Silence May Be Golden......But There Is a Time To Speak

I think the heading of this post will probably be very descriptive of my feelings for a good, long while.  Gosh, sometimes life kicks us.....and kicks us......holds us under water......stomps on us......and tosses about everything imaginable into our paths.   I have started to wonder if God is preparing me for big things or if I was just a horrible person in several past lives.   lol

I thought this post was really funny.  Not necessarily applying it to myself.  I have realized that having personal enemies is a drain on ME....it doesn't really hurt them.  Only hurts myself.  I try to teach that to my teenage daughter.  Soooo glad I am not 13 again!  :)

I divorced and started a new live five years ago.  Luckily, I have moved on from that period in my life.  Because of needing this change for myself and my children; I have ended up having poison darts shot into me in every imaginable way.  Luckily, I now have a wonderful husband who has patiently pulled those arrows out of me and is helping me to dodge them.

The best arrows you can throw back aren't actually physical arrows.  Instead, stand up and live your life to the fullest.  You really do have to ignore the haters.  There are some situations where it is hard to do that.  Usually if you keep quiet, ignore a rough situation, and persevere you can deflect a lot of problems.  Occasionally that just doesn't happen.

I've been quiet for five years.  Let a few people say awful things about me; most of them not true.  The rest very misconstrued.  I have laid low; just hoping, praying that something else would come along that their negative energy and hate could be directed to.   Unfortunately, that has not happened.

Dr. Ronald Kelley, who I admire and absolutely think the world of, has encouraged me to write a book for years.  Lately, I have read a few books from local author Molly Harper.  I met Molly when she worked for our newspaper; way before she became a well known writer.  She is an inspiration to me as well.  It is encouraging to know someone who actually sat down and finished their book.   :)   My next post needs to be titled Books In Our Head.  Gosh, don't we all have those.

Back to the subject, the time has come and I refuse to be quiet any longer.  I have not decided on the proper forum or forums but I am ready to tell my side.    To be continued.......

Back to Blogging 2012

Hi everyone,

I seem to have taken a "blogging break" in 2011 but am renewing my column starting today.  Glad to be back to my writing---not only on here but also working on a new book.  Just finding the time is the challenge.  I usually wake up about 2:30 AM with book "thoughts" floating through my mind.  LOL.

Busy with so much going on with kids, business, and just life in general. 

Recently I was appointed by Governor Steve Beshear to the Kentucky Council on Developmental Disabilities.  We have a big two day meeting coming up.  Would love to hear thoughts from parents on subjects such as inclusion, problems with restraints in schools, funding issues, etc.

This is just a little update and I will be back soon with some relevant thoughts on different topics. 

Adios!
Tammi 

Beacon of Light on the Autism Spectrum

Sometimes in the day to day process of this thing called "life" it is easy to not notice the milestones that our kids make. Not only our ASD kids but our typically developing kids as well.

I am always delighted whenever someone has not seen Patrick for awhile and they comment on how verbal he has became and how well he seems to be doing. Sometimes in the daily routine it is hard to see new milestones and it becomes easy to over look small accomplishments. The great thing is that small steps can often turn into a great big leap forward when combined together.

One big thing we have done is gone back to revisit a lot of our bio-medical strategies such as testing again to check Patrick's metal levels, started back on Secretin and Oxytocin, and also really started delving back into Patrick's food allergies. I have been reading back up on viruses again and have found a lot of new information about the types that Patrick shows exposure to on his blood panel.

His Behavior Therapist, Joni, and I have already seen marked improvement in his stimminess this week just with a round of Diflucan, Nystatin, and some diet adjustments. I am keeping a very detailed notebook of what Patrick is eating and also what he is craving. Also, keeping a diet low in oxalates and MSG is proving helpful.

We hope to revisit stem cells soon as well. He saw some good gains after his initial injections last June.

The other big part we have been working on with ALL of my children is organization and routine. Teaching responsibility has been a big component in covering ground here. I have noticed that the more routine and chores the kids have that it makes my household run so much better!

I have a new resolve to provide updated blog information in a more timely manner too. It is always so helpful when we can all share information with each other.

Adios!

Bring on the New Year

I always love the start of a New Year....not the dreary, depressing, cold days of January but the hope that a new year always brings. Although it is cold and snowy as I sit here and look out my window, I cannot help but feel more hope as 2011 starts than I have in many years.

