Well today I thought I’d try something different. It’s Saturday and I thought I would just let Mel do what ’she’ wanted to do today and not what I would like her to do today. She woke up in a very happy and chatty mood once again and really ready to get her day started.

 After eating her breakfast which of course now always includes nutriiveda, she went and sat down and said she wanted a movie.  I asked her if she wanted to work on her computer and she said “no no no” while shaking her head.  I thought ok so I told her I was going to go and get the laundry done and for her to enjoy her movie. 

The minute I went upstairs she went over to her computer and turned it on and went into one of her programs and began working(!!!)  This is incredible!  She really wanted to work on her computer but without me!  She worked on her computer until it was time to leave to pick up Tom as he has been working in the Cleveland, Ohio office this week.  When Tom got in the car Mel started right away talking to him and tapping him on the shoulder.  He was amazed at what he was seeing and hearing and also her facial expressions as he has been gone for the past week and has only heard about Mel, but has not seen her. 

When we were alone he said to me he could not get over the change in Melanie.  He said she is very animated now and overall different.  He was impressed that she no longer wants to sit on the sidelines of life but be a part of it that she is really trying to figure out how to communicate and be apart of our world.  He said after 25 years of going from doctor to doctor and to therapist to therapist he thought we would never see a change in Mel.  When he was telling me his eyes were tearing and said what a wonderful change Nutriiveda has done for our Melanie.  I still can’t believe just 2 weeks on nutriiveda has had such a profound impace on our daughter who most would just consider an adult who would never change.  I don’t know why this is happening, I just am so thankful that it’s beyond words.  This product has changed my daughter’s life, has changed our lives.

Melanie is using new phrases and new words as well.  This afternoon she said “i want a drink please”  I told her to go and get a cup and get water from the refrigerator door.  I said it very matter of fact just to see what she would do.  Well she got the cup and said “mom I am getting my water now”  very clear as her sister also heard this and both of our expressions were of shock and Tom said did I hear what I think I heard.  Mel has never said the word getting or used it in a phrase before today!! 

Not only that it was like she was aware of what a breakthrough this was.  After that one time, first time in 25 years, everything she was getting for the next few hours she would use that word “getting”. 

Well with the winter storm it took Tom over 25 hours to get home and he has been up all night so this afternoon he was trying to get some rest but just could not as Mel kept talking and talking and talking to him. 

So I found myself getting Mel and her sister and we went shopping for a few hours so Tom could get some rest.  I have never had to do that before.  While at the store Mel tapped my chest softly and looked right into my eyes and said “my daddy is home sleeping” and I said yes because you are now and she finished my words and said “talking”.  I have tears coming from my eyes writing this.  I said yes you are now talking a lot and even though we are extremely grateful for your new found speech your dad still needed to get some much needed rest.  Did I ever think the day would come for my 25 year old daughter that I had to take her out of the house to let her father sleep because she was talking too much? 

So now Mel’s new habit is tapping me on the chest to make sure she is getting eye contact with me while she is speaking to me.  Mel’s speech is still limited but she is saying new words and new phrases each day.  As I sit here and type this e-mail Mel is busy telling Tom that Tomi is sick and I  hear both of them trying to hold a conversation.  Yes it is a simple conversation but it is a conversation that I am sure Tom will soon not forget.  I know that since Lisa Geng’s son Tanner has had the surges on nutriiveda and now Mel that other parents and families are trying the nutriiveda too and I’m so excited about that.  To know that there is something so good for us that made such a profound impact is just overwhelming and a miracle, which couldn’t happen at a better time of the year.  Thank you Nutriiveda for changing so many lives so quickly!

Robin

Hi everyone! This has absolutely nothing to do with writing (unless you like to eat while you write, which I do from time to time…lol). But his is a delicious recipe given to me by a friend. I just had to pass it on.

Apricot Nectar Cake

1 yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
1 cup Apricot Nectar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease & flour Bundt pan.
3. Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix until well blended (max. 2 minutes).
4. Cook for 45 minutes.

Remove cake from oven and let cool in pan for about five minutes then turn upside down onto your cake dish. After you take cake out of oven to cool, mix the following:

1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
Mix thoroughly and let set for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Once cake is placed on cake dish use a butter knife to poke several holes into cake.

Take the lemon juice and powdered sugar mixture and pour slowly over cake giving it time to seep into cake.

I guarantee you’ll make friends and influence people if you bake this cake. It’s absolutely scrumptious. Cut a slice, sit down with a good book (preferably one of mine) and eat and read. You can’t go wrong! lol

Melanie Fiona It Kills Me Remix Feat Ghostface Killah…Bump after the jump

Melanie Fiona Feat Ghostface Killah-It Kills Me Remix …:LISTEN::…

Today was the most interesting day so far since Melanie has begun her journey with Nutriiveda.  I saw frustration from her like I have never seen before!  She was sitting at the computer working on her typing when  her fingers just would not work.  She was not happy with just using her pointer finger as in the past so as she kept trying to use all her fingers like she sees us doing and had trouble with it her frustration really came out.  I have to keep reminding myself that it’s only day 13 and prior to this she didn’t even try to use the rest of her fingers.  She looked at me and said “I need a kiss please” so she kissed me on the cheek then she said ” I need a hug please” then she gave me a hug. 

