Session Four 6-17-09

Session 4 of HBOT with Sevyn

(diagnosis autism age 3)

6-17-09

Last night Sevyn slept much better and so did I. About 4 hours solid sleep then he woke crying for a drink, fallowed by another 2 ½ hours where he fussed a little, but

no screaming fit before waking for the day. Prior to HBOT we were waking with him every ½ hour to 3 hours with long inconsolable crying brakes in between restless fits of sleep. The sleeping issue is just starting to improve but believe me we notice! Today we got in the chamber early in the morning after keeping him up late. Sevyn was wide awake despite our efforts. The DVD player was fully charged and ready this time so we were able to relax and watch Sponge Bob. He’s happy to get in the chamber now because it’s the only time he can watch this cartoon! The dive was easy and a good way to start the day. He is getting used to popping his ears and comfortable in the chamber. I still cannot get Sevyn to wear the oxygen mask, but he’s been letting me hold it close to his face while he watches his cartoon. Were noticing a calmer more easy to deal with guy at home. He's been using his words more. He’s better about getting his diaper changed today then yesterday and we have noticed a little less stimming in the last few days as well. It's still happening, but gradually we are seeing a little less. The screaming self stimulation in particular has decreased and I cannot tell you how relieved we are to be hearing less of that! We also saw another formed bowel movement today, not much, but he pooped- it didn’t contain solid food matter- it wasn’t diarrhea and he doesn’t have a painful rash. We are striving to do everything we can to clean up his environment a little bit more each day and all the hard work pays off when he hugs you or says “Hey mom, flower!” and points to something- like he did today when we returned from HBO

T and he saw a new flower that had bloomed in the neighbors yard! Those little words and observations make it all worth it!

Mama’s note: Sevyn isn’t the only one benefiting from HBOT! After four consecutive days of hourly hyperbaric oxygen therapy with my son I have noticed improvements in my digestion and ability to focus. My vision seems better and my back and muscle pain more tolerable. I also have less acne and my skin color seems to be improving!

Session Three 6-16-09

Session 3 of HBOT with Sevyn
(diagnosis autism age 3 )
6-16-09
Day 3 was our first afternoon visit at 1:00 and we were late because we decided last minute to go pick up a portable DVD player in hopes Sevyn would be less active and easier to manage in the chamber while watching it. Well, he got in without any complaint and happily watched Sponge Bob until the charge on the player died. He wasn’t even upset, he said, “Bubye Sponge bob” and went on mission checking all the windows in the chamber. He let me sing a few circle time songs and even took a picture of me with the camera. At school they had it written in their data that Sevyn could count to 6, at home we had heard him count to 10 with much prompting and reward, but in the chamber today he counted to 29 when I asked him to count and then sang his ABC’s all the way through! I caught it all on film and it was very impressive stuff! We are so proud of our little guy! He sat and read through 2/3 of a book with me too and gave me lots of hugs in the chamber. I did struggle a bit with him trying to mess with the zippers inside the chamber today and I definitely prefer the early morning sessions where he’s likely to sleep. Dr. Matt helped out and entertained Sevyn with stuffed animals through the observation window in the chamber while he checked in on us and adjusted the pressure. Sevyn did grab at his ears a bit today so we took it slow and encouraged him to chew and stretch his jaw. I know when my ears are popping and I feel pressure he does too, so that’s my signal to give him a fruit leather or a gummy bear to chew on. I also ask him to show me his teeth and show me his tongue to get him to pop his ears and he’s doing great with it. When we got out of the chamber today he was a very happy guy. He ran around the office and stopped several times to check out things he’s never noticed before. We’re seeing it at home too,! It’s like he’s seeing these things for the first time! He also asked his Dad for the car keys, saying” hey Dad- I wan car keys!” EG then asked him if he wanted to go for a drive and he responded-not echoed- “ Go to car.” He’s also been less aggravated and frustrated when it comes to communication. He’s been singing with me again and using “I want ___.” more instead of crying at us or using a PECS strip. He pooped again when we came home and it was another formed normal looking stool! Regular and three in a row! The steps we have taken to remove more toxins- http://www.tacanow.com/medical/living-in-a-toxic-world.html particularly the hidden aluminum in our almond and other milk cartons, in some dishes and laundry detergent , being strictly GFCF and eliminating hidden sources of gluten http://gfcf-diet.tacanow.org/hidden-sources-of-gluten.htm(still working on this), and eliminating soy have really paid off quickly for him! I’ve never been so happy to see poop! Sevyn usually has chronic diarrhea or he’s constipated. He’s never been very regular and often has undigested food in his poop, but since we started HBOT his gut seems to be cleansing itself ! It’s really great to see him not in so much pain and being more receptive towards food, still rejecting most food, but improvement- the relief in him is motivation to keep going and see even more improvement! The greatest relief right now is that we haven't seen any signs of seizures in these three days of HBOT! We’ve also noticed changes in the color of his skin, the redness and clammy feeling of his face is starting to look a bit healthier. He just has a more present look in his eyes. This is only day three, we have only just begun! We’re so excited to see day 30! We are ever grateful to Dr. Matt Freedman!! This is a lot of hard work, but our son is worth it! Thanks again for your support on our family’s journey towards optimal health.

