May 10th ! Happy Mothers Day

So it has been a while since our last update. Ty is off of the tea and we took him to Melbourne FL to see Dr Rossignol. It was a great visit, and we have some hopeful treatments that we will be steadily implementing over time. Dr R. agreed with me that PANDAS is probably an issue with Ty's reaction to the prevnar vaccine back in 2003, the OCD behaviors, high blood strep titers, and gamma strep always in his stool tests. We will be treating Ty with a weekly dose of Zithromax and Dr R thinks they may begin to lower the titers over time.. says it takes about 4-6 months. We have also begun daily Diflucan. Dr R and I believe that because Ty has a tendancy to jump to pre-verbal while on short courses of diflucan, that it may be doing something other than treating gut yeast for him. Ironically however, these past 2 wks. on it we are not seeing a huge jump in echoics for the first time. Surprising, and I hope just clouded by his high Ammonia that came back last week. Maybe when we get that under control (he loses a lot of focus and stims a lot when Ammonia is high), we will see some nice benefits. We also began Spironolactone for brain inflammation just 5 days ago. It is too early to tell, but we have had a few nice things happen the past couple of days, including some attempts at appropriate toy play and nice focus in some photos taken of him. We sent bloodwork for the Ann Connoly test to be performed and will be reviewing that for the Landau Kleffner Syndrome variant when the results are in. Ty certainly fits some of the mold for that and if it were to be true, we would be looking into low dose seizure medications as LKS is a rare form of pediatric epilepsy. Here is an explanation that makes so much sense to me.. as to why his language continues to be impaired and his gains don't necessarily stick over the 5 years we have tirelessly treated his many physiological conditions related to his autism...

All children with LKS can be shown to have seizure activity during the active phase, that usually affects both sides of the brain (although one side may seem more affected), and is often concentrated in areas known to be important for language (centro-temporal region). Some of this activity results in actual seizures but much of it does not, that is, it is ‘sub-clinical’. EEG recordings show that there is a particularly high rate of subclinical epileptiform activity in sleep, which often amounts to nearly continuous spike-and-wave (CSWS) discharges (Electrical Status Epilepticus during sleep or ESES) during the active phase of the disease.
It is thought that regression and impairments are related to these epileptiform discharges during sleep, and that these electrical seizures ‘short-circuit’ the normal wiring so certain functions of the brain are prevented. This seizure activity, which is often-widespread, prevents the child from using his or her brain normally so they regress in abilities. Initially, the brain is not ‘damaged’ in the conventional sense, but rather caught up in an ‘electrical storm’ that blocks certain brain functions (especially language, attention, social functioning). Stopping seizure activity may restore these functions.
LKS mainly affects a child’s language abilities, and this is probably related to the common location of recorded discharges over the key language areas (centro-temporal region). It was initially thought to be specific to language, but certainly current experience is that other higher functions are also commonly affected, including attention, social interaction, behaviour and motor control. Non-verbal cognitive skills are usually relatively spared, although not always, and it is not unusual to have specific or more general learning difficulties.
Unlike physical injury where brain ‘plasticity’ allows other areas of the brain to take up important functions, in LKS, the brain’s capacity and reserves appear to be limited by the electrical activity. Consequently, relocation of skills (such as language) to other brain areas is not generally possible.

We will be navigating this new journey.. changing some supplements recommended by Dr Rossignol, included increased mitochondrial supports as he feels we have fully addressed this dysfunction in Ty yet, and some other cognitive enhancers. He ran lots of blood tests, so we will have a clearer picture in a few weeks for our next appointment!

And as an added update.. the Go Talk is going beautifully. Ty has gone from 10 requests at school to about 75 a day with its use. He is using it appropriately at home also. If the new treatments this summer don't spark more language, we will definetly be pushing for an upgraded communication device for the Fall at school! Thankfully, the staff is thrilled with the improvements in this area, so everyone is on board to see it progress!

Got back Ty's OAT test and yeast numbers are horrible. With the high yeast, I think we can attribute the regressions we are seeing to it. Ty is not using his Go Talk device anymore independently, and shredding is back. Shredding could have been tied to the tea, so we'll have to wait that out and see what transpires as we tackle this current bout of yeast, but overall I see a very scattered and unfocused little boy. On a good note however (ever the optimist) the rest of his OAT looked pretty good, so if we can get this yeast under control, we may see some progress stick!
I bought the Body Ecology book and am researching that diet as a possible Summer intervention..... yes, more research....

DAY 144

Got the results back from his UTM and it was practically no excretion. I can discern one of two things, the tea has reduced his toxicity (which was well onto its way of low anyway), or pulling his methylation supps. back in November has him not excreting and the toxicity is bound. I am leaning toward the second explanation, and have added back the methyl. supps. He seems to be tolerating them the last 2 days, but too early to really tell if they are going to give us a problem.
We have begun treatment with Namenda, only at 2.5 mg. right now. Again, too soon to tell, day 4. And we have decided to move forward and see Dr Rossignol. We will be taking Ty to Melbourne, FL at the end of the month for our first consult. With that appt. approaching, I am looking for a baseline as I know he will be ordering many tests for Ty, and therefore have pulled his chinese tea as of today. I am going to try it for 2 wks. until the appt. and see if we see any reduction in the vocal stimming. While the high pitched yelp has decreased dramatically since the removal of the Enhansa, it is still a problem, now manifested in a monotone chant - lol. Of course, we'll be watching stools as well, as this was the main area of improvement with the tea!

DAY 134

Well it has been a bit of time since our last update and we have made some changes. The shredding stim was back full force, and I could only attribute to the new introduction of the Enhansa last month with dosing increases. Sure enough, when we pulled it, things calmed down tremendously. High pitched vocal yelp is actually way down also. Ty is once again looking pretty good. Some nice attempts at toy play, now that he isn't hell bent to constantly seeking out something to shred, and away went the portable DVD player in exchange for real TV programming. WOW! Enhansa did a number on him. He was on Diflucan and then Ketoconozole throughout most of it, so while many see yeast kicks up on intro of it, I don't think that was our issue for Ty. It was either the fact that it is high phenolic (cucurmin) or that the raise in glutathione levels was too much for him and resulted in detox. We did take a UTM about 10 days ago, but haven't seen any results from it yet. Will post when we do.
Other than that.. he looks good. He has begun to use his communication device at school and home and we are seeing some nice spontaneous requesting with it - as well as some decent echoics also. School reported 2 new words this week, and they never hear anything, lol!
Will keep yah posted!

DAY 122

Met with TCM Dr yesterday for an exam, but Ty was very uncooperative. He did get a good look at his tongue and it was much improved from photos I had sent him several weeks ago. All "raspberries" on outer perimeter are gone and he said color looked great. Ty wouldn't let him check his lungs (but Ped. did a few wks. ago after mild pneumonia episode and said they sounded clear), nor would Ty let TCM Dr. take his pulse. Too bad. But overall, he felt he looked really good. Circles, that were red, under eyes also looked normal per Dr. and we haven't seen Ty's butt rash in over a month I believe.
We are collecting a 24 hr. urine sample today to send in for a UTM. We haven't taken but two the entire time on TCM and they were both unimpressive (however so were his IV chelations last Summer, so I am fairly confident we have gotten the majority of his toxicity down.) Still should be interesting though, as I have never done such a lengthy collection for testing!
Ty has been producing some very interesting sounds today - while babble is down today, he is coming out with some things we have never heard, like loud extended "oh's" and other approximations that are very controlled. Just different from the jibberish we usually hear. He did echoic "Bo" several times, which is the name of our dog! That is new.
We have taken Enhansa up another 75 mg. , so 1.5 caps a day, 225 mg daily. So far so good!