We worked on the computer for 90 minutes this morning but with frustration most of the time.  I then said lets go for a walk.  We have lived in our housing development now for 5 years and Mel has never walked the 1 mile around our circle due to the hills in our development.  Mel doesn’t mind going downhill but doesn’t like uphill.  Today I told Mel we were going to tackle the hills and win.  That is just what we did.  This gave Mel a new sense of hope as she tackled the hills and won. 

After we came back from the walk, I thought how could we get her fingers to move more.  Her sisters came up with the idea of making bracelets for Christmas presents this year.  We all headed to Hobby Lobby and purchased everything to make the bracelets.  While in the store there was a very grumpy older gentlemen who probably didn’t want to be in the Hobby Lobby and Mel had been eyeing him for several minutes.  The next thing I know Mel taps him on the shoulder and tells him to “be happy” and gives him a huge smile and waved goodbye to him and told him goodbye.  I looked at his expression and he actually smiled a little.  His wife on the other hand had a large smile on her face. 

Mel has said today every word that she knows and a few new words plus ever sentence that she has learned how to motor plan plus a new sentence today.  Mel was looking for her shoes to put on and asked her sister “teeters where are my shoes” very clear.  What was so funny was that Mel used her sisters nickname when asking.  We all like to call her sister teeters so that was very interesting to hear Mel use her sister’s nickname.  Her sister did not answer quickly enough for Mel so Mel answered her own question and said “at home”. 

While in the car Mel’s sister was playing with her IPhone and usually Mel is sitting beside her reading her magazine but today Mel was watching her sister the whole time play with her phone with a smile and really interested in what she was doing with her phone for the first time.  We have a ITouch for Mel and have been waiting for when she would show some interest so we are planning on bringing that out tomorrow for her. 

When I was speaking with Lisa Geng on the phone this afternoon Mel went back to her computer doubled tapped the typing program on her touch screened and once again tried to use the keyboard.  She is determined to figure it out.  After speaking with Lisa, I had to go and pick up some glass that had been ordered for our house and I took Mel along with her sister and I had to wait almost 30 minutes for the glass.  In the past, this 30 minutes would have been a very unpleasant wait with Mel but this afternoon she actually was calm and relaxed and enjoyed just being out.  Running errands in this house is no longer an issue thank goodness!

While in the car waiting I had the music playing and Mel was tapping her hand and humming to the music.   I wondered  how long Mel has actually been wanting to do that activity.

Today really showed me that we have a lot of work ahead of us all around with Mel.  Again I had to remind myself that this was only day 13 of the Nutriiveda and Mel has gone from one who was content only to sit and watch TV to  one who is pushing to do more and more each day.  It’s all so sudden and hard to believe.  Sure I knew Mel has such a long way to go still but today seeing her frustrated in just wanting to type like most other people take for  granted  really made more aware of what needs to be done in the future and how I need to change what we do during the day.  Now when I see Mel getting frustrated we are going to walk the one mile in our neighborhood up and down the hills so Mel will feel a sense of accomplishment each day knowing that if she can tackle our hills she can tackle anything.   

And as far as it still feels we need to go with Mel, if you would have told me on Day 13 we would be walking our neighborhood now with ease I would have never believed you thinking she’d never have gone this far already.  Now I am thinking in time and thanks to whatever is in this nutriiveda anything will be possible for Mel, or anyone like Mel.  This year this really has been the Season of Hope for us!  Lisa Geng’s son Tanner continues to have greatly improved as well as shared at the http://www.pursuitofresearch.org website.  If anyone reading this needs hope for their child, please don’t hesitate to email me at rcketchem@bellsouth.net

Wow today is day 12 already!  I was thinking this morning how could today be any better than the other 11 days?  But I didn’t have that long to wonder.  This morning I asked Mel if she was done her yogurt and Nutriiveda and instead of saying “done” as she always would she said “finish” clearly.  Wow I must have looked at her with a surprised look so she repeated the word “finish” once again. 

Then we were discussing her yoga venture and Mel actually tried to do some of the poses already as she has seen her sister Mindy do yoga!  I could cry even now just thinking of that moment.  I remember thinking even if nothing else happens today what a great day!  Well I was finishing up cleaning the kitchen and Mel began humming to me while I was cleaning.  She sat and hummed and smiled at me while I finished cleaning the kitchen.  Not only was she spending time with me and the rest of her family instead of just wanting to watch TV, but it seemed that she was trying to make my job of cleaning the kitchen a little more enjoyable -perhaps she was thinking of that whistle while you work song.   

I needed to go grocery shopping as I needed to prepare pasta salad for 50 this evening for a friend’s Christmas party.  We first went to the Asian Market to get our vegetables and I noticed I was singing to the Christmas music and Mel was humming.  Last year at this time I was at the Asian Market and we both were quiet, and now I was singing and Mel was humming; what a wonderful change in both of us.  I know how much happier I am and Melanie of course seems to be happy for the first time in as long as I can recall. 

After the Asian Market we went to Costco.  Mel and I have been many times to Costco and our friend Albert the door greeter at Costco was the next person who said he noticed something different about Mel even without any of us saying anything.  When Mel was walking up to him she got a huge smile on her face and said “hi” very loud plus gave him a wave.  He asked Mel how she was and very clear and loud she said “fine”.  That’s when he looked and me and asked me what I was doing differently as he said her eyes seemed so bright and her overall disposition was so different that she was happy and seemed full of life today. 

