>Maya has been struggling with low weight gain for a long time. In 2009, Maya gained only 1kg the entire year topping up to 13.5kg. In 2010 she hovered around the 14kg – 14.5kg mark for the past 1 year. When Maya turned 5 years old in October 2010, she was 14.2kg. With all her hard work, Maya  has lost her Autism diagnosis, her behavior and development skills and age appropriate and she is thriving well at school and socially, However, she is still a picky eater, and even when we manage to feed her adequate meals, she struggles to put on weight. Frequent illness would cause her to lose weight again and again.

Daddy’s Birthday, guess his age…

Maya recently gained weight, she got to 15kg within 1 month! It coincided with our 3 week holiday back in Sydney in December. I weighed her at 14.2kg in early December, when we came back to Kuala Lumpur, she weighed 15kg on New Year’s Eve. It also coincided after I consulted Dr Jeff Bradstreet in November and Dr Michael Beilby in December.

At that time, our main concerns were both girls’ frequent illness, low weight gain and Maya’s fatigue and low muscle tone. We wanted to concentrate on mitochondrial dysfunction, immune dysregulation and revise our chelation protocol.

We consulted with Dr Bradstreet at TRIA, Piyavate Hospital in Bangkok. During Maya’s consult, we concentrated on increasing her cysteine levels by reintroducing N-Acetyl -Cysteine (NAC). as you know, NAC is a precursor to glutathione, the body’s main detox component. Dr Bradstreet emphasized that whilst on chelation, we must always supplement cysteine with NAC. Chelation robs the body of cysteine as well as stripping away minerals. Therefor, his chelation protocol must always include NAC. We discussed his preferences for different brands of NAC, after using Kirkman’s NAC for so long,  we will now be changing to Integrative Therapeutics as soon as my eagerly awaited order comes in.

We also concentrated on Mitochondrial supplements such as CoQ10 and Acetyl-L-Carnitine. We have done all these 3 supplement before at different times for differing protocols, but we had to prioritize other treatments so we had to stop these 3 supplements for a while. There were also other recommendations which we are slowly implementing as well as new mitochondrial testing. He also fine-tuned our existing protocol and helped us move forward in our quest to improve both girls’ mitochondrial dysfunction. Low muscle tone and hypotonia has been associated with mitochondrial disorder (not mitochondrial disease). For these children, zinc, CoQ10 and Acetyl-L-Carnitine would benefit them.

We also inquired whether we should start HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) but Dr Bradstreet concluded that both girls are doing so well now that the benefits of HBOT on them would be minimal. He went on to explain how HBOT would benefit other kids with other issues. We discussed Maya’s food aversion and her picky eating. We also looked back on her regression on most amino acids. Dr Bradstreet concluded that food aversion may be related to heavy metals, and the regression on amino acids is a sign that she can’t metabolize meat well. The girls naturally eat small amounts of protein anyway, so for the moment we are happy to know that we don’t need to agonize about feeding them more protein. That whatever meat, chicken or fish they are willing to eat is sufficient.

We consulted Dr Beilby in Sydney, with a combination of Biofeedback and Homeopathy, he concentrated on certain toxins, bacteria, parasites and mold. He addressed Maya’s adrenal glands and pancreas as well as identified what medications or supplements were immune-suppressants for Maya. His homeopathic remedies helped to detoxify and address certain issues. We saw some nice gains in Maya and decided to consult with him for Yasmin too. Whenever I start a new treatment or supplement, I always make sure I try it out too. I would not let my girls try something if I myself couldn’t tolerate it too. Both Paul and I were so impressed with homeopathy that we both had a consult individually with Dr Beilby.

Daddy need help to blow out the candles

Both girls were on the homeopathic remedies for several weeks, during which time we saw good appetite, improved bowel movements, improved health, good behavior and improvements in lots of new social skills in both girls. Maya was extremely sociable, her manners and behavior were exemplary to the point that our Aussie friends commented on how well behaved our children are! That was definitely a first. Yasmin in particular did extremely well on homeopathy, her behavior, social skills and verbal communication improved tremendously. Coming back to Kuala Lumpur, after the first week of school started, her teachers commented on her increased vocabulary, how she is now more outgoing and sociable at school, even helping other kids in class.

After 4 weeks on homeopathic remedies, both girls had constipation, Yasmin worse than Maya. Both girls had light colored stools, almost beige and clay like. Maya also had some blood streaks in her stool on 2 occassions. We saw some slight regression in behavior and compliance.We immediately sent an email to Dr Beilby and he recommended us to stop the homeopathics immediately. Both girls’ stools turned to it’s normal color within 3 days, Maya is no longer constipated though Yasmin’s motility issues are back again. Dr Beilby also suggested that at some point, we can resume the homeopathics again when the girls have recovered.

The only other time my girls had beige clay like stools was after drinking Vance DariFree milk for 2 months. That was 2 years ago. 3 days after we stopped the potato milk, their stools went back to normal.

We also had the chance to consult Dr Rina from Indonesia recently. She is helping us with Dr Bradstreet’s protocol and with the urine Neopterin test from Phillipe Auguste Laboratoire and some blood work with our local labs. When we discussed the girls beige stools after 3 weeks of homeopathy and the previous experience with the potato milk, Dr Rina came to conclude that it was related to bile production, biotin and magnesium and an explanation of the biochemistry involved. Needless to say, I had a blank look on my face, most of her explanation went way over my head. But it emphasized to me the importance of biotin and magnesium for both my girls. And to remind myself that homeopathic remedies that detoxify can also strip away minerals. I also then remembered that both girls started grinding their teeth at night a few weeks ago, when we increased their calcium intake, it stopped.

So, for those who are on homeopathy, don’t forget the heavy metals detox principle- if it detoxes heavy metals (whether it’s DMSA, EDTA, natural chelators like Zeolite or homeopathic remedies specifically to detox) it also strips away minerals. So remember to increase your minerals whenever doing heavy metal detox or chelation.

Maya’s turn to blow out the other candle

Dr Rina is pleased with Maya’s progress, before we start chelation she would like to both girls healthy at least for the next 1 month, to maintain their health and if possible for Maya to gain another Kg before we will proceed. I am happy with this slower method, safety is always and foremost in my mind. If my girls are not ready for chelation, that’s fine, there are many other things we need to implement in order to prepare them.

It was Paul’s birthday recently, Maya decided Daddy deserved a home-made cake, so each girl made a cake each with a candle on top. They banned Paul and I from the kitchen, together with the nanny, they made the cake and decorated it. We had a little party at home and  they surprised us with the lovely cakes. Paul is a proud daddy indeed, the girls love him deeply and they show their love every day.

Maya is now back down to 14.7kg. Hopefully Maya will hit the 15kg mark again. We are starting the homeopathic remedies again and introducing the other supplements in slowly. Both girls have started school again after the long Chinese New Year Break and are doing well. We are feeding her lots of small meals and hopefully she can gain a bit more weight. We see more of Maya’s true character emerging, she is affectionate and loving. She is getting much better at drawing and her reading skills are flawless. Most importantly, she has many friends and loves her little sister very much. Recently we bought a toy Doctor’s kit, the girls run around pretending to be doctor and nurse and treating imaginary patients. Most times, Daddy is the patient, it’s funny to see them using the stethoscope, checking temperatures, putting on bandages on their father. Their expression and manners mimic every doctor they have seen. Both girls can’t decide whether they want to be doctors or nurses. I just want them to be healthy and happy, I believe both girls can achieve anything they set their mind to. She’s already come this far in so short a time, who knows how far she can soar……..