Re: Incredible update from Robin -please read and share!

[Guest guest]

I am praying! I have asked for prayer for Mel from many people.

Thanks for the update!!!

Jen O'Brien

On Mar 28, 2010, at 9:21 AM, Jeanne Buesser

<jbmistletoe@...> wrote:

> Robin and ,

>

> You are both in my prayers. Jeanne

>

>

>

>

>

>

>>

>> (If you have a child on nutriiveda and seizure medication, please

>> contact me lisa@... There are doctors now that want to study what

>> you are about to read)

>>

>> Nutriiveda�a life saver!

>>

>>

>>

>> Robin Ketchum called me from the ICU at a Georgia hospital today.

>> " Our 26 year old `Real Life Little Mermaid' Mel is in intensive

>> care right this moment and she almost died yesterday. " Before I go

>> on I want each one reading this to stop and please say a prayer for

>> that she is out of the hospital and home well soon.

>>

>>

>>

>> Robin was not supposed to be using her cell phone but felt it was

>> that important to reach out to me to update Mel's blog due to what

>> is going on with Mel and NutriiVeda �and seizures. This is a pr

>> ofound update and one to be taken seriously by anyone who has a ch

>> ild on seizure medication and nutriiveda. 's doctor is now

>> totally convinced based on what he is seeing that nutriiveda is "

>> healing 's brain " I'll now explain a bit more in detail an

>> d hope that and her loving family are home from the hospit

>> al soon and Robin can update again herself!

>>

>>

>>

>> As you may know from reading Mel's blog, who was 25 yeas

>> old when starting NutriiVeda; went from being almost catatonic,

>> unable to dress, bathe, feed herself with almost no way to

>> communicate, blank stares into within days and weeks on nutriiveda

>> a vibrant young woman; eager to catch up on all the time lost, to

>> talk, play, explore life! as you'll read in her blog has

>> had profound global apraxia and TBI that went undiagnosed for most

>> of her life which led to lack of any appropriate therapy. And due

>> to misdiagnosis of mental retardation and autism and the ABA

>> therapy that came with the autism misdiagnosis, Mel developed

>> severe post traumatic stress syndrome.

>>

>>

>>

>> Like most parents with a child today with autism or similar

>> disorders, 's parents tried everything they could to help

>> their daughter over the past two decades, and took her from

>> professional to professional. Various treatments, therapies and

>> even what some today are exploring that I'm not a fan of: off label

>> medications for autism �in Mel's case the drug for Alzheimer's c

>> alled Namenda was tried as well with no success. As Robin puts it

>> most professionals gave up on �but I never did. How wo

>> uld any of us be if all our life we were misdiagnosed and treated

>> as if we were mentally retarded and provided with therapy that wa

>> s completely inappropriate for us? As bad as that is, Mel's story

>> got worse. Sometime in 's early 20s in addition to every

>> thing else developed seizures that were life threatening,

>> was in the hospital twice near death, and had to be put on " high "

>> levels of the seizure medication Depakote.

>>

>>

>>

>> If you need to know the details of what happened from day ONE on

>> nutriiveda up till before the story I'm going to share please read

>> 's entire blog at http://littlemermaidmelanie.wordpress.com/about

>> What I'm going to share today is another story of misdiagnosis

>> and another near death moment for - but this time the story

>> is tied into one of hope and miracles!

>>

>>

>>

>> As Robin left off on her last messages as anyone can tell �Melan

>> ie is on her way to being a normal young woman. Suddenly aware of

>> herself as a woman, other people around her, and wanting to parti

>> cipate in life's fun and activity every moment. Robin who was Mel

>> anie's primary care giver went from being house bound to watching

>> 's every moment fearful of another life threatening seizure

>> , not being able to take to stores or just about anywhere,

>> or a doctor's appointment at times without sedation, to one who a

>> ll of a sudden could enjoy life with her daughters and husband! L

>> ife was good and that's where we left off. Due to the lack of any

>> seizure activity at all Mel's seizure meds were reduced a few tim

>> es. There were no seizures and no more " episodes of post traumati

>> c stress syndrome " that the Ketchum family feared. Mel was workin

>> g with a new Prompt speech pathologist named Martha and was schedu

>> led for a new occupational therapy appointment. She was talking n

>> ot just to people she knew but to people she didn't. And�at a r

>> ecent chiropractic office it appears even flirted a bit wi

>> th the young handsome doctor who told her how beautiful she was an

>> d told her that she " reminded him of an actress " �so yes, things

>> were on their way!

