Multivitamin Forte

I once, had tried giving Jaden the Klaire Labs Multivitamin Forte and he rejected it with so much struggles and tears that I gave up trying.

This time, I am adamant to keep to my 2012 resolution and be a warrior mom and boy, he actually took it in without throwing a great fuss like before. *touch wood, hoping I am not jinxing it by saying it out loud*

To know what it tastes like and why Jaden rejects it with such great struggle, I need to try it myself to know the reason why and yes, it does taste bitter but most good stuff are bitter aren't they?

Well, this time I stuffed the capsule powder into his beloved sweet mangoes, oranges and even tried it with his soy yoghurt mixed with maple syrup to even out the bitterness. 

Although there are a few rejections every single time I bring the thing to his face, he will eventually open his mouth and eats it.

This multivitamin forte is the third item that I had introduce to him and I have been seeing some loose mushy stools. Almost similar to diarrhea but this is not the watery type. Just mushy mustard colour and he also have some well formed ones, just that it is now more to mustard coloured ones compared to his previous black, sticky hard stools that were hard to come out when he pushes. Now, its satisfactory but I am keeping my eyes open as I don't like it when his stool is in a mushy diarrhea form.

Tomorrow, I shall start on his antifungal again. Gonna be on a two weeks course again and hope that his concentration comes back again, or be a lot lot more aware than what he is now.

What I noticed that after taking his B6, he has turned a little more hyper and his stimming behaviors are back. He is starting to spin his cars, so I try to keep them out from sight, a few times I caught him walking on toes. OH NO! but that was only a few times so I am trying to observe longer just to hope those are one time cases. He also, is getting a little obsessive about things so that is a no good sign too. He sometimes do get lost in a daze, the faraway look yet he is still aware of other things and showing me other positive behaviors.

Just today, there was a display of fireworks outside my balcony, and he was actually appreciating the fireworks. We have brought him out to see fireworks before and that just went unnoticed. Today, he asked for more when it ended. He was excited and happy to see the display going off!

Then, now when his diaper is full, and he comes to me and put my hands on his diaper. As if he is trying to tell me that it is time to change his diaper and that he is feeling uncomfortable and he wants a bath YET when after he poos, he still don't show me signs of being uncomfortable. Only once, he ran to me after he pooed because he was feeling very uncomfortable and itchy due to a rash that happened. I did not notice any more of these uncomfortable signs anymore.

Is this the doing of the B6? Cant be, could it? Shall shoot his DAN doctor an email after his 14 days on difuclan. 

Updates

It has been 10 months since Jaden started his ABA program and boy, I become a prouder parent each time, every week, every month.

Jaden has been showing good progress so far, sometimes still lost in a daze but overall, he is doing well and it puts a smile on my face everytime he puts what he learn into practice.

He had never really shown an interest in wanting to play with toys and voila! now, he can even initiate and choose the toys he wants to play and plays it with a lot of patience.

Jaden is so much more aware of his surrounding and things that are going on. He is actually quite observant as he picks up whatever he sees, imitation. He tends to imitate after a while observing.

Although we (Jaden and us) did not get to achieve a breakthrough in the verbal sector, he is much more vocal now, letting us know what he likes and what he does not by of course, if he likes a thing, he would give you a million dollar smile and if he does not agree or ain't liking what he sees in front of him, he will whine and whine and closes his eyes. As if if he can't see the things, its not there to him.

Jaden's level of understanding is also much more better. He is showing higher compliance, obeying instructions although there are times when his mood is cranky then we shall just see a screaming monster. 

I tend not to allow him to get on with his ill-mannerism. Afterall I want him to learn that he would not get the things he want by showing negative behavior. I am one parent that really can't stand naughty boys, be it a special needs child or neurotypical child. Children learn fast when it comes to bad behavior and its our duty as parents to ensure that they don't go down that road. Some people do tell me that I should not use the cane on him but well, being Asian, being me, on how I was brought up, I believe that the method works. At least it shows better results than the West where children answer back at their parents,giving smartypant answers. You might say, it allows creative thinking but sorry, I ain't liking creative thinking that way. 

Since he has been showing positive results, his ABA supervisor gave the green light to move on into other programs.

We are now going to try to teach him how to blow because one may not know it but blowing, sucking, chewing helps with his oral muscle and that might just be our little needle (key) in the haystack to help open the door to Jaden being verbal. 

Other than ABA, his DAN doctors are also pushing up more supplements like vitamin B6, MB12 shots and chelation to see if that would help with the coming of speech too. I am so afraid to hear that he might be diagnosed with Oral Apraxia, which I hope its not.. I pray hes just a late talker.. 

