Hocus Pocus

Phew! Our story got a bit intense over the last few weeks!

But the truth is, I needed to keep going to get through it. If I took a break and wrote about other things that were going on with Travis during that time, we all would have lost our place.

So to refresh your memory, Travis went to our local middle school for a few short weeks. When we realized that placement was not going to work for Travis we told our attorney and the school district that we were ready to move forward with the due process hearing.

The hearing officer came and met with us and the district in order to mediate and try to come to an agreement in hopes of dismissing the hearing. It was agreed that our district would pay for Travis to attend a private school of our choice because they did not offer a continuum of educational services that would fit Travis’s needs.

Before I tell you about the private school I would like to catch you up to date on the other therapies that we had been trying in our journey to leave no stone left unturned in Travis’s life.

We took Travis to see a Doctor of Naturopathy. We were frustrated that conventional doctors wanted to continue to prescribe pharmaceutical medications. And it had been our experience that these medications offered very little benefit, but caused a great deal of negative side effects.

Some of them caused Travis to be lethargic or drowsy during the day. Others caused too much weight loss or gain. Several of them caused Travis to become aggressive, even violent. One even caused him to become paranoid.

I remember being a thorn in the side of the psychiatrist. When he wanted to prescribe Travis a different medication I would tell him that I needed to research it first. I could tell by his reaction that he did not like to be second guessed. But there was a time that I came back and said no. One of the medications I researched had not been FDA approved for children under the age of eighteen.

I wondered how doctors could prescribe a medication that had not been approved. The doctor said that he had prescribed it to other children and was seeing some good results. My concern was the long term effects. Maybe you are seeing some good results, but it has not been tested on children. And so what if we find out twenty years from now that it hurt the brain in some way.

And it wasn’t as though we didn’t give conventional medicine a fair shot. Travis had been prescribed Dexedrine, Adderall, Ritalin, Strattera, Risperdal, Seroquel, Clonidine, Depakote, Zyprexa, Trileptal, Abilify and Paxil. I saved an empty bottle from each prescription. It may be a picture for my book someday.

And maybe part of the reason they didn’t work was because Travis has so many diagnoses. His case is very complicated. A medication you may take for one diagnosis may be contrary to another diagnosis.

The Doctor of Naturopathy performed hair follicle testing. She was able to tell what minerals Travis was lacking.

Remember the story I told about Travis picking up on the energy of others. It was because I knew that about him that I was open to letting this doctor do a bioenergetic evaluation on Travis.

Keep in mind this is almost twenty years ago. Back then this type of treatment was not as common as it is today. But I remember telling naysayers at the time that if a doctor told me to cut a snake in half and suck the blood out of the bottom half, I would do it. If a doctor told me this would help Travis in any way, I would absolutely do it. (And many of you know that I don’t like spiders and snakes…)

But you also know how much I love my children.

The doctor’s form states, “Electro-acupuncture and stress testing provide an opportunity to measure electrical responses and meridian flows of the body. Bioenergetic evaluation of the energy flow can identify stressors, focal disturbances or other situations that might impede the electrical process.

The evaluation may include recommendations for homeopathic remedies, stress reduction methods and/or nutritional changes designed to establish balance and enhance overall wellness.”

Long story short, after this evaluation and the hair follicle testing she recommended several homeopathic remedies in the form of drops. Some of these drops were taken under the tongue.

In addition to the drops the doctor prescribed a morning smoothie that included the mineral drops. I did the smoothie with Travis. Even with that it was difficult to get his buy-in. There were a few times that I had to remind him of our pinky swear. That if I never gave up trying to find a way to make him feel better, that he would be open to trying my ideas.

The smoothie I drank consisted of a protein powder, flaxseed oil, ambrotose powder, mineral drops, soy lecithin and mucouslysis. If you think it sounds gross, try drinking it. Every morning. And pretending that it’s not so bad. So that Travis would drink it. All the while he knows that you are full of it. Honestly, I don’t even remember what some of the ingredients are or why they are important.

I’m sure Travis’s smoothie had more ingredients. I know it is hard to believe but I cannot find his recipe card. I didn’t want to hold up writing this week to continue looking for it. I saw it in some random place a week or two ago. I have been trying to declutter and get rid of things that no longer spark joy. I decided I needed to keep it to refer to for my blog. But rather than put it in my journal I put it back where I saw it thinking I would remember where that is. Hey now, do not pretend that this has not happened to you!

(I bet I find it right after I hit the post blog button.)

Travis and I drank smoothies every morning for a long time. I took Travis to see this doctor for a couple of years. Until I met someone new.

Tracy had a business partner whose wife was a RN. She had a medical diagnosis that conventional medicine did not cure. She did a great deal of research in her search to get some relief for her own situation. During this time she decided to further her education and get her training to practice holistic medicine.