>>

>>

>>

>> But about a week ago appeared to regress in all areas. She

>> was once again unable to feed herself and was not verbal. In

>> addition she was acting very unusual. At first the belief was that

>> 's seizures were back as well as the post traumatic stress

>> syndrome. Immediately 's Depakote medication which had been

>> reduced was ordered back up to the original dosage and Mel was

>> brought to the hospital. Tests were run but just like history �

>> things were missed, and misdiagnosed. One thing that was discover

>> ed immediately is that did not have any seizure activity a

>> t all. The team of doctors did want to stay on Nutriiveda

>> because it appeared to be helping her and in addition it was the

>> only thing that would eat. is up to 6 scoops a da

>> y for therapeutic reasons and she has it mixed into apple sauce.

>> was not getting any better however. One neurologist ran a

>> series of seizure tests on and attempted to trigger a sei

>> zure with lights, pain (!!!) everything, even walking for 30 hours

>> -but no seizures at all.

>>

>>

>>

>> While looking for seizures what was missed is that had

>> somehow developed pneumonia. Apparently most of the ICU is filled

>> with what is being called a communicable outbreak of pneumonia in

>> this Georgia area. I found this online just now when I searched

>> for this `CDC sees sustained H1N1 activity in Southeast' Mar 26,

>> 2010

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/mar2610fluview.\

html

>> The strange thing is that for the first part of the week

>> had no symptoms at all of being sick. No fever or coughing-

>> nothing. She did start to complain of pain but of course that was

>> at first thought to be headaches linked to seizures. Apparently

>> I've been just told by Robin that pneumonia is painful.

>>

>>

>>

>> Due to undiagnosed pneumonia however 's brain, heart, and

>> kidneys were all at risk. What the doctors and Mel's family are

>> convinced of is that " Mel saved her kidneys " " She knew to drink

>> lots of water to flush out her kidneys " What is incredible about

>> this is that when first started nutriiveda she never liked

>> to drink anything. It was a struggle to make sure she had enough

>> hydration �but due to nutriiveda learned to be more in t

>> ouch with her body's needs and knew she needed water. If she did

>> not drink all the water she did (she even got the cup and filled u

>> p the water on her own!!) she would have needed a new kidney by no

>> w. Why? Apparently in addition to her body dealing with pneumoni

>> a�.her doctors discovered that the Depakote seizure medication t

>> hat had been on for the past 4 years was now at a toxic le

>> vel in her body as (I'm going to bold this on purpose) HER BODY NO

>> LONGER NEEDED IT!!!!

>>

>>

>>

>> Yesterday morning almost died from all that went on �but

>> that little trooper pulled through. A series of more tests, EEG,

>> MRI etc were run and there are a number of unexplainable changes

>> in 's brain " due to NutriiVeda " according to the doctors.

>> From 3 years ago 's brain is " healing " and " normal " There

>> is no doubt that by the " end of this year will be off all

>> seizure medication " and that she is " not to stop taking NutriiVeda

>> every day "

>>

>>

>>

>> The head charge nurse hearing all of this went to Robin to find out

>> more information for her mother who has suffered from seizures all

>> her life and after hearing more wanted NutriiVeda for her mom.

>> Robin gave her one of her own canisters, but the nurse refused to

>> take it without paying J

>>

>>

>>

>> And this brings me to why Robin felt it so important to update

>> Mel's blog today. For any parent who has a child with seizures on

>> medication it is VERY important to get frequent blood testing to

>> measure levels. 's level when it went toxic from Depakote

>> seizure medication went to 145 which is toxic �the doctors do no

>> t want it to be any higher than 50 for right now. To reit

>> erate they expect her to be OFF all seizure medication by the " end

>> of this year " (YAY!!!) Again the " only explanation " for this is

>> that NutriiVeda is " healing 's brain " due to not only the

>> changed reaction in the medication she was always on �but the a

>> ctual neuro tested changes in her brain!!! This is just amazing!

