COMPLIMENTARY MEDICINE

We augmented Charlotte's recovery with colour therapy and glyco-nutrients™. Admittedly with great skepticism initially from myself and of course our surgeons but the fact remains that even they are astounded with her remarkable rate of recovery.

All too late to save Charlotte's limbs of course. It took 10 days for Charlotte to make the media and then the offers of alternative treatments started to flow in from around the country.

I was dubious of the intent of the "snake-oil" merchants who offered every type of alternative medicine while my partner Pam jumped at the opportunity to try anything that might help.

If these things actually worked, surely they'd be available at the hospitals I countered. Apparently not. It would seem the old conspiracy theory that the drug companies run the roost and determine what treatments can and can't be used is still doing the rounds. Maybe it's more about "what we know" and "what works for us" than any dark cloak and dagger significance.

COLOUR THERAPY

We were gifted the use of a large hospital designed Bioptronic™ Light that is used in Germany and Switzerland especially with skin disorders and burns. Our plastic surgeons knew nothing of it so I dragged some documents off the internet written by plastic surgeons across the world who endorsed its use.

It uses low emission, non-coherent polarised light to stimulate cellular activity which in turn regenerates the body.

Although we applied the light to Charlotte's injuries through her bandages, we insisted our surgeons apply the light to her unbandaged stumps whenever she went to theatre for her early bandage changes while they were exposed as this had to happen under a general anesthetic and we could not be present. It was reluctantly written up as a parental request on each consent form.

I told our surgeons just prior to their first use of it as I handed them the research I had found on the internet that blue light as used on jaundiced new-born's was one colour therapy that had withstood the test of time and with the advent of antibiotics its other uses had diminished but was now making a comeback in some of the most technologically developed countries.

They brushed off the suggestion saying blue light on new-born's was hardly in the same order as what we were dealing with. I agreed but was merely pointing out one small use of colour therapy. Of course, I felt like a fringe-dweller myself, a crackpot or new-age star-gazer.

And I found it hard to believe I was endorsing this myself but I had seen it actually work.

According to the literature, applying blue light relieves pain. One night before her limbs were removed, her pain was so great when the nurses were cleaning her up after she passed a motion, she was screaming out, almost passing out as the infection had moved into her ankle bones. This regular cleaning was so critical as her butt was badly blistered and cracked, we were all worried about secondary infection. I had to leave the room her agony was so intense. Pam came out into the corridor and asked if I would apply the blue light to her as the nurses worked.

I reluctantly attached the blue filter to our hand-held version of the Bioptronic™ light and turned it on. Within about 30 seconds of pointing it at her exposed bottom, Charlotte just shut up. It was amazing. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't have seen it with my own eyes. It was phenomenal. I tried it again on several occasions with similar results. It was only then I got serious about it and did the further research.

GLYCO-NUTRIENTS™ & TRANSFER FACTOR™

We also read of a guy in Las Vegas who developed streptococcal septicaemia which has more or less the same results as meningococcal, loss of limbs and/or death.

After exhausting all the known treatments and facing amputation or worse, his doctor gave him a years supply of glyco-nutrients™ in 4 hours and he got up and walked away the next day.

We immediately started to add this to her NG tube feeds which was a mix of Expressed Breast Milk and the glyco-nutrient™ supplement, Ambritose™ plus a product called Transfer Factor™ which is a cholostrum extract. We believe this had great benefit at the cellular level.

Dr Bartlett came to visit a week later and nearly did a double take when he saw how much Charlotte had improved. "Was this the same baby I operated on last week?" He asked and couldn't believe how well she had healed. So well, our scheduled move from Starship to Middlemore's KidzFirst Burns Unit was postponed indefinitely as she didn't need immediate reconstructions or further plastics.

The point behind all this is there are other methods of treatment and while we would not diminish the importance or give up the traditional medical treatments that saved her life and the huge knowledge base of years of medical research, we felt compelled to augment Charlottes recovery with so-called 'alternative treatments' to do whatever it took to make her well. This path stretches between grasping at straws and knowing instinctively what is right for baby.

There is no doubt that without immediate hospitalisation and the traditional medical/surgical treatments Charlotte received, she would have died within hours rather than days. These 'complimentary treatments' as I prefer to call them assisted her recovery greatly but were not responsible for saving her life.

Cautious of infection, we found a medical grade aloe extract and applied liberally to her wounds. It has worked wonders as have the essential oils Pam uses on baby's stumps. She not only has lovely soft skin (even if it is mainly scar tissue) but her physio's and nurses say she is the nicest smelling baby they've ever worked with!

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