Typically when we are at Costco we leave with a cart full of snacks too.  What’s funny is that with the whole family being on Nutriiveda I asked everyone if they wanted any snacks to take home and everyone said no.  While at the checkout Mel asked for pizza and it was lunch time so we all ate there for lunch.  When leaving Costco today Mel was sure to wave and say goodbye to Albert and was very persistent until Albert noticed her and waved and said goodbye back to her.   She would never have done this before.  To me it’s almost like she’s saying “I’m here Albert and I’ve seen you all those times before and couldn’t say hello and goodbye, but now I can!”

We went for our 2.2 mile walk today and instead of 55 minutes she walked it in 50 minutes- so she’s breaking her new record!  Mel now walks with a positive attitude swinging her arms and with her head high.  After our walk we came home and Mel wanted to use her computer.  I purchased a typing program for Mel and Mel usually types with her pointer finger. Today she wanted to try and use all of her fingers like everyone types so she practiced that form of typing for almost 30 minutes.  Again all this in 12 days -wow I have to pinch myself.

I feel like Mel is going thru all the stages that she never went through when she was first growing up.  I am noticing that since having these surges from the nutriiveda Mel always needs to keep busy from the time she gets up in the morning until the time she finally gets tired in the evening.  Still no more watching TV for her during the day as she just wants to go out and explore or do some type of activity at home and if she’s not doing something now -she gets bored!  Melanie was such a homebody before and never wanted to do much of anything -and now she gets bored doing what she did the last 25 years, it’s just so wonderful and unbelievable.  Melanie deserves to have fun if she wants to as she’s waited and we’ve waited long enough.  I have a full day planned for Mel tomorrow!  I use to have to wait until the weekends to get all of my errands done as Mel would never want to leave the TV but now I am finding I can get all of my errands done with Mel and now can save the weekends for fun activities for the whole family to participate in!  I can almost feel the excitement from Melanie now as she waits for the weekend too!

We feel a new sense of freedom has been given to our family!  Thanks again Lisa for sharing the Nutriiveda with our family!  It has made a huge difference in all of us, but it has been indescribable priceless to our Mel.

Archbishop of the Anglicans

Has the leader of our most insipid of christian denominations, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, finally thrown his hat in the ring?  The Anglicans have become all but cultural dinosaurs in the formerly great Britain over which they once held stewardship, but which has now irreversibly descended into the neo-paganism and multiculturalism of the secular progressives.  The Anglicans such as Rowan Williams have watched it happen for decades, with nary a word of protest, so great is their desire to be accepted in the “polite company” of the rabidly anti-christian secular intelligentsia.  So great is their desire to be regarded as their intellectual equals.  Christianity’s twilight in the West was to be accepted as a foregone conclusion; the “post-christian” era no more than some intellectual abstraction we must all simply resign ourselves to; an almost pre-ordained outcome, the result of a natural social progression to which we were simply to adapt, not resist.

And by “adapting” the Anglicans have become irrelevant.  Their leadership little more than secular humanists themselves, with only a patina of religion to tell them apart.  Only now are they finally realizing that the rabidly anti-christian secular progressives never had a place for them at the table after all.  At best they were regarded as a trifling nuisance to be ignored until a later date.  Silly priests.  They have never been able to recognize their true enemy, nor the real nature of the threat.

Until now?  God willing it’s not too late.  From Melanie Phillip’s column:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, comes in for a lot of stick – not least from columnists like me.

But in the past few days, he has said something important. He has criticised Government ministers for thinking that Christian beliefs are no longer relevant in modern Britain, and for looking at religion as a ‘problem’.

Many Government faith initiatives, he observed, assumed that religion was an eccentricity practised by oddballs, foreigners and minorities.

In recent times, there has been a string of cases in which it is no exaggeration to say that British Christians have been persecuted for expressing their faith.

The article then goes down the laundry list of how the secular multiculturalists of the Labor government have acted with open hostility towards christians and christianity, singling them out for treatment not shown to other religions, like say, Islam.  And then she calls out these secular progressives of Labor as the anti-christian bigots and soft racists they really are:

The curious fact is that Labour’s hostility to faith is highly selective. It does everything it can to protect and support minority creeds while appearing to do everything it can to attack Christianity.

The root of this double standard is the unpleasant prejudice that minority faiths hail from cultures where people are less well-educated and so cannot be blamed for their beliefs. This, of course, is a deeply racist attitude, and is commonly found on the Left.

And then,

As Dr Williams observed, one of the effects of the modern hostility to religion is to give the impression that faith is not really very British. But on the contrary, it is part of the national psyche – even among people who don’t go to church.

Wow.  Strong words because they are coming from Rowan Williams himself, not Melanie Phillips or this humble writer.

To stop the denigration of religion, the Archbishop has called on government ministers to be more willing to talk about their own faith. But since this is seen as the province of cranks, politicians are reluctant to do so because of the risk of public ridicule.

This is because among the intelligentsia, the animosity to religion runs even deeper than the upside-down value system of the multicultural agenda. It springs from the fixed view that reason and religion are in diametrically opposite camps.

Notably, however, this is not the case in the U.S., which remains overwhelmingly an upfront Christian society. Its politicians are neither ashamed nor embarrassed to call upon God to bless America at every opportunity.

Bravo.