>>

>>

>>

>> The one other point I want to make is that prior to the

>> heavy antibiotics was talking to her nurses and asking to go home.

>> " I am not sick. Can I go home now please? " She was verbal and

>> able to answer yes and no questions as well as ask the nurses for

>> " lunch " " to drink juice " " a movie " and other things she

>> wanted! But right now is no longer talking but we just

>> know once she is off of the antibiotics and able to get back to her

>> 6 scoops a day of NutriiVeda she'll back to her new self! The high

>> dosage of antibiotics were started last night and is not

>> allowed to eat any foods due to choking fear so for the next day or

>> so more she will not unfortunately be on NutriiVeda - the

>> incredible NutriiVeda for a few more days; the same NutriiVeda that

>> now more than just her family is crediting with " saving Mel's

>> life " We don't know if NutriiVeda kept Mel from having the

>> symptoms of being sick that in turn made it difficult to diagnose

>> her accurately but we have to be thankful that her pneumonia was

>> diagnosed. As I write this now is still in ICU. Robin is

>> thankful that the hospital is letting her sleep and shower there so

>> that she can stay with 24/7 till she makes it through

>> this. The fever has broken and the hope is that can go

>> home sometime early next week. Please again take a moment to say a

>> prayer for our " Real Life Little Mermaid " Ketuchum. The

>> poor thing has been through so much- she needs the chance to live

>> her life that she never had and was just beginning to have. Andï¿

>> ½to perhaps flirt with that handsome young doctor again! J

>>

>>

>>

>> you have all of my prayers. And Robin you are our hero!

>> And to all the professionals out there �please read this and rem

>> ember that things are not always how to appear. Please take the t

>> ime to know that each case is not only unique �but a life. And

>> in this case �'s life.

>>

>>

>>

>> Thank you.

>>

>> =====

>>

[Guest guest]

Please let us know is home and well. You are in my prayers!!

> >>

> >> (If you have a child on nutriiveda and seizure medication, please

> >> contact me lisa@ There are doctors now that want to study what

> >> you are about to read)

> >>

> >> Nutriiveda�a life saver!

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Robin Ketchum called me from the ICU at a Georgia hospital today.

> >> " Our 26 year old `Real Life Little Mermaid' Mel is in intensive

> >> care right this moment and she almost died yesterday. " Before I go

> >> on I want each one reading this to stop and please say a prayer for

> >> that she is out of the hospital and home well soon.

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Robin was not supposed to be using her cell phone but felt it was

> >> that important to reach out to me to update Mel's blog due to what

> >> is going on with Mel and NutriiVeda �and seizures. This is a pr

> >> ofound update and one to be taken seriously by anyone who has a ch

> >> ild on seizure medication and nutriiveda. 's doctor is now

> >> totally convinced based on what he is seeing that nutriiveda is "

> >> healing 's brain " I'll now explain a bit more in detail an

> >> d hope that and her loving family are home from the hospit

> >> al soon and Robin can update again herself!

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> As you may know from reading Mel's blog, who was 25 yeas

> >> old when starting NutriiVeda; went from being almost catatonic,

> >> unable to dress, bathe, feed herself with almost no way to

> >> communicate, blank stares into within days and weeks on nutriiveda

> >> a vibrant young woman; eager to catch up on all the time lost, to

> >> talk, play, explore life! as you'll read in her blog has

> >> had profound global apraxia and TBI that went undiagnosed for most

> >> of her life which led to lack of any appropriate therapy. And due

> >> to misdiagnosis of mental retardation and autism and the ABA

> >> therapy that came with the autism misdiagnosis, Mel developed

> >> severe post traumatic stress syndrome.

