Phil Tornabene's Story

This is the story of another remarkable individual, as it appeared in an Australian newspaper recently. Phil suffered from Parkinson's disease, but has had massive improvements recently. I hope you enjoy his story!

NB: Please click here, or click on the image, to view and read in full size!

A boy with Selective Mutism

I feel obliged to share the story of a boy very close to me, who suffered from a severe anxiety disorder for most of his life.

Selective Mutism is a strange, insidious, and endlessly frustrating anxiety disorder for all concerned. Effectively, the person has no problem in communicating normally - indeed, this child wouldn’t stop talking at home; everybody knew him as a ‘real chatterbox’ - but in some situations, and to some people, they simply cannot talk.

This boy in particular seemed perfectly fine until he started school at age five. It was then that the problems began. He would stop talking the second he walked through the school gate; not a word would be said to his parents, siblings, friends… and it was over a year before he was properly talking to his teachers, although thankfully he eventually was able to. Think extreme shyness and anxiety, but taken to the most extreme level it could possibly be. This goes beyond ‘shy’.

Within a few years he was able to talk to a few more people than he had done, however he wasn’t talking to many members of his extended family, and a number of close family friends. He wouldn’t answer the phone, nor would he speak to his older siblings who had since moved to other parts of the country or world on the phone for the first 18 months they were gone. Who he could speak to was very ‘hit and miss’ - if you were lucky, he’d talk with no problems. But more often than not, it was silence, with a smile or nod for good measure.

Often, SM is put down to the child being ‘naughty’ or ‘attention seeking’. But it’s neither of these things. They want to speak, they know everybody else wants them to speak, and they know they can speak. The problem is, they just can’t. The stress, heartache, and endless frustration on the child, their family, and those around them cannot be emphasised enough. And in this boy’s case, no amount of counselling, doctors, or alternative therapists could do much to help.
Until he started taking colostrum.

His mother introduced them to his routine each morning, three months ago, in mid-2009. And around two months after he’d first started taking them, the first breakthrough happened. Urged on by a few strong words about not looking silly from his mother, he finally started talking.

Within a few days, he went from silent and sullen to yelling and shouting over the Xbox Live (of all things!) to kids in other parts of the country. And a day later, he spoke to one of his cousins for the first time in five years. After this, within a week, came numerous other aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbours, and close family friends, some of whom he’d never spoken to in his life.
The list of people he was working on talking to was thrown out the window when he sped through it in the course of three days and added people they’d dared not add, lest they stress him too much!

The change, and the speed at which it occurred, is mind-boggling. People cannot believe this beautiful little boy is finally speaking to whomever he wants to, after so many years of tears and frustration. With his ninth birthday looming, the family are hoping he’ll finally be free from the shackles this infuriating anxiety has put around his life, and he’ll at last be the happy, chatty boy they all see at home.

Whether it was the colostrum or something else is unclear, but whatever the case, something truly has worked miracles in this boy’s life, and he has recovered from a disorder most professionals throw their hands up at with the words 'good luck'.

I hope this story can bring some inspiration and hope to those other families out there struggling with this infuriating problem - there is a way forward, and please don't give up! With patience, time, perseverance, and good nutrition your child can look forward to a brighter future.

Shauna McLean: As told by husband Neil McLean

This is among the most inspiring stories I've heard. Shauna McLean is a 51-year-old Australian mother-of-two, who for the past ten years has been wheelchair bound with crippling MS. This is a disease that affects the myelin sheath of your neurons. Within months of starting on stem-cell enhancing products, Shauna has given away her wheelchair, regained her eyesight and her speech, and had an almost complete recovery from the disease that was slowly sapping her life.

You can read her story that appeared in Woman's Day (Aus) here, and see her video testimonial on the Adult Stem Cell Foundation website too. This is her story, as told by Neil McLean, and found here.

