The night before Kindergarten I didn't sleep a wink. I just worried, got up at 6 AM and made healthy breakfasts: bacon, eggs and coconut yogurt with berries. I packed nutritious lunches adding in the grain free muffins I started baking and lots of protein. I got the boys up, fed them and got in the car headed for school. We are less than half a mile from the school so of course we were super early that 1st day! My good friend from NY was visiting and she really helped to reduce a lot of my stress. She came with us to walk the boys into class and briefly say hello to the teacher. I had met their teacher already (I kept them in the same class for Kindergarten to reduce the anxiety of a new school for the both of them) and made her aware of what Cole's situation was. I also told her that I was "healing" him through diet changes and to keep an eye out for tics and to please not ask him to stop. I definitely wanted a "tic" report on Cole at the end of the week to see if he his progress was continuing while at school. It was going to be the longest week ever for me to hold out for that information. I definitely did not want to stalk his teacher every night with questions so I promised myself I would wait one week. I would just have to deal with it.
That first week was a blur. All I can really tell you is that Cole's tics did NOT get any worse. I was prepared for an increase due to stress and a new environment but it never happened. In fact, as the week progressed his tics actually seemed to lessen. At this point I knew we were on to something. The healing of his gut was really happening. Between the diet changes, supplements and HANDLE exercises we were on a holistic path to neurological repair.
As those first few weeks wore on, Jake and Cole adjusted to school beautifully. I received only good reports. Their teacher told me that she barely hears or sees any tics. They are very few and far between and no one notices a thing. One area that Cole struggled in (which is common with TS) was his fine motor skills. He hated writing or drawing pictures, his grip was poor and he had trouble controlling the pencil. This all started changing as he would come home from school, get out his crayons and start drawing for hours. He was writing his letters and they were legible!! This sudden interest in drawing and writing was due to a new found confidence in his ability and I was astonished.
Its October now (7 months from the onset of his severe TS) and I barely hear or see any tics from Cole at all. There are days where I think he may be having a tic here or there but then the next day I won't hear anything at all. So I wouldn't say he is 100% tic free just yet but we are headed on that path. The more time that passes, the better it gets. No outside person would ever even guess that Cole was diagnosed with Tourette's, ADHD and OCD. Its just not present. My husband calls the progression the "reverse Dow Jones" because there are tiny little spikes along the way but the overall trend is downward. I have gotten pretty keen on those "spikes" that Cole has and the triggers are usually diet related. I made GF oatmeal cookies with Earth Balance butter and I noticed he would have some tics for about 20 minutes after eating one. I looked into every ingredient and realized that the Earth's Balance butter has an ingredient that was derived from corn. So that was the culprit and now I use coconut oil instead of the butter and no more tics after eating the cookie. Crazy right? But its real and the connection could not be any clearer.
I will never say I "cured" Cole because I really don't believe he had anything that needed to be cured. His immune system was massively compromised and he needed it healed. That is what was going on and by sharing my story I hope I can save other families the pain and suffering of the side effects from pharmaceuticals.
I will also admit that healing is no easy task. Its hard work! I had to take time away from my job in order to focus on this but I felt I had no choice. His symptoms were so severe I just could not address it head on. However, I do understand and sympathize with families that can not take time off from work to help heal a child. I do see how blessed I am and I do not take this for granted. As time moves forward, we will continue to tweak Cole's regimen based on Dr. Bhatia's recommendations and my intuition. There is nothing more powerful than a mother's intuition and we as mother's need to listen to this voice a little more than we do. The connection between us and our children is so strong and we ALL have the power to heal in side of us. This is truth.
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