Hi
I am very privileged to be part of the NeuroTalk Community Support Team.

I am first and foremost a member here, so I hope you will feel comfortable knowing you can always contact me about anything, and that I am here to help in whatever way I can.

I have a graduate degree in Physiology, and worked for some time in Medical Research and academics. I have used that background training and experience to continue my own research into alternative and complimentary treatments.
I realize that different people respond very differently to various treatments and so I should stress that I am not anti conventional medicine, rather just pro trying to find the best ways with the least side effects to promote holistic health and healing!

I first began using online neurological forums after my youngest son was dx with Tourette Syndrome plus co-morbid OCD etc at age 10, almost 7 years ago,

We had been through a really scary time because he has extreme sensitivity to prescription meds, and every potential side effect always seems to manifest in him. Anyway, it was a real relief for me when a psychiatrist helped me wean him off the meds and, along with our Integrative medical team, provided guidance in the detoxification and nutritional supplement program that I had been researching online as a possible way to help my son with his very severe and injurious tics and debilitating OCD.

To cut a looooong story short, all has really been going really well since then, and my son's tics and OCD improved dramatically with alternative treatments.
However, he started having agonizing abdominal pains, and overall malaise. A colonoscopy showed that he also has Crohn's Disease. And this has proved a more serious challenge than the TS ever was!

So my research has now taken me into the realm of autoimmunity, and I am thankful that once again, we are seeing tremendously positive results in keeping the Crohn's symptoms subdued with primarily nutritional methods, along with the acupuncture and chiropracty that has also been so beneficial for his Tourette Syndrome.

So what else.....
Art and music are very important to me, as is my spiritual life. I am living proof of the power of prayer and God's ability to work good in and through all things.

I enjoy cats, cooking (especially Japanese & Thai food), my garden and anything creative.

My childhood was spent in South Africa, after which I studied and lived in England for many years.
I now live in the USA and have 2 sons & 3 cats

I have a passion for nature, and spent much of my youth in the big safe-haven game parks in Africa, absorbing the pageant of wild life. I love to travel and experience different places and cultures, and have done so extensively.

So, that's enough about me and I do look forward to getting to know you all too.

Thanks to you, DocJohn, for the way you took us all in, and for establishing our very own NeuroTalk Community, and for all the help and guidance that you provide for us.
And a personal thanks to the rest of the Community Support & Welcome Teams for their dedication and enthusiasm .......and to you, the members, who are the essence of what makes NeuroTalk so special.