DAY 120

Just got back from a 4 day trip to Austin to visit friends and Ty did great. BM potty success the entire time and slept every night through. Woo-hoo! We tried to add back methylation supps last week and things went nuts - shredding came back to boot. So, of course, I pulled them! We are at 1 cap of Enhansa and that is going well. Echoics continue to be strong, truly longest "pre-verbal" has stuck, EVER! We may get language yet. Hearing tons of "no" (sometimes articulated "na") when he doesn't want something, and an actual appropriate conversation, albeit small -
He climbed into my bed at my friend's house the other morning and said "up" trying to get me out of bed, I said "no, lay down" and he said "na, up" and I laughed and said "no, night night" and he said "niy-niy, shhh..." waited a moment, and then said "up!" LOL! His babble is very appropriate, about the 9 mos. level - running beautiful sounds, some new - I really think we may finally be getting somewhere!

DAY 111

Well, we survived IEP hell, and his teacher showed her true colors to the end - we really need a classroom change! Will be having that discussion this Spring and another ARD scheduled, since he is slated to have another year in her room next year!
But on to Ty - whoa - I don't know, but have to give a thumbs up to Enhansa where language benefits are marked! Ty sounds great! This is the first time in a year that "preverbal" is sticking for this length of time. His babble is fabulous, he is saying "no, no, no" spontaneously when he is upset enough to muster up an opinion, and his target words and sounds are perfect articulation. I love it! We just today took his Enhansa from 75mg to 150mg again, and no aggression like when we increased a week ago. Let's see if it holds.
Picked up a new batch of tea yesterday, and Dr. wants to attempt another exam on Ty. Up until now he has been relying on my testimony.. next week is Spring Break, so I will bring Ty in for hopefully a compliant tongue check and pulse. I still don't know exactly what the tea is doing, but I continue to see full BM potty trained, good looking stools, and nice joint attention. We are surviving on 20 supplements instead of 90 and overall, things are calm and progressing, although we have noted some ups and downs, lately things are great (knock on wood!).

DAY 106

just a quick note - parents watched Ty today for 3 hrs. I have noticed a major increase in babble and better articulation lately, but didn't mention it to them. The first thing they said when I asked "how was he" was glowing reports of magnificent babble! This is great - truly objective. I have to say I think it is falling back on the Enhansa! The change seems to correlate with that introduction! Whatever, we'll take it!

DAY 104

I let Ty sleep in this morning since he played in bed until 11pm after his late nap yesterday. He woke up at 7a and was very vocal. Good babble with excellent articulation. I am currently in IEP hell - so not much else to report for now until this storm blows over, lol.

DAY 103

Ty awoke fever free, albeit early (430a again), but not surprising as he slept almost the entire day yesterday. While lying in bed with him (I wasn't getting up that early!) I worked on echoics half asleep, lol. He had some of the best articulation I have heard - mom, dad, night night. Then later this morning I had him try to say "bed" (a new word) and much to my delight, he said it. Hubby was shocked..."I heard that?!!" What is really cool is that he used the ending "d", very clearly. So when I was running some of his word cards later in the day and got to "bread" he signed it, but usually doesn't attempt an echoic for it.. I prompted "say it" and he DID, hitting again the "d"!
Fever returned in the late afternoon, but he was fine after a nap and no motrin at night.

DAY 102

Ty awoke at 430a and came to our bed - he was miserable, couldn't settle in and wanted to snuggle close. All morning he was like this and completely lethargic and pale, so I took him to the Dr. A double ear infection! AGAIN! His last one was just on 1/10. I had him do a flu test, as Ty looks terrible (Dr agreed he looked much worse than just an ear inf.) but it came back negative. He has been sleeping all afternoon. Dr put him on Omnicef antibiotic, which in the past has done wonders for his strep gut bacteria and he usually looks great on it! We'll see - but I am concerned with the back to back ear infections. He hasn't had one in years and now this.

DAY 101

Ty was very tired this morning - he had fallen asleep early last night and awoke in the middle of the night, but stayed up for an hour and settled himself back down. He had a great day at school they said, but tired out around 2pm. He was fine afterschool but ran a 101 fever again around 6p and took a nap, (ugh). His face is kind of splotchy, some red patches, but after nap, no fever. Not sure what to make of it - as usual! Certainly the most fevers we have seen ever!!!

DAY 100

Put all of his sign or say words on cards last night and ran through them. Nice echoics and decent signing, going to work these to death and see if we can't get some spontaneous use of them! Fell asleep on my bed early last night (around 830p) and slept until 730a!
Lowered enhansa to 1/2 cap and no aggression today. Pretty mellow day, though requesting is down - he is pulling us to everything, but won't sign when we get to intended item. His Go Talk has been at school during eval. and I can't wait to get it in full swing at home this week. I think this will help spontaneous intent.

DAY 99

Ty woke up fever free and no motrin last night - he is happily stimming away the day (ugh). I increased Enhansa to one full cap and we have aggression! He head butted me, and is hitting on occassion. Will reduce and get him ready to return to school on Monday. He is beyond bored!

DAY 98

Home again today with fever spiking last night to 103 around dinner time. Motrin put him back on the go, but awoke again with high fever. Dosed again, and the fever returned, low grade this time, around dinner. No other symptoms of illness.. more independent BM's. I think he is on the mend, whatever it was! Needless to say, he is bored.. 2 full days of wandering and stimming, but some appropriate toy play and pretty much more of the same. The BCBA visit came to fruition when I gave her a write up of concerns and she delivered it to principal's desk - the bomb has been dropped and all of a sudden the district is jumping to look at my concerns. Funny, when I sent 3 notes to his teacher the past 8 wks. about how I was concerned for his upcoming IEP, I was put off.... HELLO... fair warning!

DAY 97

Awoke with 102 fever, so we'll wait it out and see what happens. Gave some activated charcoal last night to ward off any tummy upset if it is flu onset. He was thirsty this morning and drank some water no problem. Gave motrin and he was his usual vivacious and happy self all day - then tanked when it wore off... did independent BM though!
He was terrible for the visit of his school in home trainer and BCBA - just wouldn't showcase a single skill - ugh... but the visit the was good regardless, looking at some serious changes for his IEP.

DAY 96

Ty was tired upon waking and cranky getting off to school. I wasn't too surprised when school sent a note home that late afternoon he took a nap and he didn't eat much at lunch. By early evening he had a 102 fever - I swear, this Winter illness needs to end now! I cannot believe how sick he has been. He never pooped yesterday (or if he did I missed it). Just curled up watching TV all afternoon - I hope fever remains the only symptom - flu is abundant in the school right now (guess all those flu shots everyone ran out to get didn't work, shame that year after year, the public continues to fall for that crap!).

