Weekend Update

It's been a little over a week since my last post. Yes, I've been spending more time on FaceBook (renamed 'CrackBook' by my friend Nissa b/c it is so addicting) than on blogs lately. I will try to play catch-up this week.

Matthew is doing fine. We received the results of all his Doctor's Data lab tests and he "had some good heavy metals pulls" from the transdermal DMSA (according to his DAN) and a lot of yeast and bacteria in his gut. So I'm getting his rx antifungal filled (Ketoconazole) and added Candex and Grapefruit Seed Extract to his daily juice concoctions. I also added Selenium b/c his blood test showed he is low and he needs that to help move the mercury out of his body.

We had a good/busy weekend...John came home from CT for 36 hours to attend a wedding (at Woodlawn Plantation in Alexandria), to celebrate his 39th birthday, and spend a little time with Matthew.

I attended a 26 year reunion...a bunch of people I went to elementary school with reconnected on FaceBook and met up in Gaithersburg, MD for brunch. I hadn't seen most of them since I was 12 years old and it was fun!

Neurologist Visit

I took Matthew to see his neurologist yesterday. His 24 hour EEG showed no seizures but did show some abnormal/slow brain waves which the doctor wasn't too concerned about..said it could be from a brain abnormality OR b/c he was tired that day.

She once again brought up the MRI..I told her we didn't want to do it b/c I've heard plenty of regression stories (due to sedation) on the various autism-related Yahoo groups I'm on. She said fine but if we notice any seizures, headaches/blurry vision, partial paralysis, etc I'm to call her ASAP. She told me she had another patient (a 5 year old boy with autism) whose parents didn't want to do an MRI but she finally talked them into it and found a brain tumor. I really don't think Matthew has that and he would tell me if his head hurt. Anyway, John & I agree that it's not worth the risk of losing all the skills Matthew has worked so hard for over the last year. Maybe when he gets older (and can lay still for 20 minutes) we will do one.

P.S. Matthew was on his best behavior at the hospital...very well-behaved, friendly, and cute!

Fun Weekend: Cox Farm & Old Mine Ranch

Matthew and I went to two farms/fall festivals/pumpkin patches over the weekend. Above are 2 videos of him riding ponies...well, the first one was really a horse, it was huge! When I get a chance I'll create a slide show of our adventures b/c I took a lot of cute pictures.

On Saturday, we went to Cox Farm in Centreville, VA with Jenn, Carol and her baby girl. It was hot and the place was packed. On Sunday, we went to the Old Mine Ranch in Manassas, VA with the Mankin family. It was a lot smaller/low key and the kids enjoyed running in the corn maze and jumping in the moon bounce. Both places had pony rides, steep slides, petting zoos, hay rides, and lots of pumpkins/goodies. Matthew was so worn out that he came home and collapsed on the couch. I'm glad we went and will look for more horse riding opportunities next weekend.

Stressful Days * Plus Update *

Cyndi Update: My internist called to tell me the lump is a benign breast tumor called a "fibroadenoma" and that I need to go back in 6 months for another sonogram. (The radiologist found another one by accident that day so I must have several of them.) Thanks for all your kind thoughts & prayers! :) 10/08/08
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On Friday, I had a breast biopsy done b/c they found a solid mass on my mammogram & sonogram...I should know the results by Thursday. John is now attending a 2 month Navy course in CT but did come down for 2 days to celebrate our 15 year wedding anniversary and to take me to the procedure. My mom drove up from the VA Beach area to care for Matthew while I was recuperating...I was just really sore/swollen for 3 days afterwards and not allowed to pick Matthew up.

On Saturday, I noticed a brown spot on Matthew's tooth so I'm afraid he might have a cavity and he currently doesn't have any dental coverage. So John is working on that and I need to find a pediatric dentist who won't try to push fluoride (a neurotoxin) or nitrous oxide (a potential cause of regression) and has experience with ASD kids.

Today, I had to take Matthew to LabCorp to get his blood work done (4 vials full). This had to be done before breakfast and after obtaining a first morning urine sample (not easy for a boy who still wears diapers and refuses to wear a collection bag)...but Matthew did comply and peed in the little potty so I got the sample. Of course, the blood draw didn't go as easily, but there was less screaming/kicking this time. (I just hope they did the Doctor's Data kit correctly and remember to call DHL for pick-up!)

I forgot to mention we also did a stool sample on Sunday...that's always the easiest of the three tests...which are to check his metals excretion, kidney & liver functions, and red blood cell counts during chelation (and need to be repeated every 2 months - ouch!).

Now I'm waiting on a call from our DAN nurse b/c we agreed to change Matthew's DMSA formula due to a rash from the cream. We're supposed to change it to a emu oil base, but now the big-wig pharmacy is giving me a hard time about it...so the nurse is calling the owner to see what the problem is. I hope we don't have to go back to the other pharmacy b/c their shipping charges were 3x as high (overnight vs. 2 day air), they wouldn't bill our Tricare insurance directly, and the cost of the Glutathione cream wasn't being covered!

So now I wait... on many results.

P.S. Happy Birthday Dad/"Popeye" (Matthew's term for his Grandpa)...he turned 69 today, and mom (aka "Nini" = Granny) is probably stuck in traffic trying to get back home to him!