So how does he communicate with us, you would ask. How do we know what he wants / wants to do and all. Well, its easy to tell since we are his parents. Now I understand why my parents say even before I move, they would know what I am up to next. Jaden will physically let us know where he wants to go and what he wants to do. 

Its a long tedious journey and be it how long, as long as he is my son, I shall walk on with him down this road. 

Back to Step One

Most of the supplements that I acquired beginning of Jaden's biomed journey is nearing their expiry or have either been finished.

Therefore, I truthfully told Dr Erwin Kay that in truth, Jaden has not been taking his supplements the way he should and that the only thing that I am doing for Jaden is keeping him to his GFCF diet although I do slack here and there too, even in that area. :(

So, this trip down to Dr Erwin Kay, I was given another round of basic supplements and maybe more for Jaden and now I am back to step one.

Its been two days since Jaden took this first supplement from the lot, the Digestive Enzymes and I have been seeing some good poop. Yea, I can tell what good and bad poop my son is pushing out from his ass and for the past few months, his poo has been irregular. Maybe every two days once to three days once but that too, only one or two in hard form, blackish or well, you can even tell what he ate the last two three days so that is actually a NO GOOD SIGN from Jaden's medical situation.

What we like to see is well formed big ones, those you would deem satisfying. UUrrgghh right? Well, a mom got to go through all these.. can't be all squirmish eh? but if you ask me about the smell, I would tell you the answer straightaway. They all smell like shit! Smelly or not, they are still shit! Funny how his DAN doctors keep asking if they were smelly.. but I do understand what they mean. 

So after two days on Digestive Enzymes and seeing positive results, I started on the B6 capsule, once a day -to be given in the morning only as it might caused him either hyperactiveness or vivid dreams (disturbed sleep) but so far, the thing that I observed after giving him that is that he became rather down-looking, not interested in fooling around like usual, the usual laughter and all that and what his therapist said is that he was just not laughing as what he usually will do when they piggyback him or play his favourite things. He was just looking all calm and sometimes, showing signs of being sleepy.

I never knew that we need so much vitamins in us in order to function healthy. Vitamin B6 is very much needed by Jaden to progress on to the next stage and what does the vitamin B6 do to him? Well, you can read it here. Of course, we do not only rely on the supplements he take to make his body's need suffice but also with fruits, veges and meat that provides the same benefits. 

Shall see how it goes tonight, if the B6 will affect his sleep and one more time tomorrow to see if he reacts the same to the supplement. If its all good by tomorrow then I shall be introducing the next supplement on Thursday. Don't know which one yet though. LOL Maybe the probiotics Factor 6, the one with the 100+ billion strains of the good tummy bacteria. 

We are going to head on to MB12 shots and chelation to help see if it would help in the speech sector as Jaden is showing signs of progress in other matters but speech so we are all hoping that that will come even if it means slowly but before that, well, I have got lots to do for him and also another round of antifungal and then the chelation journey.

Selfish

I have not been updating this blog for quite some time as I sort of, kind of gave up after a few tries and cried of rejection from Jaden when it comes to taking his supplements. 

The endless fights, tears from both ends and the non-supportive rattlings made me stop what I started a year ago.

This is, a very very selfish part on my side.

Jaden, who has no idea what he is going through right now, has only me and Mr to help him get on the road to recovery and me, just because I did not want to make my hands dirty, stopped feeding him supplements for quite some time and that, I really really hate myself deep down inside.

I am his mother, the one that is supposed to be helping him yet I am not.. but well, I have made my 2012 resolution and that is the one and only resolution I am making for the year 2012 until 2013 comes along and that is, to be the warrior mom I never was and to help Jaden fight this together even if it means bucket of tears from both end.

GFCF Tomato Carbonara Pasta

Looking at how Jaden's GFCF food menu did not have much of a variety for months, I tried out a recipe I found on the GFCF Lady's blog and well, it turned out to be a hit with Jaden. OK, not exactly a hit but the taste was there, neither bland or too salty so I consider it a success.

There are a few recipes on GFCF Lady's website that I know I will definitely try in the near future. In fact, I think I am going to try at least 2 or 3 a week for Jaden. Kesian, he has to eat nearly the same food every day. No harm done to me anyway, it will just help better my cooking skills .. i hope!

I did not follow the recipe exactly but tweaked it to what I have in my kitchen.

I guess its a deed of paying it forward, so I shall paste my recipe and instructions on how to cook this dish. Simple, fuss free to the max.