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Like most parents with a child today with autism or similar

> >> disorders, 's parents tried everything they could to help

> >> their daughter over the past two decades, and took her from

> >> professional to professional. Various treatments, therapies and

> >> even what some today are exploring that I'm not a fan of: off label

> >> medications for autism �in Mel's case the drug for Alzheimer's c

> >> alled Namenda was tried as well with no success. As Robin puts it

> >> most professionals gave up on �but I never did. How wo

> >> uld any of us be if all our life we were misdiagnosed and treated

> >> as if we were mentally retarded and provided with therapy that wa

> >> s completely inappropriate for us? As bad as that is, Mel's story

> >> got worse. Sometime in 's early 20s in addition to every

> >> thing else developed seizures that were life threatening,

> >> was in the hospital twice near death, and had to be put on " high "

> >> levels of the seizure medication Depakote.

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> If you need to know the details of what happened from day ONE on

> >> nutriiveda up till before the story I'm going to share please read

> >> 's entire blog at http://littlemermaidmelanie.wordpress.com/about

> >> What I'm going to share today is another story of misdiagnosis

> >> and another near death moment for - but this time the story

> >> is tied into one of hope and miracles!

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> As Robin left off on her last messages as anyone can tell �Melan

> >> ie is on her way to being a normal young woman. Suddenly aware of

> >> herself as a woman, other people around her, and wanting to parti

> >> cipate in life's fun and activity every moment. Robin who was Mel

> >> anie's primary care giver went from being house bound to watching

> >> 's every moment fearful of another life threatening seizure

> >> , not being able to take to stores or just about anywhere,

> >> or a doctor's appointment at times without sedation, to one who a

> >> ll of a sudden could enjoy life with her daughters and husband! L

> >> ife was good and that's where we left off. Due to the lack of any

> >> seizure activity at all Mel's seizure meds were reduced a few tim

> >> es. There were no seizures and no more " episodes of post traumati

> >> c stress syndrome " that the Ketchum family feared. Mel was workin

> >> g with a new Prompt speech pathologist named Martha and was schedu

> >> led for a new occupational therapy appointment. She was talking n

> >> ot just to people she knew but to people she didn't. And�at a r

> >> ecent chiropractic office it appears even flirted a bit wi

> >> th the young handsome doctor who told her how beautiful she was an

> >> d told her that she " reminded him of an actress " �so yes, things

> >> were on their way!

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> But about a week ago appeared to regress in all areas. She

> >> was once again unable to feed herself and was not verbal. In

> >> addition she was acting very unusual. At first the belief was that

> >> 's seizures were back as well as the post traumatic stress

> >> syndrome. Immediately 's Depakote medication which had been

> >> reduced was ordered back up to the original dosage and Mel was

> >> brought to the hospital. Tests were run but just like history �

> >> things were missed, and misdiagnosed. One thing that was discover

> >> ed immediately is that did not have any seizure activity a

> >> t all. The team of doctors did want to stay on Nutriiveda

> >> because it appeared to be helping her and in addition it was the

> >> only thing that would eat. is up to 6 scoops a da

> >> y for therapeutic reasons and she has it mixed into apple sauce.

> >> was not getting any better however. One neurologist ran a

> >> series of seizure tests on and attempted to trigger a sei

> >> zure with lights, pain (!!!) everything, even walking for 30 hours

> >> -but no seizures at all.

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> While looking for seizures what was missed is that had

> >> somehow developed pneumonia. Apparently most of the ICU is filled

> >> with what is being called a communicable outbreak of pneumonia in

> >> this Georgia area. I found this online just now when I searched

> >> for this `CDC sees sustained H1N1 activity in Southeast' Mar 26,

> >> 2010

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/mar2610fluview.\

html

> >> The strange thing is that for the first part of the week

> >> had no symptoms at all of being sick. No fever or coughing-

> >> nothing. She did start to complain of pain but of course that was

> >> at first thought to be headaches linked to seizures. Apparently

> >> I've been just told by Robin that pneumonia is painful.

