FASD Year in Review

As 2018 comes to an end, it becomes the time of year when looking back on what we have accomplished together renews our hope for what the new year will bring.  The original intent of this blog has never changed which was simply to record what my family learns through this journey so we can remember what has worked for us in the past.  We just discovered another interesting aspect of FASD this past week that Shelley discovered this time.
Our youngest, who just turned 12, declared this year he knows Santa is not real so we have made the shift to full disclosure now.  However, our traditions have remained the same.  Christmas Eve, my son was watching the Norad site following Santa as he went from country to country, talking about how fast he was going, and wondering what time he would be arriving at the house.  The cookies and milk got put out by the 18 year old and stockings weren't allowed to show up until everyone was in bed.  I made the mistake of not eating the cookies and milk this time and our 12 year old was talking about hearing the reindeer on the roof as he slept.  Even though, they all verbally say they know Santa is not real, they all act like he is.  We used to say it was because they were not giving away the secret but Shelley said it is because the concrete is just more powerful than the abstract to them.
To us, some of the highlights of this year was the ways we came together across the province to bring awareness to FASD.  While I recognize your list might look different from mine, these are the ones that really jump out for me.
Jan 6 - Template letter to Minister Hunter supporting Bill 191 released.  1247 people download the letter, still the #1 blog.  Bill 191 becomes the FASD rallying cry across the province.
January - Coordinating agencies get told they are hiring the FASD Key Workers by MCYS
April 11 - FASD Awareness Day at Queen's Park - Bill 191 passes first reading unanimously by all three parties, Sept 9 officially named FASD Awareness Day in Ontario, new prevalence number of 4% released by Dr. Popova
April - Health Nexus receives contract for FASD Website and development begins
May - The Rural FASD Support Network have five direct conversations with Simone Daniels of Doug Ford's office at rallies across the province, membership sits at six members
June - Senate releases report about the problems with the Disability Tax Credit and the CRA changes procedure and how they view FASD.
July - MPP Hillier has direct conversation with Minister MacLeod regarding the Rural FASD Support Network,  Rural FASD Support Network comes into existence with passing of constitution and Executive Board elected
August - Partnerships between Children and Adult Mental Health, Municipal Councils, Support Services and School Boards established with Rural FASD Support Network.  Capacity continues to grow.  Membership grows to 14 members
Sept. - Rural FASD Support Network launches Caregiver Support Group with children services and livestreaming.  Over 40 people attend the launch and more networking with community partners is established.
Sept. - Health Nexus launches funding initiative for support groups
Nov - Citizen Advocacy hosts annual FASD Symposium.  CanFASD hires Rob More as an instructional designer.
Dec - Rural FASD Support Network memberships grows to 45 members.  Health Nexus announces several new FASD support groups have been created across the province.

We are anticipating several major events soon.
1) MCSS releasing the new FASD Website
2) Minister MacLeod meeting with Rural FASD Support Network
3) Ottawa Senators welcoming Rural FASD Support Network at Jan 5 game
4) Feb 13, 14 Citizen Advocacy hosting FASD workshop for medical professionals
5) Rural FASD Support Network announcing two major sponsors and launching their new website
6) National Post and Vanessa Hrvatin releasing FASD Documentary
7) Feb 12 Health Nexus hosting workshop on support group facilitation

And thank you to Audrey McFarlane of CanFASD for passing this link along.  http://www.fasdcoalition.ca/looking-after-each-other-project/mini-documentaries/  If you haven't seen it before, well worth watching especially for advocating at your school.

We also just received information that the Ottawa Senators will play a 30 second message on the Jumbotron during the first intermission for their Jan 5 game welcoming us and providing some education about FASD for the entire crowd.

And if you haven't seen our new website, please go to https://www.ruralfasd.ca/.  We are just thrilled that you get another website now when you search for fasd.

Sugar and Mental Health

This past weekend, we got it reinforced for us why diet is so important for us due to its effect on our family.  I have an extreme sensitivity to caffeine that I have known for years.  However, we are now really understanding the impact processed sugar has on our children.  This past weekend, we experienced the effects of a sugar binge.  We changed our hot chocolate to the Tim Horton's hot chocolate from our usual brand because the grocery store was out of stock.  What we didn't realize is Tim Horton's hot chocolate has twice as much sugar in it, 24g per two tablespoons.  In 48 hrs, ten cups were drank which meant 1 kg of sugar was drank.  The effect was remarkable.

In those 48 hrs, we saw an addiction at work, no food eaten, 1 hr bed routines turned into 3.5 hrs, inability to deal with any sound, extreme anger and uncontrollable crying, objects thrown and broken, room torn apart, extremely high paranoia, desire to hide at all costs and all joy gone.  We were living with someone we did not recognize.

However, once we got in the truck and went for a long ride, threw all the hot chocolate out of the house, and listened to the radio, we were back to normal within six hours.  The following day, exhaustion set in and lots of sleeping happened.  By the second day, we are back in school, laughing and playing, and telling ourselves we can't let sugar into this house.

We have always known sugar is not good for us, but I set out to explore what is it about sugar that is so bad for our kids living with FASD.  Again, I'm not a medical practitioner but this was a fascinating study to me.  We know sugar leads to several medical conditions like obesity and diabetes, but the thing about it that really impacts FASD to me is the increase in serotonin and dopamine that comes from eating sugar.

Serotonin and Dopamine are described as neurotransmitters and exist in our brain and our blood stream.  In my understanding, a neurotransmitter is the chemical that carries messages from one spot of the brain to another spot.  These two also carry messages.  Serotonin helps regulate our emotions, anxiety and sleep patterns.  https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/serotonin#functions  However, like so many other things related to the brain, there is disagreement over how serotonin works.  https://www.medicaldaily.com/social-phobia-linked-high-levels-serotonin-time-rethink-ssris-and-other-anxiety-drugs-338608  The latest research, though, seems to indicate high serotonin increases anxiety levels.  For us, it certainly explains what we saw this past weekend.  It also comes from our gut through our digestive system.  Dopamine ties in with this as well.  High dopamine levels can create addicting behaviours so eating sugar leads to more eating sugar.  It also affects mental health including depression, lack of motivation, lack of joy, and a lack of movement.  https://www.healthline.com/health/dopamine-vs-serotonin#other-psychological-conditions and http://www.brainfacts.org/thinking-sensing-and-behaving/movement/2015/dopamine-and-movement  You will also see reference to SAD or seasonal affective disorder and a lack of serotonin which also helps explain why Nov-Feb are always so much tougher.  We just aren't getting the same levels of sunlight.  

As I was reading through this information, there were lots of references made to the fact these neurotransmitters are not well understood and their functions.  Like so many other things related to the brain, our children's neurotransmitters are not functioning as well as others.  And so, when there is an imbalance, they really can't handle it.  We are becoming more and more aware of just how much sugar is being put in our foods. 

If you are struggling with impulsivity, anger issues, sadness, laziness, lack of focus, sleeplessness or anxiety, an easy thing to look at is diet and sugar intake.  Eat fresh vegetables and homegrown meat and avoid the processed foods.  Besides, the Scotsman in me has figured out the processed foods are also the most expensive.  You won't go wrong with your local butcher and greenhouse.