Unlike U.S. mainstream Churches which, as descendants from the English Puritans, remain deeply wedded to the Biblical tradition, the Church of England has always looked down on true Scriptural believers as half-wits.

With such a half-hearted foundation of religious belief, it has been more vulnerable than other Churches to the secular onslaught against religion.

Dr Williams exemplifies this weakness by trying to go with the flow of social change and is for ever apologising for Christianity.

EXACTLY.

Rather than complaining about politicians, Dr Williams should use his office to teach the nation about the seminal importance of Christianity to this society. But to do that, he has to have faith in his own Church – a faith that too often appears to be lacking.

So true.

The key point about the U.S. is that it still believes in itself as a nation and in its values, which are rooted in religion. Loyalty to their churches follows from loyalty to the nation in a kind of benign cycle.

In Britain, however, religion and nation have formed a vicious cycle in which hostility to the country’s identity and values reflects and feeds into hostility to the religion upon which they are based.

The Archbishop’s anguish at the onslaught upon Christian faith is very real. But unless he starts promoting the Church as the transcendental custodian of a civilisation rather than the Guardian newspaper at prayer, the society to which it gave rise will continue to sleepwalk off the edge of a religious and cultural cliff.

If you love the smell of napalm in the morning…

We at CCHQ only despise the likes of Rowan and his ilk because they do nothing.  They are little better than collaborators by their inaction, unwilling to admit our Western culture, nay our civilization, is under assault by the secular progressives and their multicultural insanity.  They say and do nothing that could paint them in a bad light with the secular progressives whose love they so dearly crave.  So much easier instead for them to join in on the secular and neopagan pile-on of those kooky christian fundamentalists whose approval nobody cares for.  Those kooks who truly are modern secular society’s “other, ” yet who are the only ones who unapologetically dare to hold out against The Inevitable.

Rowan Williams has acknowledged the threat.  But if this is the beginning of a trend for Archbishop Williams and his priests, I’m yet to be convinced.  The desire by the likes of Williams to be accepted by the modern ruling elites in academia, media and government are too great.  The pressure to conform coming from the secularized neopagan society too strong.  The self-loathing too deep.  The politically correct groupthink too entrenched.  I do not believe the likes of Rowan Williams have the spine.  But if these are more than just the pathetic last bleatings of a lamb on his way to slaughter, he will have many among us, gentle readers, who will raise up our voices on his behalf, will he not? Because the insurgency is looking for leaders.  We need a champion.  Though he makes an unlikely one to be sure.

More at the Blogmocracy.

Another great day for Mel which is even more unusual because she woke up with a little cold. I went to see Mel’s doctor Dr. Black to discuss Melanie without her there, go over the ayurveda nutriiveda and show him the 30 minutes of video we took of Mel.  We plan on taking Melanie to see him next but being the changes were so dramatic and sudden we wanted to have time to discuss Mel without her there.  There was a large amount of time discussing the nutriiveda because at our last appointment Dr. Black knew I was looking for a natural way to help Mel, to try to get her off the heavy meds she is on.  I was very happy to learn that Mel’s doctor is very impressed by Dr. Deepak Chopra and after looking at the ingredients in the nutriiveda he wanted us to only continue with the nutriiveda for now with Melanie without any other supplements.  Mel is still on her seizure medication but we hope to be able to lower that a bit.  We spoke for quite a bit about the Chopra Center and I had no idea how much Dr. Black knew about Dr. Chopra and that he did some sort of training through the Chopra Center.

The half hour of video tape I made for Dr. Black showed her independently pointing, moving and talking (!!) and exploring different body and motor movements she was unable to do before. Mel’s doctor was stunned with the dramatic changes in Mel’s awareness, motor planning, her increase in verbal, how precise her independent pointing has become. It’s hard to believe in just about one week Mel has come such a long way!  After all these years it gives us hope that the work she still has to do won’t be as much of a challenge going ahead as the past 25 years.  It’s still hard to believe this change is happening.

Usually whether Mel is with us at the visit or not it ends with Dr. Black telling us to keep doing what we are doing.  But like Mel it’s like he seems to have new awareness.  This time he sent us home with two homework assignments to do in the next 30 days: get a bio feedback kit and to start Mel in yoga as recommended by the Chopra Center.  I told Dr. Black the nutriiveda booklet recommends yoga as well.  Now I have to find the right type of yoga for Melanie, and perhaps we can take classes together?

As was the rest of the week, Mel only watches tv now once she has come to the end of her day. No longer is she spending her young life sitting and watching it go by.  As her days continue to become more active she seems to cherish the time she has with her sisters more than ever.  The one comment of the day that really stood out to me was while Dr. Black was watching a video of how Mel ate her nutriiveda yogurt, how she held her spoon herself which was the first time he saw that in her 25 years…and how she tried to get every last bit of the nutriiveda yogurt out and he commented “she clearly seems to like the nutriiveda”.  I don’t know for sure but I suspect it’s beyond “like” at this point!

Thank you for continuing to support us in our journey,
Robin

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve met up with Melanie (aka Splendid Sweets).  It seems the closer you get to the holidays, the busier you get.  But this time I visited my pal, she did not show me how to cook.  Well, I take that back.  I got a quick lesson in making caramel.  But we didn’t make dinner together.  She whipped up something fast and yummy: soup, salad and bread sticks.

Hello minestrone.  How you doin’?

And Caesar… I never knew you could look that good.

