'Christine' - Born 1997 No Formal Dx (? PDD-NOS)

My darling Chrsitine was born May 13, 1997, one minute after midnight after a very long journey which included years of fertility treatments and a difficult labor and delivery.  She was utterly beautiful and instantly the struggles we'd gone through to get her were forgotten.  Little did I know, the real struggle was about to begin.........

Due to the difficult birth and the damage done to me, as Christine's Apgar's were 9/10, I stayed an extra day in the hospital.  I enjoyed cuddling with my baby, and marveled at her relaxed nature and good sleep habits.  I looked forward to taking her home and beginning my new life.

Before leaving the hospital, Christine received a Hepatitis B vaccine.  I watched from outside the nursery as she was injected.  In my heart, I felt it was wrong, but I was a medical professional, and this was "for her protection".  She was brought to me, crying loudly, and we left for home.  Our nightmare had begun.

From that first night home, life became almost unbearably difficult.  The screaming, the constant need to be held, nursing up to 16 times during the night, the obvious pain - but from where?  She was dubbed a 'difficult baby' not a 'good baby' by family and friends, and we were left to deal with her.

The months went by with little improvements.  At her 'well baby checks' where she received more poisons, the doctor had no comments, except for one visit, where he felt reflux might be the problem, and he prescribed medications, which were only marginally effective.  Indeed, Christine's physical development was ahead of schedule and she appeared very intelligent and alert despite her horrible sleep habits and frequent screaming.

The first ear infection happened at 3 months.  She was treated with antibiotics.  After several more infections, I decided that there must be a better way to deal with them.  We sought out a chiropractor, and he did some adjustments and put an end to the infections.  It worked, but I continued to vaccinate.  Looking back, I feel like such a fool - if I'd only KNOWN!

Christine continued to develop quickly in most areas.  She began to say 'mama' at 6 months, walked at 8 months, etc.  The screaming, the wakefulness continued and other things started to surface.  Fear of men with facial hair, loss of ability to say 'yes' in response to questions, eczema, allergies, frequent colds with dangerously high fevers.  I guess my first REAL clue that something was horribly wrong was during Christine's second birthday party.  I brought in the cake, and Christine exclaimed, 'Oh Mother Bear, what a big, beautiful birthday cake!'  Everyone laughed at my clever and charming little daughter but my mouth went dry and the room began to spin for me - her statement was verbatim from a line from her favorite cartoon, 'Little Bear'.  My daughter was scripting.  

The scripting continued, the echoing began, the spontaneous speech ended.  She was verbal, yes, but she'd become a little 'search engine' and would scan her brain for a line from video or book to answer any question, or make any statement.  The tantrums intensified, along with allergies.  Life was officially a 'living hell' as I also became sick with a serious chronic illness at that time.  My husband worked so hard to take care of us both, only asking me to 'keep her alive' during the day while he was at work as he'd do all the rest. 

Finally, at 3 years of age, I had Christine evaluated by a speech therapist friend and co-worker.  Her receptive and expressive speech was only at an 18 month level!  As an OT, I could see the many sensory issues that were present just by observing her in the therapy sessions, so I began to address those as best I could at home.  Improvements were quickly noticeable.

I began doing research on the internet, and discovered something called 'biomedical interventions'.  It caught my interest.  Very soon I'd placed my first order with Kirkman labs.  To my utter amazement, the Nu Thera and DMG really helped.  I was hooked and within a few months had added CLO, Vit C, fish oil, probiotics and had begun the GFCF diet.  Christine's development really took off.

We visited a DAN! Doctor finally, as we still were not officially labeled as ASD.  She said there was no reason to pursue the label, as it would not change the treatment.  I agreed, and only hoped we could reverse this enough by the time my daughter reached school age.  The doctor also mentioned something that I'd read about, but had avoided up to this point:  chelation.  After several more months of considering it, I agreed to try it and we began DMSA and finally ALA chelation.  The metals began pouring out, especially tin, and my daughter slowly began to come out of her haze. 

We started Christine in Montessori pre-school.  The owner of the school was a friend and I believe had she not been, Christine would not have been admitted.  She had a tough adjustment period, but began to thrive.  We continued the speech therapy and added private OT, music therapy and therapeutic horseback riding.  Everything seemed to help.  Until the gut bugs took over.........

After a year of chelation, Christine's gut was a mess.  We stopped the DMSA/ALA and really began work on the yeast and bacteria.  We used probiotics, Advanced Biocidin and S. Boulardii.  The gut improved slowly, but the frequent respiratory infections continued, the allergies continued and the eczema raged on.

Eventually, Christine reached kindergarten age.  I hesitantly enrolled her in a small private Christian school in my town.  I told them nothing of her struggles other than she had multiple allergies and would need to be kept on only the foods I sent with her.  She began kindergarten and I hoped for the best.  Much to my relief and delight, she made it, although it was a struggle.  She had severe social deficits.  She would touch the other kids' hair and clothes, hug excessively, and not interact well.  I observed her on the playground as she wandered around alone.  Inside my heart was breaking for my beautiful girl.  At the end of the year, she was promoted to first grade.

Today, Christine is still at the same Christian school and is in third grade.  She's also no longer on the GFCF diet and allergies have become almost totally eradicated after 18 mos of allergy elimination techniques done by a chiropractor.  She tried TD-DMPS for 9 months but side effects along with ineffectiveness with metal removal prompted me to remove it.  We now use NDF+.  Christine continues to use many dietary supplements and has also recently begun using low dose Naltrexone.  She sleeps well without the melatonin that was needed for four years.  She has friends, has played on a soccer team, takes music classes and successfully completed catechism classes and had her First Communion ceremony without incident.  She is an excellent student and is loved by her teachers.

Our main areas of challenge today are gut problems (minor) and social issues.  I continue to monitor diet and supplements carefully, and try to provide Christine with as much social interaction opportunities as possible.  I remain optimistic that these can be overcome with time and continued effort on my part.

I was asked what three things would I change if I could do it all over again.  First, I would not vaccinate!  I knew problems existed with some kids from their vaccines but was too arrogant to think that it could happen to MY child.  I still live with constant, horrible guilt and shame about this. 

Secondly, I would begin chelation therapy IMMEDIATELY.  I think this was such a key part of Christine's recovery and if I'd started at 3 rather than 4, perhaps it would have been even more effective.  Thirdly, I would have acted on my 'mom's intuition' and sought help when I first noticed the scripting and echoing, rather than waiting on the advise of friends and even my husband.  I realize now that I am truly the expert on my child.  I only hope and pray I can continue to find the solutions needed to help her the rest of the way on her journey.

Christine, Mexico July 2005