Shauna is a beautiful 51 year young mother of two from the Gold Coast in
Australia. Since 1992, the day her youngest daughter turned two, Shauna was
diagnosed with a double whammy: A brain tumour and Hashimoto’s Disease. After a
complicated and dangerous operation to remove the tumour, Shauna recovered, only
to be hit soon after with another autoimmune disease, Multiple Sclerosis. For
the last dozen or so years, Shauna has battled to stave off the devastating
effects of MS. By early 2009, the symptoms were at their worst… Shauna was in a
wheelchair, living in what MS people call a ‘mental fog’ and her whole body was
systematically shutting down. Her eyesight had deteriorated to its lowest ever
level, the whole right side of Shauna’s face had shut down, her taste was gone
and her throat was paralysed on one side. She was severely unbalanced physically
and the mental strain was showing its long-term effects. Then came a simple
phone that changed her life.

Shauna was contacted by long-time friend Bruce Lahey, Honorary Director of
the Adult Stem Cell Foundation who encouraged her to try stem cell enhancing
products that the foundation had sourced. Within four days, Shauna’s eyesight
had stabilised and for the first time in 15 years Shauna was seeing in ‘single
vision’ as opposed to seeing ‘double’. Her eyesight progressively improved to
the point where her prescription glasses were now of no use and ‘fine print’ had
come into focus. It was nothing short of miraculous! Now seeing better and more
clearly, Shauna’s world changed. She began to notice small things at first, then
major changes followed. She seemed to be ‘switching back on’ and was ‘with it’
more of each day. Her speech improved drastically and her cognitive processes
began to improve. Seeing and thinking more clearly led to walking without
wobbling.

Shauna’s whole family has shared in the joy of having Shauna back with us!
She is now walking everyday with her husband Neil and their dogs. (This confused
the dogs…they were so used to her being in the wheelchair). She is cooking again
and breaking out the sewing gear…both of which had been virtually eliminated
from Shauna’s life because she had lost dexterity strength In her hands and poor
eyesight. To say we as a family are delighted is a gross
understatement!

The last family holiday we had was three and a half years ago. But despite
being in very poor condition to travel, Shauna covered up her true condition she
battled on and went on the holiday. Upon our return, we went straight from the
airport to the Neurologists rooms. Her doctor admitted Shauna to hospital on the
spot and that’s where she stayed for the next six weeks undergoing drastic
treatment to try and recover. Nicknamed the ‘comeback queen’ by her doctor,
Shauna recovered enough to finally leave hospital but was still battling like
mad on the inside. Fighting a disease where there is no known cure is like
heading down a long, dark tunnel with no light at the end. But Stem Cell
treatments finally provided light at the end of that insidious ‘ tunnel of no
hope’ for Shauna and thousands like her with an ‘incurable’ disease.

Originally we came across the XCell Centre in Germany… however, despite our
mutual enthusiasm, Shauna was rejected as a candidate due to the previous brain
tumour. We kept looking and persistence eventually paid off. We found ways to
access treatments approved in other countries. Today, there are products out
there which stimulate the growth of your own stem cells and deliver them to the
areas of the body where they are needed most.

Unfortunately, not many degenerative disease sufferers are aware of the
existance of these miraculous products, but they are truly working for Shauna…
finally, genuine and practical improvement, progress and just feeling better are
becoming Shauna’s general way of feeling. Now the formerly shy ‘don’t like being
the centre of attention’ woman is exciting to share her story to help others
find “HOPE” and just keep going. That is the basis of Shauna’s story… I hope
anyone who reads it will take both inspiration and hope from it.

-Neil McLean

A fantastic story about a truly inspiring woman, and true testament to the healing power of the human body, when helped along by Mother Nature.

Introduction

Hello,

This blog is a secondary blog to my main blog, Colostrum For Me.

Here you can find personal stories related to 'nature's first food', colostrum, as they appear in the media and on other related websites [credited where applicable].

The most important thing to remember when reading these, is that they are intended for interest only, and I in no way suggest that colostrum can cure or treat any ailments, diseases, or disorders whatsoever. They are simply the stories of some remarkable people with inspiring tales to tell, and an outlet for them to do so.

I hope you enjoy reading them!

-Erin