Sometimes "Conquering" our lives is as easy as having that hope. We read about "faith the size of a mustard seed" in the Bible and know that it doesn't take much faith or hope to transport our thinking to a better level. I know that many parents especially who are out there reading this have days...and even months or years, where hope has felt like it picked up and packed a bag. I felt like my hope was living in a foreign country and possibly not getting back to the US for quite awhile. :)

My hope for all parents....and especially my dear autism friends this year......is that everyone can see a renewed vision for their lives.

I lost hope in a 14 year marriage in 2010......but I gained faith in myself.

I lost hope in the media ever getting any decent coverage out that is truthful regarding vaccines and autism....but I gained peace in knowing as a parent I am doing the right things for my child.

I lost hope in some ex family members in 2010.....but I gained a strong network of people who would go above and beyond anything to help the kids and I in any way possible, at any time.

I sometimes lost hope in the world ever straightening out.....but gained hope that I could still as a parent have the power to effect my children in a positive way even with the negative influences of the world at large.

The Halvorson's have been thrilled to start out 2011 with some new firm rules of the household, mainly concerning a good bed time schedule and everyone sleeping in their own rooms....with minimal argument. I wanted to say "no" argument but decided to be truthful. HA HA. It is amazing what a few basic rules can do for every ones demeanor.

Hopefully this will be a nice basic little start for us to build on and keep things running very smoothly. Patrick is doing good and I am thinking about going back for a second round of stem cells soon. We have all been sick so that has been a little speed bump but today for the first time I think we are all pulling out of it. We have started another good home school semester with everyone on track or a grade ahead. Rose is in 4 th, Packy and Bob are both in 2nd and Joe is in half K/half 1st. They keep me busy! I am so blessed to have them.

Have a wonderful start of 2011!!!

The never ending challenge of parenting

Lately I have felt that I have not been doing enough for my kids in the development of their character and spiritual life. I asked my daughter some questions about Bible stories the other day and I was actually shocked at how little she knew. Not just stories from the Bible, but I really started thinking about other areas that all four of my kids could use a little polishing.

I have been doing a lot of self examination work in a few different on line programs and it seems that one of the biggest areas that I have been studying is "selfishness." Selfishness according to everything I am learning is the leading cause (and mainly root cause) of all conflicts....whether marital discord, conflict at work, or conflict in the family. My husband used to suggest that I could work on my own selfishness and I brushed him off for years. Mainly I used the "I was an only child so I just seem a little more selfish than I really am" excuse.

After much reflection though I realize that I had plenty of areas that fall within selfishness to work on. As I have been reflecting on this, I can clearly see areas that my kids need work. I pulled a book off the shelf called "The Book of Virtues" and started working with the kids and reading stories from this book daily. We actually started with the chapter called "Responsibility" and I can already see some major improvements.

Parenting is a tough job....but it is one of the best ever. On days that I have had the normal frustration from "refereeing" while my kids "played" with each other; I have often wished for them to get along better, share better, and all those other things on the laundry list of what we would like to see in our children's behavior. I have found that by being consistent and tough at times that I am seeing much better results.

A little self actualization really went along way too. I see that as I make changes that it is easier to shape my kid's behavior too. There are an amazing wealth of resources on the internet too for shaping stronger families and working on teaching specific virtues to kids like compassion, honesty, patience and a host of other qualities.

If your wanting to make some changes in your family, start with prayer, then find some resources for self improvement and also family building. Not only should you see great results with your children; I bet you will start to feel much more positive about life too! I know I sure have.

October has arrived!

Patrick has learned to ride his bike!!! It is still with his training wheels but he has learned the concept of "pushing" the petals. We were all very excited over this new accomplishment.

This perfect fall weather has been heaven sent for the kids to play outside. I bought them this heavy duty bounce castle off of Ebay. I decided that I would get my money's worth real quick just in the next few birthdays. They love it!

This is for all the home schoolers, parents of special needs kids, and just anyone dealing with a typically developing child as well. I think I am going through one of those times with setting limits with the kids where you start thinking "Is it just me or I wonder if all parents go through this?" It seems like manners, back talk, and "first time told" as Ms. Joni calls it have all kind of swirled together into a little funnel cloud. HA.

I am just trying the basic strategy of first time told and complete follow through. My daughter who is 8 sometimes likes to think she is 28. She loves to interrupt while I am on the phone or interject comments into adult conversation. Her Grammy and I have both decided this week that enough is enough. We commented today that we think she is doing a "little bit" better but we have a ways to go.