I met her at some company function. And somehow we got on the subject of Travis. (This happens to me a lot.) And she thought she could help him.

I get that it is hard to wrap your head around how all of this stuff works. I do not understand it myself. She would attach electrodes to Travis’s skin. These electrodes send signals to a monitor. It all kind of felt like hocus pocus but one day I was sitting behind the practitioner as she looked at her monitor. I actually watched the monitor as it sent a message that said your patient is thirsty. Within a second Travis asked if he could have a glass of water. (Queue the music from the television show, “The Twilight Zone”. Although my younger readers will have no idea what I am talking about.)

After that moment I decided to keep an open mind.

As I look over her notes I found a list of things that she was working on with Travis that included; balance minerals, address leaky gut, bowel flora balance, amino acids balance, fungus/candida, brain wave balancing, learning disability treatment, ADHD therapy, stabilization for anxiety, DNA repair, anger control and aggression, obsession release, release worry and stress reduction.

I took Travis to work with her several times in a three year period. During that time he continued to take the prescribed drops.

Did it work? I cannot say for sure. It’s possible he would have worse issues down the road without it. I did not see a marked improvement. But at the same time, he was not medicated with pharmaceuticals during this time. Which is saying something.

But because we were trying a few things at once, it was difficult to say the biofeedback sessions were the reason.

You may remember me mentioning a vitamin/mineral supplement program that we started Travis on during the third grade. The school district had recommended that Travis take the week before Christmas break off while they evaluated the situation. We thought this would be a good time to begin the program.

The program was called TrueHope. The reason it was a good idea to begin during a school break is because as you start the supplements, you wean off the pharmaceuticals. We had a support person from the company that we talked to almost daily during this process. It was a process because each time you saw an increase in behavior you would again increase the supplements and decrease the conventional medications.

This was several years ago and the TrueHope program has improved since then. In the beginning Travis had to take around eight supplements three times per day. I believe it has been condensed so it much easier now.

If you or someone you know is suffering from mental illness do some research. The website is www.TrueHope.com. It talks about their belief that mental illness for some individuals could be the result of something as simple as nutrient insufficiency. And the family story behind the development of the program is not only heart wrenching but also an incredible read. The website also has a video of their story. You can watch it while you’re on the treadmill.

I remember taking Travis to see his psychiatrist after he had been taking the supplements for a couple of weeks. I think this was the first time I had ever seen the psychiatrist smile. I thought he was in an especially good mood. And then he looked at me and said look at Travis.

I saw that Travis was on his floor playing with a train set. I looked back at the psychiatrist and he said, “Travis is smiling. And today is the first time that Travis has made eye contact with me.”

I recently googled this doctor and see that his practice is part of a center that practices alternative natural mental health. This center includes naturopathic doctors and biofeedback therapists. I can tell you that back in the day when Travis first starting seeing this doctor, he went straight to prescribing pharmaceutical medications. I cannot tell you how happy I am to find that he is now in a center that promotes natural alternatives. I hope witnessing the change in Travis that day somehow played a role in him moving in that direction.

Travis is no longer a patient of this doctor. Now that he receives services through our state waiver he has to use the psychiatrist that is contracted with the state for our area.

I believe his current doctor truly cares about Travis’s welfare. But he also believes that the supplement program is hocus pocus. I even went as far as spending $50 on a DVD that explained the program. Much of the DVD was taped from a conference that was held for psychiatrists.

The conference discussed the science of the program and the research studies that had been conducted.

Travis’s current psychiatrist took the DVD begrudgingly. This was years ago. I don’t think he ever watched it. He never brought it up again, and he never returned it.

Travis is no longer on the supplement program. Travis sees his psychiatrist every three months for medicine management. If he is not taking a pharmaceutical medication, then he doesn’t get to see the psychiatrist. The supplements do not count.

Travis has a nurse that goes by his house once per week to put his medication in his med box. It has a timer to remind Travis to take it. The nurse is not allowed to oversee the supplement program. And the supplement program does not want patients to be on their program and pharmaceuticals at the same time. And the program is not something that he can navigate on his own.

Travis’s services are government funded. One of Tracy’s favorite sayings is “We are from the government and we are here to help you”.

As I look back at my notes and write our story I realize that we truly did turn over a great many stones trying to unearth some way for Travis to feel better. Some of the things that I researched we were unable to try. We just did not have the means. But I also remember that Travis was the guinea pig. And although we wanted nothing more than to ease his symptoms, it must have been exhausting to him just the same. And could partly explain why he is now reluctant to move forward with new treatments.

But still I encourage him. Because he is stronger than he thinks.

“Promise me you’ll always remember…you’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know.” - Christopher Robin