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02/02/10 |
                              
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I am truly amazed by both the fragility and the resilience of my
child.
We have been extremely busy this summer. We have been traveling to Chicago every two weeks for treatment. Cam see the nurses at Dr Usman's office every two weeks to receive IV treatment (currently Cal-EDTA, Vitamin C and Glutathione). This continues to help him. So much so that the day before his last IV Cameron walked into my bathroom and stated, "Mommy I need to go to the doctor." I asked him why and he replied, "I need to stick my arm out for the doctor." Without telling him, he was acutely aware on his own, that his body was ready and needing a boost and he was asking for an IV. The other treatment we began this summer was with Dr Zelinsky at the Mind Eye Connection in the Chicago area. With her recommendation we had Cameron thoroughly evaluated on a level that had not been done before (I know it's hard to believe since he has seen so many specialists already). We first had Cameron re-evaluated by an Occupational Therapist with an emphasis on his Vestibular and other sensory systems. Next, we had Cameron evaluated by a Physical Therapist specializing in Integrative Manual Therapy at Power in Motion. We also had Cameron examined by Personal Trainer at Fully Fit Lifestyles to complete a bio-mechanical evaluation. At each junction we learned more and more about our child, how he has been affected by his vaccines and subsequent illness, how he has coped or compensated and is functioning, what pieces he is still missing and how we can help him recover certain skills and how we can better assist him until he does. We had feared that we were overdoing the amount of evaluations and perhaps duplicating efforts. However, we found that each of these professionals brought with them a fresh perspective and filled the gaps that were left by previous people who had examined Cam. All of these evaluations supplied important information for Dr Zelinsky to use in her examination of Cameron and allow us to prepare a well rounded treatment plan for Cameron. We found that Cameron's sensory development was so delayed that we need to first focus on that before many of Dr Zelinsky's tools can be used. Although we were already aware that his sensory integration was delayed, we did not understand just how primitive it still was. This meant that many of the exercises and approaches that his previous treatment providers were incorporating have been too advanced at this point and we are needing to take a step back in order to meet Cam where his abilities are now. So, we headed home with our new evaluations and recommended therapy exercises to share them with Cameron's local therapist who was very willing to incorporate them into her treatment plan for him. We have also taken apart our billiard table and turned what was our Game Room into a Treatment Room for Cameron. This means moving our FIR Sauna into that room (which Cam uses 20 minutes a day), including specialized occupational therapy equipment (which I use with Cameron an hour a day), and this fall we intend to install a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber into the room (which Cameron will be required to use twice a day). We have also continued to have Cameron see the therapist (Derek) at Power in Motion after each IV. IMT is something that I still don't have a complete grasp on (it's one of those non-conventional therapies that my husband and I affectionately refer to as "voodoo medicine"). However, symptomatically it appears to greatly help Cam. The other observation we have made is that while Cameron isn't always happy about completing the treatment itself, he is always excited and eager to go back to see Derek and begin another session. This is something we have witnessed with some of the most crucial pieces of Cam's treatment such as his IV's and MB-12 injections; he doesn't always like the process itself, but he has great reactions to these treatments and asks us for them on his own. So, we decided that even though we don't completely understand IMT we are going to take Cam's lead on this one and continue the treatments. The summer hasn't been all roses however. With the benefits of traveling for treatment have also come some difficulties and Cameron has seen several bouts of regression as a result. One was do to a Gluten infraction at a restaurant while on the road (I've taken to packing all of Cameron's food with us since this one). Another was do to staying at a hotel outside of the airport which we found was too heavy in jet fuel for Cameron's body and we all paid dearly. The last was at a resort for a family reunion. We were in a wing that was so new that most of the rooms had not yet been occupied previously. This meant an incredible amount of VOCs (off gassing from stained wood, new carpet, new paint, new furniture, new mattress, new pillows, new adhesives, new EVERYTHING!). We found that staying in another section of the hotel would not help as the hotel was currently remodeling and repainting the old wings. And since it was a family reunion in a location that had no other available accommodations nearby we were stuck. We tried to keep Cam outside as much as possible and give his body some down time, but he still suffered greatly. He was slightly better after a week of being home (in his sauna, with the air filters going in the house, and with all of his other treatments), however, he is only now moving forward again after he had another IV yesterday. I suspect we will find an awful lot of tungsten (from new hotel paint), antimony (from the new hotel mattresses), nickel (from fuel exposure) and other toxins that come from new construction and travel when his lab work returns. We have planned very quick trips for his next two IVs and are beginning plans to have his IVs done at home this fall and to locate a local IMT provider to continue his treatment from home and reduce his required travel. We are again moving forward and that is what is most important. I had a fun time with Cam in Chicago this week (just the two of us). We took a drive to buy some organic pajamas for him at an outlet in Indiana. He was very alert and watching life pass our windows. He insisted that the skyscrapers in downtown Chicago were "Castles!" and he was very excited to see a real life gigantic "castle." I tried to explain that they were skyscrapers but he chose to believe his version was more correct. That is just fine as far as I'm concerned. He can create and use his imagination in any way he chooses. After all, that is what all of our hard work has been about. To return him to the world and his childhood to him, imagination and all.
This site was last updated 01/09/09
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