We are really hoping to be in our new house soon. That will help us so much with routine and setting limits with each child. I think the one thing the kids and I are looking forward to most is decorating for Halloween. We found a great yard sale with a whole treasure cache of super cool Halloween figures. Needless to say we have big plans. Little Bob is having a birthday party next weekend so we are hoping to be decorated and ready to go for his big day. We still have a lot to do so please keep us in your prayers.

Moms....some "me" time is a must. I think that it is important to carve out this time for yourself. Not just physical time for a work out or fun time for lunch with the girls but I am deciding that spiritual "me" time might be one of the most important things that we need to make time for. I really neglected this part of my life for the last few years; not to say I didn't make it into church most Sundays at a dead run and then rush home but I mean "real" quality spiritual time.

I am in the middle of a great book on this topic. More later!

September Progress

Hi everyone,

All of the kids are just having a great time and doing so well together. School has started and gotten into full swing. Patrick is doing great in second grade.

This picture was taken a few years ago. It is still one of my very favorite ones. They have grown up so much since then.

Patrick has been doing great. We noticed that he still is very verbal from his stem cell treatment that he had in June. Packy cracked me up a few weeks ago. He has been singing all of his old favorite songs from when he was little and it is so cute!! We are looking at going to Panama again soon for a booster of stem cells for Patrick. We are currently thinking about mid-October.

We haven't set anything in stone yet. The kids and I are moving into our new house on October 11 so we will have to see how all of that is going. Although we are praying for a smooth transition. Patrick has a new bunk bed that he and Bob will be sharing and they just love it. Since he likes trains again, I got him decorations and bedding with trains, so far he seems to think it is all pretty cool.

His Dr, Scott Smith, has just moved from Florida to a new practice in New Jersey. I just spoke with him a few days ago and he seems encouraged by the results from Patrick's stem cells as well.

Second grade is going really well. Patrick is still doing great with his spelling, writing and language. Math is still good; maybe a few of the same small speed bumps on introducing some new concepts the way this current book shows things but Joni is always able to work out any speed bumps that we come across. The best thing that has happened lately involves his reading. Patrick has never liked the Abeka Curriculum readers that I have always ordered. Joni switched him into a different age appropriate book and now he is reading without tears. :) Which of course we all like!

I am just so thrilled to see Packy so happy!

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......

Home Again

It has taken me a few days to update everyone on Patrick's trip back home. He actually did not want to leave Panama. He even told me last night that he wants to go back and he pointed his hand where his IV was to say "little sticks okay." Obviously he enjoyed it so much there that he thinks it was worth the "little stick" from the IV. I thought that was cute.

He is still talking a lot. He was up this morning playing with his toys and pretend talking with them. He is still really "stimmy" when he gets excited. He has gotten in to a little bit of everything since arriving home on Sunday. Last night he got out some green paint and proceeded to paint one of his toy trains green to match the real train he rode in Panama.

Packy was thrilled last night to see scenes shot in Panama on a really old Herbie the Love Bug movie. He saw the canal, the ships and got really excited to see the Canal Railway train in the background.

It could take up to a month before we see more results from his treatment. I have several friends whose children have had this treatment and the majority seem to feel that their children saw the most improvements in the one to two month range. The couple children that made early gains seemed to see them with bowel issues and sleep issues. Luckily, for Patrick, he overcame his bowel issues several years ago and we don't have the sleep problems either.

So far, so good. He is doing great. I will try to get a copy of the WPSD-Channel 6 interview to post on here. I didn't get to see the interview because we were in Panama at the time but everyone tells me it is really informative as to autism and the stem cell treatment overall.

I will get some trip pictures posted soon. The kids got in my suitcase and used the camera the night before I left. So lo and behold, I had no camera when I arrived! We bought a disposable one and I need to get the pics transferred to disc so I can upload. I posted a pic above that I took a few hours ago. He was sitting at his computer watching "Brainy Baby Spanish" on You Tube. I noticed that as the picture showed the action and the Spanish word, a voice over would say the word in Spanish as well. As I watched him, the screen showed "Gracias" and Patrick said "Thank You." He also was saying the English version of the colors that were being shown. I have not worked with him on Spanish, last week would have been his first intro to it. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for all your prayers and emails!

Panama City, Panama Day 6 Last Treatment

Today went great here. We went to the clinic earlier today. We met another family today who are here from the states. The majority of people we have met seem to be here for MS or for a viral or autoimmune type illness.

