The Summer always seems to go by so quickly! Arianna was able to attend camp a few days each week and had fun on field trips with friends. 

This was Arianna's first day being a 4th grader.

Some fun at the fair ~ we love seeing all the animals and of course a few rides as well. 

Pretty young lady ready for picture day at school

Seeing her smile so much is the best! This is the first she has ridden a bike since about the age of 2. She was always afraid to even try but this shows how far she has come so far!

Trick or treating time for the little tinkerbell fairy :D

Hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy to help kick start more healing in her brain

It's almost back to school time!

Summer has been LOTS of fun this year! Arianna has been attending camp and spends her time on field trips to the zoo, many local farms, waterparks, bowling, museums in Detroit and LOTS more fun places to come this month before she starts 4th grade. 

This October I will be speaking at her school before the monthly PTA meeting on the topic of nutrition and the link to ADD/ADHD and behavior and learning troubles. If you are local in Rochester school district, please attend the October PTA meeting for some great information about nutritional changes, behavior therapies and family habits you can adapt as well as foods and products to avoid to help your child get the most of their educational experience to give them a great future!

Welcome summer!!!

Summer is finally here! Arianna is now a future 4th grader and she finished off the last few months at her new school wonderfully and I couldn't be more proud of her. Camp started this week and so far it's been a trip to the zoo and a wildlife center. Every week she'll get to travel somewhere to spend time with friends and have adventures while mom has research and classwork to do for my doctorate program. 

Arianna worked very hard making bracelets since last year to save money for a trip to Florida to swim with dolphins... we plan to go this fall and will be sure to share some pictures from our vacation when we get back. 

Happy New Year 2013

Can't believe it's been since last summer since I've update this blog. There's been so much that has happened I don't even know where to begin! 

Arianna spent summer of 2012 at camp with the daycare she was attending. She got to go on allot of different field trips to parks, the zoo, museums, karate class and more. We didn't do much hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions this summer as we had pretty much drained our financial resources earlier in 2012, but Arianna still continues to improve little by little. 

Fall of 2012 she started the 3rd grade at Hamlin Elementary...wow is she getting tall! We were also finally able to get her vision tested (that was quite the bad experience) but she seems to do well wearing her glasses to see the board at school now. At the beginning of the school year I was informed that after they did the initial testing that Arianna no longer qualified for the Autism Program because she doesn't have any emotional or behavior issues and that they were going to prepare her to transfer to her "home school" which should be North Hill because of where we live, and she would be a typical 3rd grader with only resource room support for math and reading comprehension. Hearing that information shocked me quite a bit and I truly did not want her to have to leave the school she's known since kindergarten, but we had no choice. 

So, for the first half of her 3rd grade year she was totally mainstreamed in class with her friends and barely visited the ASD room at all. They were pushing her more and more to be independent and to be responsible for following along in the classroom and all other events at school. This made me so very happy as this was my main goal in this journey, for her to become a typical 8 year old girl but I was also concerned with changing schools, routines, making new friends....a ton of change which isn't always great to deal with.

Halloween time was allot of fun this year. Arianna chose her own costume and got to trick or treat downtown as well as at the Detroit Zoo. She's been doing great at school and her homework is done almost totally independent without much help from me. She can read, write, do math and is awesome at spelling words. She also has made some best friends the last few years and even more in just the last few months of 3rd grade.  All the children at her current school were being prepared for Arianna to leave after the holiday break and they each wrote her letters and notes wishing her well and that they would miss her.  Yes... I cried allot going through each of them to see how much my little girl was liked and thought of... it really meant allot to us both. 

We attend a Santa brunch every year and look forward to it since preschool. It's for all children in the special education from our district schools. I can say for the first time since Arianna was 4 years old, we no longer "fit" this event. Although we are told we will always be invited to come, Arianna is one of very few children that started the same school district who has improved. I see allot of the same children and parents every year and each year I see the children the same or worse off than they were before. No improvements, no changes just "there". It saddens me to know that people give up so easily when things get tough. Trying to heal your child is draining both emotionally and financially. It will test and/or dissolve relationships or marriages and can be very easy to want to toss in the towel and give up. I'm SO glad that I didn't do that...I knew I couldn't. If I had stopped trying and researching and begging doctors I could afford to follow protocols that I developed from staying up for days on end searching for answers, I wouldn't have the sweet, social, happy, smart and mostly independent daughter that I do today. 