Ingredients

• 6 Organic Tomatoes
• 1 or 2 Red Onion
• 5 pieces of garlic (skin peeled and mashed a bit) 
• Minced garlic (to fry with the minced beef)
• half a pack of the chopped basil leaves
• Minced beef (you can also use bacon)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of xylitol ( sugar )
• a big sprinkle of sea salt (sprinkle to your common sense on how much its needed to make the sauce tasteful)
• 3/4 pack of gluten free pasta (spaghetti / fettuccini)
• Italian herb

Recipe

1. While you are preparing the ingredients, bring the water in the pot to boil to cook the pasta.
2. Make sure the water is boiling hot, put in a teaspoon of salt or whatever that is reasonable enough to make the pasta tasteful.
3. Add the pasta -cook accordingly to the time instructed.
4. Cut the tomatoes and onion into quarter and throw them into the blender together with the mashed garlic and chopped basil leaves.
5. Pour olive oil into the blender, not too much and sprinkle a generous amount of sea salt and blend.
6. Next, drizzle a little olive oil into the pot and fry the minced garlic till it nearly turns brown.
7. Put in the minced beef, sprinkle salt, black pepper and italian herb and fry them till its cooked.
8. Next, pour the blended sauce into the pot and bring it to a boil (medium heat)
9. Put a teaspoon of xylitol into the sauce and taste to see if its a nice combination of saltyness and sweetness. Not too sweet of course. If not salty enough, add a bit more salt.
10. Once the pasta is cooked, pour away the water and pour in the cooked sauce.
11. Toss the pasta so that it will be coated in the sauce evenly.
12. Let the pot of pasta cook over the fire for a little longer while you toss from time to time.
13. Now you are ready to serve.

Sounds simple, no frills right? I appreciate simple recipes like these, for I am really a noob when it comes to cooking so ingredients and recipes require a bit more thinking just doesn't work for me.

Do share with me if you decide to try this recipe out. :)

Hiatus

I have not been updating quite as often as I thought. Such procrastination from my side.

I have already been down to Singapore  trips to consult with Dr Erwin Kay and a lot more of supplements have been prescribed but me, being the worrisome mother held back quite long on certain supplements.

Sometime back late March till early April, we noticed that Jaden was stimming back again and his OCD-like behavior in opening and closing of cabinet doors got to us. Dr Erwin then prescribed another round of antifungal (drug-based) Nizoral and Bactrim which Jaden is supposed to go on a 10 day course but after asking around other parents, I decided to wait for a while and see if Jaden will improve without those meds. Instead, I cut down on certain foods or put in less of whatever I use to cook.

True enough, his stimming and OCD-like went away in about a month on his own, and that, put my heart at ease for a while as I was so worried that the drug-based antifungal might affect his liver.

And then before that, when I was down in January earlier on, Jaden was given the green light to start his AC protocol chelation but me, such a procrastinator, did not manage to start chelating him even after getting back the urine test kits (before and after to test for metals and minerals).

So now, this trip, last weekend I informed Dr Erwin about Jaden's status -in ABA, normal days and how he fare on his basic routine supplements. Seems like Jaden is showing much more awareness in terms of emotions and learning skills although he still has his temper right left and center.

He seemed to be eager to imitate his father but attempting to do the flying kiss action and also trying to drink from a bottle (coke bottle kinda bottle). He seems to think whatever his father does is fun but not all the time.

Jaden also seemed to be attracted to newspapers, namecards, namelist - practically anything with small alphabets, numbers and objects which he likes to compare and observe. He is still non-verbal until now but making more attempts in talking in his own language -displaying his happiness and of course, displeasure.

Jaden fell sick about three weeks ago and he shed a few kgs off during the sick period. It was rather nasty as I have not seen him fall sick like this before. It comes and go and it came back, with runny nose and cough. I was so afraid that he might get a sore throat that was as bad as me so I made him drink lots and lots of water.

So for now, we will continue with the chelation protocol but this time round, it would be the Calcium Disodium EDTA suppository form. As most parents would have read up about how two kids in United States of America has fallen victim to the wrong EDTA prescribed, I double checked and understood that I have to feed him more calcium-mag as well as when the body is chelating out the metals, they also chelate out certain good minerals so it is very important to double up his supplements.

To kick things off, I will probably introduce TMG, OSR and milk thistle to the supplement list, followed by calcium-magnesium then the chelation which I hope to start at least by next week Monday.

Since I came back from Singapore, 18th June, after an overnight trip there and also paying a visit to fellow mummy Anna in Singapore, sharing experiences and she showing me how her VABA therapy is done for her son, it sure was one eye opener. She is really doing great, the way she diligently updates her son's therapy tools, being strict on every organic and gfcfsf meals. I bow my head in respect as I think I failed in some areas.