Session Two 6-15-09

Session 2 of HBOT with Sevyn

(diagnosis Autism age 3 almost 4)
6-15-09

Today was sooooooooooo much better! We kept him up all night and didn't give him any melatonin before bed- it was a tough night but when we got to the chamber early this morning he was quite tired. He did cry a bit at first, but it was mostly because he wanted to be asleep. Once the chamber was filled with air and the compression normalized he calmed down and fell right asleep in my arms! Deep sleep too! He slept through the full hour in the chamber! It was so relaxing for both of us. I didn't even think the hour had passed when Dr. Matt came to get us out of the chamber. It didn't get warm at all in the camber this time because we were calm and not bouncing off the walls generating all kinds of heat. Because he slept I was able to direct the concentrated oxygen flow that is supposed to attach to the mask (he still won't wear the mask and I didn't want to risk waking him) towards his nose and mouth the entire time we were in the chamber. I fell asleep for a good portion of the session myself and it was quite nice! Sevyn was much calmer after this session and when we came home he had a lot to say! I still don't understand most of it, but he was looking me in the eyes and telling his story about the rocket! I showed him some video that I shot inside the rocket/HBOT chamber and he got very excited! He loves video modeling so this is something I'm trying to learn to take advantage of. He also labeled some new objects around the house spontaneously like blanket and lamp and it sounded a little clearer. He refused skill time today and I didn't press it but will keep trying everyday. He had another bowel movement similar to yesterdays- a little runny and quite stinky- but two in a row and not rash inducing runs! YAY! I'm also feeling very focused and calm after 2 hours of HBOT! Looking forward to tomorrow's session!

Our First HBOT Session 6-14-09

Hello Everyone. To anyone reading this , today is 8-21-09 and I have just started this blog. All of the posts are from my journal and were previously posted on the Facebook cause page Autism Is Reversible. I'm open to input and seeking support and advice. I think it's important to share our trials and triumphs with the world as we journey through Autism and find our way in this toxic world. We hope and pray that we find the help we seek in funding Sevyn's recovery. Thank you so much for reading and showing your support. Autism is treatable~recovery is happening~spread the word!