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Due to undiagnosed pneumonia however 's brain, heart, and

> >> kidneys were all at risk. What the doctors and Mel's family are

> >> convinced of is that " Mel saved her kidneys " " She knew to drink

> >> lots of water to flush out her kidneys " What is incredible about

> >> this is that when first started nutriiveda she never liked

> >> to drink anything. It was a struggle to make sure she had enough

> >> hydration �but due to nutriiveda learned to be more in t

> >> ouch with her body's needs and knew she needed water. If she did

> >> not drink all the water she did (she even got the cup and filled u

> >> p the water on her own!!) she would have needed a new kidney by no

> >> w. Why? Apparently in addition to her body dealing with pneumoni

> >> a�.her doctors discovered that the Depakote seizure medication t

> >> hat had been on for the past 4 years was now at a toxic le

> >> vel in her body as (I'm going to bold this on purpose) HER BODY NO

> >> LONGER NEEDED IT!!!!

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Yesterday morning almost died from all that went on �but

> >> that little trooper pulled through. A series of more tests, EEG,

> >> MRI etc were run and there are a number of unexplainable changes

> >> in 's brain " due to NutriiVeda " according to the doctors.

> >> From 3 years ago 's brain is " healing " and " normal " There

> >> is no doubt that by the " end of this year will be off all

> >> seizure medication " and that she is " not to stop taking NutriiVeda

> >> every day "

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> The head charge nurse hearing all of this went to Robin to find out

> >> more information for her mother who has suffered from seizures all

> >> her life and after hearing more wanted NutriiVeda for her mom.

> >> Robin gave her one of her own canisters, but the nurse refused to

> >> take it without paying J

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> And this brings me to why Robin felt it so important to update

> >> Mel's blog today. For any parent who has a child with seizures on

> >> medication it is VERY important to get frequent blood testing to

> >> measure levels. 's level when it went toxic from Depakote

> >> seizure medication went to 145 which is toxic �the doctors do no

> >> t want it to be any higher than 50 for right now. To reit

> >> erate they expect her to be OFF all seizure medication by the " end

> >> of this year " (YAY!!!) Again the " only explanation " for this is

> >> that NutriiVeda is " healing 's brain " due to not only the

> >> changed reaction in the medication she was always on �but the a

> >> ctual neuro tested changes in her brain!!! This is just amazing!

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> The one other point I want to make is that prior to the

> >> heavy antibiotics was talking to her nurses and asking to go home.

> >> " I am not sick. Can I go home now please? " She was verbal and

> >> able to answer yes and no questions as well as ask the nurses for

> >> " lunch " " to drink juice " " a movie " and other things she

> >> wanted! But right now is no longer talking but we just

> >> know once she is off of the antibiotics and able to get back to her

> >> 6 scoops a day of NutriiVeda she'll back to her new self! The high

> >> dosage of antibiotics were started last night and is not

> >> allowed to eat any foods due to choking fear so for the next day or

> >> so more she will not unfortunately be on NutriiVeda - the

> >> incredible NutriiVeda for a few more days; the same NutriiVeda that

> >> now more than just her family is crediting with " saving Mel's

> >> life " We don't know if NutriiVeda kept Mel from having the

> >> symptoms of being sick that in turn made it difficult to diagnose

> >> her accurately but we have to be thankful that her pneumonia was

> >> diagnosed. As I write this now is still in ICU. Robin is

> >> thankful that the hospital is letting her sleep and shower there so

> >> that she can stay with 24/7 till she makes it through

> >> this. The fever has broken and the hope is that can go

> >> home sometime early next week. Please again take a moment to say a

> >> prayer for our " Real Life Little Mermaid " Ketuchum. The

> >> poor thing has been through so much- she needs the chance to live

> >> her life that she never had and was just beginning to have. Andï¿

> >> ½to perhaps flirt with that handsome young doctor again! J

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> you have all of my prayers. And Robin you are our hero!

> >> And to all the professionals out there �please read this and rem

> >> ember that things are not always how to appear. Please take the t

> >> ime to know that each case is not only unique �but a life. And

> >> in this case �'s life.

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Thank you.

> >>

> >> =====

> >>