Can't Help It..

PUTTING THIS ONE BACK ON TOP.

It's gonna be a crazy week out here. Salamander's Summer Camp has ended (those six weeks just flew by.. which is GOOD), but I have a ton of work commitments for this week (so I'll be working early, late and whenever else I can find the time). So that being said, I don't know how much time I'll have for blogging this week. So I'd rather have something for you all to look at and think about.

Oh, quick update on how the boyos are doing. Salamander is ever so slowly crawling back out of the pitt - he's doing a little better every day. I started S. boullardi for Potatey this weekend (to address his yeast problem), and so far, so good.


I check the lend4health blog at least once a day...and I can't help but wishing that I had unlimited funds to support these kids, not just for what their families are asking for in their current loans, but to help them all the way.

But alas.. unlimited funding I do not have.. It's hard enough keeping things going with my own two and the few others that I help out whenever I can.

That being said, for whatever reason I am particular drawn into the stories of these two kids:

Sawyrr and Summer.

Not saying that the other kids are any less deserving of their loans, they do and they are. It's just that these two kids are so close to having their loans fully funded...

Especially looking at Sawyrr's pictures was like getting kicked in the stomach by a team of draft horses all over again. See, I've been there. I have seen exactly THAT happen to Salamander. It took longer for Salamander for it to become apparent that he was getting lost, but it did happen. I actually had to put Salamander's 1 year old, 2 year old and even his 3 year old pics away (although you can *tell* something isn't right in his 3 year old pics), as it just become too painful to look at those pics and to see what was there and to know that by the time Salamander turned 4 it was gone. That sparkle, that joy for life, that 'let's jump in and get messy', that 'I'm ready to bite a chunk out of life's ass' spirit. At least in Salamander's case that *is* coming back, TG, but it's been a long and hard road.

And Sawyrr is so much younger than Salamander was when I got smart and finally got him the help he needed. I can't help but think how much Sawyrr's parents will be able to help him, starting at such a young age. And then of course the other part that tugs at my heart strings is that Sawyrr has a sister with ADHD that the parents want to help too. And I KNOW how hard it is to figure out HOW in the world you're going to be able to do all of this with TWO kids (then again, I know several people who are treating more than two.. my hat off to all of you..)

I don't know why Summer resonates with me so much. Maybe because she's a little girl, and she reminds me of another little girl that is now taking up a special place in my heart. And I know that that little girl was completely non-verbal too when her mom and dad started on this road. And now she's an incredible little chatter box (this little girl is a couple of weeks older than my Potatey).

Not saying it always goes that way. I also know several kiddos that, despite their moms' monumental efforts, continue to have little speech (and there to me lies a HUGE tragedy; so why is it that some interventions do so much for some kids, but little to nothing for others? Personally, I think Dr. Amy's genomics testing can help enormously in answering some of those questions - it sure as heck helped explain for ME why my guys did so poorly on the DAN! recommended vitamin and mineral mixtures and why METHYLB12 (they do awesome with HYDROXYB12) and sulphur based chelation would have been a disaster. It's just that so much more research is needed...

Anyway, I digress. Go check these kids' stories out. And please contribute if and what you can. And remember, these are LOANS. Of course nobody can guarantee that the loans will actually get repaid. And that's a risk each of us need to assess whether you're comfortable taking it. But that being said, wouldn't you loan a co-worker or a friend $5 for lunch and not worry too much whether you're going to get that money back? And if 20 people contribute 5 bucks, well, that's $100 closer to funding a loan. Things add up.

So think about it, please. And then follow your heart....