DAY 95

Finally a good night sleep! But upon awakening, oh my, a giggle fit that lasted until the bus came. And actually, I just had a meeting with his teacher and she said he has been belly laughing all morning.. I think the Diflucan is working, lol, will need to dose some charcoal this afternoon! First independent BM at school today (well first one that actually made it into the potty!!)
Worked with Ty afterschool on some maintenance curriculum and he did very well. District BCBA is coming over this week to view him at home as we have discrepency on skills that don't transfer to his school environment. Trying to get a handle on things as he has an ARD in two weeks!

DAY 94

Ty woke up at 2am and finally went back to sleep at 4am. But I must say the babble during those 2 hrs was absolutely fabulous! Remember the night I heard on the monitor the wonderful jibberish and it turned out to be the neighbor's kid on my signal?? Well, last night when I woke up to it, I actually thought to myself the same thing was happening - but no, this time it really was Ty, lol ! Yes, it was that good!
We had two more independent BMs on the potty also!

DAY 93

Ty woke up at 430a this morning - oh this is killing me! Probably the diflucan, but another independent BM on the potty (thank you just a 2 hr. Tomatis session!) and we have continued to see some more appropriate toy play. Why it doesn't stick, I don't know - but we'll take it when we see it and hope one day that it will transition!
Ty is a tough nut, but we will forge on. I tested out some word to picture matching and saw regression. His IEP is in 2 wks. and I am torn about his placement. This is going to be a sticky one. Preceding it is the meeting with the augmentative comm. device team this Tue. My head is swirling on approaching all of it! Such a difficult and complex situation, as we all know.

DAY 92

The Enhansa from Lee Silsby arrived yesterday and we also began a new batch of tea. This batch has some detox properties in it, the funkiest tasting batch yet- but bless the lil' guy, he drank it! Went to Tomatis today for 2 hrs. and lo and behold, 2 independent BM's this afternoon. He also approached his Lego set and played appropriately with a car this evening. I really need to speak with the Director and evaluate what we can do at home (maybe the listening program) or something to keep things "connected" as this therapy proves time and time again that it is our only "wow" in 5 yrs of interventions!

DAY 91

Had a 330a wake up yesterday morning - possibly the diflucan at play - some sludgey stool yesterday evening. This afternooon off the bus he went to use the potty, but didn't poop, so I left his underwear off and sure enough, shortly thereafter, he returned for a BM independently. I don't know if keeping him naked had anything to do with it, but we'll take it for now!
Running lots of echoics lately, as I want to videotape him for my meeting with the Augmentative Communication Team on Tue. I really want to get his attempts on tape, as he attempts very little at school to use the words he knows, and I don't think they have an accurate picture of where he is at!

DAY 90 - 3 Months!

Well, we have hit the 3 mos. mark - the first initial threshold that I told myself I would give it until before making a true judgement to continue - And continue we will! I think it has taken this long for things to settle down, find our batch niche shall we say. If I look at the last 3 mos. overall, Ty looks good. Yes, we have had a bit of a wild ride at times, but I like what I am seeing.
Still having trouble with independent BM's. Spoke with Tomatis director - timeline shows we had 3 wks. of independent BM's following both recent boosts - we are both unsure why the skill won't stick. Ty is going in for a 2 hr. session on Sat. to see if it will restimulate success. Very frustrating.

DAY 89

Teacher commented yesterday on horrible cough and said she took Ty to the nurse, etc. though never called home to have him picked up. So I booked an appt. this morning at the Dr. and upon exam he found no chest congestion, clear ears, and some nasal congestion. Interesting note, he decided to run a whooping cough test (Ty had DTaP at 4,6,9 mos. but then we stopped vaccinating). Honestly, I am a bit intrigued at what might prevail. So we have been dosing heavy Cucurmin (Curamin supplement) and it is an anti viral - if we provoked a latent virus, like whooping cough, would it show up in testing? Well, the test taken today will take 3 days for results.. I seriously doubt he has whooping cough, teacher today conceded barely any cough today (coincidence that I pulled Curamin supp. this morning to see if it was provoking???). I think that is our answer - cucurmin is proving to be some powerful stuff.
On the DAN dr note, we did finally get our rx for diflucan and it is my hope that his decline in focus and attention is related to the yeast after his recent antibiotic. So the story goes..

DAY 88

Well Ty does have a cold ~ unbelievable, nasal congestion and cough AGAIN. Officially #4 in 3 mos. School is reporting the "sickest Winter" in history, and it seems Ty is not immune! I don't know how much the tea is contributing to this immune response, or if it is just statistically coinciding with the germfest going on! My oldest son has also had some sort of viral component all Winter too. I did get a response from his TCM Dr. on the cucurmin, and he said that yes, Ty's batches do have xiao yao san in them, but that he would elaborate more on it when I see him Thur. to pick up his new batch. I did find this new website,


http://www.tcmassistant.com/symptom_a.html


which I have found interesting as I try and learn more about chinese medicinal herbs.

DAY 87

Ty was tired this morning, difficult to wake up. I did contact his DAN Dr. about getting a yeast rx. , waiting to hear back. I have continued to research cucurmin and am quite amazed at its healing properties. I found some reference to chinese medicine equivelants and emailed our TCM Dr. to see if Ty had any of those ingredients in his tea. Prompted potty after school and had a successful BM as well as one independent early evening, though he remains stimmy and slightly unengaged.

DAY 86

Well as bummed as I am with the BM potty regression, I can only hope that it won't last long. He is pretty stimmy this wknd. and if you can believe it, as I cannot, he awoke with YET ANOTHER runny nose and cold - this would make #4 in 3 months. Heck, he just finished the antibiotic 3 days ago for his pneumonia and ear infection. Right now the nasal discharge is clear, so that with the potty problems, maybe we can chalk it up to detox after all is said and done!??? I have been playing around with a new supplement called Curamin. It is curcumin based which is for inflammation and has some added properties to it for better absorption and serotonin balancing. In the quick research I have looked at, it is my belief it may be along the lines of Lee Silsby's new Enhansa product. Anyway, the material I read is interesting because it said the curcumin can cross the blood brain barrier in addressing inflammation - This new supp. could also be a source of my added issues the past few days.

DAY 85

Ty pooped in his pants again this morning, just standing there watching TV. I can't believe it. The ball of stool smelled of metals, like the inside of a tin can. I have had these many, many times thru the years (even sent one in for testing and while there were some elevated metals, nothing off the wall!) It was also mixed in color - some shades of green, lol - I think he had candy at school yesterday though with the VD parties.. probably Skittles! Verbal stimming is back big time this morning too. Maybe he is just detoxing, but I am really pissed about the BM regressions.. arrrggghhhh!

Finished up the day with 3 more poop accidents (and why is he pooping so much anyway???) The last one smelled of vomit - Happy Valentine's Day!