The little girl from Los Angeles had an allergic reaction to the adhesive on the medical tape from where her IV was inserted. Her hand was red and swollen. It looked very itchy. Her parents said she was feeling much better today but her hand still looked bad.

Patrick has had NO TYPE of negative reaction at all. Today for his final infusion it took about the same amount of time. I also got all of his lab copies from Dr Rodriguez. They ran labs on him when they drew the initial blood. He also gave me the certificate from the lab with the exact amounts of what exactly Patrick received. He received over 5 million cells of the ones to target his brain/oxygen flow and then over 2 million of the type to target his immune system. He received an additional 5 million cells that are not trained to seek a specify site but are looking for weak areas where they can "go to work." I have the exact numbers and exact cell type names, I will post tomorrow. I have already packed it all in a suitcase tonight.

We are noticing even more talking. If he isn't talking to us, then he is talking to himself while playing or singing. He is also drawing pictures that are much more detailed and also telling us about them in greater detail. We took him to the Gamboa Rain Forest today. We took a boat ride down the canal and he saw some monkeys and a crocodile. I asked him about the trip and he told me that he "took a jungle cruise" and that he saw "the rain forest" and "two monkeys and a toucan." I thought this was interesting because I had never used the words "jungle cruise" so he thought that up himself and he told me it was like "Disneyworld." I think they do have a ride there called Jungle Cruise or something like that so maybe that is what he is referring to.

He doesn't want to come home tomorrow. He has asked us to go back to the train station all day today. He loved the train ride and he has a big time every day in the swimming pool.

Some families come back for booster infusions within about six months. We spoke with Dr Rodriguez today and he said that we will touch base on progress and it is too soon to know if we will want to come back or not.

It has been nice to see the other patients and get to know their stories. It seems that for MS this is working really well. We also talked to a few people who has their diabetes and asthma almost cured too. Stem Cell Institute has taken great care of us too. They gave us a cell phone where we could contact their staff or the Dr's at any time. Luckily we never needed to call them for any type of emergency or problem. It was nice too that they picked us up at the air port and they drive us back and forth from all appointments too. That has made things very easy.

Of course for all the diseases we know that stem cells will "cure;" there are no promises for autism. Each child with autism is so different that I think it is hard to know if every child will have the same response. We do know several families who have children that have improved greatly with this treatment.

One week ago I did an ATEC test from the Autism Research Institute to get a baseline score for Patrick before the treatment. On a scale of 0 to 100, Patrick scored a 37. On this test the lower the score the less severe the symptoms of autism are. The test is sectioned into areas of communication, social behavior, cognition and health issues. Today I did the test again (answering all the same questions) and his score was a 23. His dad and I are not "eternal optimists" so I think we are both being exceptionally "cautiously optimistic" about the whole procedure. I was trying to be as cautious as possible when answering the questions so I feel that the 23 is pretty solid.

We leave in the morning for Kentucky. I will keep everyone posted on his progress.

Panama City, Panama Day 5 Treatment Update

Patrick received his third stem cell injection today. This one was even quicker for him than previous days. We have been VERY impressed with the skill of the Dr's inserting the IV into his arm. They get it in quick, and always on the first try. No digging or probing for the vein either. Which is a huge relief for Patrick!

He has been used to having his vein missed in the past with multiple attempts or a lot of probing around. This has been going so well for him. Tomorrow is his last stem cell infusion before we fly home on Saturday.

We are both noticing increased speech. In fact, Patrick is talking pretty much non-stop. He is also singing kids songs pretty much non stop too. He was so excited on the train ride! He just loved it. It was really neat. We had the driver take us to the city of Colon' on the Caribbean side of the country. We rode the train along the entire Panama Canal. This went through a lot of rain forest and we also saw boats locking through the Mira Flores locks. The ships going past our hotel are huge!!!

Patrick is still very "stimmy" but he is also very excited by all we are doing here too. Between swimming, the train and the playground at the hotel he is having a great time. I think he has decided the few minutes at the Dr office is worth the rest of his trip! Luckily we have a TGI Fridays here at the hotel; we have eaten every meal but one here. Of course, Patrick thinks it is great because he eats "grilled chicken and fries." However, Pat and I have decided that we will probably never eat at one again after this week. HA.

