Brookes Christmas 2012

It has been awhile since my last post on Brooke. As Dr. Brown has said, progress will be very slow. But yet, there is progress.
 Our family always celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. The gang all arrived at our house about 3:30. Brooke was in good spirits, saying "Merry Christmas" or somestimes "Happy Christmas". Grandma had recorded a few Christmas shows on the DVR and Brooke was content watching them for awhile. I had to go into the back bedroom to finish wrapping Christmas gifts. When I finished, I came into the living room and Brooke ran onto the back porch. I asked her if she wanted to go swimming. Bad joke, she took me serious and starting taking off her shirt saying "swimming". I stopped her and told her it was too cold to go swimming. She understood and grapped my hand and said "come on" and pulled me back to the living room. She stood in front of me, took my hands and started pulling me in a circle while singing ring around a rosie. She actually got most of the words right, only missing a few. After the 2nd time of we all fall down, Brooke climbed on my back and said "horse ride". I got on my hands and knees and holy crap this kid is heavey. After 10 feet I told Brooke horse is tired. She gets on her hands and knees and says to me "you ride". OK, I get on Brookes back, supporting most of my weight, and she takes off. After 3 feet she collapes and says to me " I can't do it". So we get up and she walks over to Grandma, sitting at the kitchen table. She graps grandmas hands and pulls her into the living room. Brooke shouts "hi-ya" and proceeds to start wacking Grandma in the boobs and stomach with karate chops. Grandma tells Brooke this game is too rough and goes sit down. Brooke turns and yells "kar-at-tee" and grabs one of the guys in the room and starts wailing on him. He stops Brooke and tells her this game is no fun and sits down. Just by chance Brookes little sister Lila walks up behind Brooke and Brooke catches her in the stomach with a karate chop. Lila reels backwards 5 steps and falls on her butt. She gets up crying and Brooke runs and hides behind the chair. Cora says to Lila "Did sissy hit you with a karate chop? Come sit over here so you don't get hit." I walk over to Brooke and tell her its ok, just don't be so rough. Probably not the smartest thing I ever told Brooke. Because when I walked into the kitchen to get a piece of ham off the stove, Brooke snuck up behind me and smacked in the back with a karate chop. Just about sent me sprawling on top the ham. I then took Brooke into the living room and gave her a karate chop. "Ouch" says Brooke, then another karate chop "ouch". I told Brooke "that doesn't feel too good, does it, so don't be so rough." Brooke doesn't understand just how strong she is. That was enough karate for Brooke.
  After the karate battle, we all went to start eating. Brooke got a few pieces of ham and started watching Sponge Bob. When I finished, I went in with Brooke. I said to her " look there eating crabby patties." Brookes response "I love crab patties." Cora then tried to get Brooke to go potty before we opened presents. Brooke kept saying " I don't have to potty." Well after a 10 minute struggle getting Brooke into the bathroom, Brooke won. I told Cora this just isn't worth the fight, so Brooke escaped. I then told Brooke it was time for presents. I took Brookes hand and said "lets get the presents." Unfortunately, Brooke hadn't forgotten the potty battle. She laid on the floor and wouldn't budge. I literally picked her up and carried her into the bedroom and showed her the presents. The bathroom was quickly forgotten and Brooke said " presents." I told Brooke to help me put them in the garbage bag. She comprehents very well, and started putting them in the bag. She just didn't stop when the bag was full. I told her the bag was full and to carry it to the living room, which see did. Brooke has to be watched closely with presents, they are all open game to her. But when she is given a pile to open, she only opens her own. When she opens them, she tells you what each one is. "Sponge Bob" which was a sponge bob pillow, "Moose hat" which was a plush moose hat, clothes, self explanatory, and "horsey" , which was a stuffed horse.
After the gifts are opened, no one gets near Brookes gifts, except the clothes. She picks each one up and carries them with her, until Cora tells her that she will put them in a big gift back so they are safe.
 The night is starting to wind down, but is not over until we have played hide-n-seek in the house at least 30 times. Brooke even took her turn going in the kitchen and counting, with Cora's help, until we all hid. The last time we hid, Brooke said "you hide with me", so I hid behind the recliner, with Brooke climbing on my back.
 It was then time for the party to end. Unlike in the past, Brooke leaves with no problem. Of course, Brooke is carrying the big bag of presents. Linda and I waited on the front porch until the girls were all loaded. Before getting in the car Brooke yelled to us across the yard "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas." Yes Brooke, it was a Merry Christmas. Your progress may be slow, but it is definately heading in the right direction.