DAY 84

Ty awoke on his own at 615a and very happy. I added in some cucurmin supplement the other day and I am not sure, but I think it is too much for him. This was always one supplement that he could only handle in low doses while on Yasko. SO - since adding it in, we have had 2 BM accidents (both at school) and one successful BM on the potty at home. I took one capsule and mixed it with his dry pancake mix which I usually use over a 3 day period. This is the only change that I have made that I can attribute to the potty regression - ugh - as we were on a total roll of over 2 wks with only one accident!

DAY 83

Slept well (I should hope so after yesterdays long day!) and was happy off to school. Teacher commented that he used his "Go Talk" unprompted for a request today (first time independent!), so that is great. Will meet with team of evaluators next week.
He is having a good week - BM's are formed again, stimming continues to be down, and he is fairly vocal. We are approaching the 3 mos. mark on the tea.. and remaining patient that some true progress will continue to happen!

DAY 82

Awoke at 4am this morning - yeast or the uva ursi I gave him, either way it needed to handled! A good day at school though, and teacher remarked that his communication device eval was going well and showed nice signs of unprompted use. The final report will be made next week, and a decision if this is the route we will take for him.
He had a good afternoon - I pulled every word he could say or sign and put them on notecards today.. then ran a trial "what does this say?" - he did great, got about 28 of 30 correct w/o prompt. I am going to be running a lot of his skills the next few weeks, as he has an IEP scheduled in March and I always like a current video in my back pocket if need be, lol. I have been really pushing the school to look past ABLLS (so much of it is dependent on language) and challenge him with more academics, especially words, with are truly motivating to him. I know they "hate me for that" as they like to run their program by the book, but frankly I still insist Ty is bored with his curriculum and needs to be challenged to shine!
Should be an early night tonight, though currently he is showing no signs of a 4am waking and school mentioned no naps!

DAY 81

Giggles all morning - need to search out my yeast arsenal in the cabinet, lol! Teacher reported great day in adaptive P.E. They have a motor lab with an obstacle course set up and Ty really loves it. He is running it with less and less prompts and staying focused! Was thinking about shredding being down, and I have to say vocal stimming is way down too. Going to need to pay more attention the next few days and track these behaviors for a true assessment! He sought out his first words book this morning, and ended up taking it on the bus, which was kind of cool that he was enjoying it so much.

DAY 80

Ty slept well and was happy this morning. Last night tucking him in I was telling him that he had school in the morning and said "you will see Ms.Charlene, Ms Donna and Ms Melissa" (his teachers) and he said "Donna" clear as day!
Pretty hyper after school - and giggly all night. If I had to guess, antibiotics are kicking up yeast. Did settle in for sleep thank goodness, and went thru the night. We are at a crossroads with our afternoons.. stimming is way down (no shredding) but we aren't exactly fully engaged either, resulting in a lot of boredom and wandering. Oh how I wish I could afford my tutors back!
Just a crime that this diagnosis is so expensive!

DAY 79

Ty had a good day - went to church, had a BM on the potty when he got home, and a nice afternoon at the park. Kind of a mellow day, did find an old book he used to love (First Words) and when I encouraged him to flip through it, he signed a lot of the words he knew on prompt. While he still has risidual chest phlegm with cough, it is down considerably. Probiotics seem to be countering antibiotics, stools are nicely formed and normal without smell. Stimming was down today, more boredom than anything!

DAY 78

Up early, 530am! Still chest congested, taking a long time to clear. And we had a BM accident today - arrggh. However, we had dinner out and he was delightful in the restaurant - we both took a 2 hr nap this afternoon.. pure bliss!

DAY 77

Ty slept well and continues to have 100% potty success! Seems to be gaining back his strength by the day, but whoa, the antibiotic is doing a number on his gut. Even with the probiotics, stools are very loose - thankfully they are not in his underwear! His new batch of tea was supposed to remain the same, but I noticed this lot is really murky unlike the past. I haven't emailed his Dr. as Ty seems to be tolerating fine, maybe the brewing process changed and resulted in the change.
Good day at school, went out to dinner and he did very well without his DVD player but restaurant was relaxed and he was starving, so concentrated on eating! He tried grapes today.. kind of funny, would play with them in his mouth but not take a bite. When I gave him one cut in half, he threw it in the trash... he has never liked cold/wet fruits - periodically will eat cut up apples or pears, sometimes a banana, but oranges, grapes, strawberries, no way. We do put blueberries in his pancakes every morning, but he won't eat them seperate.

DAY 76

Ty seemed tired this morning, like another hour would have set him free for the day, lol - but he began to pep up by the time the bus came (hopefully his B12 shot will kick in, lol). So, we have accomplished getting back in the supplements that I felt would smooth our rough spots and so far, so good.

We have successfully added the following - GABA, BH4, multi-vit., Mag., K, D, zinc, Carnitine, PS/PE/PC, CoQ10, EFA/DHA, ATP, SAMe, and NADH. Most everything is at a much lower dose than we were giving before the tea and I haven't seen any repurcussions thus far. If anything he is calmer. I do not have plans to add in anything else, we will coast with this regimine and see how he does.

DAY 75

OH what a joy to see the bus arrive in my driveway this morning! Ty was a tad confused when he was pulled out of our bed as he snuggled in for Noggin after breakfast, lol.
School went well, though teacher noted he was mellow more than usual... not a bad thing! We are on about day 8 of no BM accidents, big yay! Antibiotic is causing bacterial die off and the fact that he is making it to the potty with such loose stools is a good sign that potty training "1001" is paying off!!! Still has significant upper respiratory congestion and stuffy nose, so we are not over the hurdle yet. Interactions remain great.

DAY 74

Awoke at 430am after falling asleep at 7p last night. Face still has splotches, thick chest cough, and nasal discharge. He is also downright being naughty - colored on the walls, ripped up some stuff on the counter, and spit water on the table!!!! I would say we need to get him back to school asap, lol! Hopefully tomorrow! Picked up new batch of tea and spoke with Dr about current illness. He said Ty's batch has lung, kidney and liver supports in it.. was surprised he was so sick, but then we spoke about recent bouts of illness and immune response also - Ty used to never get sick, so I suppose this can be seen as a good thing too.

On the cognitive front, when he woke up at 430a this morning he was crying, a hurt cry. I assumed it was his infected ear and went into his room to check for a fever. I rubbed his back and said "momma is going to get you some motrin to make the pain go away" and as I went down the hall from his room to the kitchen he called out "momma" !!!!! He has never done that before, only if I was in front of him and he was pulling me to something he wanted would he say it - this was like a true "I need you" momma, lol! He is also approaching hubby with "Dee dah" - way to go TY!

DAY 73

Ty stayed home again today. Slept well but cough was still pretty rough this morning and nasal discharge was worse. Splotchy face marks were a bit better, but still there. He took a turn for the worst early afternoon, fever is back and totally lethargic... off to the Drs. and not only does he have a terrible ear infection, but a chest x-ray showed the beginnings of a pneumonia! He was given an antibiotic, let's hope all doesn't go haywire with his gut!!