And a long lost friend: Big Red.  No.  Diet Big Red.  Red cream soda is a weakness.  A big big weakness.  Since 1937.

Put it all together and we got ourselves a great dinner.  And it was FREEZING this day so soup was perfect.

This was delicious.  And I ate it for lunch the very next day.  I think Mel sprinkles pixie-chef dust on food when I’m not looking because everything that is produced in this kitchen tastes so good.

Mel did A LOT of baking before I even showed up on her doorstep.  And these little guys were all waiting for me to the eat them.  So I did.  And I stole some and took them home.  And ate those.  And I didn’t share any of them.

So why did we get fast, friendly and fun with dinner?  Because I was the teacher this night.  I showed Mel how to make Bourbon Balls.  They are not hard to make, just time consuming.  So we mixed them and put them in the fridge.  Then balled them up and put them in the fridge.  And then dipped them and topped them with pecans and returned the little suckers to the fridge.  I’m not lying, it takes a while.  But it’s worth it.

In between the mixing and rolling and dipping, Mel made caramel.  And we experimented with our cameras.  Mel wanted to capture  hot breathe in the freezing cold air.  Harder than we thought.  Much harder.  The wind wasn’t playing nice.

I thought I had a brilliant idea – use powdered sugar to create “hot air”.  So I stuffed my mouth with powdered sugar.  FAIL!  It immediately melted into every crevice of my mouth.  And then I had a mouthful of mushy sugar.  Didn’t see that one coming.  And I didn’t see this one coming either.

This happened only about 30 minutes after Thurmeo (Mel’s husband) said “Don’t burn the house down.”  When I walked in with my mouth full of insanely sweet powdered sugar, I tossed the bag on the counter.  And it fell into a candle.  Seriously, Brooke?  Thurmeo just said not to do this and viola, you’ve gone off and committed arson in this sanctuary?

Don’t worry, no powdered sugar was harmed.  Neither was the counter.  Or the candle.  My box of toothpicks took a beating but everything is fine.  Well, my ego took a bit of beating too but I’m ready to laugh about it now.  Not that Mel didn’t laugh at me the entire time I was apologizing.  Jeez.  Just don’t tell Thurmeo.

Melanie Shopping

Today Mel went by herself with her sisters to the Mall to shop and have lunch!  Being that this is still one of the first times Melanie is able to be out with her sisters without me or my husband there to help I called several times thinking that I would need to meet them and get Mel.  Mel really has always made it clear she doesn’t like shopping prior.  It could be due to her sensory issues but she would quickly be in pain and want to go home.  But today she enjoyed her day out with her sisters. 

I asked Melanie this morning before she left was she going to miss me and her answer was “no” which both shocked me; and made us all laugh.  At 25 years old Mel is growing up!  Mel then followed then up with a great big kiss on the cheek and a great big hug (again she used to never be able to motor plan to do this spontaneously)  and then she was out in the car in the garage with her seatbelt on just waiting for her sisters.  We use to have to walk her to the car and then help her with her seatbelt. 

Mel is also now able to do something when asked.  After Melanie had her nutriiveda with her breakfast, I asked her to take her bowl and spoon and place in the kitchen sink and she did it without any further instructions.  Again that may not seem like much for a 25 year old but many that are reading this have no idea what Melanie’s life has been like up till just about a week ago.  Her background and all the therapies and attempts to help her are all well documented.  So we made sure that we are video taping as much as possible now for Mel’s doctors appt tomorrow. 

Just like Mel’s new fascination with the world, Melanie appears to have discovered the joy of other people and is so much more interactive with others now.  Yesterday she took my sister in law’s father hand very gently as he is in his 70’s and she looked into his eyes and smiled at him like she was seeing him for the very first time.  Mel’s Uncle went to tickle her and she ran and was laughing at the same time.  In the past Mel would just stand there as if she wasn’t aware, or she didn’t care; it was hard to know.  So often now I wonder what was going on in her head before.  I had to wonder how many times would Mel loved to have just ran to tease him as he was teasing her.  When I was telling Mel’s Uncle about her walking in the park Mel began to walk in place to show him and said “see” as she was demonstrating how she is walking now with her arms swinging with a huge smile on her face.  Mel’s over all disposition was very happy and her confidence seems to have soared.  Due to the years of being treated by the school system as autistic ironically seemed to create lack of eye contact.  Now instead of ignoring others now she looks everyone right in the eye when they are speaking to her.  All I can think right now is WOW!  What a weekend!

Melanie at the mall

We were out of the house Saturday for 12 hours which is a record for our family!  Twelve hours and most of it ‘we’ had to keep up with Melanie!!  She’s gone from not wanting or able to do much of anything except watch TV all day to it seems wanting to learn and explore everything about this world she appears to have just discovered!  Fortunately the nutriiveda is easy to travel with as it’s just a powder that we can mix in her yogurt,drink, anything.  Melanie still likes it mixed in yogurt the most.

Mel is really enjoying her touchscreen computer and has discovered how to use it on her own which again is incredible.  Even though we were out of the house most of the day, instead of spending the rest of the time watching TV, Mel wanted to be on her computer.  Her computer was off so she went and turned it on and then came and got me to help her with her password.  Mel is able to type with support to the wrist due to her motor planning so she typed in her password and told me “bye” so I walked away and allowed her to get to her program and play her game on her own. 