Jaden was feeling all moody and tired all the time too eversince my trip. It was as if he has not recovered fully and would sleep till really late into the afternoon. He looked so sad that I decided enough was enough, time to ask experienced parents out there for some advice and quickly, putting their advice into action. True enough, by nightime and the next day, Jaden showed some positive results. No longer feeling lethargic although he would still nap for about 3 hours but at least he seems much more cheerful, back to his smiley cheeky self.

So what was the trick to all of that from my side when Jaden is feeling all down, tired, no mood to do anything or deal with anyone -its pumping him with more fruits, probiotics (2 caps of Therbiotic Complete and Detox / twice daily and 2 S.Boulardii at night once a day), double up on zinc, instead of 2 caps daily, i turned it into 4 caps daily, his digestive enzymes and interfase, I gave him two DE intead of one each time and 2 caps of interfase too, so it brings it up to 3 times a day, meaning 12caps a day and of course, his normal routine Taurine, Chromium Picolinate, Prothera Methyfolate and cod liver oil. Some parents have advised to give more cod liver oil but I think a spoon a day at the moment is sufficient enough.

It was more to basically more fruits too and water and sitting with him, comforting him. Well, he was so sticky to me that it was really surprising to see him reject his father. Nobody could understand why but he never let me out of his sight and stuck really close to me at all times.

Now that he is feeling better and back to his normal self, guess its time I put my procastination behind, start typing out a whole new list of supplement list and arranging supp feeding time for Jaden. 

Home-based ABA

We knew we had to send Jaden for therapies but what therapies? 

Searching around blogs, autism websites, asking around parents who have experiences in these and finally trying to sort which therapy suits Jaden best.

Finally, after giving in some consideration, Mr and I decided to do ABA first for Jaden.

We were actually torn between RDI and ABA but I wanted something more solid, something much more strict that he can stick to a schedule instead of relying on me to be the 'therapist' in the RDI therapy.

Intan Miranti from ANDI Initiative came over to the house and gave us her point of view in ABA therapy. She was really  great help. She gave us her point of view as a mother and also as a therapist. She, of course was open-minded to whom we will hire in the end and even gave me some contacts for me to call and talk to, just to let me understand which therapy schedule would suit both Jaden and I best.

Intan even gave us a rough breakdown of how much home-based would cost compared to the centre-based pricing I got from the Internet and calls made. She explained to us the pros and cons and boy, these therapies don't come cheap. Really really not cheap. One month of the therapy can costs somehow  more than my annual private school fees back in my days.Centre-based? Well, one of the centre's one month fees costs as much as today's private school annual fee. Yes! That is how expensive these treatments are to have these children recover.

When we decided to go ahead with ABA, Intan truthfully told me she was not sure if she could take my case up, because she had other things running too from her organization. She recommended me another well-known supervisor, Carmen.

I was so grateful when Carmen agreed to take my case up. She has already taken on about 40 families, and to be able to slot me in was heaven-sent. Partly was also due to where I was staying. I practically stay 10 minutes away from her. 

Carmen, too came over to the house to evaluate Jaden and told us her plans for Jaden. Then she set out to find us suitable therapists whom she thinks will be able to handle Jaden and after months of me hoping to get Jaden started on therapy, my prayers were answered. Carmen smsed me in the middle of February and told me she found me two therapists for Jaden and a meeting was set up. That was possibly what made my whole Chinese New Year seems hopeful and happier.

Fast forward, today in the morning and early afternoon, was Jaden's first ABA class with his two therapists.

We were actually expecting some cries, resistance but *touch wood* it all went smoothly and the only resistance we got was he did not want class to end! 

Well, this is another step forward taken, another new beginning and I pray that more positivity will follow along.

Therbiotic Complete & Boulardii

Jaden went all hyper last night, treating the bed like his trampoline, jumping the night away till I showed him I meant business.

His behavior was pretty satisfying, and he didn't attempt to cry so I didn't lay the cane down on him. I only showed him as a threat but well, he does not know about that. =)

He woke up this morning, and was behaving through except for the occasional stubborness he put up in the bedroom after his bathtime. He has this bad habit of opening up my wardrobe and drawers and trying to take everything out. Of course, that would result him in getting cane marks on his legs or hand and he will go crying to daddy who will say I am crazy.

Mr took him down to the badminton court for a walk and a change of scenery during the evening and both father and son were just enjoying the view of the main road instead. That was what Jaden wanted anyway. 