It has been awhile since the last update on Brooke. As Dr. Brown had said in the beginning, progress will be slow with some regression and some progress. That has been the case.
 About 2 months ago Brooke started on trans dermal chelation. This is rubbing a creme on a part of her body that gets the toxins out of her system. Dr. Brown had said you would see the biggest changes in Brooke once he started the chelation therapy. Once again, he was right. Brooke still has a long way to go, but she is so much mentally brighter and speaking so much more. Sometimes she wears a kids old western pistol and holster. She calls the guns her "cowboys". She goes around saying "yee haw", shoots the pistol, holds it up and blows the imaginary smoke away from the end of the barrel. Last week we took Brooke to Kansas City for blood work at Dr. Browns office. Every time we got in the van from a travel break, Brooke would say "Seat belt on", and look to make sure we all did. After one break at a quick stop, Brooke got a bag of candy she couldn't open. She handed the candy to me and said "help me".  We always spend the night at Motel 6 in Lawrence to break up the trip. The motel gives you credit card type door keys. Brooke looked at the key card and said "Pizza". There was a picture of a slice of pizza on the card. In the motel room, Brooke would shut off the lights and say "good night". Then she would turn the lights back on a say "Good morning". The next morning we went to Dr. Brown's office. This was the first time Brooke said " hello" To Dr. Browns receptionist Eli. When it comes time to draw blood, I hold Brooke on my lap, with Cora and Grandma Linda helping hold also. The blood draw lady, Evet, said she could tell Brooke was feeling it a lot more this time, and that Brooke was also calmer.
 On the way home, we stopped at the Clay Center Zoo. Brooke saw the play ground and took off running to it. I was right behind her. Brooke is not shy. There were 4 or 5 little kids playing in the sandbox. Brooke ran up to the sandbox, stopped and said to the kids, "this is my Dad", talking about me. There was one little girl that wanted to be friends with Brooke. She started running to the slipper slide, and yelled over her shoulder to Brooke, "Come On". Brooke ran after her and went down the slide behind her. The little girl walked up to me and said, "Are you her Dad?" I told her that I was Brookes Grandpa. The girls had a great time playing, then it was time to leave. Brooke reluctantly said "good-bye" to her new friend, and got back into the van for the final ride to Concordia.
 Last night Grandma and I went over to Coras to look at the walls in Brookes room. Cora wants to paint them and they are not in good shape. Brooke had a piece of trident gum in the wrapper. She opened the gum and threw the wrapper on the floor. I told her to pick up the wrapper and put it in the trash. In the past saying that to Brooke wouldn't work. Last night she actually bent over, picked up the wrapper and ran to the kitchen with it. The garbage can had been moved, so Brooke to the wrapper in a boot Maybe not a garbage can, but close enough. "Give me 5 Brooke" and she slaps you on the hand "high 5" She does high 5 alot. Brooke then walked over to me and handed me a DVD, and said "Dora". It was a Dora The Explorer DVD. The DVD wouldn't work. Brooke gets very frustrated when a DVD won't play. She hit the TV screen, pushed me and said "stop it" when I tried to fix the problem, and finally laid on the floor and was crying phony tears. Not really crying, but acting like she was. After her little tude was over, she went over and got a different DVD. She handed it to me and said "chicken". It was a Chicken Run DVD. I do think the little girl can read. Thankfully, this DVD worked. Brooke impressed me when watching the show. When the chickens were running, she would say " run, run, run". There was another time when the farmer was marking the chickens scorecard for laying eggs with check marks. Every time he made a check mark, Brooke would say "check, check, check". When one chicken was about to get its head chopped, Brooke covered her eyes and turned her head away. Many times in the past when it was time for me to leave, Brooke would have a meltdown. The last few times I left Brooke, I would say to her I have to go home, give me a kiss. She gives me a kiss, says good-bye, and continues watching her show.
 Tonight after work I went over to Coras house to look at the walls in Brookes bedroom again. When I arrived I heard Cora say " Brooke!!!" Brooke had squatted in a bush to take a pee, but had forgot to pull her pants down first. Brooke was wet. Doesn't happen much, but accidents still happen. Aunt Racheal was there, and told Brooke "Grandpa won't hug you until you get cleaned up". Brooke ran right passed me and went into the house with Cora. About 5 minutes later she comes out of the house, running towards me with a big smile on her face. She stops right in front of me, looks me in the eyes, and says to me " I'm all cleaned up". She then gives me a great big hug.
   As I said earlier, Brooke is doing so much better, but still has a long road ahead of her. Chelation therapy is very slow, usually taking 1 to 3 years to complete. Slow, but well worth it. One of Brookes teachers recently told me that she has seen many autistic children, but she thinks Brooke is one that is going to beat the odds. I couldn't agree with her more.