Independent pointing has always been an issue with Mel due to her motor planning.  So the question had remained if Mel could read.  Well yesterday with camera in hand we video
taped Mel while I was holding out two or three word cards no pictures and asked her to take a certain word.  Mel had 100% accuracy yesterday which proves she does read and validates our belief in her all those years that others gave up in her.  We are so proud of her.

Wow I can not believe it is day 8 already!  The time has gone by quickly!  I was wondering what would be different today.  The morning routine was the same positive changes that we’ve seen the past few day until we were getting ready to leave this morning to go run some errands.  Mel for some reason thought I was not going to run the errands with her and her sisters this morning.  Mel gave me a kiss on the cheek and a hug and said goodbye and walked out the door into the car in the garage and got into the car and buckled her seatbelt waiting for her sisters.  Again this is highly unusual as up till the other day Melanie never went anywhere without me and most of the time didn’t want to do much of anything except watch TV. 

I saw a new side of Melanie today and it warms my heart.  When she saw that I was getting in the car she was not happy!  She wanted to be alone with her sisters and why shouldn’t she?  She’s a 25 year old and why would any 25 year old want to be with mom all the time.  I explained to Mel that I had to go along anyway.  When we were in Costco Mel said to me all excited “Mom it’s Christmas time” and we all heard her as it was very clear.  It was as if once again she was experiencing this moment for the first time, but we have no idea what she was thinking the past 24 Christmas’  I said yes your are correct and then had to wonder how many times she had thought that
but unable to speak her thought. 

Wow I said to myself if nothing else special happens today I will still be so grateful.  This afternoon I was on the phone with my Aunt and Mel on her own walked over to her touchscreen computer and was able to touch the screen to get into one of her programs and she sat down and starting playing her game on her own using her touchscreen.  She stayed on the computer for about 15 minutes and then exited out of the program and said she was done and went and got a drink on her own.  It was later today that Mel finally wanted to watch a movie and while she was watching her movie she was practicing pointing.  She would  take her finger and look at something and then would point to it.  I have never seen her trying to practicing her pointing.  Due to her global apraxia pointing has always been an issue with Mel.  Another amazing day with the Nutraveda!  The skills that she has shown the past 8 days seem to remain with
her now in her every day routine. 

Mel has a lot more energy but not out of control energy more like she wants to explore the world.  I was telling some people it’s almost like she’s going through early childhood again, and this time as a happy child.   This weekend will be an exciting weekend as tomorrow she is going out to eat, to the movies and shopping without myself or her dad.  My other daughter’s are beyond thrilled to as my one daughter said “finally have my sister”

 I am anxious to see if Mel will give me another kiss on the cheek and a big hug goodbye.  My girls want to get me a Christmas gift was shopping this weekend and asked what I would like and I told them I really can not think of anything.  My Christmas wish is that Mel just continues to have remarkable days like she has had the past 8 days!  No material gift could ever make me as happy as I am now.

Today was another great day! Each day my leg continues to heal and I am not fatigued anymore. This is huge because all last semester in college I was sick from the medication I had to take for my ankle or extremely tired because my body was so worn out! I plan on going on a 4.5 mile run tomorrow and see how my legs feel! I still am 119.5 lbs, I am allowing my body to heal before I get to my goal weight of 110 lbs. Since I did so much damage to my legs I want them to heal before I go back to my regular routines.  I usually eat a shake for breakfast and then have a regular healthy lunch and dinner.

Since my ankle surgery in 2004 I continued to gain weight and I could not control it and before then I never had a weight issue! 8 months ago I was 139.0 lbs now at 119.5 lbs and maintaining because of the shake I am thrilled because I am able to maintain my weight!  This is the longest I have been able to keep weight off, and it feels like the Nutriiveda is healing my body and fixing my metabolic system. The shakes continue to surprise me with their benefits!  This is the first time I haven’t had to worry about gaining weight because after my ankle surgery my metabolic system changed and now it’s going back to normal! It’s wonderful not have to worry about weight gain for no reason. I used to gain weight even if I exercised a lot and ate extremely healthy. The shakes have done so much for my health. 

Mel: she was in great spirits and went on her touch screen hp computer by herself and went into one of her programs and did it independently by herself!

Mindy

(Tom has lost 7 pounds now -it’s been 7 days…we don’t have daily info for him or for Robin who is waiting till the end of the week to weigh herself)

Robin (me):  48 year old mom trying to lose some weight.  I have noticed a lot more energy and not the feeling of constantly being hungry.  I was never a shake or smoothie person until now.  My favorite shake is 2 scoops of vanilla, frozen strawberries and frozen berries with a splash of orange juice.  Having the shakes have also taken away my sweet tooth.  I am eating fresh fruit for my snacks and then one healthy meal a day now and feel full each day.  Having done various diets in the past, I know the challenges that come with dieting.  This time it is very different no challenges thru out the day with the craving of additional food besides the two shakes, 2 healthy snacks, and one healthy dinner.

Thomas (Dad): 48 year old dad who needs to lose 75 lbs. He began the shakes on December 4, 09. He has noticed that he has more energy, not constant cravings for foods, the shake fills him up for 4-5 hours at least. He has lost 3 lbs. Thomas has tried weight watchers several times in the past, but weight watchers made eating more complicated, the shakes make eating simple and easy to work into any schedule. Thomas works 11 hour days in an office so eating healthy becomes a challenge, food is prohibited at their desks and bringing or buying a healthy lunch choice is difficult, the shakes have made healthy eating an easy way of life.

