Jane Casey's Kitchen

The following is an excerpt from my book: Eat It And Beat It: Getting Over Autism. I wanted to show the before and after of what my kids were like in 2001 and then their recovery-2011.

Then and Now

At Age two-and-a-half, my kids were not speaking and had poor eye contact. One child would continuously spin objects or frantically chase a piece of paper that was blowing in the wind. My other child would stay frozen in one place and appear to be completely oblivious to what was happening around him. Their language consisted of grunting sounds. There was head banging, inexplicable tantrums and comatose-like behavior. They both had extended bellies and dark circles under their eyes and both suffered from either constipation or diarrhea. They were pale and in the summer didn’t tan after being outside all day. They simply did not look healthy.

2011

At Age eleven, both kids are extremely verbal and socially engaged. They have a variety of interests and a vocabulary that at times amazes me. Both are in the fifth grade where Alec excels in math and science and Jack in art and social studies. They are healthy, fit, very active and have a great sense of humor.   What a difference!

I had plans for the holiday season and it turned out that my plans were not going to happen.  The past six months have been pretty rigorous for my family and me.  We moved 2,100 miles from Chicago to Portland Oregon in June.   We moved our cars, some clothes  and drove across the country.  In September we moved out of temporary housing and met the movers who and had all of our stuff from Chicago and went into another new house.   I took on home schooling my 12 year old twins.  School is not being entirely taught by me.  The kids go to a school here but they get to choose their classes.  Jack is taking some painting classes, math, language arts and Alec is in high school math which he loves!  All that said, I am also starting menopause and I am bitchy all the time or crying which is brutal.  SO……….you get the picture.

On Christmas night we had some new friends over for dinner with their family and my parents were here.  The night was calm and relaxing.  At 2 am I woke up and started vomiting and that went on for several hours.    I have a kidney issue I have had my whole life and when I get sick my electrolytes get messed up.  Needless to say, I had to go to the hospital the next morning to get IV fluids.  My heart rate was so low they put an EKG monitor on me and I was “officially” checked into the hospital in Portland on December 26th.  Not so fun.  Actually this part was great, I started to feel better with the fluids.  I really couldn’t walk or talk when I got to the hospital that morning.

The next night when I was finally given permission to eat solid food I discovered a very wonderful thing.  I could order food whenever I wanted from 6 am-9 pm every day. I had two menus I could choose from and one was gluten free!  But I could also get a fresh orange, steamed vegetable platter or hummus.  That was just the start!   They had Seattle’s Best Coffee and Tazo tea which is a Portland tea.  Now I knew I was going to get better.    The next few questions in my mind were puzzling.  Was I going to order the local salmon for dinner?  Should I fake like I am still sick in a couple of days or go home?  Of course I went home.  There are only so many days you can stay in a hospital with that gown on!