Brooke - Slow but Steady

It has been a few months since the last update. Brooke is still improving, slow but steady as Dr. Brown had told us. The biggest change I notice is with Brookes vocabulary. She now says up to 5 or 6 word sentences, when she wants to. Some that come to mind are, "I don't want to go home.", said when she didn't want to leave Grandma and Grandpas house. She was working on a puzzle at home from school. When she figured it out she jumped up and said "I did it" and ran over a gave her mom a high five. I saw Brooke last week. She wanted a different video to watch. She took my hand and took me to the shelf they are stored on. I kept grabbing videos and showing them to Brooke. She would look at them and say "No". After 5 "no's", I told Brooke I would pick her up and she could grab the one she wanted, which she did. Communication has improved, but still has a ways to go. In the past, Brooke would sit at the computer and watch YouTube videos. Whatever was on, she would watch. Now, she takes the mouse and clicks on what she wants to watch. Her control is still not real good, and messes up on occasion. You can tell when a mistake is made as Brooke yells out "help".
 About 3 weeks ago Cora sent in a urine sample from Brooke to be tested. Today she got the results from Dr. Brown. Brooke is still loaded with lead. We are taking Brooke back to Dr. Brown's office in Overland Park on Monday for more blood test. After the results are in, Brooke will be starting on comprehensive chelation therapy. Which is giving Brooke something to expel the lead from her system. Dr. Brown told Cora today it will most likely be in suppository form. He had a little boy with the same problems as Brooke, and suppositories worked the best to quickly get out large quanities of lead. Until next time, take care.

