As for me. I am hardly sleeping. I can’t shut my brain off at night (That’s a good sign at a new job!) and I am ready to go early in the mornings. Other than increased migraines (I can’t wait to do NAET for me!) I am doing great.

Saturday night when I couldn’t sleep, I got up and worked for 2 hours. I continued to lay away and started to reflect on my family, NAET, the kids, working, etc. I was moved to pray and thank God for all the changes in our family…

For my husband… who goes to work everyday. Works hard in the yard and house for his family, yet is so gentle with us. He is the laid back one. The one who adds humor. I prayed for his health and the chiropractor who is helping his sciatica. He is my perfect mate. I don’t know how I would make it through without him.

Lizzie… so spunky. I cannot believe she is off medicines and the diet. A true miracle. She is exhibiting ADHD behaviors. I know her healing is not complete yet, but her Autistic symptoms are gone. I am amazed at the calm child who wakes up and gets her breakfast. The child who goes to sleep in minutes. The child who is making friends.

Job…is growing so much. I see a young man forming. He likes a girl. He is controlling his emotions more. His anxieties are gone. He sleeps! He can fall asleep and sleep through the night. He can express his thoughts better.  He has opinions about his style of dress. He is an individual.

Tantrums still happen, there are breakthroughs of past behaviors, but this healing train is moving ahead and all I can do is thank God!

Lizzie and Job are 18 months apart in age. Once Job was sleeping in a “big boy bed” I would watch tv in my room so he didn’t sneak downstairs.

As our kids grew and their myriad of special conditions arose, I continued to use my bedroom as command central from 7:30 pm on.

Television is a great way to escape from reality. Most of the time I am surfing the internet, folding laundry or sorting supplements into pill containers.

Before I realized the kids issues were more than just a passing phase I would watch “live tv” and get frustrated time the kids interrupted my nightly “down time”.

As a parent I have learned that -as much as possible- I change my routine to accommodate the kids. So, I started taping all my shows on Tivo to lessen my frustration.

About 3 years ago I had a wickedly brilliant idea. For Christmas I asked mother in law for remote headphones for my bedroom tv. You know the kind like the headphones in minivans? You can buy them for home use too.

Ohhhh was I excited! Now I could watch “adult” tv without the kids hearing what I was listening to. And, because everything I watch is Tivoed, I could stop the shows at a moments notice.

Now you have to picture me in my “moo moo” zip up bathrobe, with a headset on and tivo remote in hand. Oh yes, it is quite a sight to see! And no I am not going to post pictures!

So what about you? What night time techniques have you used to get some down time?

I just can’t keep quiet! ( Story of my life) But when you find something that works….

Anyway, I do have speciafic stuff to share, but for today I just want to reiterate that to fight for your child, YOU need to learn to listen to and FOLLOW your MOMMY gut! Ugh! If I would have done this earlier!

So no matter what I blog. Or what I do with my kids, NEVER EVER go against your mommy gut. Don’t do something that you aren’t sure of because it worked for someone else. God will lead you on your journey and then…

 Share it with me!! I love having guest posts! This is a long hard battle. We warrior mama’s have to encourage and guide each other on! As of today, there still is no medical cure or treatment plan for autism. and the only plan for ADHD is medicine.

Disgusting. Unbelievable and unacceptable!

Fight on!

Lisa

Job has environmental allergies and some stubborn food allergies (milk, soy) so he is requiring more treatments. He is down to no supplements and 1/2 a dose of ADHD medicine. But all that went out the window 2 days ago when ragweed season hit! OH MY!

I also want to mention that we are not doing “just NAET”. We are using homeopathy, EDS appointments, cranial balancing and chiropractic adjustments. Job loves his adjustments. He is always asking for one! NAET is unbelievably awesome – for us. But it is not the one silver bullet that is helping our kids.

The next 9 months (school year) will be challenging for our family with me working while trying to keep Job’s NAET treatments going. I will be blogging less (understatement!!) but will still respond to comments on Fridays. I know how hard it is to get good information on the web about how different treatments have helped kids. I want this blog to be a resource for desperate parents everywhere!

Lisa

 I have waited to post an update, because I know what it is like to get your hopes up about a new treatment “curing” autism. And I’ve never heard of one “curing” ADHD. In the last 10 years we have achieved incremental break throughs, and improvements, but nothing like this.

