DAY 9 11/30

Slept well but again awoke clearing throat of phlegm. Arm dots are faded and almost gone. Lots of verbal stimming this morning, and forgot to mention yesterday was just a complete shred-fest of stimming. Could be bored, out of routine with school on Holiday, not sure. Emailed Dr about pimples and diaper rash, will post when I get his response.

Put the Christmas tree up - Ty went for the same ornmaments as last year, lol - the big round balls! The day was mellow, filled with vocal stimming (now driving me nuts!), but at least he is back to school tomorrow and I will get some teacher feedback of his current state!

1 small formed BM - but another evening of heavy urine output - we used to call this "pee-tox", will take a UTM tomorrow to send off and see what is happening.

DAY 8 11/29

Ty awoke happy, but phlegm in throat is back - likes to "hack stim" (clearing throat) and he is doing that this morning. I can hear the wet movement of phlegm. Lots of verbal stimming noise making, but then out of nowhere he started clear baby babble. I don't think I have heard a strong "la-la" babble in years. I even got him to echoic back and forth with me. Very nice. Was thinking about liquid diarreah being pool water ingestion last night, but it occured to me that when I went to clean his bottom, he was really uncomfortable (flinched and pulled away) and butt/legs had that "flash burn" red like we haven't seen since he used to have bacterial die off as a toddler when his gut was a total mess. I am now wondering if the ingestion of so much water (albeit gross chemical water, lol, ugh) didn't act like an enema and flush him out. We gave night tea after diarreah episode, and he slept well, so I don't think he is getting sick - no more diarreah episodes.

Verbal stim is fairly prominent the rest of the day. Ty pitched a fit this afternoon when I went to my folks house to pick something up and he didn't get to go in. This awareness is kind of interesting, and it took me a minute to make the connection, but he definetly started fussing when I backed out of her driveway after getting what I needed out of the garage. It took almost 10 mins when we got home to settle him back down. I have noticed this now a couple of times this week, getting worked up where before he was easy going. Could be he has better awareness and is just having more frustration with the lack of language to make his feelings known? I hope so, as our one area of no progress has been motivation to communicate. I almost like the "typical" fit, at least I know he's in there!!!

Noticing Ty has red circles under his eyes and tonight I found red dots on his arms while bathing him. They are not the pinprick dots, but more like mosquito bite size. He has 6-8 on each arm, and they are only on the area an inch or two above and below the elbow?? Too similar on both arms to be bug bites, can only think they could be a viral detox of some sort? Chicken pox ? Ty was most reactive to his varicella vaccine, and throughout valtrex we got similar trunk marks periodically. Wasn't expecting this on the herbs?!
BM today, small and formed, a little bit of loose with it. Before bed, one tiny wet stool that flash burned his skin again... whole anus area looking a bit patchy chapped, and a few more pimples on butt last night.

DAY 7 11/28

Ty had heavy shredding this morning - actually very funny. He came into kitchen while we were all having coffee and glanced at us, then the magazine on the counter. He put his finger on it and began tapping it while looking at us. I knew he wanted to shred it and said "Ty, what are you doing?", he then pulled the magazine a few inches off the counter and began "pinching" the corner of it. We all laughed and he referenced a smile to us with excellent eye contact. I said "do you want to shred the magazine?" and he took it down and held our gaze waiting - "when I said go ahead and take it", he laughed and ran away with it. Very nice intentful interaction. Ty also brought his sippy cup to the fridge this morning and opened the door and reached for the OJ. When I asked if he wanted juice, he said "ju" - we have heard this echoic before, but not lately, and he never brings his cup to the fridge, usually just opens the doors and stands there, so a little more complex than usual. Morning BM was small and formed, but vomit smell was back (viral detox, pimple rash?).

