Dyspraxic Journey

Monthly Archive: May 2016

Impulsivity and Reflected Emotions

I’m trying to figure out how to even start. This last week and a half have been quite hard. Poor CB has been sick with a fever that lasted for 4 days, plus a cough, runny nose, sneezing, and increased impulsivity. The impulsivity started before the fever and it has grown to such a degree that we opted to remove cow’s milk from CB’s diet again. The decision also took into account reviewing his latest blood work and past stool test to determine that his gut does not seem to be performing at optimal levels due to the high fecal fat content and the lower vitamin levels of zinc, D3, and iron saturation. Goat’s milk is still currently in his diet and he is eating goat’s milk kefir in the mornings to help combat the antibiotics he is taking. He still also gets his probiotic at night. Since he has been prone to yeast infections in the past when he takes antibiotics, I try to ensure to restore with good bacteria. Olem and I still feel that diet can make a big difference and are just trying to see if there is an optimal diet that suits CB best. There are always so many factors to consider that it is typically not one thing that we can pin such behavior changes on. Additionally, some of CB’s therapies and his preschool are coming to an end. He could be feeding off my and/or his teachers’ energies. He can be very sensitive to others feelings and we see his behaviors reflecting/modeling back others emotions. We talk with CB about some of his therapies and preschool ending but CB doesn’t say much or respond much to these comments. Who knows if this is affecting him more than he can show us.  (more…)

May 26, 2016 Allergy, Diet, & Supplements, Worries, Fears, & Ramblings, , , , , 0 Read more >

Trip to the Coast

CB and HB absolutely LOVED our trip to the coast! We visited family including their cousins who are similar in age. OMG, their faces glowed with pure joy while we were on the beach. The water was so low that CB could run from Olem or I in the water, back to the base camp to pick a different toy, and then back out to us in the water. Having that kind of independence and freedom made the visit so much more enjoyable. Both kiddos stayed out in the water for at least an hour at a time. The kids got to build sand castles, touch a crab, find fish in the water, body surf (well, their version :)), crash into waves, swim like fish (CB did), chase the sea gulls and shoot them with a water gun (again CB :)), and savor in just being outdoors. Kite flying was briefly attempted on the second day, but the wind was just too strong. CB is not afraid of the water, at all, and it is great to see his free spiritedness freely flowing while at the beach.

There is also nothing like getting to stay in the same house as your cousins and really get to know them. Like CB not understanding why his cousin Kyle, 6 months younger than CB, wouldn’t want him standing beside him while he went poop. As you can see CB does not have too much understanding of others needing space. Or the times where all the kiddos would sneak off to the other room to play in the tents and with each other’s toys. It was so nice for us parents to have some time to visit or prepare meals without interruption.

 

May 19, 2016 Highlights 0 Read more >

Update on Latest Blood Work

CB’s last round of blood work was 6 months ago. Since the last blood work, we have made several changes to CB’s supplements and diet. We stopped well just about everything at one point, except for the probiotics. For the last 3 weeks, we added digestive enzymes and fish oil back into his schedule. For the last two weeks, we added D3 back into his morning routine. Dairy was incorporated about 3-6x a week, mainly through cheese, yogurt, butter, and some ice cream, for about 1.5 months. We wanted to see if the dairy was impacting his vitamin levels.

We got his blood work back this week and his body was showing the beginning stages of declining iron, vitamin D, and zinc levels. I believe all of these are related. On a positive note, his IgA was 1 number below the normal range…wow! I can’t believe that he might actually have normal IgA levels soon. His Vitamin E level was still high but lower than the levels reported over the last year or so. I think the high Vitamin E levels are still related to fat absorption or fat breakdown issues. We will see if the enzymes help the matter. I thought the L-Carnitine should have helped that, but the last test didn’t reflect that. We stopped the L-Carnitine awhile back so I don’t know for sure. His vitamin K, homocysteine and magnesium levels also looked good. So now, we have to figure out why he has declining iron, Vitamin D and zinc levels. Unfortunately, since we stopped the Vitamin D3 for awhile and we added in the dairy, we can’t say for sure whether the removal of D3 or the addition of dairy caused this. We are obviously assuming it is related to one of these things, but it is always hard to know for sure since we always make several changes between the blood work dates. We have decided to test again in 2 months with daily Vitamin D3 supplements and zinc incorporated for a week or so and to keep dairy in his diet. If any of the levels remain low, then we can assume that dairy is the culprit and to cut it out and test again in another 2 months or so. If all levels return to normal, then we are going to assume that CB needs D3 supplements and that dairy plays an insignificant role. For the past tests, we saw the vitamin D, zinc, and iron levels continue to grow while D3 was a regular supplement and dairy was not a part of CB’s diet. (more…)

May 5, 2016 Allergy, Diet, & Supplements, Tests & Evaluations, , , , , 0 Read more >

Desperately in Need of a Breather

Sometimes, it is all so overwhelming…the therapies, the driving all over town, the strict schedule, the constant attention on what your child is not achieving or should be working on, determining if the therapies are helping or possibly hurting your child’s progress, and watching your child struggle at most everything he/she does. Also, there is the constant worry “Is it all too much or do you need to incorporate more?” Today was one of those days where wham..I was just whacked in the face with the weight of it all. One factor is probably that it is the end of year where everyone seems like they are so ready for the school year to be over. Some of the teachers’ attitudes seem to be on the less positive side, somewhat distracted, and some flat out do not seem like they want to be involved in my child’s life right now. Maybe I am just in the same boat as those teachers and I just want out. I want a change. The end of CB’s current school year is less than a month away as well as our drive to another town 30 minutes away, 4x a week. He will also stop his PT as she is located in the nearby town, as well.

I also just feel like I don’t want to hear another therapist or teacher telling me what CB is not able to do that he should be able to or what we should be working on to help him speak better, throw correctly, walk up/down stairs appropriately, act more appropriately, …I am just so tired. Tired of thinking minutely about every little thing my son says, eats, and everything he does. He has come so far and he continues to grow and progress, but sometimes I just want to not have to worry and overthink everything we are doing and he is doing. I want to not have to go to therapy for everything and for him to just once to be able to acquire a skill easily and for CB’s little brother to not understand what we are requesting before CB does. I understand everyone has their challenges. Regardless of how it may seem, everyone has struggles and difficult times in their life.

Another factor is also that this summer, we will take about 3.5 weeks off – no therapies, no school, no sports activities. Yay! We will visit family and then stay in another home in another state for 2 weeks. I think I really need this to recharge and start everything up again feeling refreshed and ready to take it all on again.

May 4, 2016 Therapy, Worries, Fears, & Ramblings, , 0 Read more >