CEASE Clearing and Various Updates

Here are some updates on things I have posted about in previous blogs:

CEASE: We delayed Noah's new dosage of Hep B 30 c until Thursday due to his sickness earlier in the week. He continues to have a runny nose on/off, and I have noticed this week that he has been very emotional and cranky- more than usual. Yesterday,  I found that he kept bursting into tears for no apparent reason. Today, he kept screaming at everything. The only thing that calmed him down was going outside--- which we did ALL DAY LONG. He has also started to stim more--- shaking his head back and forth (which is not common), and I have noticed some facial tics that I haven't seen since he was 15 months old.  His face is constantly staying flushed and he has had a few green colored diapers. Are these side effects of the clearing?  I will need to ask the homeopath about these things and get her feedback.

EDCD Waiver: We received Noah's Medicaid card in the mail recently and we have started the process of hiring a respite provider. I am also looking into the EPSDT screening with a physician to see if Noah may qualify for ABA services through Medicaid. I am praying that he does. This would be a HUGE load off of our shoulders.

ABA/Speech/OT: Therapy continues to go well. He stays very busy through the week. We have recently seen a positive change in ABA. He is starting to catch on to things and he isn't resistant to his therapist Lily. I am not sure whether Noah is benefitting at all from speech. The speech therapist just sits there and plays with him and doesn't offer many suggestions on how we can work with him on speech (isn't that the point?!). She is very nice and Noah doesn't mind her but we need intensive speech therapy SO I am considering adding outpatient speech since his Medicaid went through. More than likely it will cover it now. Occupational Therapy has been more helpful to me than it is to Noah. His OT gives me ideas on eating, bathing, dressing, playing- a lot of problem solving and creative ideas. She helps keep me on track with developmental milestones that we need to work on.

Gluten free/Casein free diet: Noah has been adhering to these diet changes since December. Has it helped??? I don't really know. We have worked our butts off with Noah so I don't really know what exactly has caused the improvements we are seeing. I know the diet doesn't harm him but it is a pain in the butt to keep up. And.... what do you do when he goes to birthdays or out to dinner? I wish he could enjoy birthday cake, and easter candy and ice cream from time to time. But it isn't possible right now. I pray that homeopathy heals his body so that he will one day be able to enjoy various foods he cannot currently eat.

Things we are working on with Noah: 
-signing/using words or approximations for what he wants
-yes/no
-pointing to communicate
-taking turns with toys
-giving him choices to choose from- having him pick
-drawing/ arts and crafts (he hates this!)
-hygiene (brushing teeth, bathing, clipping nails, brushing hair--- This issue is exhausting. He has a very big issue with all of these things!)
-imitation (of body movements, noises, household tasks).
-imaginative play (still not comprehending this, but we have started to see some changes recently)

Puppy Therapy!: We have decided to get Noah a 7 month old puppy and hope he will benefit from the interaction. Little Luna (mini labradoodle) will be arriving the weekend of April 13th. Just two weeks before Noah's second birthday (BEST early birthday present ever!). I will post pics when she arrives. Hopefully he will like her!

Homeopathy for Me!: So, since I have seen such positive things with Noah in regards to homeopathy, I have decided to seek treatment as well. I will be having my first consultation with our homeopath April 10th. I have a lot of things I want to work on and I am looking forward to getting better.

That is all for now, I think!

As always, I am trusting that God will take care of Noah, me and my family and that He will give us His wisdom and guidance and we move forward and towards recovery. Happy Easter!!

Little Victories- Merry Christmas!

I have been trying to find replacements of Noah's favorites food with gluten and casein free items. This is much harder than I anticipated but we are making some progress.

I purchased gluten free oatmeal (glutenfreeda from amazon.com) and snicker doodle cookies (Life is Good brand) and Noah loves them!!!! Victory! He also likes the GFCF pudding (Zen brand) I found as well as the GF chicken nuggets. I am going to continue switching out foods until we completely eliminate gluten and casein from his diet.

In other news, we are starting to see a few breakthroughs over the last few weeks with his behavior. He appears to be much more engaged with us than he used to be. He practices giving good eye contact with me (it is so funny because he is making a concerted effort to do this, like he is being timed) and he is enjoying typical toys. He still stims on car and truck wheels but not to the extent he used to. He is starting to say "Bye" and use the gesture. This is HUGE! He has never done this consistently. Now we are working on using it in the correct context. We are also working on saying "Hi" with the gesture. As far as socialization, he is handling Gymboree classes better. He doesn't cry the entire time we are there (yay!) and he is tolerating some of the activities they do on the mat.

I am so thankful to the Lord for these encouraging developments.

Merry Christmas!