My sweet son Sevyn is four and was diagnosed with autism shortly after his second birthday. Sevyn had bad reactions to the two vaccines he had- the Hep B shot at birth and DTap vaccine at nine months. The HepB on day 1 of his precious life was not something we consented to, in fact we had told our midwife that we wanted to wait to vaccinate, but the hospital staff was not made aware of our wishes and did what was policy to them and injected our baby when they took him to weigh him. When they handed him back to me I could tell there was something wrong. The nurses told me it was just from the drugs during labor and that the side effects would wear off in time. He struggled with breast feeding and they told me it was my fault. The site of his injection was red and his leg was stiff- they also said this was a normal side effect and would go away. I was upset and felt very crushed by my birth experience, but I was also thrilled to have my son alive and in my arms. We avoided another vaccine until he was nine months and we were convinced by our pediatrician that we were bad parents if we didn't at least protect him from tetanus and whooping cough. Saying he had seen many children die of these preventable diseases. In ignorance and fear we believed him. This doctor also told us that Sevyn showed no signs of autism and that his patients who had autism had shown signs at nine months of age. He swore over and over again that there was no connection between developmental delay and vaccines and that it was safe. I wish he had put that in his medical record for that day!! After the DTap Sevyn got a fever and a rash, lost most of his baby skills, started spinning himself in circles and only saying "digga digga", wouldn't make eye contact or give kisses, say bye bye, or ta dah, or mama/dada, anymore. We felt like we had lost our beautiful baby boy to a shot we never wanted him to have in the first place. We were in denial and didn't want to believe what was happening. We waited for the side effects to go away but they never did. If I could go back and say no believe me I would- I would give anything to have not allowed my son to be injured again!! We should have learned from the HepB- and we knew in our hearts it wasn't right, we just didn't have enough information to fight. When making the choice not to vaccinate you really have to have the right information. We were bullied by our pediatrician and ignorant at the time and that ignorance caused brain damage for our child. Our choices have led to his suffering from autism and we have accepted that. We are no longer ignorant to what's in vaccines and the affects those toxins can have on the developing human body. We now choose to do everything we can to help him heal and prevent the same damage from being done to Sevyn's little brother Grey and any other children we have. We've spent the last two years doing early intervention, GFCF(with many infractions-we have learned)and ABA. His teachers have helped him so much, but the progress was slow and we'd see him regress quickly without school and constant therapy. He was sleeping only a few hours a night and waking every hour or so screaming, he had chronic diarrhea and was bloated with severe troubles with his GI tract as well as immune deficiencies, frequent rashes, malabsorption of nutrients, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and severe sensory issues, he would hit us and himself, and despite all of the progress he had made in school he was still barely communicating with us. The self abuse was what lead to our official diagnosis and for the first year of our Autism journey we were very lost. We were desperate to help our son and get him to stop hurting himself, it was very scary! We found an amazing local Cranio Sacral Therapist Kara Spencer who worked with Sevyn once a week for almost a year and helped him with many issues- primarily the self abusive behaviours and insomnia. I cannot tell Sevyn's story without mentioning Kara. She was so patient and compassionate with Sevyn even though he gave her a bloody nose during their first session she always had faith that he could learn and heal! She moved the Cranio Sacral Therapy to the water of a local pool and everything changed-we found amazing success! Sevyn started using a few words and he loved swimming. He would spin his body in the water and Kara would support him and dance with him. We saw many improvements in his stimming, his head shape and the alignment of his teeth were and still are much improved, and he showed his first signs of any awareness of the world around him and his own boy. Sevyn sang his first song with Kara and she was the first person he was truly affectionate with, he even said "love you" to her before he ever said it to anyone else. We are so grateful to Kara for getting us through that first year of autism and for giving Sevyn such a good start on his journey! She helped our whole family heal and grow together and even resolved Grey's nursing issues and teeth grinding with her gentle Cranio Sacral techniques. We don't know how we would have made it through that first year without Kara and Cranio Sacral Therapy. Unfortunately, when Kara could no longer work with Sevyn he regressed quickly and started hitting and biting himself again, refused to sing or be sung to, went back to waking up every hour, and the improvements we had seen in his digestion diappeared. He also started to have seizures and we started to get reports from school about starring spells and self abuse. I go with Sevyn to his class everyday and am quite aware of his skills and behaviours and was shocked by what i was seeing and hearing. We felt lost again and wanted nothing more than to go back to the place where we were seeing progress and not regression. When we found a local Defeat Autism Now Doctor we knew right away we wanted to work with him and do what we could to bring Sevyn to a place of optimal health. Dr. Matt Freedman sent me information on GFCF and we learned that we were allowing many infractions to take place and that we had been exposing Sevyn to all kinds of hidden sources of Gluten. Finally some guidance with the diet! We had seen improvements from eliminating gluten and casein, but there was so much we didn't know. Now we are also sugar and soy free and much more diligent about being free of gluten and casein. Dr. Freedman also talked with us about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and so we did our research. The proposed benefits seemed too good to be true, also too good not to give it a try! Sevyn had been having seizures before we started HBOT and in our research we found many inspiring stories of recovery from seizures and traumatic brain injury. We knew from the first day that this could change all of our lives and how blessed our family was to have found a doctor like Dr. Freedman! This is our journey through Autism.



















6-14-09
Session 1 of HBOT with Sevyn
(diagnosis autism age 3)
Our First Session
We started Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy or HBOT with Dr. Matt Freedman today!! This kind DAN! doctor is so very dedicated to recovering children from Autism- he believes in my child like no other medical professional ever has! I was inspired just by his faith in recovery and how well he interacted with my son. The chamber is bigger inside than it appears from the outside and Sevyn likes small spaces so he adjusted quickly. We stayed in the chamber- or rocket ship as we have affectionately labeled the HBOT chamber- for an hour! It was a little difficult for me to manage him, he was bouncing around the chamber and we happily worked up quite a sweat together, but we figured out some strategies that will help -like having sessions really early in the morning so he's sleepy or bringing a DVD player! We got through the first session by playing toss and pick up the flash cards, eating fruit leathers and gummies to pop our ears, drinking water and sippy cup, cuddling, singing songs, and he even toned with me to calm himself when he did get frustrated in the chamber. He told me twice he was hot so I took his shirt off and gave him a little fan. He wore the oxygen mask for a few minutes, but I struggled with trying to keep it on him. Sevyn doesn't like things being on his face or head, no hats or beanies, he struggles with tooth brushing and ear cleaning too. This is a sensory issue he's had for a long time and one we hope to see improve. Once the chamber was decompressed and opened he ran around happy to be in the cool air. He didn't seem out of it after the hour in the hyperbaric chamber, just excited to be able to move about and run around again- being the hyper child that he is. We all agreed to try to do everything we could to help Sevyn sleep in the chamber during future HBOT sessions and to try to have them as early in the day as Dr. Matt could. After we arrived at home Sevyn had a big bowel movement and it was the most normal formed poop we have ever seen him have really. He had been constipated so it was a huge relief and it smell just awful-so we know his body is getting rid of the bad stuff. I am also feeling cleansed and have had less cravings for bad foods and sugar. We have been much stricter about being GFCF and eliminating soy and that has also helped immensely. I'll post a few pictures and some video soon from inside the chamber and update as we go. Thanks for the support everyone! ~love~ tiffany