Recovering Noah

I can't believe it's been FIVE weeks since I last updated this blog. I finally figured out why I have such a hard time writing all of this down.... Simeon!! That's right. I used to keep diaries and I was always writing in them and then I stopped about 13 years ago. Hmmm... that's about the same time I met Sim. Poor Sim. He's become my diary! I realize I don't have to write all my feelings down anymore b/c I just tell them all to him. And I'm quite sure he'd LOVE me to start writing them down so he can have a bit of a break from my constant ramblings and thoughts. :-) But, anyway, I think that's why I don't keep up much with this. And the problem is that now I have 5 weeks of news to let you all know about. I'm going to start backwards and go back to my last post, which was on Halloween. We saw Dr. Rao that day. He's one of the only autism doctors in Texas and we hadn't seen him in 7 months. Not b/c we didn't like him - he's re...

You all know that we've been doing biomedical treatment for Noah since he was 19 months old - but he is such a slow responder and we just couldn't figure out why. I mean, it seems we have tried everything and he just doesn't seem to respond as well as other kids. Well, almost three months ago, we sent off for a Nutrigenomic test which takes Noah's DNA and lets us know how his methylation cycle works - which is basically his body's ability to detox. It's actually a bit more scientific than that, but I have a hard time getting my head around it all, so that's the easiest way for me to understand it. Anyway, we got the results back last week: 1 page of results and 78 pages of explanation. Now you know what I've been doing this past week. I still don't understand it all, but basically the methylation cycle has a long way route and if it's compromised, then you take a short cut. Well, Noah's long way is compromised and so is the shortcut - which m...

I cannot believe Noah's first week of school already came and went. Okay, so it wasn't as bad as I thought. He didn't scream or cry and I didn't have to hold him up by one arm and drag him into the building. Oh no. Just the opposite. He practically broke free from the amazingly tight grip I had on his little hand and ran down the halls. He LOVES school - and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. On his second day, he actually broke free from me and ran to his teacher and started shrieking with delight... leaving poor Mommy standing in the wings like a 12 year old girl at her first middle school dance. And on Friday, I finally got the nerve up to drop him off at the front of the school and let his teacher's aide walk him in to school while I sat in the car all teary-eyed and hyperventilating. (Okay, so that's a slight embellishment, but I did feel like my heart was going to come out of my chest). He was soooooo excited. He was practically dancing on the sid...

I know I should wait to write a blog entry... I'm so tired and feel very depressed and so I'm sure I'm just going to moan and lament - but I haven't updated in a week, so thought I'd better write. Noah is not sleeping again. I don't understand what's going on. For two weeks he slept 12-14 hours a day and his shrieking decreased by 90%. But for the last week, he's getting worse and worse. Thursday night, he did not go to bed until 6:30 am. Yeah - you read right. 6:30!! And he went to bed last night at 9:00 and has been up since 2:30 - shrieking. He shrieked for 3 1/2 hours straight. I'm about to pull my hair out. And he starts school today. We have to leave in a little over an hour and guess what? Oh yeah. He went back to sleep about 10 minutes ago. This is just nuts. I am trying so hard to figure out what is causing this. This is just back to where we were in TN. So.. .we did pull the carpet up and put down new floor. We got the lock-in, no-glue wood...

Can you believe it? I'm actually posting two days in a row. That goes to show you what a good nights sleep will do for you! :-) Thank goodness Noah's sleep patterns have continued and he is now sleeping about 12 hours a night. I cannot begin to explain how wonderful that feels! I think most of you know that my brother Mark and his wife Beth adopted a baby girl at the end of May. Her name is Alaina and she's 4 1/2 months old. Man, she is the most beautiful little baby girl in the world. She's gorgeous! Well, she was sitting in her infant carrier on the kitchen bar and Noah was perched on the bar, too, with me sitting in front of him and I said, "Noah, where's the baby?" and he actually turned around and looked at Alaina. Well, we were stunned! So we asked him again and again and each time he turned around and looked at Alaina. We didn't even know that he knew what a baby was! I mean, we didn't even know that concept even existed in his head. A few m...

Okay, there's good news and bad news.... The good news is that Mom and Dad have let us temporarily move back in with them. The bad news is that we've had to temporarily move back in with Mom and Dad. Oh, where to begin. Okay. First of all, we LOVE our new house. It is awesome and beautiful and so peaceful. The problem is that we had NO idea that the previous occupant was a smoker. And we're still racking our heads over how we missed that oh-so-important detail. I'm really sensitive to cigarette smoke and can usually detect it, but I didn't smell a thing when we viewed the house. There were no ashtrays, no cigarette butts, no smell. The lady who owned the house was always present at the viewing and sprayed it heavily with a citrus spray when we came. We thought she was just being conscientious or something. Well, when we opened the doors to move our furniture in (after the house had been empty and shut up for several days) the smell of cigarette smoke pretty much ch...

