[Note from Dana: This is a series of emails sent to me over the course of about 3-4 weeks. I was going to edit it to sound more like a narrative, rather than personal emails, but it proved too difficult. The writer of these emails gave me permission to include them as written.]

The chelation portion of this child's success story is here:
http://www.patsullivan.com/blog/2005/09/scott_shoemaker.html

I wanted to send you and email to thank you. Scott (my husband) and I don't have a DAN that does the measles treatment or anti-viral therapy. So..we were on our own on this one. Joshua showed the decline after the MMR, and he was born with severe gastrointestinal and immune disfunction issues right from the start so we were pretty confident he had measles issues.

We researched and researched on this, and found the most useful info. right on your website. We read you experiences thoroughly and learned of the importance of going after other viruses at that time as well - with olive leaf extract.

We put Josh on the 2-day high dose vitamin A protocol (400,000) with a maint of about 25,000 per day to follow... still on maint. We started the olive leaf extract the first day following the two hi-dose vitamin A days.

Additionally... we consulted with Dr. McCandless...as we have a 16-month old daughter who did not have the MMR vaccine. We were curious if stirring up the measles in Joshua might make him contageous to our daughter. McCandless said probably not, but it has not been proven that it wouldn't happen either. She suggested we also do a hi-dose protocol for our daughter (only about 20,000 units of vit. A per day - while doing Joshua's) just in case. She said best case scenario... would be our daughter would actually catch a very mild case, kill it off and we would never have to worry about vaccinating her. But Dr. McCandless said that would probably not happen.. and then she said... too bad.

We decided to also do the olive leaf extract with our daughter at the same time as Joshua... as she was also born with the same severe gastrointestinal problems and immune system disfunction and she has shown some early signs of spectrum disorder (stimming, language delay)

So...the two days of hi dose vitamin A went great for both kids... no issues they seemed totally normal. Neither has ever developed the vitamin A toxicity rash or anything. However...we got all of the symptoms with the olive leaf extract... which was great! We couldn't believe it! As soon as we started olive leaf with them, they had what looked like mild flu the very next day.... runny noses, croup cough - only at night, cranky and tired in the afternoons. Then the rashes came! I was scared it was vitamin A ... but then I read and the rashes were not on the back of their necks... the rashes were on their faces. Jordans were all over her apples of her cheeks. Josh's were all around his upper lip and over to the side of one of his cheeks. The chewing started. They chewed on their sleeves and hands constantly. Then the rashes moved down their bodies. Josh's went to upper thighs, then shins, then to tops of feet and then off his body. Then his would start back on his face again a day later. Jordans went from face to tummy and then off her body and started over again on face. The runny noses would be really bad and then completely disappear within hours and then start over again after another dose of olive leaf.

Regression was really scary with Joshua. It seemed like we lost 5 months of progress (which is ton's with Joshua). He started stimming all of the time, he slurred his words, acted more baby-like. BUT ... at the same time he became more affectionate and his language skills took off! He went from 5 and 6 word sentences to 9 and 10 word sentences and actual conversations. His comprehension level benefited the same way. Jordan improved dramatically too. She discovered her daddy. She was a total mommy's girl and now she goes running up to daddy for hugs and kisses every night when he gets home, and she wants him to hold her a lot now in the evenings. Her comprehension level skyrocketed. She can point to all body parts now..and is trying so hard to communicate. Babytalk took off and she is much more affectionate to everyone.

The interesting thing we are finding... that, like you, we have seen results from the olive leaf that people are getting from Valtrex. We are so glad, because we didn't have a doctor who would prescribe Valtrex for us... so it is wonderful that olive leaf is working so well for us.

The vitamin A helped Josh get rid of some OCD he had. He could not handle clothing changes. He cried even if he wet all over himself because he did not want to change his pants. He even got to a point where he didn't want a different diaper! Scary! Now when we change him he says "new shirt" "new pants" or "new diaper" ect. And he likes to help pick out his new items.