Brookes 1st Fourth of July

Yesterday, July3, we celebrated the 4th with our annual family get together  of swimming, cookout and fireworks. The last 2 years I didn't get to enjoy the fireworks, I was in the house with Brooke who had no interest. This year, things changed, Brooke celebrated her 1st 4th of July. There were many 1st time things for Brooke yesterday. It was the 1st time in a long time she actually sat with the family at the table to eat supper. She usually stands in front of TV and we take food to her. Yesterday was the 1st time Brooke threw down sidewalk poppers on the sidewalk to hear them pop. Yesterday was the 1st time Brooke lit a smoke bomb and threw it down so she could run threw the smoke. She even picked them up and threw them in the trash after they stopped smoking. Brooke learned if you pick them up to quick after they smoke, they are still hot. Yesterday was the 1st time Brooke helped me hold a roman candle. Yesterday was the 1st time Brooke sat with me and watched someone lite an arial bomb. When it was lit she would say " one, two, three, blast-off". When it went up in the air she would wave and say "good-bye". Yesterday was the 1st time she sat on my lap to watch the city fireworks display.
 Brooke is coming along leaps and bounds, comprehending at about 60 to 70 percent. She still needs to be watched for running out in the street after a fireworks had been lit. I stopped her numerous times when a car was coming and told her she had to wait for the car. After the 6th or 7th time telling Brooke to wait for the car, she looked back at me and said " I know". She just gets so excited. After one item was lit, she would run back to the car where they were kept, and grab another. Back and forth, back in forth. She had so much fun for over 3 hours. Never once losing focus and taking off aimlessly. At about 10:45 she climbed into the trunk of her Mom's car and hollered out, "good-nite". Brooke was worn out.
 An update from Dr. Brown's office. Brooke is expelling the lead from her system, but not at a high enough rate. She needs to have more bloodwork done. Dr.Brown talked about giving her something one time to expel more lead out of her system. After the lead is out of her system, look out, there will be no stopping Brooke LeAnn Altoid.

Brooke making progress

It has been awhile since the last update on Brooke. She had a meeting 3 weeks ago with Dr.Brown in KC. It was discussed that the main problem continues to be getting all the supplements into Brooke. She is way to smart. Cora's only option is to hold Brooke down, hold her nose and squirt the supplements in Brookes mouth. Dr. Brown was also concerned that Brooke was possibly not getting rid of all the lead in her system. He sent a urine test kit home. The urine sample was to be sent to Illinois to see if Brooke is expelling the lead. If not, Dr.Brown would give her something to get the lead out, so to speak. He said the largest change in Brooke would be seen once the lead is gone. The test has been sent in and we are waiting for the results. On the way home, we stopped for gas outside of Topeka. Brooke went up to the checkout counter, reached down and grabbed a pack of mentos and laid them on the counter and waited. After I paid for them, the cashier handed them back to Brooke. Brooke took the mentos and said to the cashier "Tank U". That is the biggest change I have seen in Brooke, her vocabulary. She is saying 3 and 4 word sentences more and more. As you can see in the picture above, Brooke is also quite the ham. I took the picture tonight with my cell phone. Of course Brooke says "cheese" when getting her picture taken. Then she has to see the picture after it is taken. Also tonight, Brookes little sister Lila kept grabbing Brookes shirt. Brooke pushed her off and said "Let me go". The best moment tonight happened with Brooke standing 6 feet in front of me watching TV. She sort of bent over with her butt in the air. She then took her arm and starting fanning behind her butt. She turned and said to me "sorry". Miss Brooke had just passed some gas. Brooke did not want me to leave tonight. She blocked the door for ten minutes while I talked to her, telling her I had to leave and would see her again soon. She finally let me leave, but was not happy about it.
 Cora told me a couple of days ago that Brooke had said to her " I like swimming". Cora also told me that Brooke and her were playing tag last night, and that Brooke understood the concept of the game. Cora told me that Brooke said " I get you" , "You get  me".
 Of course, as is normal in life, Brooke is starting to receive some cruelty from other kids because of her disability. Cora said that one of the kids in daycare was making fun of Brooke. The lady in charge of daycare contacted the childs parents and informed them that it would stop, or they would be finding a new daycare.
  In closing, I just want to thank Brookes mom Cora for being such a super mom. All the improvements seen in Brooke would not be possible without her dedicated mothers love. Cora is truly amazing and with her taking care of Brooke, it's not a matter if Brooke will get better, but when. Thank you Cora for all you do for Brooke.