Utami: used to be a competition long distance runner, compartment syndrome and stress inflammation had seriously injured her to the point she was not able to run at all. Although she is not taking the shake for weight loss, she is taking it for the health benefits. Since taking the shake she has noticed that her calfs are not tight and she has reduced inflammation and she has more energy.

Mindy:  I used to be active in various sports, such as lacrosse, field hockey, running, soccer and used to compete in high level tennis tournaments after years of sports, I developed numerous injuries that resulted in tarsal tunnel syndrome and compartment syndrome. A surgery and many shots and medications later I was still in the same place unable to return to tennis and unable to play any sports because of my ankle and certain injuries. I have been in and out of doctor offices for the past 5 years along with countless visits to physical therapist, all of which were not able to offer any solutions to help. I would constantly be gaining and losing weight, my efforts to maintain a healthy weight were compounded and made incredibly hard because my body was constantly stressed and injured. I recently had to stop running because my compartment syndrome injury came back, since taking the shakes (Dec 4. 09) my inflammation has greatly decreased and I was able to play tennis and run again. I was 123.0 lbs on Dec 4. 09 and now am 119.5 lbs. I eat a shake for breakfast and lunch, two healthy snacks and dinner. My favorite shake creation so far has been one that tastes like sherbert.

Sherbert Shake:

1 scoop Vanillia
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup orange juice
1 packet truvia natural sweetener
1 tsp vanilla extract

…. This is my favorite creation by far! 

Note from Mindy:

This morning I went out for a run at Mullberry Park, it has been almost 5 months since I have gone running there. I wasn’t able to before because I had spasimed my proneal muscle in my run and left legs making me unable to do anything besides walk.

This morning I went out only expecting to be able to run 2.2 miles but instead I ran 3.2 miles and would have been able to complete 4.4 miles but it started to rain very hard and turned in for safety reasons. I noticed that I recovered from my two works outs quickly from yesterday and my legs and my upper respitory region feels better. I can comfortably run and not worry about spasiming my muscles or having to stop because of severe pain. It is refreshing to be able to go out knowing I can go and run as long as I want to without my body shutting down on me. The new found energy is exciting and I can’t wait to continue to use the shakes and see the changes. This will help me keep up with my workout routines and school after Christmas break ends on January 5, I am looking forward to the new semester because the shakes have brought me back the energy and vigor I used to have before my ankle surgery and injuries. The shakes have given me my athleticism back. I look forward to building back up to my 13 mile runs!

Mel is also still more animated and happy. It is nice to see her feeling better and interacting with us more. Tomorrow night Mel is going out with us girls ( utami and I ) to Lanier Christmas lights! First time we have ever been able to go out with Mel our selves with out mom or dad! Another goal is to go out to the movies and lunch/or dinner in the future just us sisters! 

Hi, my name is Utami and I’m Mel’s youngest sister. In the past years my sister was not the most patient when it came to shopping. You could tell she was always in a rush, and never seemed to be able to enjoy our outings. Since my sister has started the study, she is patient when it comes to shopping. She seems like she is able to enjoy the outings. It also seems like something has set her free and she is much happier. Today at lunch I could tell she was thinking of something to say. Then a couple minutes later she would say her thought. My favorite part of lunch, was when she was able to motor plan to get to small French fry out of the ketchup. She used another French fry to get the little one out. To me this would take a lot of thought and motor plannning on het part. There have been many small postive changes that I’ve seen. I finally feel like my sister can be herself by being able to express her thoughts and feelings. I’m finally getting to know my sister for who she has always been, but did have a way of showing it before.

For me: My calfs have not ben tight during and after my workouts. I have been doing many leg workouts that involve using my calf muscles. Before I would be afraid to do those exercises because my calfs would always became tight and hard. Since I have been using this product my calfs are not tight and I have not have any pain.

I thought I should tell you that I’ve seen another change in my sister Melanie.  Mindy said that her ankle hurt, so Mel massaged my sisters foot and ankle. This is the first my sister has done this.

Thank you again,
Utami

Today utami and I went on an excursion to Talula Gorge for a fun morning workout. The gorge has water falls that are accessable by stairs cutt into the mountain. We went to all look out points at the gorge and ended up climbing/walking/jogging over 2000 stairs! Before when I did this I came back with my right ankle very sore and the nerves throbbing from irritation and my back sore. Today I came home with more energy and no ankle or back problems! Utami and I had more energy and even jogged the last 600 stairs back up the mountain back to the car. We left excited we could jog the steps and feeling like we had accomplished a lot because it’s the first time in months we have been pain free!

Later that day mom, utami, Mel, and I went to Mullberry to attempt to take Mel on a nice 2.2 mile walk. Mel independently walked by herself the first part of the way; smiling, laughing, and teasing us during the walk. While she was walking she was in good spirits instead of the normal dislike during the walk. Mel and I walked arm and arm for some and when she was done walking with me she walked independently not missing a beat and keeping up with us and in conversation. Mel had not walked this trail in months and finished the 2.2 miles in 53 min and 05 seconds, before this same walk took her over 1 hr and 15 minutes.

Mel ate dinner very calmy tonight and had improved motor planning while eating. This is a drastic change from her speed racer eating we usually saw at dinner.

Tomorrow we go to lake lanier’s Christmas lights!