DAY 72

You know I can't remember a Winter when Ty has been sick more than once! This cold is now I think #3 in the 72 days since beginning the tea - must be related? No one else in the house has been down for the count so many times !! And today we have had a red rash on his cheeks and around his mouth.. splotchy bright red patches. I think I am going to have to keep him home again tomorrow. Cough still sounds thick and some nasal congestion today. Crazy! Again though, he is not acting sick.. happy and himself.

DAY 71

So Ty fell asleep on the couch watching TV last night at 730p. I wasn't surprised when I heard him up at 3a coughing. I gave him his medicine and luckily he went back to sleep until 530a. He is incredibly calm this morning... a sight to be seen just hanging on the sofa watching Noggin. In general, the last couple of days he seems more focused and engaged.. seeking intentful communication and help, and is busying himself purposefully with less wandering - I wouldn't call it playing yet, lol, but not stimming either.
We took him to a park for a short time, absolutely beautiful day (gotta love TX). And then we went to dinner at a new pizza joint for dinner. He did well there, but after we got home ran a fever again (they have been low grade and I have not treated them, just giving cough medicine). He fell asleep at 8pm watching TV, awoke at 3a (gave more medicine and he went back to sleep) and got up at 7a on Sunday.

DAY 70

Ty woke up at 2am and his cough took over... 4 long hours of playing in his bed (and me squished next to him trying to get him back to sleep!) - he finally fell back asleep as I heard my alarm go off in the other room at 6a. He woke back up at 8a and his cough was bad so I kept him home from school. He also had a low grade fever again.

He actually had a fairly good day at home though... kept himself busy, no shredding and I still have his straws put away from the other day and he isn't seeking to replace that stim. We also had 2 more BM's independent today - big yay! Vocal stimming continues to be loud and proud!
Going to be an early night with disrupted sleep last night and cough medicine!

DAY 69

Ty woke up coughing at 1am but settled himself back to sleep (thank goodness!). His chest is rattling and it is a loose, productive upper respiratory congestion. His cheeks were rosey also this morning, but no low grade fever. I have to think it is the pattern of the tea that we have been seeing. He doesn't appear to be sick, happy and on the go this morning. We did get 2, yes 2, BM's in the potty yesterday (one was VERY foul smelling... he flushed before I could see it, but oh my, could still clear a room!)

Teacher reported more vocal stimming at school, but OT called me and evaluation with communication device is looking promising. He is responding better than signing - only catch being he is in a verbal behavior classroom and they may not be completely on board with an augmentitave device being used in there (OT and ST admit that they are glad I "pushed the issue"). Don't you just love the public school system for special needs?????????????

Mellow afternoon, and another independent BM this afternoon - woo hoo, this just thrills me, time and time again! Teacher reported lots of coughing at school, but while notable at home, doesn't sound so bad. Added in Magnesium this afternoon as another "calmer" for vocal stimming.. we'll have to wait and see how that plays out.

DAY 68

SCHOOL'S CLOSED - Groundhog Day! WHAAA!

I took away Ty's favorite stims (am I crazy, lol) and started working with him on identifying high frequency sight words. Whoa, he is terrible working for me.. pitched a huge fit. But to my surprise I got vocal approximations for "A", "I", and "ME" - "me" is new, we knew he could echoic A and I. He also said "no" several times when he was mad - gotta love motivation and language! New thing with the train today is he doesn't want the track set up.. (that was short lived) - so everytime he walks by it, he takes the track apart. I went ahead and put it away and brought out a car toy instead and he is approaching it - slow, slow progress with toy play.



On the biomed front... we are begining to add back some key Yasko supps as I had mentioned earlier in the week. I carefully went through Ty's genetics this morning and will be looking at areas that I feel the tea will not benefit (or areas that looked "stressed" since we took him off of everything). I am going to work up slowly to add back about 20 supplements. I am not going to concentrate on organ support or gut, as I feel the tea is doing a terrific job in these areas. Instead, I am focused on neurotransmitter aspects, and will eventually work toward methylation pathway supports. Hopefully we can find a nice balance and get some testing done to see where things are. In a perfect world I would have sent off a UAA and MAP when he started to tank, but in a perfect world, I could pay my VISA bill.. lol. This go around is going to have to be soley on me watching him, as it is "priceless" information~! Otherwise, he was his happy self today - wandering a lot and probably in need of some serious structure, which he did not want me to provide, lol!

DAY 67

SCHOOL'S CLOSED - Bummer, predicting an ice storm..... gonna be a long day - verbal stimming is more like a shriek this morning, ouch! I may have to search out some of hubby's airport earplugs! Day was a farce, no ice and now they are saying should hit tonight - let us hope that there is only a delayed opening tomorrow and not another cancellation. It was a very stimmy and boring day. However, skid marks in underwear - so at some point there was an independent BM I missed (yay), approached train set more, and tonight I caught him in the bathroom looking at himself brushing his hair! Very cute and a first!

DAY 66

Ty awoke happy... hard time getting him to sit at the table and eat breakfast because he was playing with the train again!!!! This is incredible and I have to say there is an underlying pride that overcame me watching him appropriately play, rather than walking around with a handful of straws. There is no doubt in my mind that this is a direct result of the Tomatis boost we just did... these are the small hurdles of transitional gains we see when we do one.

Ty was in good spirits after school, though the teacher noted tons of high pitched verbal stimming - he did approach the train set several more times today and ate great. Seemed a tad hyper, but was in a funny way, not so stimmy - just having fun and interactive. AND he pooped in the potty!

DAY 65

We attended a new church today and I put Ty in the 2 yr old daycare room (older age rooms were instructional based, not play based, so it seemed like the best option for disruption!). He did great for the hour they said, no problems. We went to breakfast afterwards and he hung all through the meal with NO dvd player - good progress as we always offer at restaurants!
He said "potty" today on echoic (new word), but crapped in his pants later in the afternoon, lol. Win some, lose some! He had several gluten infractions (one being the goldfish they served in the daycare room!) and the other a seek mission in our pantry for crackers that we missed~! No behavioral issues or excess stimming resulted, but he is not an instant reactor in general. Actually, he has been fairly calm this afternoon. I made potato/zucchini pancakes, new food, and while slightly offended by the texture at first, ended up eating them without fuss. We have actually introduced many new foods lately - homemade chicken patties, meatballs, hotdogs, new bread, and all have gone over magnificently. It is GREAT to see his diet expanded and not so rigid on processed GFCF foods! Should help the food bill a bit too, lol!
He also approached the train set from yesterday several times today again... fleeting, but hey! Will be an early night tonight - he seems tired.. up at 6am this morning and a full day. GABA may be contributing also.. we have sprinkle dosed 3 x today, about a 1/2 cap total.