Christmas break I spent trying to prepare Arianna for getting on a new bus and going to a totally foreign school with all new people. In the months prior to her transfer, I had meetings a few times with both teams from both schools... me and a room full of teachers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, the new principal and resource room supports. The crazy thing is that after all these years of dealing with IEP meetings and school staff... it was me who was telling this room full of 15 or more people what they need to do for my child instead of what I experienced when Arianna was 18 months old, in a room full of whoever they were telling me that there was NOTHING that could be done for her. 


January 7th was the first day at her new school. Prior to this we gave Arianna a tour of the new place, all the people she would need to know, where her room and desk were, the gym and cafeteria and so on. Lets just say that no matter how much prep work we did, it was still difficult.  The first few weeks were terrible to say the least. She was emotional, anxious, crying and we didn't even attempt homework. All we did was what we could to make it through a day and night without both falling apart. But as week two and week three came along, so did the adjustments. 

It's only been 6 weeks at the new school and Arianna was greeted and accepted by all her new classmates. She's made new friends, does fairly well getting around the new layout she's not used to maneuvering herself but we are thankful that her old school sent a para professional she knows along with her and they are keeping her there until the end of this school year. 

There are some issues with the larger class sizes, more noise and the occasional off day, but with Arianna in a regular classroom following the same curriculum except for a modified math and reading program, she will now be able to receive a high school diploma which was not possible if she did not get to the point she is at today. 

This is still a process to help improve the last of the damage done by all the toxins she was subjected to almost 9 years ago when she was born from vaccines and other environmental pollutants. Comprehension and independent thoughts and conversation are the last areas we are working on. These are the areas of her brain which were hit the hardest so they will take the longest to heal.  I hope to be able to do more hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy with her over the summer break to help her brain heal more as well as some extra intensive one on one therapy for reading comprehension and interactive speech. 

Will try to update a little more often as to how this year progresses for her and any new improvements or developments. God Bless!

It's been a while since we've had time to update the blog since our last adventure which was our trip to florida in november last year. So here's some catching up of what's been going on since then...

Thursday was Arianna's last day as a second grader. I'm SO proud of how much she's grown and learned this past school year. Next year in 3rd grade she will be independantly in her general education classroom about 90% of her day - this is g...reat for her and she's made some great little friends who she will get to spend time with over summer break. If you would've asked me even 2 years ago if I thought she would have this much improvement and independance, I'd think you were crazy! But to actually SEE all that she is able to do on her own now makes me crazy with happy tears for her. I love you Arianna Rose! ♥

Last month we also got to spend an entire day at a carnival that was in town. Last year Arianna wasn't too thrilled with carnival rides but this year - WOW did she have a blast! After about 5 or 6 hours of roller coaster, ferris wheel, spinning and twirling rides, the hang-glider ride and many others I was tired out! Arianna fell asleep in about 5 minutes that night after all this excitement. She is so much fun to be with and really enjoys all the events she gets to experience this past year.

 

 

 

Arianna got to have a fun Hello Kitty birthday party for her 8th birthday this year. She really enjoyed having her friends over to play with her and celebrate with us all.

 

 

learning how to do the hoola hoop - a gift from our favorite Miss Susan

We look forward to lots of fun activities through the summer vacation. Arianna will be at summer daycare camp and gets to go on allot of field trips to different places like the zoo, cj barrymores for putt putt golfing, a karate place, parks and more.

In July we'll be getting in 4 sessions of hyperbaric while I'm off work week of the 4th of July. Hoping for a little more healing while we can get some visits in.

Enjoy your summer everyone!!

