Sunday, October 11, 2009

Updates :)

It's been a busy couple of weeks for us lately. Mike is very busy with work and working a lot of OT to make some extra money for Christmas that is fastly approaching, and Gabe and I have been busy with school. Gabe is doing really, really well at school and seems to LOVE going everyday. His Special Ed teacher has started him on a reading program in her class, and he is going to the regular kindergarten class every afternoon for a few hours. She says that he does really well in the regular room and doesn't seem over-whelmed at all by all the kids or activities they do. He does have an aide who attends with him, so that probably helps a lot. He has trouble stay on task and needs someone there to guide him if he gets distracted. We are very happy with where he is at school right now and are so very proud of him! I can't wait to see where he is in a few months!

We are going Wednesday to see the DAN! doctor for our 3 month visit to see where we are going from here. I am almost certain that we will end up deciding on the SCD diet, as Gabe seems to have very severe yeast (candida) over-growth issues in his gut. 
Why you ask? 
Well, in August, we cut back drastically on his carb and sugar intake. He was probably getting less than 5g of sugar/carbs per day. The result was a HUGE outburst of speech and language development. He was coming up to us spontaneously saying, "I want to swing" or " I want a drink", whatever it was he wanted he could find the words and ask without ANY cue or prompt from us. It was nothing short of shocking and amazing to us.
What changed? 
He started school and we slacked off on monitoring his sugar intake. We weren't really certain that the sugar-free diet was what caused the increase in speech until he regressed back to where he was before now. It's really dissapointing and stressful. I hate regression, just the thought of it makes me get chills. It's like the worst nightmare you could ever have and a constant fear of a parent with a child with autism. Candida also sucks....it is such a viscious cycle. You kill/starve it off and think you're out of the clear, and then it comes back to bite you in the ass again. I am %100 for sure that if we completely got rid of the Candida, that Gabe would be well on the road to recovery after. I just cannot figure out how to get rid of it forever. I feel so terrible depriving Gabe of snacks and drinks that every other kid runs around eating and drinking in front of him all day every day. I know, I know, I shouldn't feel bad because it's what is best for him. Yeah, I get that, but it still SUCKS! I know that it is what is best for him and that I need to be strong for him and do the SCD diet, but there is a part of me that mourns that loss of normalicy for him. I want for him to be like every other kid who can get ice cream from the ice cream man when he comes through the neighborhood (even though they are probably serial killers or pedophiles- kidding, kind of). I would love for him to be able to eat the greasy, deep fried fair food when we go every year like I did when I was little (even though it is TERRIBLE for you). I want all of that for him, but I also know that if I don't help him get better, then he will never have a shot at living a "normal" life as a functioning member of society. I want to see him get married, go to college, have kids (but NOT vaccinate them!), and be happy.

Does anyone else have these thoughts? It's so hard, but yet so rewarding being a parent of a child with autism. I would never trade one moment with Gabe for anything else in the world. 
He is my world.





 

4 comments:

  1. Hi! Thanks for stopping by. I have a GFCF recipe blog: Living GFCF. I worry about sugar and carbs for Sean because diabetes runs in my family and his father is diabetic. So I'm always looking for recipes that are low in carbs and sugar. I just posted a turkey chili one that is fab! And the kids loved it.

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  2. Hi! I got to your blog from a friend of mine. I too have a son with high functioning autism. I feel the EXACT same way about restricting his foods. We've been on the GF/CF for over a year and we're just starting to lower his sugar intake..just to see what happens...trust me, I've had the SAME thoughts about wishing he could experience things like I was able to(which alot revolved around food)! HA! But, I remind myself that Josh doesn't know any better(thankfully)...this is HIS childhood, not mine, that I'm to save...God made me his parent for a reason... Blessings, Laura

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  3. Hi Jade,

    It's Staci at The Wellness Philosophy. I hope you and the family are doing well. It is great to hear that Gabe is doing well at school and seems to have good care in the classroom. I always enjoy reading your blog because you have a way of staying very positive through your struggles with Gabe which I believe is the most important thing you can do as a parent. I too agree with you that if you can conquer the Candida issue, that Gabe will benefit tremendously. I am currently seeing a patient where we have just implemented the diet. We are seeing all the same signs of speech improvement (which is normal) during the onset of diet implementation as the yeast begins to die off. If you do decide to implement the SCD diet, I would love to hear from you regarding Gabe's progress.

    Take Care and stay strong,
    Staci

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  4. Thanks, Laura. It's nice to know that someone else is going through this as well! Also good to know that I'm not the only one who thinks about the negatives vs. the positives. :) I will go check out your blog site! Keep in touch! Good luck to you all!

    Staci~
    Thanks so much for the encouraging words! We are heading in the direction of SCD, but it is so hard to implement with him going to school. I always send in snacks with lunch and I'm having a lot of trouble finding "scd" approved snacks. It seems like the only options are nuts or veggies, which don't work right now for Gabe. I think as long as we reduced his sugar/carb intake by about 75-80% we would see a lot of benefit still. That's where we were before when he was using a lot of spontaneous speech, so I know it helps him a lot. I will definitely keep you updated on his progress! Hope you are doing well! :)

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