It's been soooo long since I last posted, hasn't it? So much has happened that I don't know where to begin. Well, after posting about my greatest day ever a few weeks ago, Noah slept 3 hours that night and started shrieking nonstop from 3:00 am on. He basically reverted back to his old self where he just shrieked and stayed up constantly. Sim came on the 17th and after a few days we decided to give Noah a break and go back home. We tried everything we could to get the apartment straightened out. Honestly. We've been working on trying to figure out the problem from the moment we first stepped foot into it - b/c Noah was fine until we moved. So, Sim brought his EMF meter with him to TN and the apartment was so high in EMF's. We couldn't get them down. And then, during the last week we were there, Noah's foot baths started smelling of bleach. I mean, I got a splitting headache from the smell. So Sim talked to our neighbor (whose mom had lived in the apartment b...

We had such a good evening tonight! Oh my gosh, it was like an answered prayer. Seriously. First of all, Noah has not shrieked since about 4:00 this afternoon. It's been so wonderful! And then, I've made a friend out here, and we went to the mall around 5:30 to just walk around and push the kids in the stroller. She has a little boy Noah's age who also has autism. Anyway, we went and played at the mall playground and Noah was so happy. He was all smiles and he immediately went in and started climbing up on all the toys. This is the same kid who a year ago couldn't climb up or down a 3 inch step. Now, he's climbing all over climbing structures. He wasn't scared at all. And he never even hesitated. Just went right in there and started climbing. So, after that, the boys rode the toy train that they have at the mall. Noah was smiling and so excited. He wasn't scared. I was sure he'd be whining and getting all panicked. Nope, he just grinned at me everytime t...

Thought I'd post how Noah did this week. There were some rough patches, but I figure I concentrate too much on those and need to lighten up this blog a bit. Noah started giving kisses on the phone this week. So, if I'm talking to Sim or Mom & Dad, I can put the phone up to this ear and say "Give Daddy (or Nonna or Papa) a kiss and he'll actually place his lips on the phone. Isn't that awesome? He doesn't look at the phone or act like he's even paying attention, but he does lean in and touch the phone with his lips. He's doing it pretty consistently, too, so we are all sooooo excited. I think it's been 3 1/2 years since he last did that. Also, today he climbed into his car seat by himself. All by himself. I was so excited and said, "Give me five, Noah!" - totally not expecting anything in return. But that kid actually looked me in the eye and smacked my hand with his his. I was in shock. And, of course, then I had to call Sim and Mom ...

Well, it looks like I'm behind again. I think this might have to turn into a weekly update blog, instead of the daily blog that I had envisioned when it was first created. We've got seven full weeks left before we go back home. Yea! I am counting the days. Seriously. This is hard work. I never, ever, ever imagined it would be so hard. Last Monday, I almost gave up. I called both Sim and my dad just bawling that I wanted to pack up and come home. Noah had stayed up all night - in fact in 39 hours he had only slept 1.5 hours. And then, of course, Eli wakes up after a full night's sleep just full of energy and ready to start the day. AND Noah's still shrieking up a storm, which wakes our neighbors up at all hours. And then, he has developed this awful habit of making grunting noises and hissing noises that remind me of those hissing cockroaches that I've seen on Fear Factor. Very lovely. There is no telling what our upstairs neighbors must think with all the shrieking,...

Lots of people have asked how Noah's doing here in TN, so I thought I'd post a brief update. As most of you know, Noah's been doing a lot of squealing and shrieking and stimming these last 5 weeks. It's the exact same behavior that he had when he was on DMPS (a sulfur based chelator that he was on for 10 months when he was 3). And I couldn't quite understand why he has acting that way again. He hasn't been on DMPS for 14 months now. I do think that some of it is due to the high EMF's in our apartment, but he still just doesn't seem quite right. He's started toe-walking again and spinning in circles. And I sometimes think he's going to start flying up in the air with all the hand flapping he's doing now. Anyway, we've been looking a lot into genetics because I think that may hold the missing piece to Noah's autism puzzle. What we're doing out here in TN is great and loads of kids out here are getting better. I'm seeing it with ...