It's been three weeks since we began the whole thing. Joshua's regression is decreasing, and we are still seeing gains. Jordan started more stimming in the beginning too... and hers is decreasing with continued gains as well.

Scott and I have dedided to start OLE as well to see if we have some viruses floating around. We will let you know how it ends up affecting the two of us if you are interested.

Sorry this is so long. Just thought you might like to know our OLE experiences. There's not a lot of OLE stories out there that we found other than your fantastic one and we thought you might like to know of others who benefited from your story.

~~~~~

Interesting you mentioned the warts. We are giving the OLE to our 6 year old and his wart (a large one) on his thumb is turning white.. and we are hoping will dry up and go away. We were told by a doctor the only way to get rid of it is surgery... we shall see!

I need to adjust the McCandless info. about our daughter anyway... she said to give her 10,000 units of Vit. A during Joshua's hi-dose Vit. A days (I had typed in 20,000). She also told us to use the Klaire's Micelized Vit. A for our daughter. We used the Thornes capsules for Joshua and switched to the micelized for the maintenance dosing - just easier. Dr. McCandless also told us the crank up the vitamin C for our daughter on those days... as much as her body could tolerate, so I'll add that too.

~~~~~

Very interesting still... our daughter developed what looks like pink eye yesterday, and Joshua has started running a fever and is very tired and cranky with no other flu-like symptoms (I know you've been there).

