A calmer week

This past week was wonderful! We had no appointments for Josh and his therapy sessions have not started yet. I called the ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) therapy center on Monday and got the ball rolling to enroll Josh on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting June 23rd. Once we got over the idea that Josh would fit in a school like this, we got excited. I went to the parent orientation on Thursday and have all the information to get him started. We bought him a backpack, sleeping bag (in case he can't survive the day without a nap) and lunch bag. I've been telling him about his new school and I really hope he understands and that eases the transition for him. We had also started epsom salt baths this past week to help draw the toxins out of his body. We saw a definite regression in his progress. He was wide awake itching in the middle of the night. Danny and I were up with him for about an hour each night. By Thursday, he was really grumpy, had pox-type bumps on his body, was flapping his arms again, toe-walking and tantruming. On Friday, we were at my parents' house for the day and spent some time outside to help him sweat. I think that must have made a huge difference in helping him get that crud out of his body. That night, he slept the entire night and was just amazing on Saturday! My gut says we got some of the toxins out of his body. I'm looking forward to future lab tests to see if there are improvements in his toxin levels. There has to be! We have also started the process of getting Josh in to see a DAN (Disable Autism Now) doctor in Austin. I am filling out all the entry forms and we should hear from them this week to get his appointment set up. The doctor we are going to see is Dr. Bryan Jepson. He has been a pioneer in treating autism and my gut says that's the way to go so we can have him oversee Josh's treatments. I think our pediatrician is on the right path, but she's new to treating autism biomedically and pediatrics is still her primary focus. I also feel uncomfortable that she and the nutritionist are not agreeing on some of his treatments. I would like to have someone who just treats autism oversee this. Since we are working with mega-doses of vitamins, I want someone who really knows what they are doing. I would never forgive myself if Josh were to receive the wrong dosages of vitamins. Emma is signed up for Vacation Bible School at our church, which starts tomorrow. She'll be there each morning this week and I'm really hoping she enjoys it. She can be such a home body, but definitely likes to be entertained. Crossing my fingers. I am still waiting to hear back from the scheduling department for the rest of Josh's therapies. Our schedule will be to have Josh in ABA therapy 9:00-4:00 Tuesdays and Thursdays. His remaining therapies will be scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and I'm hoping they can group a few therapies so we'll have one day off to just enjoy and visit grandparents! He'll have physical therapy 30 minutes/week, one-on-one speech therapy 30 minutes/week, then a combined occupational and speech therapy session 30 minutes/week. If they can combine the PT and one-on-one ST to be back-to-back, we'll only have to go there twice a week. In terms of supplements, our regimen looks like this: Breakfast:

• Custom vitamin blend + cod liver oil mixed in sunflower butter (thanks to my mom for the suggestion of the sunflower butter since he has no idea what I put in it!)
• Herbal anti-histamine chewable
• Prescription anti-fungal (this is his last week on that)
• B-12 cream

Lunch:

• Digestive enzyme

Between meals:

• Custom amino acid blend

Dinner:

• Digestive enzyme
• Custom vitamin blend + flax seed oil in sunflower butter
• B-12 cream

Bedtime:

• Probiotic
• Herbal anti-histamine chewable
• Epsom salt bath 3-4 times/week

Today is Father's Day! Happy Father's Day to the few dads who read this. :) Poor Danny had to leave on a business trip this afternoon, but I told him he didn't have it too bad today. The kids were great in church today, he got to watch golf, get lunch from Cane's, then get away to himself and sleep through the night in a king size bed. Not a bad deal. His gift is a guilt-free day of weekend golf, a rare commodity these days. He'll be going with another friend in a few weeks once they return home from staying with a sick relative. Danny and I have been enduring a lot this year, but the great thing about Danny is that he loves our kids and always wants to be good to me and them. He is great emotional support for me as I have been flip-flopping constantly about what I think is best for us to do with Josh. He's taken off of work to go to assessments with me and he hasn't complained when my experiments in trying to make our new diet palatable don't go as well as I intended. I'm very blessed to share parenting, the fun and trying parts as well, with my best friend.

I can't let today go by without a shout out to my dad. I have always been close to my parents, but the last few months, I have really leaned on them. My dad has always been the type of person to just do what needs to be done, no to-do about it. He listens so well when I share my thought process about Josh and how we should get him treatment, and finds how he can help without being asked. Almost daily, when I check e-mail, I have e-mails with links and information related to the latest Josh topic I have mentioned. He has saved me HOURS of research. Then, there are the little nice things that don't go unnoticed. Whenever I go over with the kids to visit, he greets us at the car and helps me bring in the bags of stuff that go with three kids. He makes the kids laugh with his silliness and they all show much love for him (even Kate loves to giggle for Grandpa!). I am very blessed to have a dad who still knows just what I need to feel better, even now that I'm married with three kids.

I'm so blessed to have these wonderful men in my life and I love them so much! I pray that with these great examples around, Josh will grow up to be a loving, patient, faithful man.