Matthew's Puzzle and a mom putting it all together

Kombucha and Ginger Ale

January 15, 2012 By Maryann

Last weekend I picked up my very first SCOBY, symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, or a kombucha starter mushroom. It isn’t really a mushroom at all, but somehow it was named that. It is really a very simple procedure to make kombucha, which is really fermented tea. You must have the SCOBY which contains the bacteria and yeast which creates the fermentation. I got mine from an acquaintance. As you brew batches of kombucha new SCOBYs grow and you can pass them on to friends and family memebers.

Kombucha is an ancient drink believed to be very helpful with repopulating good bacteria in the gut. It is quite simple to make as long as you have the SCOBY. All you need to complete the fermentation is some freshly brewed black or green tea, sugar, a clean container and a tea towel to cover the container. I used the recipe in Nourishing Traditions, but you can search the Internet for all sort of recipes. It is also possible to purchase a SCOBY online at reputable kombucha sites.

I also started a ginger ale fermentation. This recipe also came from Nourishing Traditions and only have a few day fermentation cycle. Instead of using a SCOBY, it relies on whey drained from commercial yogurt. I’m so excited because I just tasted the finished product and it is fantastic. Wow. I never had homemade ginger ale, but I’m certainly a convert. Again this fermentation is supposed to be good for overall gut health and is used more as a tonic than a drink. It is recommended that you mix the ginger ale with some sparkling water for a refreshing tonic.

Maybe you’d consider adding some fermented drinks to your daily life. Stay well.

Staying the course

December 20, 2011 By Maryann

Staying the Course

We’ve been having a bit of a crisis of faith here in our home. Trying to recover Matthew from autism is such an emotional roller coaster. Everyone, it seems, has some sort of belief about what we are doing, and for some reason none of their mothers ever taught them that if they didn’t have anything nice to say then they shouldn’t say anything at all. Because they sure do voice their opinions. And they voice them a lot.

I know that since I have decided to publicly discuss our biomedical journey then I open myself up for the opinions of others, and I guess I don’t really have a problem with those anonymous people that post negatively on my blog. But I think the comments that make me quaver are those made by friends and family. Some are truly trying to be helpful, but they offer other suggestions for how to bio medically treat Matthew. They discuss their famous biomedical doctor and his recommendations for their child, and how they directly conflict with what we choose to do. I quaver.

Then there are the people that for whatever reason try to cut us down. They claim to care for us and to love us, but they don’t take the time to understand Matthew’s disorder and his struggles. They make rude remarks and question our parenting skills. Or they compete with us. If matthew does just one thing well, just once, they tell me how much better their child is. Cant they give us this one, small victory? I quaver.

I quaver because I know this is Matthew’s life and I have one shot at getting this right. Am I wasting time with chelation? Should I be focusing on viruses or gut inflammation? Then there is the danger of quavering itself. I would fail to make any decisions and simply tread water, wasting precious time and opportunity. Like Buriden’s donkey, unable to make a choice between two options, would I be condemning Matthew’s recovery to death?

During this season of Faith, I consider the faith of the wise men that traveled to see the new born King. The faith the Virgin Mary had, and the faith of Joseph. They experienced such negativity yet they stayed the course and now 2011 years later we still remember. That is Faith. That is how we stay the course. We struggle through the negative, the lies, the fears and we continue to recover our children. I truly believe we are living participants in a significant historical event. What we do for our children now will be the standard treatment in years to come. But like any great change it starts with a ripple and is propelled by faith.

Stay the course and stay well.

Are You Confused by Biomedical?

November 20, 2011 By Maryann

We have been doing biomedical procedures for Matthew for close to 4 years now! Wow, it doesn’t seem possible. I guess time does fly when you are having fun. Or at least when you are chronically sleep deprived. But it really can be a very confusing process. Often you feel pulled in different directions. You want to pick those interventions that you think will work, but you don’t want to waste time and money, plus you don’t want to miss out on choosing the correct intervention. But you can’t do everything. Even if you had all the money in the world, which you don’t, these things all take time. Some take A LOT of time.

I recently saw a wall photo on Facebook that really sums up autism interventions. It was a huge maze with a sign saying “Autism Interventions”. You do feel as if you are walking into a huge maze with no road maps and no help. You often wonder if there really is a way out to the other side, or is it merely a cruel exercise to drive you mad.

I know I feel that way often. Even with all the amazing gains Matthew has made, and he has made very wonderful gains, I often wonder if I’m on the right track. We have recently put all our eggs in one basket. It is the Andy Cutler (AC) Chelation, or frequent, low dose chelation, basket. After years of diets and supplements, which have been wonderful and brought about amazing results, my husband and I wanted more. We want to truly heal Matthew. We have seen this health in small glimpses here and there by using this supplement or that diet, but we don’t want glimpses. We want Matthew.

In the biomedical community there seems to be a few different camps, those that believe their kids have viruses that must be treated, those that feel it is inflammation, some think it is heavy metals, other gut disbiosis. Really most of us think our kids have all or most of these, but often it comes down to treating the one or two underlying disorder. We have treated gut disbiosis and inflammation. We have not looked at viruses or parasites. But more importantly we had not treated for heavy metals. So now we are. I wonder if we should be trying low dose naltrexone or valtrex. Should we be doing acupuncture or some other healing modality. But in reality, I secretly believe this may be the key. It is probably a two year process, so if I’m wrong I’ve wasted a lot of time. At least it is cheap.

That maze never gets any easier and no matter what you read or who you meet, your still in there all alone. Good luck and a straight course!

Stay well.

Hating School

October 5, 2011 By Maryann

I remember being in elementary school and absolutely hating it. I had a reading problem and because of it school was terrible. I dreaded going so much that on Sunday nights, right after Wild Kingdom (yes, I am dating myself), I would get the most horrible upset stomach. I did not want to go to school and struggle with reading and spelling. I even remember being so scared of failing another spelling test that I asked the teacher if I could go to the bathroom. I stayed in there until the test was over. I don’t remember the outcome of that little experiment, but I do remember being very frightened of first grade. And I had the most unfriendly teacher ever, she had no sympathy for a little girl that couldn’t read.

Fast forward to Matthew’s first grade year, and here is my son dreading going to school. He hates school and he says he hates himself! We are so concerned and upset for him. We think there may be multiple issues going on at once, all contributing to his dislike of school. The first is the fact that writing is extremely difficult for him and therefore first grade, which requires a lot of writing, is difficult also. Secondly, the transition from summer to this very intense first grade is a struggle for him. There may be other issues, but they seem to be interwoven with these two main problems.

We are setting up a meeting to discuss these problems with his teachers as we can’t continue with him crying and refusing to go to school every morning. Nor can we allow him to continue to feel so bad about himself and his abilities. As he does his homework, and he begins to experience problems,