The natural path

Well, Ari is in his second full week back at Easter Seals, and I'm very late in blogging. We are in the process of moving houses and my sit-down time has been non-existent lately. There is a lot to catch up on.

Ari is doing well. Pretty worn out from his full days, but doing well. He had an eye exam yesterday and came out with an A+. There are lots of eye and vision issues that accompany Down syndrome. Near sightedness is expected in a few years but Ari is lucky that he has not had any other issues. We go back for another checkup in 2 years. Yay!

It's an interesting view that I'm faced with now. I have been fortunate enough to have the good outcome from the unimaginable with Ari last month, but I was given no tools to avoid this journey again. Neither the doctors or nurses in the hospital nor Ari's pediatrician could give me guidance on how to help him stay healthy or even just not get life-threateningly ill again. 

When I asked his pediatrician about how to strengthen his various body systems she said medically she can't recommend anything. She said you can look around and see what other moms are doing...and she gives her kids a natural immune booster, but who knows if it works...

So there we are. End of story. Ari has a poor immune system, and respiratory infections will be especially tough for him, even more so now. Go back to doing everything the same as before he got sick and hope for the best. 

But that isn't the end. 

I'm not desperate, clawing for imaginary cures, but just taking a step back to get a broader view, I know that's not the whole picture. Think about what makes us all bump along day by day. Nutrition is important. Environment is important. Knowing your body is important. Being active and having hobbies is important. Being happy and feeling loved is important. Prayers and positive energy are important. These are all part of the whole that makes up each of us. Each of these pieces contributes to our health and quality of life. Ari is no different. 

Prayers and positive energy? Check! All of you reading this have helped us be sure that this is covered - past, present and future. 

Happy and feeling loved? Check! Ari picked a good family when he came down to this earth. He is dearly loved by us and has all of you out there too.

Knowing your body? Check! This is my job; in fact, this is my number one job. I pay attention to both of my kids and try to know them as best I can. Not that I always succeed and I rather do like surprises (in their personalities, not health), but it is my business, and I am all up in theirs.

Environment? Good, with improvements on the way. We are moving to a one level house with a flat backyard which will make the entire house Ari accessible. Essential oils and detox baths have been helping him, and I'm learning more about these options as I go along.

Exercise and hobbies? Ari's as active as he can handle these days and we do our best to surround him with things he enjoys doing. 

Nutrition? Yes, that is something I can improve upon right now.

There is a doctor of naturopathic medicine whose practice is almost exclusively focused on helping individuals with Down syndrome. Erica Pierson, ND is in Oregon and she takes care of quite a few kids I know via Skye appointments and labwork. I have known about Erica for over a year, but until Ari started struggling with chronic croup and ear infections this spring prior to his hospitalization and his teeth stopped coming in, I didn't see a need to engage her. Last week, we had an appointment with her.

You can learn more about Erica here. I was blown away by her. I grew up in a medial household, got my PhD in microbiology and immunology and work in the medical field. The woman knows her cell and molecular biology and is an elegant clinician. Our two-hour new patient appointment was generous and fascinating.

Overall, she works to ameliorate the symptoms of Down syndrome, many of which are caused by hypothyroidism. Ari has been on thyroid medication since December, but it is synthroid, a synthetic drug. Erica is switching him to a natural thyroid medicine (that she prescribed and called into Walgreens for me) that has components his body can use. Individuals with Down syndrome are not always able to break down synthroid into the active T3 molecule needed by the body. There is quite a list of changes we can look forward to if Ari's thyroid gets balanced: more teeth coming in, less-no constipation, less mottling, no more cold hands and feet, less dry skin and hair, less mental fog (more alert and responsive), and more that I can't even remember now. We should start seeing changes within a few weeks. 

Erica also talked about Ari's decreased ability to detox his body on a cellular level. Because he's got an extra amount of some cellular metabolism components thanks to his extra chromosome, his recipe for good cell metabolism is off and he ends up with more toxic products (hydroxyl free radicals) than most people. This is why we all eat our berries and take antioxidants - to help our body clear these free radicals. Well, Ari has way too many of these sitting around at all times. Erica put him on Vitamin E. It will support his cellular metabolism in such a way that he ends up with less free radicals.

She recommended getting Ari back on the aloe vera instead of miralax (we were doing this before the hospitalization) to improve gut motility, and for his immune system, she has suggested zinc. Due to some digestive issues, Ari likely has poor absorption of many nutrients including zinc. Between that and the prevacid he takes for reflux (which she will also address in months to come), his body misses out. The extra zinc will ensure some gets absorbed and it's helpful for his immune system. 

Erica provided me with papers for all of her recommendations. I knew about her thyroid work. I was not familiar with zinc in Down syndrome individuals. I was not familiar with the digestive issues we discussed that I'll save for a later blog when we start addressing those. I was familiar with vitamin E - one of our most well funded researchers at UAMS researches vitamin E and he was on my Science Cafe last year, so I wasn't the least surprised when it was recommended for Ari...but that's just it. Some of Erica's knowledge and info is new to me. Some of it is not, but on my own, I wouldn't have a clue about where to start in terms of dosing him or formulations and brands that would be most active in his body.

I thought about engaging Erica for many many months. I am glad we finally did, and I'm excited about where this will lead my marvelous X-man.

Love to all,

Dorothy