DAY 64

Slept well and had a happy, stimmy morning - some vocal high pitched noises (those had decreased quite a bit) and noticed more ear covering the past few days (we have seen this EVERY time we add or increase GABA, so not surprising.) What is surprising is that he is only tolerating small amount of GABA ... 64 days ago he was taking 3 capsules a day! Now I am seeing effects with a 1/4 capsule. Adding back key supps. is going to be a balancing act like no other with the tea.
Overall a really good day for Ty - boring, as it was cold and we hung out mostly in the house, but his requesting was up, echoics nice, and we got 2 independent BM's in the potty. One interesting note - he kept pulling us to the door to the garage. We would say "no bye bye", but he wouldn't give up. Finally I remembered my husband had brought home some stuff from my parent's attic and right outside the car door on Ty's side was an open plastic tub of a Thomas the Train set (it was my older son's and we always saved it for Ty but through the years he has had no interest what so ever in it. Hubby brought it back to our house for a neighborhood boy!) And so on a whim, I went out in the garage and got the bucket of tracks and trains... Ty's eye's lit up when I brought it in the house. He sat with me while I made the track arrangement and pushed the trains appropriately around it. Now, it didn't last long - kept his attention for 5 minutes, tops, but his toy play skills have NEVER progressed, nor has interest level, so this was pretty exciting initiation on his part!!!!

DAY 63

Ty slept well, but did have a BM accident again last night. Is there no end to potty training? 1/2 cap of GABA seemed to be too much (some heightened emotions), so I did just an 1/8th cap sprinkle this morning, along with the 1/4 BH4. We'll try another 1/8th of GABA after school. Shredding had been down considerably (replaced with a package of straws, lol), but resurfaced yesterday - the first paper "seek and destroy" we have actually seen this month.
No notes from school, not sure how things have been going there. Teacher not saying much this week. He pooped in his pants, standing in front of the toilet holding his dvd player this afternoon. Wandered in Wal-Mart this evening... I'm very distraught, seems unengaged and slightly regressive. However, my friend was at the school today and said when Ty was taken to his bus and his aide said good bye, Ty turned around and waved appropriately - who knew?!

DAY 62

Ty got into some Nutter Butter cookies yesterday afternoon, lol - very happy guy! Didn't see any repurcussions until a night waking at 330am this morning. Not sure it was the food infraction though. While eating breakfast I realized his cheeks were flushed, again thought of the infraction as he was wired for sound and incredibly stimmy all morning, but on a whim took his temperature and it was 100. As any tired mommy would do, I quickly gave him motrin before his bus arrived, LOL, and sent him on his merry way (he was in a great mood, or so how I justified it!) I had told the teacher about the night waking in his comm. notebook, so if he tanks during the day, she'll think it was that - if the fever returns they will call regardless and I'll go get him. Then we'll have to decipher if the fever is an illness or was triggered by the new batch of tea. One boy in his class had strep last week (of course, Ty's strep titers were at one point as high as 15 times the reference range, so he always has strep as far as I'm concerned.......). Oh happy day, ugh.
No call from school during the day - 99 fever when he got home, slight flushed cheeks, no ill demeanor. Very stimmy still.. lots of flapping - ammonia in the house! He has the cbs mutation and his ammonia ran very high even with Yasko, take into consideration the high protein we have been feeding him and I can't ignore it. I gave him 1/2 cap GABA this afternoon and some Ammonia RNA, as well as 1/4 tab of BH4 - we'll stay at that for the week and see what happens. While I love the tea for certain aspects, I do believe certain "autism areas" aren't being addressed on it.. mainly dopamine/seratonin, we'll play around and see what happens. Keep yah posted!

DAY 61

Still in limbo about adding some supps back, not sure I would know where to begin or why, lol. He looks pretty much the same off them as on them -
Tea is going well and I think we are seeing some language benefits from Tomatis boost. Teacher informed of severeal spontaneous requests yesterday and the last 2 BM's have been independent in the potty..
yay!

DAY 60

Tomatis director noted much calmer and less stimming (1st day of new tea batch). Funny, first week of new batches seems to show goodness, then second week is slightly off - why?
Also, independent BM on potty this evening! TCM Dr. noted this new batch might see increased urination, oh boy yes! Lots and lots of trips to the potty, all independent at home. I did put a pull up on for night, just in case, though he normally never wears one. I am tired and don't feel like changing sheets at 3am, LOL! Eating not as bad this afternoon.. a big dinner and just a bit of snacking late evening.

DAY 59

Slightly calmer today... gave a hydroxy b12 shot this morning.. maybe contributing. Still pooping a lot and eating even more. 2 accidents, 1 bm potty success.
Having an extended family crisis at the moment, so posts will be brief and concentration on Ty even less as we navigate a difficult time - current path, maintain!

DAY 58

Slept well, but the appetite thing is driving us crazy. We have tried more protein which I am a little uneasy about as he has high ammonia/cbs up regulation and I feel like it is just compounding the situation. On the other hand, he is in the kitchen non stop seeking food. We are literally feeding him 5-7 full meals a day with snacking in btwn. Meanwhile, what goes in, must come out and he is now pooping 2-3 times a day, larger stools but still formed (notable vomit smell remains). Today, we had 2 BM accidents and 2 independent successes. There is no rhyme or reason as to the sudden regression in potty training - still no urine accidents. I don't get it and am just hoping that it will turn around.
Seems like I have been frantic with the negatives lately, it is always difficult to watch a regression. We have had a few little incidents lately that have been nice. At Tomatis he wanted to take the headphones off toward the end of his session and he told the staff "ake off". We have never heard that before. The other day he was taking his tea, and I had poured a slightly larger cup than usual. He kept taking his sips and checking the cup to see if it was gone and finally looked at me and said "all done" and put the cup to my lips to finish it, lol. And today while taking the dogs for a walk, he went the whole mile with us.. playing with a stick dragging it in the grass, picking some flowers, held the dog's leash for a bit - and when I went to show him the airplane in the sky, he was quick to mimick my point. Funny, he can say "ah-pane" but when I got down to his level and had him follow the point and prompt say airplane, he got a funny grin on his face and lowered his head... it was like he was thinking, I can't but I want to.

DAY 57

Ty had a Tomatis session this morning - Director noted he was very stimmy. I went by TCM drs. office on my way home and had a chance to discuss Ty's current batch and the photos I had sent. I had sent him one of Ty's tongue and he said the red dots lining the outer section (like a "strawberry") was heat.. the red circles under his eyes, liver. The rashes were probably what we surmised as detox, as they have been consistent for years with biomed. interventions with Ty. He said he is concentrating on the liver mostly with his tea, of course several other aspects are being treated also - mainly the gut.

DAY 56

Well, I just don't know what to think of it all. 4 BM accidents in 2 days - all nicely formed so "sense of urge" shouldn't have been a problem. We'll just have to hope that this current Tomatis boost turns things around in the pottying area. It has always proven to be a catalyst to success in the past. A girl can dream, can't she?!

One BM independent on potty before bed, Thank God! VERY stimmy and wandering this afternoon. I made him a new food to try, GFCF meatballs - he loved them and gobbled 8 up!
YAY - I love another food addition that involves real ingredients, lol, and isn't a beloved snack item! Appetite is still way up!

DAY 55

My emotional catharsis last night made the start of the day difficult. Maybe Ty was tuned in also, he was tired and fussy off to school. His cold has moved to chest congestion not nasal discharge this morning, butt rash last night in bath. He has a 1/2 day at school today and we are off to day one (of five) of a Tomatis boost. I am holding out hope "this $500" will be money well spent - heck, who am I kidding, I am hoping it will be priceless!