Appetite is getting better and he knows how to look for food on his own, by going to the fridge now and only pulling out his snacks if he is really hungry. He will follow me around in the kitchen, showing me signs that he wants to eat instead of throwing tantrum now but well, sometimes, he will still lose his temper and start crying. 

Today, I gave him his first capsule of Therbiotic Complete together with his Therbiotic Detox. He will have to take them one more time later tonight and also the Boulardii, just before bedtime.

He has yet have any bowel movement. Oh no! Is he back being constipated? I sure hope not. Going to down more fluids down his throat to see if it will help move his bowels and give me a diaper to change. Its not really good news for me if he does not have his daily 'business'.

 

Fluconazole #day14 -LAST DAY

I can't believe it that 14 days is up today. No more waiting till after the third meal to feed him his antibiotics before he sleeps. From tomorrow onwards, it will be more probiotics to make his gut hostile for the yeast to find it hard to grow in there. It is the nasty yeast, bacteria and mercury in these autism children that makes them what they are. As long as these nasty things are out of them or cured to the least numbers, they are sure to get back on track with their neurotypical peers.

Jaden has been pretty much tolerable these past 14 days that he was taking the antifungal. I am not very sure if the die-off reaction was supposed to take place when he takes them or would it happen only after today now that he is off it, and the probiotics would help fight the battle from inside out?

I have emailed Dr E today Jaden's progress so far and hopefully his reply will give me some insights on what to expect or have Jaden done well so far. 

Jaden pooped twice today. The earlier poo was more greenish this time, and more loose watery-diarrhea like while his second poo is more formed and mustardy yellow in colour with those nasty white looking strains. Are those the yeast that are leaving the body or are those his undigested rice grains, now that it struck me that it might be just that. LOL

Last night, for the first time after three-four days of putting up a fight before sleep, was being his goody self again, quietly tossing and turning before he slept off on his own. I hope it will remain like this from now onwards because it makes both our lives easier. Me, not having to get angry and Jaden, not having to sleep with difficulty due to the mucus all inside him.

I am confident that my weighing scale is not in default mode because I weighed him today again just to be sure that my eyes are not playing tricks on me last night and Jaden finally weighs 17kg! It is such a happy news for me because this means one step forward in gut recovery. That his guts are actually absorbing the goodness and not leaking them out or at least that is how I like to picture the scenario. 

Jaden still has one last round of antibiotics to go before I call it all wraps for the antifungal course and hopefully we wont have him take it again. The second time, maybe I would want to go for GSE instead of Diflucan. I don't mind if his die off reaction can get really bad but at least I would not have to worry that it might hurt his liver.

I forgot to mention that beginning yesterday, January 8th, I have started him on another new supplement, which is the Prothera MethylFolate. Since it is a non bitter tasting capsule, I mixed it all together with the Awakening Spectrum, Methycobalmin, Zinc plus and Chromium Picolinate.

Jaden is starting to play with his toys, which he showed little interest last time we took it out for him. Now, he knows how to pull them apart when we fixed them together instead of just throwing it on the floor to let it break open by itself. On some occasions, he would pick out cars of the same colour and put them aside and proceed on to the other coloured cars until no cars are left in the box. I truly see this as an improvement in play.

I know we would still have quite a long way to go but like I said in my first post, slowly but surely!

-end of day 14 update-

10 things ...

Fluconazole #day 13

Today has been rather good although he seemed tired enough to want to nap and nap he did when we went out to Ikano for dinner.

He woke up at his usual time, which was about 230pm and we did our routine, DE then meal sprinkled with taurine and fluconazole, followed by his antibiotics after meal, then awakening spectrum, methycobalmin, zinc plus and chromium picolinate in 2 teaspoon of banana juice diluted with water. After two hours, I gave him his klaire detox and cod liver oil. An hour half later, it was back to taking DE and getting ready for his second meal. 

I made sure I fed him full, food sprinkled with another fluconazole and his antibiotics before we went out so he wont demand for food or go cranky when he see others eat. Who knew, he fell asleep moments after we strapped him in his stroller while waiting for our table.

He woke up a few minutes after we finished our dinner, and he remain just quiet in his stroller. I tried to show him toys at Ikea but he refused all of them, even the pillows which he would have love so much to cuddle last time. We quickly bought what we have to for his ABA therapy at Ikea and came home before he throws a tantrum.

Anyway ....

Today he let go one big poo, this time yellow mustardy looking, a little diarrhea like. It is as if to make up for yesterday's small poo.