 

Florida was a great time!

Florida was nice, warm and mostly sunny for us. We visited Disney for a day as well as Sea World. Got to swim in the pool every other day and just enjoyed family time - - was very nice!

The sunday after we got home, Arianna had her Santa Claus brunch which she enjoyed.

Took an extra week off from hbot sessions due to stuffy noses/heads but will be back at it next week. Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! :)

Florida...we're on our way soon!

We have 25 hyperbaric sessions done, 5 more this coming week Monday thru Friday and then off to have a week of fun in Florida Saturday & can hardly wait! A day to Disney's Magic Kingdom is on our list (Grandma's wish before she passed away) and another day at Sea World...plus lots of relaxing & family time and seeing the local sites around Kissmmee/Orlando.  Once we're back from vacation we have 10 more sessions to reach our 40.

Arianna's had some good results/improvements so far with her starting Autism score (ATEC) this round was at 20...friday she tested at 13 (the # we ended with after hbot in 2010). Goal is to reach ZERO or come as close as possible to that for 100% healing. Hard to believe she started at a score of 68 June 2010.  She's a math pro, reading comprehension has improved greatly, spelling has always been a strong point with her memory skills and she's much more independant at school.  We've been keeping up with supplements during these sessions as well as keeping her diet clean the majority of the time which is a must. Reading books, practicing school work, playing games requiring her to think/make decisions and one-on-one time replaces television/movies/"vegging out" time spent doing non productive things by herself.

Can't thank The Center for TLC enough for going above & beyond to meet our schedule requirements to get this hyperbaric done for Arianna. Really appreciate my employer who arranged my schedule to allow me the time to take her & the school for being on board with this mission as she misses some of her day for us to get the sessions in each morning. You're all helping a little girl have a chance at a future she deserves and I can never put in words how much that means to us both.

Princess Jasmine....Arianna style :O)

Arianna got to do ALLOT of fun stuff yesterday with our good friend Miss Susan. Downtown Rochester trick or treating AND the ZOO BOO at Detroit Zoo. She told Susan that "this was the best day ever!" Glad she had such a great time. :)

HBOT updates...

Well, tomorrow is #15 of 40 sessions and have to say i'm seeing improvements! Just over 3 weeks ago homework was quite a chore including meltdowns, crying, needing breaks and more. Math concepts and reading comprehension were difficult as well - a huge challenge trying to teach and understand. NOW..Arianna has reached her goals already and will be getting new ones at school, math concepts come much easier, reading comprehension has improved 80% and homework...she does it 90% independent every single night and she's SMILING through it all! VERY proud mom and so happy that her brain is starting to work at thinking better. Praying for even more to come over the next 25 sessions!! :O)

Hyperbaric Sessions....

Here are some pictures from hyperbaric this morning...today was #9 of 40 and we're doing good. Hope we can keep up the early morning pace! We LOVE The Center for TLC...they're like FAMILY to us! :O)

2nd grade and hyperbaric sessions...

Hard to believe my lil' sweetie is 7 1/2 yrs old already and in second grade.  She's growing up SO fast!
This past week we've started on another long stint of hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions...monday thru friday we're up at 530 am so we can go and then Arianna can make it to school and me to work afterwards. Going good so far..we're both kind of tired but doing well. Arianna is LOVING her second grade class and especially likes eating lunch with her friends.
Arianna can hardly wait for Halloween this year...she's dressing up as Jasmine and very excited about that. :) Also have a trip to Florida in November...a bitter sweet vacation, one that my mom had wanted to make with us before she passed away.
Take care and we'll keep you posted along the way with how our sessions are going and how Arianna responds to them. Hugs and Love...

Hooray to 2nd grade!

