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.

Test Results Are Back

We received a phone call that Brookes lab test are back. Brooke has a visit with Dr.Brown on February 17th. A copy of the test arrived in the mail this week. Most of it is hard to understand except for the food allergies and sensitivities. She has quite a few.
Linda and I went over to see Brooke Monday night. She pulled me into the room and kept saying "Ahh Yuck". Don't know what that was about. Next, she had me lay down on the bed. She would say "Good-Night" and climb into her bed. She would lay there 30 seconds, get up, climb on my bed and turn on the light. I would sit up and say
"time to get up". She would say "no", turn off the light and get back into her bed. This routine went on about 5 times. The last time she covered me up and placed her dolly in my arms to hold. After that, it was time for some plastic bowling pin sword fighting. She likes to bang them together like we're having a sword fight. First she went after her little sister Lila. Not mean, just banging her pins onto Lila's pins she was holding. Lila wasn't too impressed with this. She dropped her pins and got onto the couch. Brooke came over and handed me one pin. Banged them together for a few seconds, then she had me switch pins with her. After a few times it was time for her book. She has a book with animal pictures in that she is quite intrigued with. She would study the pictures for a few seconds. I would point at an animal. If it was the sheep, she would go over to Linda and go "baaa". Come back over, look at the pictures again, and go back over to Linda again. Each animal was covered 2 or 3 times. "nay" for the horse,
"moo" for the cow, and "click" for the chicken. It was now time to go home. I told Brooke I had to go home. She said "No". I waited a minute and told her I had to go home. I got up and put on my coat. She ran out of the room saying, "wait, wait, wait". Cora said she was going after her coat. Cora's boyfriend Sean stopped Brooke and told her she wasn't going outside. Brooke came back over and wrapped her arms around me in a very tight hug. I hugged her back and told her we were going to see Dr. Brown next week. She let go and pulled me over to the TV. Pushed my arm up to grab the remote control. I asked Cora to find Brooke a movie to watch. The first one that came up, Brooke hollered "NO" and slapped the TV screen. Cora said "ok, ok" and found Brooke another movie. Brooke seemed happy with that one. She sat and watched the movie as Linda and I walked out the house.

Brookes 2nd Trip to Kansas City

Brooke made her 2nd trip to Kansas City in less than 2 weeks. As you can see in picture, 4 hour trips can be alittle boring at times. This trip was just for blood draws and a urine sample. You are probably thinking why drive all the way to KC for a blood draw? Well for 1 thing these are special test sent to special labs for the results. They can't be done at local hospitals. 2nd, the lady that draws the blood works mainly with autistic kids, that being less traumatic to Brooke. 8 vials of blood drawn from Brooke with just 1 needle stick. Once the results come back, we will have a complete map of what's going on inside Brookes body. What foods she can and cannot tolerate, what she's allergic too, toxins in her body, and much more.

Her appointment was for Tuesday morning at 9am. No food or water after 9 pm Monday night. We decided to drive down Monday night and stay in a motel in Lawrence. Less riding Tuesday morning for a little girl that was hungry and thirsty. We left at 4:30 Monday afternoon and arrived at the motel Monday night at 8pm. Brooke slept over halfway there. At the motel, I saw just high far Brooke has come in less than 2 weeks. The biggest change being her vocabulary. She rolled up a piece of paper and looked at me like it was a telescope. I rolled up a piece and looked back at her. I said "peekabo". Her response " peekabo I see you". I was somewhat floored. She is starting to say sentences. She had a couple of index cards she was using as pizza. She would open the microwave, put the paper inside as though she was cooking it, and say "good-bye" to the cards. In the recent past everything was always just "bye". Another good example of a sentence. I do smoke and we got a no smoking room. Smoking indoors stinks up the room and is not smart for Brookes sake. Leaving the room was another problem. I would put on my coat, Brooke got in front of me and said " Hey, where are you going"? She would then reach up and unzip my coat. After trying 3 times with no luck, I tried sneeking out. Motel room doors are good for keeping people out, not autistic girls in. I got almost to the end of hall when our door flew open. Out comes Brooke on a mad dash with her Mom hot on her heals. Little turd can run really fast. Her Mom ran her down as I rounded the corner and headed for the stairs. Needless to say, that was my 1 and only trip out of the room that night.
Before going to bed, we decided to put a table and chair in front of the motel room door. Not wanting to take a chance of Brooke escaping. The next morning before leaving for Dr. Brown's office, a urine sample was needed. Grandma nurse Linda brought along a special item called a "hat" which goes inside the toilet to catch urine. When Brooke got up, I placed her on the toilet and got enough urine for 2 samples. Good job Brooke.

Brooke wasn't to cranky heading to Dr. Brown's for the testing. We arrived 10 minutes early. The blood draw lady ( I know there's a special name for it, but can't think of it right now) told us to go ahead and let Brooke run around. The first place she heads for is Dr. Browns room where the toys are located. 45 seconds later, here comes Dr. Brown carrying a tub of toys with Brooke right behind him. He is such a nice cheerful man. Saying hello to all of us and telling Brooke she can play in this room over here. While playing, the blood lady came in, wrapped a runner band around Brookes arm to test her veins. Brooke just sat there, but did say "ow". A few minutes later it was Brookes time for the blood draw. I was to sit in the chair holding Brooke. Wrap my arms around her waist and my legs over Brookes legs. Cora held the blood draw arm and Grandma held the other arm. The lady was so nice. When she stuck Brooke, Brooke said "ow" followed by "Stop". Brooke really didn't fight very hard. I was expecting alot worse. After 8 vials are drawn, Brooke got her choice of Band-Aids. She didn't really choose, so she got a puppy. Within 2 minutes, Brooke received 4 Band-Aids over both arms. After the test, Brook walked behind the receptionist desk and pretended to be talking on the phone. The girls behind the desk are so nice.
We were told it would take 4 or 5 weeks for all the results to come back in. At which time Dr. Brown would contact us with Brookes suggested biomed treatment plan. The meeting could be over the phone, or in person.