NAET may not be for you, but for us… it is how God has chosen to bless our children with normal lives once again. I will never forget the day right before Lizzie’s 6^th birthday when the psychologist gave her the PDD-NOS diagnosis (the school would later classify her as Aspersers’). He said, “I am glad she has a disability. Now you will have to split your time between your kids because they both have special needs”

Ironically about 2 years ago I just started doing every treatment and supplement we tried on BOTH kids. Thus they BOTH went to Pfeiffer and when we started the NAET, they BOTH started. So yes, maybe because they BOTH had special needs, it caused me to keep searching and in the end – finding the cure for BOTH.

Ok – enough suspense. Here is where the kids are in treatments. Lizzie is getting ready for treatment 30 Monday. After the basic 15 she has been treated for potatoes, tomatoes and peppers, soy, spice mix 1 &2, Flu vaccine, MMR, DPaT, milks and yogurts, chocolate cake, mayonnaise, Candida, mold, artificial colors, artificial flavors, nuts, and gelatin.

Job is ready for treatment number 27 on Monday. Beyond the basic 15 he has been treated for histamine, food colors, his DS, milks and yogurts, mold, popcorn and oats, artificial flavors, nuts, soy, chocolate, caffeine and spices.

BOTH kids are able to eat just about anything they please. We have been pushing the limits on fast food, pizza, cakes and ice cream.  We still need to treat for artificial sugars and MSG. Job also needs to be treated for tomatoes and gelatin. Lizzie needs a treatment for dried beans. The kids get a little hyper on some foods, but definitely a huge improvement.

Lizzie is off ALL her meds!! She has been completely med free for 2 weeks. Job is down to ½ of his ADD med and off ALL other meds. I cannot tell you how freeing it is to just give one medicine in the morning and not think about meds and supplements all day long!

I literally packed for our week trip and drive to Florida in 2 hours. And forgot nothing. Because I didn’t have to plan all our meals, bring all our food, pack a huge cooler for the road, sort hundreds of pills and divided tens of medicines. One med, swim suits a few outfits and a bag of toys. Off we went. It was so relaxing!

The kid’s bodies are definitely adjusting the crappy American diet. Lizzie will get stomach aches when she eats too much. I can’t blame the kids for binging on cereal and pizza. I mean, can you imagine having lived their restricted diet lives? I can’t! It was hard enough being the cook!

So there you have it, no special diet. Only one med left at ½ the previous dose. And the icing on the cake (literally) – the kids are growing! Both have grown ½ and inch this summer (by my measurement). Lizzie has gained 14 pounds and Job is finally started to gain weight these past few weeks. He is up 3-5 pounds. The big test will be the measurements this week at the pediatricians.

Being a researcher I know God chose the NAET to cure our kids because I am totally relying on faith to do the NAET treatments, and pick what to test – treat next. I still can’t explain NAET, but I can explain what symptoms it is eliminating. Praise be to GOD!

I have more to share with you about how Job did weaning off his anxiety ( blood pressure meds) and Job’s latest EDS tests that really tell us what has happened in his body the last 6 months. More miracles revealed… stay tuned!

I am finished with my graduate level classes for my new teaching job, and have been busy planing lessons, getting my room ready, and getting our family ready for my tranistion back to work.

Amoungst all this… we are doing NAET like crazy! The kids are up to 29 and 26 treatments completed. Lizzie is almost totally done. She is off all meds!! and both kids are almost on a regular (crappy) American diet!

Those changes are obvious, but I really want to share with you all the little changes we have seen to. It is nothings less than a MIRACLE!!

I’ll be back soon with all the details, but until then… have you ever seen an artichoke flower?

artichoke flower

now you have!

by Lynn Thesing

Right before I started NAET and Dr. Pitman’s protocol, (http://warriormama.com/2010/04/a-mothers-story-of-healing/), one of my best friends, Patty, came in from Portland Oregon, and I had a breakdown about the severe health issues my kids were experiencing.   I didn’t just cry, I had a primitive moan pour from my body, a sound I will not easily forget…a primal screech of despair, similar to trapped animal. This uncontrolled sound forced me to realize that I needed some help.

Patty began reviewing my day-to day activities.  We reviewed my long list of daily activities: DAN visits, allergy treatments, Speech, OT, and vision therapies, work, attempted play-dates-gone-wrong, and the pure hell of not knowing what intervention to try next.  Patty insisted that “something has to change”.  She reminded me of the instructions on airlines, “Put your own oxygen mask on first, and then help your children.”