The little girl that is receiving stem cells this week that is also staying at our same hotel got sick yesterday. Her dad said they had a long night. One of the occasional side effects we read about is flu like type symptoms. Patrick has been A-OK. In fact, his appetite has been great and his energy level has been high. We will run new labs when we get home to compare with a set we had taken two days before we left.

We have an earlier appointment tomorrow then Luis, our driver, is going to take us up to the Gamboa Rain forest and the Red Frog area (each about an hour from the city). We really like it here....if our other kids and our dogs were here I think we would stay longer. Until tomorrow......

Panama Day 5 "Interesting Observations"

We have a big day planned after Patrick's treatment this afternoon. I am going on a tour of the Stem Cell Research lab this morning. I had a quick minute to type a few observations about the country and Panama City.

We are staying on the outskirts of the city near the Canal. It is beautiful here. The weather is pretty much the same year round....80's day time, 70's night time. What a climate! The trees and flowers are beautiful..vibrant green, colorful flowers. The animals native to the country are boa's, pit vipers, pumas, jaguars, toucans, iguanas, armadillos, to just name a few. We are across the river from a dense rain forest and there are crocodiles in the river. Interesting huh?

Other than the traffic in the heart of the city, everything here is laid back. Spanish is the primary language but there are a lot of pockets of small languages from islanders in some of the small regions. There is a large American presence here with people who have moved here for climate, retirement or to work in the very stimulant economy.

When I told people we were coming to a hospital and clinic in Panama they acted like I was going to a third world country without running water. Ha. :) Well my husband and I have both been shocked at the construction going on. We both commented that we have not seen construction of this magnitude going on in the US for years. I bet there are at least 20+ high rise buildings going up at once. The city skyline is amazing....think Miami etc. Several local Panamanians we have met have compared Panama City with Miami.

There are very poor sections....same as our cities but we probably plan more to "hide" these areas whereas here they are right next to exclusive condominiums or shopping areas. UNESCO came in and made the old city a protected area and now there is major re-hab and projects going on to restore these mansions and churches. We were in a church yesterday that was built in the 1600's and the altar was solid gold from floor to ceiling. The story is when the Spanish took over back then the villagers painted the gold black so it wouldn't be carted off back to Spain.

The old city reminds me of New Orleans...balconies, lattice work, beautiful wrought iron. Today we are taking the train that runs the length of the Panama Canal. We have a driver taking us to Colon' (we are told this is a dangerous "Caribbean side city") and then we will board the train for the hour ride back to the Pacific side.

One thing we did not expect is the vast amount of luxury cars and luxury goods shops. One of the main malls the "Multi Centro" has as many (if not more) luxury shops then you would see on Worth Avenue or Rodeo Drive. This is just one mall too. We walked in and I was shocked to see Chanel, Jimmy Choo, LV, D & G, Salvatore Feragammo, Tiffany, Armani, and this it just to name a few. What really surprised us though was how BUSY the mall was and that people were "shopping." I would say 95% were Panamanians and money appeared to be flowing freely. The designer Carolina Herrera had just made a stop in her shop to deliver her "newest handbag" personally. I found all this interesting to view as an outsider so to speak.

The hotels seem to be springing up, a new Hilton is under construction right down the road and the casino business seems to be thriving as well. We noticed that police presence seems to be increased right now too. The President of Taiwan and (I think Spain) are both here visiting Panama's President.

Very stimulated economy, very modern city. I will post more on the stem cells tonight.

Panama City, Panama Day 4

Today has been great. Patrick received his second stem cell infusion today. He did great. It went even more smoothly than yesterday if that was possible. We have met a lot of other people who are down here receiving treatments. We met a lady with MS who has been here for two weeks but is going through a month long therapy. She is already doing better.

We met a man who is in his 60's that has MS. He is doing a lot better. He said that he is now able to change his clothing without being held by another person. He has been here for a week. We met a retired police man from New York who has brought his thirty year old son. His son has a rare type of viral infection (I had not ever heard of it) but they knew three others from the support group they attend that had the treatment. One recovered significantly and the other two not as much.

We have met two other children with autism that are here this week. Patrick is doing great. I am not sure when to start expecting results. Friends whose son has done great said it takes about a month but another family saw results in a week or two. I think it varies per person.

I have to say that Patrick is talking A LOT. He got in our bed last night and was singing his "Sunday school songs." One thing I did notice this morning is that he was making up a story about two of the animals in his book. He told me the "friends" a dog and frog were going on a trip together. This was interesting because he typically is not real imaginative about making up stories. In fact, this would be a first.