We have never actually written anything about what I emailed you with our experiences so far with OLE.... exept a few questions on the Valtrex board. We are finding that many parents are insterested in OLE as an antiviral option. It appears that some are also saying that natural antivirals don't compare to the results that you get from Valtrex. We are finding, however, that our results are almost exactly the same as the Valtrex users. It is very interesting.

~~~~~

Here's what we're running into.

Fortunatlely... we did read your experiences before beginning, so we followed your instructions from the beginning.

When we began we added the OLE, Colostrum Gold, Biotin, and extra Vitamin C all at the same time. Also added GSE and Uva Ursi for first 4 days. Then switched out Uva Ursi for Oil of Oregano and then onto Kirkman's Yeast Aid for about a week. Now on GSE with Uva Ursi again. (we are about 21 days into this.

Day 2 of OLE: Joshua-3.5 yrs. old, developed cold-like symptoms (runny nose and cough) within 24 hours (as did our daughter, Jordan -17 mos. old).

Day 3 of OLE: Joshua developed a huge rash that surrounded his mouth and the whole side of his cheek and started chewing his sleeves. Daughter developed rashes on both cheeks and started chewing her fingers.

Day 4 of OLE: Joshua's rash seemed worse on his face (whole side of face). Jordan's rash also seemed worse. Runny nose came and went during day on both kids. Croup type cough for daughter ... only during the night.

Day 5 of OLE: Language exploded for Joshua... went from 5 word sentences to some 10 and 11 word sentences and daughter became extremely affectionate towards her father...(before extremly bad mommy's girl). Josh's rash not on face... moved to upper thighs on both sides. Daughter's rash leaving face... now on her stomach (almost looks like chicken pox)

Day 6: Josh's rash fading on thighs, now on shins and top of feet. Stimming is really bad. Josh's stimming had almost disappeared after 7 months of TD-DMSA chelation... now back in full force and all of the time. Jordan stimming a lot as well... but her comprehension and awareness is taking off.

Day 7: Josh's rash left feet... his skin is clear. Jordan's (daughter) rash is gone too. Josh has best speech therapy visit ever, followed by best OT visit ever.

Day 8: Josh is acting very tired in afternoons and moody. Adding in lots of baby babbling... which had all but gone prior to OLE. Jordan is adding new babytalk and trying to communicate (she is labeled speech delayed and has some stimming). Rash is back on Josh's cheeks and Jordan's cheeks.

From Day 8 moving forward here is what we have seen:

Jordan: developed pink eye in both eyes and it completely cured itself two days later. Jordan has had an enlarged lymph node for over 6 months that is starting to resolve itself. Jordan can now identify seven body parts, and can the hand gestures to patty cake. She is still affectionate with father. Rashes continued to come and go on her face and her tummy. She developed a large cold sore above her lip at dinnertime one night, and 24 hours later it had resolved itself. She appears to be handling this wonderfully. She is not cranky and does not appear to feel bad. Attempts to develop communication continue. Started saying "right there" and pointing at what she wants.

Joshua: He has been withdrawn (not very normal for him). He is very moody - up and down... cries easy. Rashes continue to come and go on his cheeks and thighs. He developed a wierd rash that was just above his upper lip that lasted one day and then went away (herpes looking). He vomited yesterday and has run a low grade fever for two days and during that time refused to drink anything (very unusual for him... strep throat maybe?). Today lethargy, fever and drinking issue is gone. He still has babytalk and lots of stimming... but language is still improving. He has a very large swollen lymph node on side of neck that popped out same day as fever and lethargy and vomiting. His moods still go up and down and he acts the worse first thing in AM and at night (at least the past few days). We were supposed to do a round of TD-DMSA this weekend, but decided not to because he appeared to feel so bad... did not want to over-tax the body. He is on liver support and a whole slew of nutritional supplements.

Everything is happening so fast... it just looks like different viruses are hitting the kids every couple of days. Are some of the viruses much harder to fight off than others? Joshua is older than Jordan and was also vaccinated many more times that her... I'm guessing that is why he is having a harder time with the viruses? His seem to be harder to fight off than what she has been getting.

I'm sorry for the long history... just wanted to show you where we are right now.

FACTS:

Joshua is 3.5 and weighs 45 lbs. We are giving him 520 mg. of OLE drops every day. (30 drops = 400mg of OLE. We give him 40 drops...10 drops at a time 4x/day) We are on day 21 of OLE

Jordan is 17 mos. old and weight 22 lbs. We are giving her 21 drops of OLE per day (7 drops 3x per day) We are on day 21 of OLE

Here's the strange thing. I don't know if Joshua and Jordan are just very sensitive... or if it's the type of OLE we are using or what... but timeframe-wise... we are seeing the same things the people on the Valtrex site seem to be seeing. Our kids reacted immediatley and continue to react daily. With Josh, this regressive-healing thing has been tough. Behaviorally... it's like someone rewinded the clock about 5 mos. (and for Joshua, 5 mos. improvement is extremely drastic). But... communication and comprehension-wise, he's improved drastically as well. Jordan's improvements seem to really outweigh her negatives. Her only "regressive-healing" so far has been some rashes, the pink-eye, the runny nose/ cough, and increased stimming. Everything has dropped off for her but the stimming, which seems better and she is maintaining the benefits.

Two more things that are regressive that Joshua has started again with OLE (bad droopy eyelids, and he is choking again when he eats (it was a motor thing)).

~~~~~

This is moving so fast. As of this afternoon and all evening..... Joshua is completely back to normal. No fever, babbling is gone, very energetic, talking in complete sentence..actually much more verbal than we have seen him in a while, moodiness is gone, no rashes, eyes do not look droopy, haven't seen stimming in a couple of hours. I may have panicked too soon. We continued with his dosing schedule of the OLE today... so maybe he fought his way through a really bad virus these past two days and is over that one. I have no idea what tomorrow will look like, but I thought it only fair to let you know of his changes since my last email to you.

