Abby's Recovery Fund

Abigail “Abby” Rose is the 3rd child of 8. She has always been a sweet, caring and intuitive individual, with keen insights on life. Sometimes the delivery of those life lessons would come out in interesting ways - almost like a riddle that you would have to figure out. But, once you got it, it was an "aha" moment. 

She has always loved meeting people, and was not shy about walking up to strangers and engaging in conversation. As far as younger children interaction goes, she has been drawn to those 3 years and younger to mother them. She loves cats and dogs, and if there is an injured animal to care fore she thrives. Abby could be found devouring fiction fantasy books and enjoying country music on her radio in her bedroom. If she had the coordination for it should would love to be a star soccer player some day. Oh, and the water - she would be a fish if she could!

All of those interests disappeared slowly starting March/April, 2018. At that point in the year she started secluding herself and sleeping for long stretches of time. Eventually, she stopped doing what she enjoyed and would sit in a chair in silence or sleep most of the day. I spoke about this with multiple people who would tell me their kids would do the same thing and eventually came out of it – as a growth spurt. Others would say that it was just a time of trying to process their world around them as they grew. Abby turned 16 in September, and so it made sense to me. My husband and I came to the decision that we would give it a few months and see what came on the other side.

The self-induced seclusion started around March/April of this year. She enjoyed a family trip to Texas to visit family for a week with her siblings and was active and interactive, but still chose to spend time to herself. At times she would take it up on herself to help out with things, as was her nature – she loves to help, but she would go back to her bed eventually. About 2 months later the big change occurred.

I walked past her bedroom door and noticed she was talking to someone in her room, quietly, and making strange motions with her hands. There was no one in the room. Within 2 days she was speaking at audible levels. She was no longer sleeping all day. But, she wouldn’t use her radio, color, draw, or read a book. She insisted that we were not her family, that she didn’t know who she was or where she came from. Clearly, there was something going on that was not “just a growth spurt.”

After being seen by some doctors to rule out ocular issues that could be contributing (she has an eye condition that sometimes can present with the ocular issues they wanted to look for) to the disconnect with reality, we realized we needed to go somewhere else.

Matt (Abby’s father) had learned about Dr. Daniel Amen months before via some Ted Talks. He had talked about what tens of thousands of brain scans via SPECT imaging had shown them and how they have been able to heal many situations with the brain. As a family we have always desired to get to the root of a problem instead of throwing out ideas and seeing what sticks. Dr. Amen treats the organ of the brain, and his clinics look at the whole body and its systems for possible causes of psychosis. They also go to the depths of treating the mind, body and spirit in their practice.

Abby had her first session over the phone with Dr. Vickerson at the Atlanta Clinic of the Amen Clinics on November 6th. It was during that hour-long session that he determined that she needs to be seen in the clinic for on-site evaluation, a SPECT scan – which looks at the blood-flow in the brain to see where the high levels of activity are during her hallucinations, and a full blood panel with an integrative doctor evaluation to discover any physical internal imbalances or infections that could be contributing to her situation.

These evaluations will take at least 3 days, on-site in Atlanta. Atlanta is about a 5-6 hour drive from where we live. Her evaluation needs to be scheduled ASAP.

Per the instructions of Dr. Vickerson we are continuing administration of high doses of THC-free, CBD oil, but it is not enough. Day-to-day, Abby is conversing with the various voices she hears and ‘entities’ she sees 12-18 hours a day. There are moments of intense yelling at these voices and extreme anxiety. She does recognize us as her family now, but there are moments that I hear her conversing with the voices that we aren’t her family. She is having issues remembering things. She was exploring the house about 2 weeks ago taking things and hording them in her room and not remembering she was doing it – thinking they were her things.

She is only 16. She should be chasing boys, learning to drive, figuring out her future and being excited about the next phase in her life. As her mom, I look at this and cry inside, “This is NOT FAIR.”

In order to complete the next phase and discover what is actually going on so a plan can be developed for her we need to raise roughly $6,300. If we can book this in December the Amen Clinic will offer us at least a $600 discount, possibly $800.

This covers:

A Full Evaluation ($3950)

• Comprehensive intake and clinical history

• Two Brain SPECT Scans

• Final Evaluation

• Aftercare Coaching Appointment

• Physician Follow-up Appointment

Clinical Evaluation ($1500)

• Final Evaluation (2 Hours)

• Computer WebNeuro Test

Integrative Evaluation with Bloodwork and 1 Hour to review the bloodwork with an Integrative Dr ($849)

The $6,300 does not include travel and hotel expenses or whatever medications or supplements might be necessary after all evaluations.

We are looking for help for at least $10,000.  This is just the beginning. She will need a monitoring system, as she has started to wander, and this will have equipment costs and monthly expenses.

She is currently taking 120mg of CBD oil daily, and it helps bring the anxiety levels down greatly. There is a good chance that the dosage will increase. That 120mg costs us $250/month.

There is also an MRI that we will need to order to inspect the brain stem for any lesions, masses or inflammation.

We need at least $6300 within the week, if possible, so we can set up an appointment for her in the month of December.

If there are any families in the Atlanta area that would be able to give us a place to stay when we come out for appointments, that would help on costs. If you can think of any other way you can help, please let us know!

Thank you,
Vicky Rose - Abby's Mom.