Hey, just wanted to post a quick update... We arrived back in TN on Saturday. It was the first time that I've driven all the way through. 12 hours - woo hoo! I feel like a pro now. :-) Eli survived his first day back at daycare. He cried and cried when I had to leave him - which meant that I cried and cried. But he was all smiles by the time I picked him up. He was busy playing with blue playdoh. If he ends up having green poo tonight then I know where it came from! Noah has done really good since being back. He's sleeping pretty well and right now he's eating white basmati stir fry with... get this... cabbage, broccoli, and carrots. Can you believe it???? I ended up buying the shredded veggies in a pack. I think it's called shredded coleslaw. I've seen an organic kind at Target or Walmart, but just got the regular because I'm tired of spending mucho money on organic things that he doesn't eat. Wouldn't ya know that he's chowing it done. So, now we k...

We made it back to Texas a few days ago because Eli had dental surgery scheduled at Children's in Dallas. It was soooooooo good to cross over that Texas line! All of us - the kids and me - were really happy to get back home. Sim and my parents met us at Craig & Stephanie's in Mt. Pleasant and Sim drove back home the rest of the way. Eli honestly did not shut up for the entire 2 1/2 drive. He was such a chatterbox. He was really excited to see Sim. And when we turned on our road, Noah actually started smiling and clapping his hands. Ahhhhhh. It really makes me want to not go back to TN. I don't want to take them back to that dreary apartment. I mean, I will, don't worry - we are totally committed to Noah's treatments, but it is so good to see both boys as happy as they are now that we're back. And me, too!!! I love me some Texas! :-) Well, Eli had his surgery today. 3 crowns and 5 fillings!! Needless to say, the poor kid feels absolutely miserable. First of a...

Today, we were at a red light waiting to pull into the post office - and the car in front of us was bright yellow. The owner had taken yellow and white and orange shoe polish and wrote "Expect a Miracle" on the back of it and was just driving it around town. She pulled in next to us and I told her that I really liked her slogan. And she said that she gets a lot of compliments on it and that it's usually from people who really needed that message in their lives. So, then, I came home and opened my email. I subscribe to Children of Destiny - which is run by parents of a child with autism and they send out dail prayers every weekday that are specific to special needs. Anyway, this was today's message... Tuesday, August 8, 2006 “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (Luke 1:45, NIV) PARENT’S PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, We thank you for the wonderful promises of abundant life you have given us. Lord, we pray that you wo...

It's been a week since I last posted. I know that I promised I wouldn't let so much time go by before updating the blog, but last week was pretty horrible. I'm sorry if you've emailed me privately and I haven't responded yet. I'm just really exhausted and feeling a bit down. I honestly didn't realize how much hard it would be here by myself. Major kudos to all you single mom and dads out there. I don't know how you do it! Noah's still shrieking like a banshee. I wish I knew what was up with him. He's acting completely different than he has before. I'm pretty positive that he's moving metals out, but I sure hate the behaviors that go along with it. We did find out that the steroids that he's been taking were stuck in his stomach. Noah really just can't detox anything. We even need to do a rotation diet with him because if he has too much of any one thing, it builds up in his body and causes a reaction. That's what happened with...

Well, today was our 7th session at Internal Balance. The odd thing is that he doesn't squeal there - at all. In the apartment, he squeals a lot. The weekends are the worst and they buildup and hit an all time low point by Sunday. I just can't figure out what it is. It could be the carpets - which are old and probably have who knows what in them. There could also be mold underneath them. I've also noticed that everytime we do the laundry or run water in the sink or bath that it reeks of chlorine. It's very overpowering. And the mini-blinds are old and caked with dirt and dust. And then there's the electrical transformer outside Noah's bedroom. And, of course, we're detoxing metals out of his body. It's like having to be Sherlock Holmes to figure all of this out. Tamara gave us a homeopathic remedy against environmental toxins and I gave that to him today. So far, we've been home for 2 hours and he hasn't squealed. We'll see how it works over t...

Noah's at it again. This time he went to sleep at 11:00 and was up by 4:00. Have no idea what's going on in that little body of is - but I try to remember that it's not his fault. He's yawning like crazy, but his is flapping and spinning circles - and takes breaks to yawn. He just can't help it. I'm sure we'll find the answer to all of this in the next few months and am just trying to keep the faith right now. We did have some exciting developments last week. First of all... drum roll... Noah hasn't had steroids in a week. Woo hoo! He is still itching, but I think it's more from detoxing. The itch he had back home was more environmental - like allergies and air, etc. He doesn't itch near as much hear. Thank goodness! We still have to lather him up with all sorts of things, though. Right now, we put on Jason's Organic Vitamin E oil (45,000 IU), AminoCare cream, Keys Eye Butter, and Keys RediCare Healing Therapy Spray - which basically all leav...