Tomatis session went well, though Ty continues to seem tired. His TCM Dr. answered my email with photos of various rashes, tongue photo, etc. and said he will plan his next batch of tea accordingly for pick up on Sat. He was cute and sent me a link on autism and gluten free diet, he said it is important to be gluten free. I had to laugh to myself, Ty has been GFCF since he was 18 mos. old! Another BM accident this afternoon.. just bums me out... hopefully Tomatis will get things back in check!

Keeping the Faith

I would like to share something that happened last night -
At 2am I awoke to rustling on the baby monitor in Ty's room. I rolled over with a huge sigh, thinking oh please, not another night waking.... then I heard the most beautiful babble resonating from that little speaker on my bedside table.. ma ma ma, da da da, ba ba ba, na na na, uh oh, oh no, uh oh... and the reality of it came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks, it wasn't Ty's voice. The monitor had picked up the signal of my next door neighbor's neurotypical baby, gleefully developing his voice in the middle of the night. I cried like a baby myself. I cried for the strength this journey takes. I cried for the memories when I too could lie in bed and listen to Ty babble that sweetly the first year of his life. I cried for all of our kids, stolen from us with no ransom in sight. I cried, and I listened ~ 20 minutes of pure baby bliss.
I awoke this morning feeling deflated. Pulling my boot straps back up for another Groundhog Day of Autism. No, it isn't fair what we do day in and day out. But we are all thankful for some aspect of the journey.. maybe yours is the pride of a small gain, a new friend that you have met sitting in a therapy lounge, a potty success, or new word. Each piece renews faith and musters up yet more Hercules Hope to continue the battle ~
Don't give up. I won't.

DAY 54

UGH, ANOTHER NIGHT WAKING.... 2:30am this morning! He has a full head cold, very congested in the middle of night (maybe attributed to the wake up????). Allergy counts where we live are horrible right now, could be contributing to nasal congestion too. I do remember regular night wakings when adding in methylation on Yasko protocol... sure wish I knew if this was "detox" or possible "crash" from no supplements!
Rocky afternoon, BM accident, over tired child, and for the past week he is eating non stop. I took some photos for his TCM Dr. Will try and post on the blog for reference.

DAY 53

Something is up - another BM accident last night before bed and it was stinky like vomit again. Ty is stimmier than usual the past few days, and this morning he woke up congested again (after just getting over his cold/flu a week ago). The last batch of tea had immune supports added to it. I think it is stimulating a viral detox episode (butt pimples the other day - and actually last night with accident also, clear nasal discharge, less requesting, less engagement). Viral has always been tougher on Ty than the metals detox, where regression is noted (Metals 1 and 4 was horrific two summers ago, and it took Ty a full 4 months to bounce back from it!). I hope things settle down by Thur. when he returns for his Tomatis boost.
After school today, a slight turn - independent BM, good requesting, and some nice echoics.. Ty's autism seems to be like Texas weather, if you don't like it today, wait a day, it will be different tomorrow, LOL!

DAY 52

Ty was especially giddy this morning, very happy. I went and picked up his 12/14 UTM and UEE today. Again, very few metals. That is 2 UTM's since begining the herbs that have had no mercury. Ty's pre-tea UTM was in early Nov.'08 and had Hg in yellow (elevated), so I am beginning to surmise that the tea, while benefiting many aspects of his biochemistry, is not supporting detox like Yasko's protocol concentrating on the methylation was. However, I am not inclined to add back any supplements at this time for several reasons. One is that Ty's TCM Dr. said the liver support he is working on with the tea is a slow balancing process to get it working efficiently. Second, Ty has excreted so much mercury and other metals the past 2.5 yrs. and very little on IV's this summer, that I feel we were nearing the end of huge pulls anyway. And third, the little guy just looks too good to mess with the current status. If the past two years of excretion is any indication as to why we are seeing such great stuff now, then I am willing to ride it out and see what progresses. Because we saw so few cognitive gains during high excretion, I believe that his body needed a break, possibly to let remylination kick in. I have always wondered if moving metals for 4 straight years hindered this aspect, and my suspicions are leaning toward that conclusion as we see him off of all supps.

On the UEE (urine essential elements) front, it looked the best we have seen in years. Lithium was finally down from triple the reference range in the past year, and the majority of his other essentials were in normal range. His copper has come down, but so has zinc though still holding a higher zinc to copper ratio (explained to TCM dr. about zinc/copper ratios in asd kids to try and address with his new batch of tea). His calcium came down (which per Yasko should be on the low end anyway, and we never even supplemented on her protocol and couldn't get it lower than 100 - this current UEE it was 67). Sulpher decreased one hundred points, and his sodium dropped from 2160 to 1834. Manganese, Molybdenum, Chromium, and Vanadium all pretty much stayed the same (interesting, because we supplemented all of those on Yasko). Cobalt came down, no surprise while not on B12 shots anymore - from .029 to .007

On the UTM front, we did get some Aluminum which we hadn't seen much of the last 3 mos. on Yasko. Could be the resolve of some bacteria issues on the tea releasing it. Arsenic was a 63, mid green, Cadmium a blip at .3, Nickel 4.3, and Thallium, Tin and Tungsten all blips. If we continue to see a decline on random UTM's throughout tea, I will probably schedule an IV to challenge and see what we pull in a month or two. The next unprovoked collection on the tea I have decided will be a 24 hr. collection - the above was a spot urine, first AM only.

I still need to get a Microbiology kit for a stool anaylsis for good and bad bugs! This will be my one true test of the tea on gut healing, and I know many of you following have been waiting on that one, lol. I forgot to have DAN order me the kit over the holidays, and in the interim decided to give the tea just a bit longer to work on healing before testing. I also will be doing a UAA and MAP (when we get tax refund $, lol) to compare pre and post yasko numbers. Ty has high Ammonia issues which we resolved on yasko dealing with his CBS mutation so I am very interested to see w/o those supports if it has remained low, as well as his last MAP (Jun.'08) showed all vitamins within "need range" for the first time ever. If those suckers held steady on the tea, I am a true believer in TCM, lol! DAN dr. advised to wait on the UAA and MAP until we hit at least the 3 mos. mark off all supps. though to give the body a chance to truly reflect what is going on with the tea.
Ty had a BM accident after school, arrgh! Hate that when so many days are filled with success. He has eaten 2 new foods the past few days which is exciting!

DAY 51

Ty had another early waking this morning, 430am. Now several things ran through my head while I lay in bed listening to him play in his room for 2 hrs. lol. First, the tea is not working (our 2nd early wake this week) and we are beginning to see a pattern of decline in his sleep (he has slept long and hard for years without "sleep" supplements, but always had wakings during episodes of detox), and secondly, it is a detox issue. The latter put my mind at ease when he climbed into my bed at 630a. and was grinding his teeth like crazy.. something that had disappated about week 3 of the tea. I have never been able to correlate teeth grinding to a particular biochemical response for Ty, but believe that it is either metal excretion or bacterial issues - both of which he has had for 4 plus years, so unable to narrow down in his case. Anyway, my thoughts about the detox were confirmed around 10a when Ty came into the kitchen naked and stinkin' of poop! He had had a BM accident in his pj's (first accident since his illness last week) and tried to clean it up - what I found was a very messy toilet seat, very yuck stench with the remaining stool in the bowl (stools have had no foul smell lately), and a 3 x 3 inch section of pimpled butt and red flash burn on his inner thigh. He hasn't had the pimple rash in about a week, I believe, so either detox or die off would be my confirmation of the rooster call this morning!! The tea seems to be doing its job!
The day continued with one more poop in the pot, and one small one in his pj's before bed - I am too tired to reflect on it now, lol - early to bed, it has been a long day!