Nice afternoon at the fitness club. Ty swam and enjoyed the big pool slide - must have gone down it 50 times! Listened well, slight meltdown on 10 minute safety pool check when all the kids had to get out. Needless to say, he took an afternoon nap for the first time in ages. Too much pool water ingested, resulting in liquid diarreah before bed. (I hope that was just it and he isn't getting sick.)

DAY 6 11/27

Happy Thanksgiving! Full house at my parent's - Ty did well. Very calm, hung out in the playroom, tolerated his cousin's rough play around him upstairs. Shredded a lot in the morning. 2 BM's, both small and formed. Noticed a butt rash last night (similar to a viral detox pimple rash we have seen throughout the years of interventions), but 2 seemed to have just a slight "bubble" to them - he slept in underwear, and by morning the majority of the pimples were gone, however there was risidual red from worst pimples but no more bubble look to them. Verbal stimming about the same (just making high pitched repetitive noises periodically), but "language" also seems to be clearer when used. He remains engaged with people, gave lots of hugs to extended family, and receptive continues to be great.

DAY 5 11/26

Busy day with the holiday approaching and guests in town. Took Ty and nieces and nephews to the Dallas Aquarium today. Ty did very well, was engaged with the exhibits and handled crowds well. Long car ride both ways, kids loud and a restaurant stop on the way home, Ty did pretty good. A little restless in restaurant, and self combusted when we returned home. Not bad, recovered fast.. a 10 minute crying jag and wanted us to lay down with him (had giggle fits in btwn crying). First thought was the french fries I ordered in restaurant for him may have had gluten coating, but normally a dietary infraction wouldn't affect him this bad - so probably just a full day and needed some time to decompress. Certainly having the extra kids "in his face" is a biggie for him. Does much better with adults than peers.
Missed stool yesterday, hubby caught it - said formed and on the smaller side, similar to what we have been seeing, and only one for the day. I am still not seeing much change in cognitive function. I will say that the use of the few words he does have, articulation has been more consistent. So when I prompt a vocal for cracker when he signs it, I may get "ca-ca, ca-ga, ba-ca", just a random attempt to get what he wants - yesterday I got "acker" every time (he can say "acker" but it is random when we get it) - same with "go" the other day at park - very clear and articulated, no random babble with it. He has also been babbling a nice "mom" (this is a target word at school) and although he isn't using it appropriately with me (though happens on occassion), he is articulating it beautifully. Verbal stimming in general is up the past few days.
One other note - feet are so darn sweaty lately.. took off shoes the other day and his socks were practically soaked! Need to take a UTM sample..

DAY 4 11/25

Ty had a lot of urine in the past 24 hrs. Had a pull up on him last night (which he hasn't worn in over a year to bed, but we were at my parents and I had put one on as BM's have been unpredictable on tea) . When I got home, I left pull up on for bed, and this morning he had it completely full and even leaked into bedding through pj's. He then went again, a full morning urine, before leaving for school.

Ty had a BM accident at school, didn't get to inspect, but BM's at school are rare. Stimming is the same, still no change off supplements. Spoke with Dr. today, and he said concern over volume of stool reduction is the tea healing taking place, better absorption. I will say the BM he had later in the day had little smell, and was formed (had some black color as well as brown). He said as long as he IS going, not to worry.. again we have had 2 BM's per day, just much much smaller in volume. Ty did seem more engaged - at park was attentive and he did bring us to two other points of interest. Usually he will only hand hold guide us to food, unlike today which was for a balloon and a TV request. Verbal, despite the pulling of all B12 (and he takes a lot) is actually up, not down. Spontaneous pottying however has declined. While stimming remains the same, there is a certain "calm" about him. Following directions nicely, and overall actions seem defined with intent.