Any portions of the information I have sent to you, you are welcome to use for your site.

~~~~~

We took your advice and watched the kids at the current dosing schedule. They looked GREAT for two days. We thought we were through it... but, in taking your advice, we upped the dose some yesterday, and guess what... just what you said might happen. The viruses started all over again... and it looks exactly the same as it did on day two with both of them:

Day 25: Joshua (3.5 autistic son) is very whiney, spacey, not responding to name, rash all over his upper lip, chewing on sleeve constantly, babytalk returning, lots of stimming, some wierd looking out of his eyes, feels warm to touch, seems tired. BUT... had a GREAT speech therapy session.... so very wierd.

Day 25: Jordan (17 month dev. delayed daughter) is moody, crying alot, bad rash on cheeks, diarrhea, excessive appetite, runny nose and croupy sounding. BUT... very attentive, and friendly to strangers today. Saying "Hi" and waving to people as well as saying "Bye" appropriately and waving goodbye. She also has started to say "up" as of yesterday when I reach down for her. She actually played a game of Simon Says last night with her brothers and got several of the commands right.

So... thanks for the advice to watch the kids level off and then increase dosing to see what happens. They obviously are holding on to more viruses. Here we go again... man, I'm so not looking forward to this week of viral battle! I do think we are now dealing with yeast as well. I'm going to try adding the epsom salt, baking soda, hydrogen pyroxide baths tonight and every other night. Please let me know if you have any opinions about the effectiveness of those.

~~~~~

Here is what has happened in the past week with OLE... just to add to the info. I sent to you.

Days 25 - 32 both kids have had the following:

LOTS of goopy green stuff in the eyes. They have been waking up with their eyes glued shut. LOTS of runny noses... all throughout the day. Rashes that are coming and going now on the apples of their cheeks and above their mouths. Rashes on the body appear to have discontinued. Occasional low-grade fevers. Lots of gas, seems to be only at night and does cause them to be fussy. Lethargy comes and goes. Joshua has missed several days of school due to runny noses and the green goop in the eyes. As of today (day 32) Jordan appears to be about done with the green goop, and Joshua looks like he is almost done as well.

On a positive note: Jordan picked up two more words yesterday and continues to progress in expressive and receptive language. Joshua's vocabulary continues to increase as well. Both are doing a lot less stimming than they were at the beginning of the OLE. We are hoping to be coming towards the end of the regressive healing stage.

We have not let up on our OLE dosing... infact, we have increased it some gradually over the past week. We talked to a DAN doctor yesterday who said as long as Joshua is not running fever and acting like he feels really bad, it is ok to begin TD-DMSA chelation again (we had skipped one round ... we are on a 3/11 dosing schedule). So, we will be starting that again this weekend, and will be hoping for a really nice leap forward, now that some viruses have hopefully been cleared out the the way. I had also taken Jordan off of her oral chelation formula (consists of lots of natural antioxidants mixed with a little ALA in the formula). I feel comfortable starting her up on that again as well.

~~~~~

Wanted to let you know where the kids are at this point.

Joshua continues to progress rapidly. He is chelating better (seeing more immediate results) since our anti-viral experience. He actually picked up a cold yesterday, even has a cough, which I am thrilled about... as he did not get one for at least a year, prior to anti-virals. So... we think his immune system is finally working. We definitely feel that he is now detoxing faster. FINALLY got the yeast under control after a good round of Diflucan and some naturals thrown in, along with going sugar-free for a few weeks. Man you said it... OLE STIRS UP YEAST!!!! We never battled with it before, even with chelation and TD-Glutathione.

Jordan was retested yesterday. She is no longer developmentally delayed in ANY area. The therapist was shocked and impressed. Jordan appeared to make miraculous progress in the past two months (16-18 months old). Therapist told us most kids will have a developmental spurt at 18 mos and beyond. However Jordan (who tested developmentally delayed at 14 mos.) definitely jumped way ahead and not coincidentally, when we did the anti-viral protocol and started the mild-natural oral chelation formula over the past two months (starting at 16 mos.). I accredit the majority of her gains to the OLE, as the oral chelation formula is extremlely mild and slow moving and we took a break from it during the most intense part of our OLE protocol.

What I would have done different... Added in Virastop enzymes. Also... I would have gone harder after yeast so it wouldn’t have gotten out of control. And… I would have restricted sugar during that time.

Anyway... that’s where we are now.

[My thanks to Angela for allowing me to use her son's story on my site.]