DAY 50

Ty is holding his own - my older daughter and I sat down and tried to play Candyland with him, lol. While he had no concept of what was taking place, he DID sit w/o fussing, that is progress! I have been pulling out academics throughout the day and he is also running quick 10 minute trials with me every 30 minutes, again, progress. Normally, the minute I present the material, I get a screech. This is just going to be a very long and arduous process to stimulate engagement on that level - interupt a stim, get something done, let him stim, and so on. Maybe we can build on it slowly. He had in home tutors last year for 2 hrs a day, 7 days a week - but there is no more $ for that and such is life (hence my guilt of finding another way!).

We are doing another Tomatis boost next week (5 days, Thur. - Tue.) I am very excited about this, as he is in a nice calm place and even showing "preverbal" skills. We have had such good success with this therapy in the past, always seeing something after every session whether it be potty success, receptive, more self regulation, etc. I pray that language will be a strong hit this next session.

Last night before bed he said "lu" instead of "uh" for love and we got a few more defiant "no's" today. Overall, I am pretty darn excited with his verbal attempts lately. Vocal stimming is finally on the decline, shredding is still at 50% reduction since we began the tea, and requesting continues to show motivation!

DAY 49

Last night while tucking Ty into bed was amazing! I had finished his story and was just lying there with him. We were head to head on his pillow, direct eye contact. I said I love you, and he said "I uh oo", so I said "mama" and he repeated a beautiful one back, then I said "night night" and he said "na-na"... now none of these are necessarily new words (though clarity was much improved), but the engagement was really great, so I kept it going. He was doing his "tense stim" in btwn our verbal interactions and so I joined him and tense stimmed him back. Ty thought this was hilarious and laughed and laughed... we took turns back and forth. Finally, I said "it is time for bed, go to sleep - shhh" and turned off his light... then I hear "SHH!" back - Really great!
Good day at school... wandered some at home, and when he wanted more straws to stim on, I flat out said NO, to which he yelled "no" back at me!!! That was impressive!

DAY 48

So the early wake up turned out okay... he had a good day at school (though I heard he catnapped on the bus ride in!). His teacher tested out his receptive ID material in anticipation of his communication device assessment which will be performed by a district team shortly, and Ty's data reflected much improved from 6 wks ago! The tea? Maybe!
He used several spontaneous requests after school for food items, and my parent's watched him while I had to go out for an hour and they said he was more engaged than usual with them. He toileted independently while they were here, even his BM. A good day! And hopefully a good night sleep!!

DAY 47

Happy this morning, slept well. Great day at school per teacher. No shredding or trash can obsession and did some appropriate coloring with colored pencils. Independent BM after school, yay. Tried the oat infraction again today with a cereal bar in his school lunch. Based on the good reports for today, seems like he tolerated fine. I missed his poop in the toilet to scrutinize toleration there, lol! Excellent spontaneous "cookie" echoic several times this afternoon.
Early wake up at 330a this morning (Thur. AM) - we'll see how the day goes with that!

DAY 46

Began new batch of tea this morning. Ty slept well, regular hours, and appears to be over his illness completely. School reported he was non compliant with independent work - I have seen his independent work, he is bored! Always somethin'!

Vocal stimming this afternoon, but successful BM in the potty on own. Reading up more on acupuncture - would love to try this with Ty, just can't figure out how in the heck he would tolerate it!

DAY 45

God bless, back to school!! Ty fell asleep at 730p last night, so transition this morning went well as he was nicely rested. Still amazed at the sleep he is logging in lately, but health wise, he seemed the best yet today.

Teacher reported lots of shredding at school and then he decided to throw everything he could get his hands on into the trash, lol - sounds like a fun day, glad it was on her time! Mellow afternoon at home, some good requesting, but BM accident, arrghh..

DAY 44

I woke Ty up at 8a from a deep sleep this morning - tonight is a school night and I don't want him up late! Very cuddley and cute, and NO nasal discharge. A little cough though. More vocal stimming.... ugh, ugh and more ugh. Fussy grocery store trip, very clingy and he is a bit oversensitive today. Eating much better though. Looking forward to school tomorrow (lol). .
Another loose BM accident which really bummed me out, but then early evening we had a successful independent one on the potty! Gave charcoal this afternoon to hopefully mop up the last of this viral stool excretion.

DAY 43

Intense long sleeps this week.. fell asleep last night at 9p and awoke at 930a !!!! I haven't slept in until 930a for 10 years, LOL! Needless to say, I feel rested, but the vocal stimming this morning is out of control!

Picked up new tea, has more immune supports in it, but we won't begin new batch for a couple of days. Ty is out of sorts for sure with this illness. Nasal congestion is thicker, chest congestion is loose, and a little fussy today. Appetite is picking up. Loose BM accident again today. Got several really nice spontaneous requests this afternoon. This tea intervention as a whole is the weirdest we have seen yet. I REALLY see a new level of awareness and calm. Skills haven't blown us away, but if ever there was a concrete precursor to progress, we are experiencing it. He is the most "on" without true cognitive regression than we have ever seen.. just tidbits of good stuff slipping out here and there. If this continues, by golly we'll have some damn good progress!

DAY 42

Ty woke up from 12a-2a after being asleep since 4p yesterday, and then went back to sleep until 8a! Remains fever free, but had a BM this afternoon (in his pants) that had a small formed stool with a lot of intense green sludge die off surrounding it. His urine throughout his illness this week has been cloudy and darker yellow. Yasko would interpret this as viral excretion and that has proven true for Ty during the 2.5 yrs. we followed her protocol. Ironically I had noted that since beginning the tea, his urine had gone very light (which again is indicative of low creatinine on her protocol and usually correlates metal excretion). While we don't have enough UTM's under our belt to confirm this yet, when we did Metals RNA's to provoke viral, we saw the same dark and cloudy urine.

DAY 41 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I let Ty sleep in my bed last night (hubby was out of town) and when we woke up I leaned over and told him "Happy New Year, 2009 is the year you are going to talk!" and he smiled brightly and babbled "duh", LOL!

Still fever free, but appetite is beyond pathetic (unless you count sneaking Skittles as a major food group!). And today he had diarreah (on the toilet, yay!). Only one episode thus far, so could be the candy (he rarely gets it) or just the fever/viral working its way out of the body. No update from his TCM Dr. about the new batch for next week, but he said he would be in his office tomorrow and Saturday, so we'll find out then.
Ty fell asleep around 4pm and is pasty white and clammy.... obviously still sick, but just weird. He slept almost 12 hrs last night, shouldn't have been so tired.... nervous for what the night holds this evening...???