Thankful: PANDAS Update #6

Eric and I very tentatively agreed to ight that Catherine is getting better.

We didn't see much difference on the penicillin, and she even developed new tics.  So I said to hell with modern medicine, and went the natural route.

I don't know if it's the figs and dates we feed her three times a day. Or the magnesium we give her every day. Or the lavender and Epsom salt baths we give her every other day. Or the oregano oil I diffuse in her room every night. Or the melatonin we give her every night. Or the 2000 mg grams (10 pills) of fish oil we give her every day, in three mighty doses.

We don't know if it's the gluten free, dairy free, soy free, artificial dye free, artificial flavor free, banana/berry/melon free diet we have her on. Which, by the way, we started, balls to the wall, last Monday.

We don't know if it's the fact that she is now beginning to access those files that she has had all along or if she is simply developing. Is she actually getting better? Or just moving to the next stage in her oh-so-late development?

But she is trying new things. Her behaviors aren't out of control. Her tics are almost completely gone unless she is extremely tired, which is usually by 6 p.m. every night. She LOOKS healthy. She seems happier. She plays better with her siblings. Her aggression is nearly gone.

Her anxieties are still there, but tonight Eric and I discussed if this might just be the by-product of learned behaviors. Catherine is slowly learning how to be brave. At the park today, she climbed the ladders by herself and went down. The gigantic three story (15 ft) enclosed slide by herself. Two months ago, she would have been screaming at the second story for one of us, throwing a fit in front of everyone, flailing her arms and legs about, and then begging for us to take her back down. That's IF she even got that far.

Her words are becoming clearer. She is attempting to use new words. She runs more normal every day. She insists on walking more than she ever has. She understands choices instead of fixating on exactly what she wants to do.

Something is changing, and we are quietly holding our breath, squeezing our eyes tight, and praying that this, whatever THIS is, takes us out of these dark, dark woods.

I am crossing my fingers, praying, hoping, continuing to seek answers, and religiously feeding Catherine natural supplement after natural supplement.

We are seeing glimpses of the Catherine that we knew was in there. She is giving us glimpses of the knowledge she has, and she is smart. It's like she has all the files, but she can't access than all the time.

Keep praying, friends. We can feel it.