Needing to Step Things Up

I don't know if anyone is still following this blog and it has been a while since I posted much on it, but I want to put this information out there for everyone.

Arvil has been progressing, as I have noted before, but his progress has slowed. Callie met this week with the developmental specialist who has been following Arvil, and she expressed her concern that Arvil was not progressing as he needed to be. We need to start a more intensive program of therapy. We will soon start going to physical therapy several times a week in Logan or Pocatello.

We are concerned about Arvil's recent lack of progress and hope that with more therapies it can pick up. Please pray with us for Arvil to be able to recover more quickly and to continue to gain the use of his muscles.

Step by Step

Arvil is making progress little by little. He continues to have regular physical and occupational therapy sessions. He is improving and is gradually regaining control over his body. We get excited over little things. He just relearned "rolling over" and is getting good at eating and drinking. he is using a crawler to help him learn to get around.



We hope he will soon learn some independence as he is still very clingy, which becomes burdensome to his mother. We appreciate all the love, prayers, and help that has come our way.

Long Road Back

Arvil is definitely progressing. It seems slow, but positive. His therapists are very encouraging. He is getting stronger. It still seems hard for him to hold himself up well, and his movements are very uncoordinated. He is saying "Hi" again, and has attempted a few other words. He has a ready smile. We continue to pray that his progress will not be set back again. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We love you.

Gratitude

We are humbled by the outpouring of love and support that we have felt recently. I struggle to find words even close to appropriate to express our thanks. We have beautiful, loving people around us who have taken such good care of us. We thanks you and we love you. We pray for you. I am so comforted by the love that so many have shown and for the reflection that it shows of the love that our Savior has for us as well.

A Little Clarification on Arvil's Status, and a Bit of a Cry for Help

As most of you know, our youngest, Arvil Jedediah has suffered a series of seizures and strokes since last August. Beginning with a couple of strokes in January, these have caused some serious developmental setbacks for him. at that point in time, he was beginning to crawl all over the house and was developing very normally. Since that time he has lost many of his motor skills including control of limbs and digits, the ability to stand or crawl or grab, and recently his speech. he never has fully recovered his fine motor skills, and recently was crawling again but his most recent stroke has hit hard and he is now being carried like a sack of flour.
Arvil is regularly visited by developmental specialists, speech therapists, physical therapists and occupational therapists. We have been seeing doctors and other practicioners both of conventional and alterative medicinal disciplines.
Arvil is a wonderful and important part of our family and we love him so much we cannot express it. we pray for him continually and thank our family and friends for their prayers as well. Arvils trials are trying to all of us as well and sometimes we could use more material help. Callie could use help witht he other kids and with the baby as he eats up so much of her time and energy sometimes it is hard to tke care of the other kids and the house. The occaisional meal would even be a boon. As I mentioned in my last post, this extra care can get costly for us and I am recovering from a recent layoff. Any financial or other material help or support would be appreciated. It is hard to humbly ask for help, but this is a time we can definitely use it.
We thank you all so much for everything you have already done for us and for your prayers in our behalf.

Arvil Update

At my last post, which was some time ago, I told you about Dr. Klassen. We have been taking his advice now for nearly two months and have been feeling a great deal of hope about Arvil's condition. However, we do have bad news to report as well, Arvil suffered another stroke while fighting a cold and has had another major developmental setback because of it. All the doctors seem to agree that the root of the stroke problem is in a genetic defect that is connected to a few inflammatory response related autoimmune disorders such as Krohn's disease and Blau syndrome. While Arvil doesn't appear to have symptoms of either of these specific disorders, he does have the genetic mutation and an inflammation of the blood vessels aroud the brain.

The major difference in Arvil's case between the naturopathic community and the allopathic community is the appoach to treatment. The mainstream establishment says that he has an auto-immune disorder and therefore his immune system must be chemically supressed. The Naturopathic approach is that it is a hyperimmune reaction to some root cause such as a microvirus, parasites, or a fungal infection. In their view, we must treat for this while supporting, but not stimulating the immune system. Callie and I prefer the Naturopathic approach for several reasons.

We believe that the auto-immune problems are a response to something, a symptom, rather than the root cause. While there may be a genetic defect, there must be better ways to control his symptoms than to expose him to heavy doses of powerful steroids such as prednisone and to suppress his immune system and open him up to other infections. All the doctors have warned us that prednisone could be dangerous to Arvil, but some seem to think that the potential benefits outweigh the risks and the side effects. Callie and I also feel that the spirit has cautioned us against using steroids.

We wish to continue seeking alternative medicine solutions to Arvil's problems. We aslo want to continue to see Drs. Klassen and Mahoney. These things cost money and most alternative health care providers do not work with insurance or medicaid. To further complicate everything, I was recently laid off from my job. I have been working some construction and other odd jobs, but our income is greatly reduced.

That being said, it is hard for me to ask for financial help, but anything you can do for Arvil's sake at this time would be most appreciated.

We thank you for your love, support and prayers.

Dr. Klassen

On Friday, Callie and I took Arvil to see Dr. Harold Klassen at his Bio-Mechanics clinic in Aberdeen, Idaho. Dr. Klassen is a nationally recognized naturopathic doctor with his own lines of supplements and homeopathics which are sold internationally. He also has patents for some of his methods, and has been written up in journals of Naturopathic and Homeopathic medicine as well as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. I have also been told that he has treated, on a fairly regular basis, both Presidents Bush. I just mention all this to make it clear that this is not some backwoods witch doctor that we have gone to see.

When Callie called Dr. Klassen's office last week, he took the call and started asking many questions about Callie's health, pregnancy and Arvil's early health which she had long felt could be related, but which most doctors have dismissed and irrelevant. Dr. Klassen was connecting these things before Callie had volunteered anything.

Dr. Klassen analyzed Arvil's blood and found evidence of autoimmune problems as well as a large infestation of microbial parasites that he believes are responsible for the liver, vascular and seizure/stroke problems.

There is an interesting difference between the naturopathic and allopathic approaches to autoimmune disorders. The allopathic solution is that the immune system is simply broken and must be suppressed and replaced with drugs, while the naturopathic solution is to treat whatever is irritating the immune system to the point that it has begun attacking the body itself, and then to strengthen the immune system to help it to deal better with future threats.

Dr. Klassen says that he has seen parasites in children Arvil's age cause problems like Arvil's before. Arvil is taking a parasite cleanse as well as a regimen of nutritional supplements and homeopathics to support his immune system. Unlike when we were following the recommendations of the doctors in Salt Lake, Arvil seems very happy, healthy and alert. This is a great improvement over his behavior on prednizone and keppra. He is showing signs of improvement in his overall well-being as well.

We are pretty certain that this change in treatment is an answer to prayers.

We are also continuing with physical and occupational therapies to help Arvil overcome the effects of the strokes that he has had. We also had Arvil measured for a brace to help train his foot into the proper position. He tends to hold it at an odd angle that his PT doesn't like.

Thank you for your continued prayers. We feel like we are finally getting answers and better results. I'd also like to thank my sister Caranna again for helping with the kids on Friday.