Okay, it's official. My little Indian boy hates Indian food. Either that or it's my cooking. Although I think I know the answer to that one, I choose to believe that his genetic make up is better suited to hamburgers, french fries, and ice cream sandwiches. (If only he could have them!) Noah has allergies or sensitivities to sooooo many foods. He's not meant to have anything with gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, corn, potatoes, tomatoes pork, or chicken. That leaves almond butter, eggs, rice, quinoa, millet, lamb, turkey, beef, green vegetables, some other veggies, agave nectar and fruit. Sounds bad, but I know some kids who have it a lot worse, so we're lucky that we can pick from more than 5 foods. Problem is, he doesn't eat hardly anything. We sometimes cheat just so that he'll eat - but he's a smart little fellow and I think he sometimes holds out until we give in. But we always see a reaction whenever we cheat, so I'm trying my best to cut out all of th...

Hey, guess what? The kids are both asleep! They fell asleep around 8:45 pm. I looked outside and didn't see pigs flying, so I can't quite explain it. haha I'm going to keep this quick because I should take advantage of their sleeping and go to bed myself, but wanted to post a quick update. Noah is doing okay. He's making small progress here and there. He has decided that he doesn't want to sleep by himself anymore. I found him cuddled up to Eli the other night. That was a first! He is also starting to test me, I think. Much like a typical two year old would. Most people wouldn't be so thrilled when their child starts acting up, but I'm actually very happy. I remember the time when Noah threw his first (and one of his only) temper tantrums. We were so excited!! It was such a typical thing for him to do and we were so happy that he was exhibiting typical behavior. I can honestly say that I don't think we take one thing for granted with him. It's also m...

Wow, I can't believe we've been here for a week and I've only posted once. I have to admit, I had all these grand ideas of posting reports every night, but truthfully, I'm so tired by the time the boys fall asleep that I just crawl into bed. It's 10:30 as I write this and they're STILL up. Noah gets so exhausted by his therapies - which end around 5:00 or 5:30 that he falls asleep in the car on the way home. We've learned that if he takes a nap then he doesn't sleep at night. He only slept for an hour today, but he's already too wired to sleep. I'm sure our apartment neighbors just love us! We completed our first week of therapy. Where to begin?? It's going to sound so strange to everyone who's new to this. From my last post, you know that Noah was reacting to the electric wires outside our apartment. The Q link did help, but I think the power was too strong and he started reacting again. We also found out that they cleaned our carpets ri...

Well, we finally made it to TN last night. I can't believe that we're finally here. There are so many hopes and dreams pinned on this three-month stay. I wish I had a crystal ball and could see where Noah's going to be come October. We stopped by Internal Balance today and saw a little boy who we first met back in April. He's been coming 2x a week and he's now potty-trained and his language has exploded. I think he was nonverbal when we saw him 3 months ago. He also seemed a lot calmer than I remembered - so I'm really excited to see how Noah's going to progress over the next few months. Hey, I have an interesting testimony for the Q-link pendant. If you go to Noah's website at www.recoveringnoah.com, you can read about Biopro under the "How You Can Help" section. Noah's been wearing the Q-link since February and he no longer freaks out whenever we drive by the power substation at the end of our road. Anyway, when we walked into our new apa...

Well, I can tell it will be a long day. Noah's been up since 4:00 am. I just don't get it. He didn't fall asleep until around 10:45 - aren't kids supposed to sleep for more than 5 hours a night? It's de ja vu all over again. Noah fell into this pattern when he was a baby and it lasted nightly until he was about 20 months - once we removed soy and corn from his diet. He would still have sleep issues about 4 times a week, but at least I got reprieve the days he would sleep a bit longer. I really don't know what causes his sleep issues. And if I don't know, then how can I help him? And as a mom, it's just awful when you can't help your own child. That feeling of helplessness just gets you right to the core. We went to Noah's chiropracter on Tuesday and she used a BioFeedback device on him. The next day, he was sluggish and out of it. Today, he's been seeking lots of sensory stimulation. He woke up shrieking and squealing and turning circles. He...

Wow! I can't believe that I finally created our own blog. I feel so high-tech! :-) I am very unsavvy when it comes to the computer, so it feels good to finally get this thing accomplished. We've been trying to get a website and blog going for sometime. We are almost finished with the website and will send it to our web designer (thanks Mario!) this week. Hopefully, it'll be up in a few weeks and you can all check it out. It basically tells Noah's story and his journey through autism - from regressing into autism at 15 months old, to doing ABA and Biomedical therapies, to regressing again at the age of 3, to finally finding a treatment protocol that works and where we are today. It also details why we're trying to raise money to continue his new protocol and why we're so desperate for Noah to make progress. The website will be located at www.recoveringnoah.com - so be on the lookout for it! Well, I'm really excited about the upcoming website and about starti...