Tantrum wise, he is pretty ok today except for the 15 minutes of crying due to him feeling too bored. Sometimes I really feel sorry for the boy that we are unable to find time to bring him to a park to run. *sigh

I hope I am not saying it too soon because bedtime has yet to come and recently, he has been crying really badly before he sleeps and the thing is, he cries for no particular reason. He just suddenly burst into this mood all of a sudden from a smiling sweet little boy to some unreasonable little monster. Sometimes it gets so bad, I just put on my earphones and let the music drown out his cries which will eventually turn to sobs and then snores...

 

I hope my weighing scale is not spoiled but I just bought it today. I weighed the boy and it seemed that he went up from 15kg to either 16 or 17kg. He would not really stand still but even if it did, it sort of pointed at 16kg. yay!! Dr E did mention that the boy should either maintain his weight or put on weight but not lose weight. If he loses weight, means there is something wrong with his gut still so I guess Jaden is on the right path and I really pray it will keep moving that positive way.

-end of day 13 update-

Fluconazole #day 12

Jaden threw major tantrum again last night before bedtime. This time, we did not even evoke the monster but the monster within him woke up on its own and the boy was crying for no apparent reason, just refusing to sleep. We ignored him as usual and soon, he fell asleep on his own... after some time.

He only pooed once today and it looked like this. It is considered quite little compared to the usual he usually let go. This is his dark chocolatey looking poo.

For three days now in a row, I noticed that he only throws tantrum around night time, nearing bedtime or during bedtime. One minute hes a happy boy taking his bath before bedtime, the next minute, hes a little crying monster in his pyjamas.

Appetite is getting a little bit better but he is still not consuming as much as he used to. At least he is eating. Today is TAURINE day two and he seems fine with it. Maybe a little hyper here and there but acceptable.

Now after ending this post, its on to another round of Digestive Enzymes, then dinner and then antibiotics, followed by probio just before bedtime. 2 more days to go now for the anti fungal and antibiotics.

I foresee another round of tantrum throwing that is going to start soon. God bless my sanity.

-end of day 12 update-

Fluconazole #day 11

Last night was quite a nightmare for Mr and I. Jaden's mood swings were rather bad and lets just say, he kept crying and then stopping and then crying until Mr has to get out of the room to get peace.

As for Jaden, he fell asleep soon after the father left the room. Hmm...

As usual, I got blamed for Jaden's crying, getting accused for spoiling Jaden's mood before he sleeps whereas the truth is that Jaden was in just one of his crazy mood swings.Was it wrong in the first place for me to whack Jaden for opening my wardrobe and taking everything out and throw it all over the floor?

I added on TAURINE today to his line of supplements. I sprinkled it on his food and he ate it all down without suspecting a thing. I read it somewhere that its best for taurine to go with food so it can perform its specific task as its best. Not sure how true it is, but well, as long as it goes down his throat and into wherever it must be at.

I don't think I see any side effects to TAURINE in Jaden but well, will keep a lookout for at least these two days before I start off on the next supplement.

Jaden is still looking quite hyper today but the giddyness has subsided. *phew* and the uncontrollable mood swings too. So I am guessing it must be the hazelnut milk or the chocolate in it. Maybe its the milk overall. Well, I guess I will soon find out once Vance DariFree Chocolate Milk makes its way into my kitchen. Jaden's godmother has gone all out to source the potato milk for him and bought it for him today so I am just waiting for her to come KL to pass it to me.

Anyway, back to his antifungal status today, he is at Day 11 and his stool, formed, big (not as big as yesterday's) and a bit more brownish in colour.

Appetite wise, hes still not back to his usual hearty meals but less resistance compared to the earlier days when we introduced antifungal to him. I have been giving him probiotics twice daily since he got on antifungal. The second one usually before bedtime but I think I have to give more to let his body build resistance against the growth of yeast. 

If I am not mistaken, I am supposed to give him four times a day after he is off the antifungals. I better email Dr Erwin and ask again a day before Jaden finishes his 14 day course of antifungal & antibiotics.

Jaden finally discovered how to leverage his strength to open the fridge door and that gives me another reason to worry that he might just decide to take anything from the fridge and put it inside his mouth. I have been caning him since to let him know that he will get the cane each time he opens the fridge door. I hope he will stop it soon or think twice about opening the fridge.

The thing about me caning him is that he learn not to do it, but then its only when I am near him. For example, he keeps throwing my books placed on the bedside makeshift table down the floor, but after today's whacking, me showing my displeasure at his actions, he actually picked up the books from the floor even if he accidentally knock them over. So tell me, why stop disciplining him the way it is effective? at least for now till his ABA therapy starts and hopefully that will teach him to be more compliant.