Another busy morning here with trying to get everything done for the holidays so I asked Mel to use her computer without me this morning while I took care of things around the house that needed to be done.  I really expected that I would need to walk Mel over to the computer and help her begin her program.  Wow to my amazement she said “ok” and walked over by herself and began using her computer.  She really is getting more confidence with her touchscreen each day.  In the afternoon we went grocery shopping and the whole way to the store she was picking on her sister.  She was poking her and trying to tickle her but kept on basically trying to annoy her.  We have never seen that behavior out of Mel before.

 Today still a lot of chatter from Mel and a lot of smiles.  The afternoon Mel was tired so she asked for a movie and actually took a  nap.  I am thinking the last 15 days have finally caught up to her so I would just let her rest the rest of the day.  Since we had such a busy day I decided to go pick something up for dinner for everyone and asked Mel’s sister Mindy to stay with her while I went to go get dinner as I thought Mel was still sleeping.  Mel heard me and she was the first one up and said “I want to go” and she was the first one in the car with her seatbelt on waiting for the rest of us. 

Again in the car Mel while going to get dinner Mel was poking and trying to tickle Mindy.  Mel used to like to watch TV at home and look at magazines in the car.  It’s like Mel is making up for lost time with her sisters and is not even interested in her magazines any longer while in the car. 

After dinner I was surprise to see Mel walk over to her computer and begin using one of her programs.  This time she was trying to figure out her mouse while using her programs.  She actually was able to use her mouse a few times correctly which is amazing as we have tried to motor plan the mouse for years with Mel without any success.  The frustration was not there this evening when trying to use her mouse.   If she could not get the mouse to work the way she wanted it to then she went back to her touchscreen.  Mel now has the confidence with the touchscreen and knows she can use that when necessary but really trying to figure out the mouse now. 

Mel worked on her computer for over 90 minutes after dinner.   I asked Mel to put away her shoes which she did but at the same time she growled at me.  I was shocked to hear that sound out of her but while growling she was smiling the whole time as well.  I have to admit sometimes I will growl in teasing one of my girls now Mel has picked that up as well. 

Mindy heard Mel growling and said “Mom Mel is growling at you”  and Mel said “yes”.  We all had a huge smile on our face thinking wow what is going to be next for Mel!

Even though the rest of our family doesn’t have the life changing results that Melanie has had in the past two weeks on the nutriiveda.  Tom and I have lost a couple of pounds and feel so much more energy throughout the day.  Mindy and Tomi feel so much better physically as both are continuing with  the Nutriiveda.  Both are back to running just like they did prior to their sport injuries.  And then of course there’s Mel who in addition to all the other changes is walking each day with confidence and determination.  Mel who avoided the hills just 2 weeks ago now tackles the hills with determination that I thought was not possible.  Wow that last sentence is both literally and figuratively speaking!  Who would ever had thought there could be these many changes in my 25 year old daughter?  We have so much hope for the future that we hadn’t felt before.  It has been 15 days and I still feel we are stepping forward without taking any steps back.  The frustration level in our house is very low as we finally feel as a family we are helping Mel after all of these years of trying without having success.  I’m not one to credit just one therapy or product for success with Mel as we’ve tried so many over the decades now.  But as it’s only been 2 weeks and the only difference has been an addition of a wonderful product called nutriiveda.  It’s hard to believe but my family today has a new Mel who is happy and making incredible progress that her doctors didn’t believe possible.  We don’t want to question why this is happening but see it as a gift.  And what a wonderful holiday gift for our family this year!

Today was a fun day.  The forecast of snow for tomorrow – well starting tonight – coincided quite well with the fact that my mom was originally going to fly down smack dab in the middle of the afternoon tomorrow.  I did count down the hours until noon (YAY leaving work!  I love the feeling that comes with leaving work and knowing you have an entire week off.)  My drive home consisted of calling AirTran to try to switch my moms flight, calling my mom and telling her she had to be at the airport in an hour (she hadn’t packed yet), and calling Nick to thank him for picking my mom up from the airport.  Long story short, everything worked out – she made the flight and got down here yesterday before it started snowing.

In the meantime, Melanie and Snowball came up to the Gburg to hang out and wait for Mandy & Jeff’s arrival!  So excited that these two newlyweds were able to make the trip down – Jeff had a job interview in La Plata (keep your fingers crossed!) so they decided to spend the weekend with us   Mandy hadn’t been to DC at all yet – and Jeff hadn’t been since an 8th grade trip – so we had big plans for the evening.  We headed downtown for dinner at Ella’s, and stopped back to check out Melanie & JJ’s place before we walked around.  Leaving the restaurant, it had started to snow (!) and the weather quickly got very cold.  We missed Teaism by 2 minutes, and the sculpture garden concession stand was closed, so our big DC touristy evening ended up being a quick run to the mall, a few pictures, and taking the Smithsonian metro stop to get back to Bethesda to drive home.  So at least we saw the Washington Monument …  the rest will have to come when Jeff gets the job

Nick was amazing driving home in deteriorating conditions – with a crazy driver close to home that spun out over the median even – and alas, our full house warmed up and went to bed on this lovely snowy Friday.

Mandy & Jeff

Dinner at Ella's

It started to snow on the way from Ella's to MM&JJ's House

Foiled! The Sculpture Garden concession stand was closed

We did make it down to 'see' the mall