DAY 3 11/24

Slept normal and was happy thru early AM school routine. Took tea without fussing this morning. Shredding stim was more prevalent today. One BM, again much smaller than normal, but smell was not offensive and stool was nicely formed. Is off schedule with BM’s, usually goes after school, but tonight not until @ 6p. Teacher off for holiday, so substitute staff with no notes, will have to get that perspective when we return from holiday next Monday. Took PM tea with absolutely no fussing, compliant. No “hacking” or teeth grinding noted today. Urine is very light past several days (Yasko theory - low creatinine, detox?). Will take a UTM later in week. Emailed Dr about decreased stools. One note - several giggle episodes, yeast? Again, he is on no supplements. It will take everything in my being to keep him off all supplements for 2 weeks, but I must admit, we have yet to see any big difference thus far from removing them.

DAY 2 11/22

Slept normal, wandered a bit throughout morning.
Slight dry cough upon waking, but disappeared quickly. Some teeth grinding in AM. Tea went down okay, protest, but didn’t run off!
Ty had a tough afternoon, very clingy and whiney and kept pulling me to lay down with him, low grade fever. He had another small formed BM - output is down by about 50% less volume (no Magnesium?). He seemed better after that emotionally, but stimming continues to be the same. 2nd BM before bed was again small and very loose, nasty smell.

DAY 1 11/22

First dose of tea (mid morning) - Ty has been off supplements for one day. No change in demeanor, continues to be stimmy/shredding. (Stools 11/21 evening were loose and smelled of vomit.)
Slightly tired this afternoon, laid with me in bed watching tv (unusual for him) less “on the go”, same stimming though.
Very small BM @ 5pm. - orange in color (strange), some undigested food, however little smell. Dr noted possible bloated belly with gas the first few days. Yes to bloated belly, no to gas thus far. Second dose of tea with honey went down easier, still fussy, but less protest. 2nd BM before bed, also small, but brown with undigested food - smelled of vomit. Today decreased throat “hacking” (stimming on chest phlegm) and noticed some ear covering late afternoon (No GABA???), but no teeth grinding

Traditional Chinese Medicine for Autism

History - Ty is 6 yrs old, dx severe autism at 20 months old. Ty was vaccine reactive at 1 yr old. Interventions have included 2.5 yrs of DAN intervention, including anti-viral treatment (2 yrs on valtrex), anti fungal treatment, td-dmps, IV chelation, MB12 shots and other forms of B12, Tomatis (1 yr) and 2.5 yrs of Yasko protocol. Ty is a tortoise in the race. While I wouldn’t classify him as a non responder, he certainly progresses at a very slow pace. He has had 10 words for 2 yrs and on a good day will sometimes spontaneously use a few of them. Our biggest gains came with Yasko.. Huge amounts of metals excretion, heavy mercury load (elevated pulls consistently for over 2 yrs on random unprovoked challenges - ironically Ty has had two French Porphyrin tests come back “little to no toxicity” during these two years of UTM‘s). I embarked on TCM because after much metal excretion and improved biochemical testing, we were only seeing minimal gains. Ty is an easy going, happy little boy. He sleeps great, eats a decent array of gfcf foods, and progresses steadily in school. Teachers report over the past year (while on Yasko) that his attention and focus have improved, but most importantly receptive is at an all time high. After 2 yrs of prompted potty training, Ty has recently begun to self initiate, we are “almost” 100% trained.

My biggest concerns remain his very slow cognitive recovery despite all of our efforts. We have made no progress in communication devices, he has a low motivational state to use any form of language (signs, PECS, Go Talk, etc), nor have we had any luck in teaching him to use the computer. Left unengaged, Ty would happily shred paper or pull threads for hours. He has no toy play skills, and no peer participation. He just recently began to watch Noggin and not stim on his DVD player. We do not plan on telling his teachers of our TCM intervention. I feel that will be our best objective set of eyes, as he attends a 7 hr a day verbal behavioral based autism communication classroom. We have removed ALL supplements from Ty’s current protocol at the request of the Dr. overseeing his herbal tea. That accounts for over 70 individual supplements, 10 Yasko RNA’s, daily Hydroxycobalamin B12 shots, LDM-100, and anti fungals. Ty has NEVER been without supplements.