April is Autism Awareness Month!

I've just finished watching last Friday's airing of Larry King Live and boy am I pissed off. It's completely unbelievable to me how some of these dr's aren't even acknowledging the fact that autism rates have increased in the last 10-15 years. Dr. Wizitzel (or whatever his name is) is a complete moron. I sat here listening to him ramble about kids with small social issues being diagnosed with autism and how that is the only reason the numbers are rising. What an idiot!!! He's also trying to say that most kids are born with it and it has nothing to do with environmental factors or vaccines. I was really happy to hear Dr Healy though. She's one of the only mainstream medical dr's that I've heard admit that there has been no real research done in regards to autism. They are so far behind in learning anything more about the disease. And that's what it is, a disease, not a disorder. She mentioned the need for a study comparing kids with vaccines vs kids without or with a limited schedule of vaccines. DUH! Are you kidding me? Of course, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure the need for that study. Unfortunately so much of our medical community is paid for by pharmaceutical companies that if and when that study does happen it will probably have to be a privately funded study. Here's some info for them. I have two girls, one was vaccinated, one was not, one has autism, one doesn't, I'll let you guess which is which. Idiots!

If any of you reading this have new babies or friends with new babies or just questions on vaccines I really recommend looking up Dr. Sear's vaccine schedule. It's the one we are following with Abby, although we are starting hers a little later than he recommends because I'm a chicken! Either way, if you have questions, please ask me. I'm not the expert on the subject but I have lots of great resources at my disposal.

OK, enough venting. For now at least. Since it's autism awareness month there will probably be a lot more morons on TV for me to be pissed at.

Our naturopath recommended a new supplement for Madeline that we just got in the mail. It's called Enhansa and is a mild chelator, anti-viral, anti-fungal and has other benefits. She mentioned she has seen lots of improvements in social and communication in GIRLS she sees. (remember autism is 4-5 times more prevelent in boys) Especially those who haven't responded to other treatments, like our Madeline :) We'll start it tomorrow and see how it goes. It's supposed to have a pretty good "die off" effect where kids get a lot spacier before they get better. The spacey part is supposed to be a good sign. We'll see! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, just as I do with every other treatment we've tried.

Here are some pics from our mini spring break trip to Ellensburg. We had great weather and a lot of fun. Abby was so happy to see her favorite dog Tally. Madeline actually liked her this time too. Great, I probably am going to have to get a dog! :) Either that or make more trips to Eburg, I'd prefer the latter.

Oh, if you are interested in watching that episode of Larry King it's posted on youtube by xmagicdustx . It's in 5 parts so make sure you watch them in order. Also, it's re-airing this Saturday. They also have some good links and info here : http://www.generationrescue.org/

MRI's, EEG's and MBSV's

Last week was a busy week of appts at Children's Hospital in Seattle. Tuesday was Madeline's MRI on her stomach. It took a long time to get the anesthesia and then the actual test only took about 15 minutes. She freaked out when she woke up because they left her IV in and had tape all over her arms but otherwise it was ok. The tests came back normal so we know everything is connected and working properly in her gut. So good news there.

Then on Friday she had an EEG, which is a test where they place 30 electrodes on her scalp and measure brain activity for about an hour. We were pretty positive there was no possible way she was going to lay still while someone stuck a bunch of stuff to her head, especially since she hates me even brushing her hair. Luckily the nice EEG tech was smart and let her keep her pony tail in. She laid in the bed and played her Leapster (handheld video game) while the test was performed. I was amazed!! She was such a trooper. We got those tests back yesterday and they were normal too. So, no seizures and the funny little thing she's doing is just a stim that she controls. Probably regulating her nervous system. So more good news.

Then this weekend she got sick. Nasty fever and runny nose. I took her to the dr yesterday (in a snow storm) and he said it was MBSV. "Must be some virus"! :)

We are happy because now we have most of our questions answered. We know that none of her symptoms are serious and most are related to sensory issues and not physical issues. hooray!

We got a ton of snow in the last few days. Here are some pics!!

Seattle Aquarium

We took a family trip to the Seattle aquarium today. The girls LOVED it. Madeline really liked the jellyfish and the seals and Abby just liked to make kissing noises at all the fish. Here are a few pics.

new blog??

I'm getting a lot of flack for taking so long to update my blog. Seriously ladies, it hasn't even been a month. I guess what that really means is there hasn't been much to talk about either that or I've been too busy to sit down and do it. We've also had the great pleasure of passing a cold around the house. Madeline started it and then it went full circle and is back to her and I again. I'm going around the house with lysol today to try and kill this bug!



We had Madelines GI appt at Seattle Children's hospital. It went ok. They really didn't do anything, just ordered more tests. They are going to do an xray and an MRI to make sure all of her parts are connected properly. They really think that she's basically not going potty on purpose. Apparently kids can do this to themselves. She gave me some concoctions to try at home but the real answers will come after the test results at the beginning of next month. That same week she'll be having an EEG which is basically a test to make sure she's not have seizures. That should be a really fun week! :( I am looking forward to it though, it's been a long time since I started wondering about these things. It will be great to have a definitive answer. Hopefully these folks at children's will be able to get her to cooperate through the EEG. They have to put all these monitors on her head. Hopefully the room is fun and has a TV or they'll be in big trouble.

We've also been doing some research on dogs and autism. There are many companies out there training dogs for children with autism. They are basically trained to keep and eye on the child. They can get pretty skilled so that they go to school and everything with the child, much like a seeing eye dog but this is not what we'd want. We just want a dog that would be trained to keep an eye on the girls. Especially in places like parks and the beach, etc. Abby is so in love with dogs that she would be the happiest girl ever. We can't do it in this house but maybe in the next one. I just need to find a good local trainer to help us out. I'm looking at golden retriever/poodle mixes. It's called a mini goldendoodle. They are the cutest things ever and they aren't that big. Here is a link http://www.swissridgekennels.com/retrieverpups.html . Here is a link on autism and dogs http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/07/16/heroes.shirk/index.html .