She has said to me "Mommy magic water is helping! " So since she continues to tell me, and i continue to SEE improvements we shall push forward.  After every storm comes a rainbow and this one maybe just a little higher in category..but will still end standing in the end! 

GREAT information about YEAST, testing and treatments: 

TACA Yeast Overgrowth 

Generation Rescue Treating Yeast 

Autism File Yeast ,Autism and you

Treat Autism and ADD Yeast and Autism, Clostridial and Viruses 

AutismOne Yeast in the Gut