He has enjoyed swimming all day. Tomorrow we are taking a train ride to Colon' down the Panama Canal after he sees the doctor. I will keep everyone posted.

Panama City Panama, Day 3

Patrick received his first stem cell infusion at 2pm today. He did just great and the whole infusion probably took less than ten minutes. He will get three more this week. Patrick sat in his dad's lap and was a real trooper while the nurse gave him the "stick."

I promised him that after he was finished that we would go the mall. We ended up at the one by Punta Pacifica Hospital (which was very nice). He rode a train that takes kids all around the mall and he picked out two books.

He is doing great tonight. We did not expect any side effects to begin with so he is basically just swimming and playing right now like he has been since we arrived. We are staying at the Canal Country Inn and Suites. Another great part of this hotel is that a TGI Fridays is connected to it. Packy has been eating his favorite meal of grilled chicken and fries there two times daily. Ha.

He will have his second IV tomorrow at 2 PM. I will keep everyone posted.

Panama City, Panama Day 2

We started out our morning early. The Stem Cell Institute sent a driver for us at 7:45 AM (they are on the same time as we are at home). After meeting Melisa and Vivienne at the clinic and reviewing all of Patrick's paperwork; we then sat down with Dr. Jorge Paz Rodriguez. He is very nice.

Scott Smith met him last month in Miami where the Dr was speaking. I have only heard good things about him and so far he has impressed us as well. Completely down to earth, etc. We did a review of Patrick's medical chart before we went over to the Punta Pacifica Hospital where Patrick had to have his blood drawn.

The hospital is very nice, it is an affiliate of John Hopkins University. It is very typical to what you expect from any hospital you walk into back home. Patrick did have to do a general anesthesia so they could draw all the blood for the lab. This was probably ten tubes; then they went ahead and left the iv catheter in his hand. Upon waking, he was not a happy camper with his entire hand and fingers taped up.

Dr. Rodriguez himself went ahead and untaped Patricks hand and removed the catheter back over at his office. He said that since Patrick has experience with sitting for IV's that we will just do that each day. He said that the actual stem cell injection will only take about 5 to 10 minutes. This also allows Patrick to swim without any problems with getting the catheter area wet. He is actually swimming right now as I sit by the pool and type this.

Today is a typical Panamanian weather day: hot, sunny and humid. My type of climate. HA. We met two other families that are here with their small children with autism and also an older man from the states that is here for a procedure as well.

I found it interesting that I filled out and signed the same type paperwork as you would in the states before going through any type of procedure. Basically as far as health care goes I have been unable to see any difference in practices other than most of the nurses are not bi-lingual.

Tomorrow Patrick will have his first stem cell transfusion. Our appointment is at 2 PM. Basically the worst part of it for him is over with the large blood draw that occurred today.
So far so good!

Panama City, Panama Day 1

We arrived late last night to some warm and humid weather, much like at home. Patrick started out his morning swimming but the rain settled in after lunch and has stayed all evening. We have our first appointment in the morning at the hospital here and with the stem cell clinic. They will examine Pack at the clinic then we will go to the hospital to have his blood drawn and the IV port inserted. He will receive the stem cells for the four days following.

He is happy to be here. He loved the plane ride and he likes hotels. He is living it up really good tonight, but I keep explaining that we do a see a Dr in the morning. So far, so good.

Action Packed weekend

Hi everyone! What a great weekend here. I have some great pics to share. I had a great time judging the McCracken County Fair pageant with sisters Jessica and Chelsie Harrison. Those two beautiful gals have been competing (and winning) pageants all over since they were both tiny.

We had a great time talking to the candidates for queen. What a beautiful and talented group of young ladies.

My daughter Rosemary spent Saturday morning over at the Dixieland Dolls and Darlings pageant. She was excited to win Grand Supreme.

I had to miss watching her since our FEAT (Families for Effective Autism Treatment) group hosted a national author and speaker, Dr. Stephen Shore. What a wonderful person! Dr. Shore was diagnosed with autism as a toddler and at the age of 4, it was suggested his mother put him in an institution. He is now married, and a professor at Adelphi University in New York.

The turn out was great and the story ended up on the front page of the Paducah Sun newspaper today. I think we were able to get a positive message out and help educate others in our area who needed more information on autism and aspbergers syndrome.

Busy week coming up. We leave for Central America on Saturday morning.