It may be cliché, but in my situation it made sense.  As a Warrior Mom on a biomedical journey, I was having all of the symptoms of someone who was suffering from oxygen deprivation.  I was more than drowsy, I was exhausted.  I was confused, making not-well-thought-out-choices, and I was panicked; it seemed that time was running out.

I took two weeks off, canceling all my therapy sessions.  You cannot, nor would you want to, escape caring for your children, but I scaled back my biomedical efforts for just 14 days.

Slowly, I began to breathe again; afterward, I began to make the choices that led to recovery.

If you are a parent exploring medical alternatives, check-in with your own symptoms from time to time.   Are you gasping for air?

If so, set a firm deadline for yourself of when you will return to the biomedical world, but for a short time- a week, two weeks or maybe a month, stop researching and thinking about Autism, Allergies, and ADHD.  If possible, employ some help from a spouse, mother, sister, or friend.  Tell someone what you are feeling; let them hear you cry.

Once the oxygen reaches your brain cells, start again. 

After all, the best parent is one that is breathing:)

Buckwheat is a high protein flour so I like cooking with it. But making gluten free baked goods does require special tricks.

I usually make double or triple batches of pancakes to make it through the week. Here is the simple recipe I use:

Buckwheat pancake ingredients

2 cups buckwheat flour

2 – 4oz containers of applesauce

4 teaspoons of baking powder

Club soda

The key to these pancakes is the club soda. Mix the first 3 items in a mixing bowl. (I use a 4 cup glass measuring cup.) Then start adding club soda slowly while mixing with an electric mixer. The bubbles in the club soda add levity to your pancakes. Keep adding the club soda until the batter is nice and thin.

clubsoda in mix.

Pour your pancakes in the pan and turn when the bubbles ‘pop’.

Pancakes ready to "flip"

Our kids love their pancakes with agave syrup.

Lizzie's Buckwheat pancakes

See!

I store the extra cooled pancakes in a container in the fridge for easy breakfasts all week long!

a week of pancakes

Everything about them fascinates me. But the most fascinating is how they “do it”. Financially, logistically, mentally. Someone wisely pointed out to me that the Brady Bunch had Alice. That at least made me feel better.

But along with the Brady bunch I loved shows like 8 is Enough, 7^th Heaven, the Cosby show, The Duggars, and Brothers and Sisters.

I can’t remember the name of a show a few years back about a catholic family set in the 70’s? The son went off to war and you couldn’t even follow the dinner dialogue because everyone was talking? It made it 2 years – An American…?Anyway…

I am also obsessed with multiple births. I have the books Bobbie McCulley wrote (the first mom to have sextuplets).  I watch shows like bringing home multiples.

So, While many have formed her opinion and love or hate of Kate Gosselin in the last year or so, I have been watching their family documentary from day one. Here’s what I think…

Yes, at first I was watching the show because of the babies. Actually Lizzie and I watched it together every week. It was our “girl time”. I did think Kate was harsh, but simultaneously watching our own family deteriorate into a special needs nightmare, hubby and I were harsh too.

So I understood when she would say, “You do what you need to do to get the job done. It may be harsh, but it works for us.” I ‘got it’.

As time has gone on, I have been fascinated as I watched Kate mature into a more ‘calculated’ speaker. I cannot fathom caring for 8 children. I lose it with 2 – often. The stress of other’s expectations on any mom is overwhelming. Imagine being in the public eye?

I’m glad she got trees this weekend to block the paparazzi. I have wondered why they didn’t plant trees last year.

I like Kate because we are a lot alike. She is very organized and I love to glean tips when she speaks or writes a book. For example in a past book or show I heard her talking about washing the kids clothes together. Like the little girls in one wash, the boys in another. Since I can’t get all the family laundry done at once anymore, I am dividing my wash – kids / parents. It really helps!

She is very structured as am I. And she is making the transition to being a working mom before our eyes.

I guess Kate embodies the eternal mommy guilt – debate between working at home and working for pay women. What it really comes down to is that no one can walk in another’s shoes.

The Gosslin’s only have one mother. The one God gave them and He knows what He is doing. Just like Lizzie and Job have me. I may be different than everyone else, but for them, I am perfect.

Anyone want to comment?