The home-based ABA supervisor came over yesterday to assess Jaden and drew a list of program for Jaden. Now, she will source for therapists then we can start off his ABA therapy. Finally!! YAY!

-end of day 11 update-

Fluconazole #day 10

Today he went all giggly and then all of a sudden, fall into the crying mood swings. Well, this time I don't think it is the supplement acting up inside him but the hazelnut chocolate milk I bought back to let him try.

One mother I got to know did informed me that chocolate do give the children behavioral problem and boy, she was damn right!

It was like an instant thing that you know it is the fault of the chocolate hazelnut milk that triggered off the giddyness and mood swings because I didn't have that problem with Jaden for quite a very long time now and it sort of scares me to see him back in that state. So instead of letting him finish the carton of milk before I stop it, I downed it all. No behavioral issues with me, thats for sure! :)

We were out grocery shopping today and he was giggling all the way, uncontrollable and people passing us by were looking at him in a funny manner. This time round, I didn't feel embarassed or feel I have a need to find a reason to cover up his giddyness nor do I have to give people explanation why Jaden is acting this way. My son is not a neuro-typical child but as long as he stays healthy and grows up fine, I am good with his giggling. I prefer him to giggle than cry anytime.

Anyway, back to his behavioral problems today, definitely no more chocolate milk for him to drink, even if it is rice, potato or hazelnut.

Today he poo-ed one large diarrhea looking mustardy stool. Its amazing to see how big the stool can come out from that small ass of his. He only poo-ed once today. 

The chocolate in him really seems to take a very long time to get out from his body system as he is still all giddy and then the next minute, throwing himself about and then giggling again. *sigh* I hope it will leave by the time he wakes up tomorrow.

-end of day 10 update-

Fluconazole #day 9

Jaden woke up at 9 this morning again but fell back asleep after an hour up sitting on the bed. He then slept till about 3pm before he woke up for good.

Threw mini resistance during his 'breakfast' but complied and finished his meal. 

Mood is pretty stable today, and while he was out and about with me driving around town, he stayed a good boy all the way.

I now no longer think it is the zinc plus supplement that triggered off his spinning around. He did not really do it today. Its just that he keeps wanting to bite on something, to chew.

He has yet to pass motion for the day, probably later after his last meal of the day or would he not be doing any bowel cleaning today??? Could he be constipated today but he is eating the same amount and right amount of fluids.

-end of day 9 update-

Fluconazole #day 8

Nothing much to update except that he pooped three times today but all three were in small quantity. Colour wise, earlier two were yellow mustardy while the last one for the night was dark brown kind of. 

Temper today was ok. Today he actually ate all his meals without putting up any fight.

He was caught stimming though, spinning round the room more than usual. I can't say for jumping, for that is what he usually does but for spinning, he has actually cut down on that activity but I saw it come back after giving him the zinc plus.

Yesterday I gave him two capsules as prescribed and he was spinning nearly all day long but today, I cut down the dosage and only gave him one after his breakfast and well, it did looked like the activity was reduced. I am going to observe again tomorrow to see if it is the zinc that causes it. If it is not, then its on to the next new supplement.

There seemed to be a breakthrough to him, that he actually much more aware of everything. He is actually up to mischief and will bait us to tease us. For example, he knows he is not supposed / allowed to take my hair clip and put it inside his mouth but he will still take it, wait for me to look at him, smile cheekily and puts it near his mouth. He seems to testing reaction and I assume he thinks it is fun to see us clambering across the room and lunged at him!

It had been quite some time now that whenever I put his pants on for him, I will tell him which side of the leg I want him to put. I thought that he was just doing it routinely by giving me his left feet forward first all the time so I tend to switch my instructions from left leg today, right leg the next and today itself, I think he actually understands which one is his left leg, and which side is his right leg! YAY!

Oh! and one more new thing I observed is that he is starting to play back a few toys that he has long ignored. He is actually attempting to fix blocks (but still need our reassurance and guidance to put it back together / pull it apart) Last time, he would pull his hands away from us and stay far away from the toy but today, he totally complied and does what he was taught. Another YAY!

Next task, to teach him his right and left hand...

-end of day 8 update-

Fluconazole #day 7

Jaden had a meltdown on the way home from grocery shopping again today. He started crying unreasonably, throwing himself about and this lasted for quite some time. Usually he will stop when we reach home but not today.

Mr and I thought he was sleepy due to waking up early this morning but that was not the case. If he was tired and really wanted a nap he would have dozed off in the span of a few seconds I rock him in his bassinet. Nope, he continued crying and since I really did not know what he wanted, I left him all alone to cry.