Brooke, Great Things Are Happening

Brooke has been on the new program now about one month. There have been a few rough times, one of the supplements wasn't agreeing with her, and she seemed to be regressing. Cora stopped giving it to Brooke and now things are heading in the right direction again. Tonight I personally witnessed a miracle with Brooke. Cora pushed Brooke and her little sister Lila down to our house tonight in the double carriage. Brooke couldn't undo her seat belt and looked up at grandma and said "help, I'm stuck." Grandma unhooked her and Brooke came in the house and got out a movie to watch. When the movie started, Brooke pointed at the screen and said to me "look, a star." It was actually the moon, but close enough. Brooke was just so happy watching the movie. Laughing and clapping at different times. After 30 minutes, Grandma came in the house and said Cora was ready to leave. As usual, I was expecting a battle for Brooke to leave. After 4 plus years, Brooke has never left our house without a fight. I told Brooke it was time to go home. At first she ignored me. I repeated it again. She said No and climbed on the couch behind me. Grandma said to me she would shut off TV. I was expecting the usual fight when TV was shut off. TV is off now and something is not right here. Brooke climbed off the couch, opened the door and walked out on the porch. Maybe it's a trap, surely she will rebel soon. I am expecting the worse at any second. Brooke walked down the steps and climbed into the carriage. Holy crap Batman, did you just see what I just saw. I told Cora I have just witnessed a miracle. Cora snapped her seatbelt and told the girls to say good-bye. They both said bye and waved as Cora pushed them down the driveway. I was totally floored. I have never ever seen that happen before. Dr. Brown had said that all the supplements will help, but the biggest changes will be seen when the lead (aka heavy metals) start coming out of Brookes system. The above story is just one of many changes I have seen with Brooke. Brooke is now starting to say sentences. Cora told me a few things Brooke has said. One being said to a school teacher that asked Brooke to do something. Brookes response, "I don't want to, I'm tired. Another example was Brooke to her Mom, "come on, I want a piggy back ride." I was in the truck with Cora and Brooke a few days ago. Cora asked Brooke to say elephant. I couldn't believe it when Brooke said "elephant". Cora asked Brooke what elephants do. Brooke put her arm out in front of her face like an elephant trunk and bent her hand down. Grandma watches Brooke and Lila a few mornings a week from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. while Cora goes to nursing school. She drops Brooke off at school and Lila to day care at 8 a.m. I leave for work at about 6 a.m. Every morning for the last 3 weeks Brooke always tells me good-bye or just ignores me, but never seems to mind that I'm leaving. It is like the cobwebs are clearing up and she understands what is going on. Brooke is also pretty good at giving high fives and said "Christmas" twice to me this morning when she saw Santa Claus on TV. The biggest battle with Brooke is getting her supplements into her. She rarely cooperates. It is a hard battle, but one worth fighting, and one that is being won by those that love that special little girl named Brooke.