Today was Arianna's first full day being a second grader and I'm already very proud of her. Today she ate lunch with her friends in general ed class which is the plan for EVERY day now. She's becoming much more independent in allot of ways and that makes me very happy.  Today we had a mishap with her milk cup and "George the monkey", who's been way overdue for retirement, got all soaked. SOOoo, mom had a brilliant idea that it was time George goes into storage with some of her old 'friends' and she got a brand new BIG sized Brittany chipmunk stuffed doll as her new "big girl" buddy since she's a big girl in 2nd grade. So far she's LOVING the new pal and hope the transition stays smooth as we move along.
Some GREAT news is that starting October this year, we will be doing hyperbaric sessions Monday through Friday for up to 6 consecutive weeks with hopes of a big healing to take place. We should finish up just before our trip to Florida for a week of vacation. It'll be super early start times for our day and crazy busy for a while but pray that it's worth the hard work and sacrifices we'll have to make.  For this month of September we are preparing for hyperbaric by some diet changes again and adding her supplements back into our routine to add to the healing benefits we pray are to come. Wish us luck!

Summertime...

It sure has been a HOT summer this year! We got to see some great fireworks this 4th of July and visited an outside mall a couple times so Arianna could play in the water fountains. Two weeks ago we started some hyperbaric sessions and added in some new supplements...Arianna has been doing well with the twice a week sessions and we continue to work on her conversation skills/speech. We've applied for another grant to see if we can get some help to do the recommended 40 sessions which would be wonderful! Hope to hear some good news mid to end of September.

One month left before it's back to school time for my future 2nd grader. Arianna has got to go on quite a few neat field trips with her daycare friends such as a local music stadium, a lunch/tour of a restaurant, visiting a retirement home to do crafts and sing karaoke songs for them, a magician visited, a yoga instructor and also the favorite frozen ice truck too. Next month is Karate and many more fun things going on....wish I could have a summer with that much fun too! :O)

The end of 1st grade...

Well, tomorrow is Arianna's last day of being a first grader - WOW how time has flown! I am the proudest mom seeing how much she has learned and grown in all areas during this school year.  Summer break will be full of fun at daycare camp starting with a trip to the zoo next week. We're also planning to get in some hyperbaric sessions during the summer months as well for more healing before starting second grade in September.

Our new kitten Chloe has been allot of fun...and some interupted nights will be happening a while longer I'm sure. Arianna is great helping to feed our two furry friends and play/pet them.

We're counting down the months until our vacation to Florida...Disney and possibly Sea World should be allot of excitement for us all.

Summer is almost here!

This was our view on our walk yesterday to downtown so we could check out all the goodies and vendors at the Green Living Festival here.  Lots of good information, yummy treats and drinks, fresh fruits and neat activities for the kids. Was a beautiful sunny and WARM day compared to the cool and rain today. Hope you are doing well...we're in the home stretch of the last month of first grade. Can't believe I have a future 2nd grader already! God Bless :O)

Adding a new addition soon! :)

Meet Chloe Chanel! She is currently just under 5 weeks old, she was born on March 5th. We went to visit her today and plan to see her as often as we can until we bring her home with us sometime in end of June. Arianna is SUPER excited (and mom too!) 

UGH! :O(

Well, the vacation curse got us AGAIN! Yep...Arianna has been sick the entire time we've been off school/work. Just praying to be better before school starts up again next week.  Unfortunately we missed ALL the hyperbaric sessions we had planned for during this time off but being healthy is first and foremost. We'll try again another time.  Hope you're all staying healthy and happy for the start of this rainy spring season! God Bless!

~ Autism Awareness Day ~

We are wearing blue today and have also lit up our facebook pages  BLUE in honor of Autism Awareness Day!  We hope to see all our friends and family out there showing support as well.  :O)

Happy Birthday to MEEEE!!! :O)

The little princess has turned 7! A great birthday celebration with family and friends and spoiled like crazy with gifts. We look forward to another SUPER year of fun, learning, healing and more. Mommy is so very proud of you my angel!
Next week is spring break and we look forward to 5 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy visits and a good round of stem cell enhancers to go with that. Praying for God's healing every day.

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

These two Irish Leprechauns hope you had a GREAT St. Patricks Day!!  Spring is almost here & we can't wait....all kinds of great things planned in the near future. :O)