After a while, he calmed down and came running out to his father, requesting for food. Since he just ate his lunch before we went grocery shopping, I gave his father the box of Orgran biscottis to feed him and the boy finished the whole box. 

Other than antifungals in his med/supplement intake, I added on zinc into his biomed menu. 

He poo-ed twice today. Mustardy looking stools again, the first one which was rather a lot but this time, it sort of look a bit reddish yet does not seem like he was shitting blood and the second one, two small pieces with that whitish strands of fibre-looking stuff.

Mealtimes still consists of him crying and me scolding. Today seems a little better than the last two days but well, it still frustrates me.

Oh! One thing unusual from his previous 6 days is that today he is extra giggly but I have changed nothing in his food menu. So I don't really know what triggered off the giggly mood.

Mr also commented that he noticed that Jaden has stopped doing the face spasm action for quite some time now. Its pretty good news to us but I have to see it for myself. I must have really let this slipped past my observation, trying to observe for side effects instead of positive effects. *sigh* careless me!

Thats about it the update for day 7 of fluconazole intake. One week down, one week more to go. 

-end of day 7 update-

Zinc -ed!

I added a new supplement into his daily intake. 

Today, I added the Klaire Lab zinc plus into his supplement menu. Zinc, should be fine with no major heart attack side effects to look out for. 

I mean, there are always side effects to whatever drugs or things we consume but as long as he keeps to the dosage Dr Erwin prescribed, it should be fine.

Our daily meals should have contain all the right amount of zinc in them and oysters are the best source of zinc actually. Its just that Jaden is highly allergic to oysters and well, we are keeping seafood out of his diet for now to avoid any increase in his mercury level as he is already considered quite high in metal toxicity.

At first, I was quite scared to open the bottle for fear that it might have a strong bitter drug taste. Luckily, it has no smell and I doubt that it affects the taste of the juice he drinks it with because Jaden just sipped his juice without showing any reluctance.

Jaden will be taking this zinc plus twice daily after his meals. 

Well, after three days into zinc and hoping he will cope well with it, I will be introducing another new supplement to add on to whatever he has already been taking.

Fluconazole #day6

Jaden decided to allow the whole family to sleep in late today. Maybe its just his way of celebrating 2011.

I actually got to sleep till about noon while both father and son slept till about 330pm. Can you imagine that? Jaden actually slept for a full cycle of 12 hours for the first time in 5 days after consuming his antifungal med and antibiotics.

Today, before his second meal, he started having mood swings and was shaking his head, wanting to burst into tears kinda, which he did when he was eating his food.

This has been going on for quite some time now and it has become so frustrating for the three of us at home. The BIG one frustrated at all the cries and my threats, my shouts, the SMALL one frustrated because he is forced to eat his food, yet he can't be verbal enough to tell out why he do not want to eat. Me? I am frustrated because I am not getting any support from the BIG one and the SMALL one crying at every single meal time, which he will purposely cough up everything, spilling all over the floor and table, or crying with his mouth open so the food will fall out and he knows he won't have to eat those.

Jaden has these tendencies to put everything inside his mouth, chewing away on anything he can find.. and it really pisses me off because he does not know how to differentiate between food or just dirty droppings on the floor. It really gets so tiring and stressing to have to keep an eye on him every single second when I have so much more other stuff to do. I am not able to keep him in sight every single second and my heart skips a bit each time he is out of sight because the boy is definitely up to no good. If he is not finding things to bite or chew, he is climbing up high on the couch or the grill gates or shelves or playing with electrical switches or pulling out drawers throwing my make-up, bottles on the floor. *sigh*

It seems that Jaden has developed a new hunger for paper and is seen biting and chewing off namecards, books and whatever that is papery. It is so hard for me to keep count on the times I have scolded, hid the papers, caned him but to no avail. His GPS seems to always work right and he will soon find where I hid those namecards, or his books and start the annoying diet. 

Today is the first day he actually had diarrhea-like poo. Yellow mustardy, diarrhea style, a lot but it is not fouled foul type. Instead, it kinda smells sweet. Today I did feed him plum and the last time he had plum, his stool smelt kind of sweet too? Could the sweetness be coming from the plum? But he only had a few bites of that particular fruit. This is the first poo and I assume, at this point of time I am writing this post, it will be his first and only poo of today.

Other than the moodswing before his second meal today, there seems to be no major outbreak of tantrums. Hes more likely to be giddy, giggly than angry.

-end of day 6 update-