Update on Patrick's Progress

Patrick is still doing really well after his procedure with the stem cells in June. He just finished a round of Septra for some bacterial issues and Diflucan for yeast in his stomach. These are issues that he has battled with for years and when they both flare up it is tough on him. The round of both meds has helped him considerably though.

He is doing great art work and is very dialed into his school work too. Patrick and his brother Robert have both started Second grade together. Patrick is in the grade level that he should be in and so far all is going really well.

Joni and I took him on an outing yesterday with his two brothers and two other girls. Patrick did great! He swam with the kids and had a big time. At dinner, the first restaurant we went to was so busy that we had to leave and go to a second choice. Although really hungry, Patrick handled this little "speed bump" great. He got a little upset momentarily when we went back outside to get into the car but he quickly understood that we were going right down the road to another place.

I would still say at this point that the stem cells have been worthwhile treatment. I have a follow up in about a week or so with the Dr's at the clinic and at that time we will discuss if he needs a second booster of the stem cells. I am guessing that we will do this.

As far as life in general, this summer just sped by. I got back from Las Vegas and the last 4 weeks have sped by. We all started school last Monday at our home school. The week was good and by Friday I think we were getting settled into a new routine. Robert and Joe both started Upward Football today and both are very excited over that. Rosemary started gymnastics with both of her cousins this past week too. All the kids seem to be really excited over their new activities and routines.

I will keep everyone posted on Patrick's progress and any new updates!

Update on Patrick's Progress

Hi everyone! I know the big question has been what type of progress are we still seeing in Patrick. Well I was gone for a week to Las Vegas and when I got home there was a ton of his artwork saved for me to look at.

He has been drawing and coloring all kinds of things....a lot of trains and house/barn scenes. He is very detailed with them and is so cute when he explains them too. I have to say that he is still doing very good. I have a consult with his Dr tomorrow so I will be able to discuss a few items with him.

Patrick is still stimmy and has been eating paper, shaving cream etc. It appears that the bacteria in his gut is off balance again but I guess we will see. :) I will give a very detailed update after the phone consult tomorrow.

I am having people from all over contact me regarding the stem cell treatment. I hope that our journey will benefit others who are starting on their own. Patrick is doing fantastic!

Hard to believe that school is starting soon. Patrick will be going into the Second Grade right as scheduled. We are very proud of him!

Patrick is doing great and Life is good

Hi everyone!


Patrick just keeps on doing better each day. He is still ready to go back on "vacation" though. He asks me about going back to Panama daily. :) I have been speaking to three families who are heading to Panama in August; two are going for autism treatment.

This first pic shows him outside riding his scooter. They had fun that day and to our surprise we took Joey's training wheels off and he started riding like a pro on his little bike! You can see how proud he is by that big smile.

I am getting ready to head off for the Mrs. United States pageant in a few days. The kids are excited. They like "helping" me pack. HA. My platform as always is Autism Awareness...I got some neat things to take including new pins and notepads with a great autism logo on them.

When I return, Rosemary will then compete at the Preteen Kentucky National American Miss where her platform is also autism.

When I started out doing pageants in 2006, autism was a tough platform because I had to explain so much to almost everyone that asked about it. Now, in 2010, with 1 in 91 children now being diagnosed with autism, I find more people with questions about it but pretty much everyone is familiar with it. I judged a teen pageant a few weeks ago and I think out of about 14 girls there were two with autism as a platform. It certainly speaks as to what an "epidemic" it has became.

I have had so many emails and calls from people with questions about the Panama Clinic. Their website is http://www.cellmedicine.com/. Go ahead and look them up and then I am working on typing up some facts sheets about our experience and just details on navigating Panama. We are so glad we went.

I will update everyone when I return next week on how Patrick is progressing. Have a wonderful week!

Friday....Seeing More Improvement

What a great day here. Patrick is doing extremely well. Here is a pic of him playing with his brothers today. I brought in their large bin of train toys and tracks. Patrick and Bobby set up the entire living room in tracks and houses. They played for hours.

Patrick is wearing the yellow shirt with Bob and Joe in the back ground. His behavior therapist said today that she can see significant gains in his attention span and comprehension. She took him to lunch at Olive Garden. One of my friends sent me a message tonight saying she saw him at Olive Garden and that he was so well behaved.

He literally played with trains until bedtime. He also had a new babysitter tonight and she said that he was perfect and he talked quite a bit.

I took Bobby and Joe to PIR to watch their dad race tonight. We arrived just in time to see him win his heat race. They were extremely excited by that. I have a great picture of them sitting on the new car..you can see the new autism ribbons we had made for both cars and the car trailer.

They look great...very visible. No racing for me this week....I want to keep myself in once piece before Mrs. United States next week. Although I promised Joe and Bobby that I would race the very weekend that I get home.

Above you can see Joey showing off his "big grin." He had a great time at the races. I am not sure what we are up to for tomorrow but Patrick's first week back home from Panama has been great! Stay tuned......