Brooke, Trip 3 to KC

We just got back from a fantastic trip to Kansas City with Brooke. The weather was perfect for mid February, 60 plus degrees. We left Wed. afternoon to get a motel room in Lawrence. Much easier on everybody. Each time we would stop for a break on the way down, Brooke would sit in her carseat and keep saying, "help", "help", "help". She wanted out of the carseat. When Grandma would undo her seatbelt, she would hop down and say "Thank You". We arrived at Lawrence at 6:30 pm. Brooke was quite hungry. Grandma had cooked chicken and potatoes before we left. All foods that are good for Brooke to eat. Brooke didn't want any potatoes, but ate 4 pieces of chicken. For desert, her mommy fixed her a vitamin filled peanut butter tortilla. Biomed treatment works great, the trick is getting the vitamins into Brooke. Cora gave Brooke the tortilla. Her and Grandma left the motel room for a smoke break. Everytime someone left, Brooke would go and lock the deadbolt and security bar behind them. She came back into the room, took 2 bites of her special tortilla. She then went back to the motel door, unlocked it, and tossed her tortilla out into the hall. I guess she wasn't very impressed with it. Not the best to have a peanut butter tortilla laying in the hall, so I brought it back into the room. The rest of the evening was spent giving Brooke piggy back rides in the motel room and watching Cartoon Network. Just before bedtime, Cora took Brooke into the bathroom for a bath. Brooke came out a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around. She climbed into bed and laid her wet head on Grandma's pillow. Cora came out and asked Brooke if she could put on her PJ's. Brookes response to her Mom, "NO". One minute later, Brooke had on her pajama's. An attitude from a 4 year old is a good thing, probably quite normal. Last time in the motel, Brooke slept with Mommy, not this time. I fell asleep first, Brooke fell asleep next to me in the middle, and poor Grandma didn't sleep at all. She said she saw 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30. Two beds in a motel aren't real big. Brooke takes up her fair share of the bed. Grandma was going to go to Cora's bed, but Cora spreads out across the bed. Not because she's a jumbo, she just has arms and legs everywhere. Needless to say, Grandma slept most of the way home, and at last check, she's still sleeping in her chair.
The time finally arrived and we went into Dr.Brown's. He was running a little late because one of his kids was sick. Dr.Brown arrived about 10 minutes late. He apologized and said he would be ready in a few minutes. We were in his room talking to him from 9:15 to 10:45, going over Brooke's lab reports. What a wealth of information he is. He said for the most part, Brookes report was good. He went over each test and explained in detail what it meant.
1st we went over food sensitivities. Brooke has more than your average autistic child. The test are broke down into severe, moderate, and mild. Brooke has quite a few severe sensitivities. two that stand out are black pepper, and dill, as in dill pickles. He said in the future after he gets her system straightened out, she may be able to eat the foods on the list again.
Brooke has a yeast problem in her belly, very common for autistic kids. She will be given a liquid supplement to kill off the bad yeast. His biggest concern was for what is referred to as heavy metals. Brooke has an ungodly high level of lead in her body. She also has a very high level of aluminum in her body. He ordered more blood tests with Cora's local doctor to help see what is causing the high lead. If it's just in her body, or if she is getting constant exposure from it. Dr. Brown said he can do the tests, but with Cora's local doctor, health insurance will pay for it. He suspects she is getting constant exposure to it and her body can't remove it. He told us that almost every autistic child he sees has a problem with heavy metals. Getting the heavy metals out is one of the biggest things for turning these kids around. It takes time, but is well worth it. He gave me the responsibility of trying to find out where the lead is coming from. I need to get some test kits. It can be from old paint in a house, certain toys from China, in the dirt she plays in, etc. He said he can get the lead out of her, but we need to make sure she doesn't keep getting into it. He put Grandma in charge of the aluminum problem. He told us the biggest cause of aluminum is teflon cooking pans. Very convenient, yet very bad for autistic children. He recommends stainless steel cooking pans. He went over all the supplements Brooke is getting and made quite a few changes. He said most of Brookes supplements would be in her new pill tailored for her needs. She is also getting a topical cream rubbed on her (I think to get the lead out), a medicine for the yeast, and a vitamin B-12 shot every three days. This is all very common procedure for an autistic child going to a DAN doctor. Depending on the new blood test results, we may be going back down to KC in about a month to 45 days for a follow up.
It has been just about one year since Brooke started biomed treatment. The changes in the little girl are nothing short of a miracle. Going from severe tantrums and meltdowns weekly, to probably less than 5 in a year. She is 95% potty trained now. Her speech is constantly improving. Today in Dr.Brown's office she played for an hour and a half. She wanted out of the room one time. I held the door shut and told her no, she had to stay with us. She laid on the floor, started crying phoney tears (she was faking) got back up and started playing again. No tantrum, no meltdown, just a basic 4 year old response. I am anxious to see what happens now, with her plan tailored just for her. Dr. Brown said a few have fantastic recoveries, but most take 3 steps forward, 1 step back, 3 steps forward, on and on. But they continue to advance. Keep your fingers crossed, but the future is looking very bright for little Brooke LeAnn.