Donation protected
Hi everyone, most of you know Edward and understand some of the struggles he has dealt with. If you don't, Edward is our son. He is almost 12 years old and we adopted him when he was just a few days old.
We realized there was some things that were a little harder for him by the time he was 6 months old. By two he was having many struggles that started making life very hard for him. Since then it has only gotten worse.
He has a very hard time processing emotions which makes life very difficult. It causes him to often feel like things are much worse than they are. He also doesn't quite understand normal social queues or when certain things are appropriate to do or say. This causes him to get in a lot of trouble and get teased often. His request is that he could be like everyone else. He doesn't like everyone thinking he is "bad" or "annoying," but says he doesn't know how to act different. All of this causes a lot of anger inside him which he can't always control. Over the years he has seen several doctors who suggested different things like ADHD, OPP, Autism, DMDD, BiPolar, IED, etc. Unfortunately, although these are what they have looked at he doesn't ever seem to fit the mold. Because of this he has never been given an official diagnosis. Instead they medicate him based on what they think it might be and unfortunately, it doesn't go well. It seems his body reacts to medication by incurring all of the side effects they say almost never happen. He gets them all.
We have been recommend to a psychiatrist in Orange County that does brain scans to give exact diagnosis instead of all the guessing that has happened so far. His name is Dr. Amen. I highly suggest looking him up. It's pretty amazing. Edward has already been on a strict diet suggested by Dr. Amen that allows no dairy, no wheat, no added sugar, small amounts of high-glycemic foods and no preservative, nitrates, colors, etc. It's an exhaustive list to say the least that Eddie has been pretty happy to follow because it has allowed him to be on a very low dosage of meds. But, it's just not enough.
We are at a point where we have gone through everything his insurance will cover and it has not been helpful. We believe in the power of prayer and we never stop. So please start there. If you can pray for him every day, he will be so blessed by it. This is something he will struggle with for the rest of his life. But we also believe in God putting certain people in our path to help answer those prayers. This specific doctor we have been considering for over 5 years but until now the timing wasn't right. We now finally know it is time. We have ran out of all other options and he needs help. On top of the scans and getting a diagnosis, he is also in need of therapy from a counselor, probably for the rest of his life to help him with daily struggles with others, processing issues and learning how to be in relationships and think about others, etc.
Together this costs a lot of money that we, unfortunately, don't have. But we want to do whatever we can to give him his best chance in life.
The scans and appointments with Dr. Amen are approximately $5000. The other $5000 we are hoping to raise will give him approximately 10 months of counseling. At this point we don't know what other therapies will be suggested. But this would be a huge start in helping him regulate his behavior and emotions and get him back on track so he can be successful as he starts middle school. It will also give us a chance to try and save some money so we can help stretch the therapy sessions way past 10 months.
We know God's promises are yes and that he will take care of Edward. I'm not certain if this is it but we are being obedient and doing what we know God is asking of us right now. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for considering a donation. We love you all and are blessed to have such a great amount of support in both friends and family.
We realized there was some things that were a little harder for him by the time he was 6 months old. By two he was having many struggles that started making life very hard for him. Since then it has only gotten worse.
He has a very hard time processing emotions which makes life very difficult. It causes him to often feel like things are much worse than they are. He also doesn't quite understand normal social queues or when certain things are appropriate to do or say. This causes him to get in a lot of trouble and get teased often. His request is that he could be like everyone else. He doesn't like everyone thinking he is "bad" or "annoying," but says he doesn't know how to act different. All of this causes a lot of anger inside him which he can't always control. Over the years he has seen several doctors who suggested different things like ADHD, OPP, Autism, DMDD, BiPolar, IED, etc. Unfortunately, although these are what they have looked at he doesn't ever seem to fit the mold. Because of this he has never been given an official diagnosis. Instead they medicate him based on what they think it might be and unfortunately, it doesn't go well. It seems his body reacts to medication by incurring all of the side effects they say almost never happen. He gets them all.
We have been recommend to a psychiatrist in Orange County that does brain scans to give exact diagnosis instead of all the guessing that has happened so far. His name is Dr. Amen. I highly suggest looking him up. It's pretty amazing. Edward has already been on a strict diet suggested by Dr. Amen that allows no dairy, no wheat, no added sugar, small amounts of high-glycemic foods and no preservative, nitrates, colors, etc. It's an exhaustive list to say the least that Eddie has been pretty happy to follow because it has allowed him to be on a very low dosage of meds. But, it's just not enough.
We are at a point where we have gone through everything his insurance will cover and it has not been helpful. We believe in the power of prayer and we never stop. So please start there. If you can pray for him every day, he will be so blessed by it. This is something he will struggle with for the rest of his life. But we also believe in God putting certain people in our path to help answer those prayers. This specific doctor we have been considering for over 5 years but until now the timing wasn't right. We now finally know it is time. We have ran out of all other options and he needs help. On top of the scans and getting a diagnosis, he is also in need of therapy from a counselor, probably for the rest of his life to help him with daily struggles with others, processing issues and learning how to be in relationships and think about others, etc.
Together this costs a lot of money that we, unfortunately, don't have. But we want to do whatever we can to give him his best chance in life.
The scans and appointments with Dr. Amen are approximately $5000. The other $5000 we are hoping to raise will give him approximately 10 months of counseling. At this point we don't know what other therapies will be suggested. But this would be a huge start in helping him regulate his behavior and emotions and get him back on track so he can be successful as he starts middle school. It will also give us a chance to try and save some money so we can help stretch the therapy sessions way past 10 months.
We know God's promises are yes and that he will take care of Edward. I'm not certain if this is it but we are being obedient and doing what we know God is asking of us right now. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for considering a donation. We love you all and are blessed to have such a great amount of support in both friends and family.
Organiser
Kendra Duarte
Organiser
Spring Valley, CA