Brendan's Story: Correcting The Problem
Of Braces
Causing His "Illness"
Fourteen years old, Brendan couldn't go to school
and spent most of his time in bed. After trying
numerous treatments and visiting nine doctors, "Brendan
was not getting better," his father said, "and
we didn't know what was wrong with him. "
Brendan's mother begins the story . . .
"I keep thinking of more things to add as I relive
the years of Brendan's illness.
"One memory is sitting
in the MRI room during Brendan's MRI and praying
and crying, wishing that he didn't have to go through
this
-- and that this test would show something. And
then going week-to-week wondering if he had Lyme or arthritis
or some unknown disease. Also, coming to terms
with
the fact that he might never be well again.
"The thing that encouraged me the most to choose
Dr. Gillespie's treatment for Brendan was that it
was noninvasive. That it did not involve drugs and
that I could see that it would not be harmful to my son
gave me the courage to try it even though it sounded
and looked strange.
"It also helped that we have an acquaintance who
is a chiropractor and that my best friend's daughter
had to seek alternative treatment for a jaw problem (caused
by wisdom teeth surgery) and that that treatment was
successful."
"It allowed us to be
open minded."
Brendan's father continues
. . .
"The onset of Brendan's problems coincided
with the beginning of orthodonture work. Although his
palate had been expanded and he already had braces
on the lower teeth, his headaches began four days after
the upper braces were installed in April, 1999.
"The onset seemed like a sinus infection. Brendan
can tell you that it began on April 4, Easter Sunday,
with a fever. It then progressed to headaches which kept
him from sleeping, making him tired in the morning. He
also had muscle pain and joint pain. After a few weeks
he had great difficulty waking up in time to get to school,
where he was in the 7th grade.
"Once or twice we let him go to school an hour
late, but after a week even that was not enough. He started missing
whole weeks of school because he simply did not feel
well enough to go.
"Along with this came the anxiety of missing school
and falling behind, even though he was an excellent student.
His sinus infection was treated by the pediatrician with
several antibiotics but to no avail. We were told that
the muscle and joint pain was not due to the sinus infection
and that he probably had something else going on.
"Thus, he was examined by neurologists, and had
extensive blood work, MRIs and CT Scans done for Lyme
disease, Epstein Barr, and many other possible diseases,
but without any clear indications.
"We started a notebook of Brendan's doctors' visits
and tests that we would take with us when we were sent
to a new doctor.
In June on the last day of school a
pediatric otolaryngologist cleaned out his sinuses
surgically, finding polyps that could not respond to
antibiotics.
Brendan felt much better, and his joint and muscle
pains subsided.
"A pediatric diagnostician diagnosed him with Post
Infectious Fatigue Syndrome and we looked forward to
a full recovery over the summer. At the time we felt
relieved that it was not something more serious.
"Brendan seemed OK during the summer. We spent
a week at the North Carolina shore, where he seemed to
begin to recover. He was even able to climb Mt. Washington
in New Hampshire with his sister, dad, uncle, and cousin.
This was a major physical achievement.
"In the fall during the third week of school,
8th grade, Brendan said, "I'm too tired to go
to school," and his headaches and fatigue began
again.
"The coincidence with the pressures of gifted classes,
music lessons, etc., was interpreted by doctors as
an indication of stress as a factor. The pediatric diagnostician
said Type A high-achieving students often get worked
up about schoolwork and stop sleeping well, which
makes
them unable to think, which then cycles.
"He was again diagnosed with Post Infectious Fatigue
Syndrome or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and sleeping pills
and rest were prescribed. Brendan tried going to school
for parts of days. The other kids did not understand
why he wasn't in school each day or came for a part of
a day.
"The teachers finally asked us to let them know
when Brendan was coming in because his being there would
cause such a disruption. It made him anxious to go to
school and soon he didn't want to try to go in at all.
Neither sleeping pills nor rest solved the problem.
"Another doctor suggested that the problem may
be due to allergies, so we had him tested and he was
found to be allergic to grass, trees, and weeds. Allergy
shots were recommended. We considered seeing a nutritionist.
"After nine doctors we were out of ideas, out
of treatments, and running short of hope.
"Brendan's head hurt all the time. He also did
not know if he was going to get better.
"That would depress anyone, and he was down. He looked
like he was in pain, and smiled rarely.
"He was so tired
he could not get out of bed before 11 am. He would spend
the day on the couch, and then go back to bed. It was
not uncommon to hear him be still awake at 2 am or 3 am
in
the morning. He often said that he was awake all night.
"The school district provided at-home tutoring in
English, science, social studies and math. He would save
his energy for these visits, trying hard to concentrate
during the lessons, but with limited success.
"His mom would
hear his tutor explain something and 20 minutes later
Brendan couldn't remember what they talked about. Brendan
would
then use his remaining energy to attempt to complete
the homework.
"He could not concentrate for more than a few minutes
at a time. Thankfully, his tutors had great patience and
understanding with him, especially when he could not complete
the homework assigned.
"He could barely walk around the block without
getting tired and having to stop. If he went out
with the family to church or to dinner he would have
to spend the next day recovering. He looked like he was
fine, and I don't think people really understood the
pain that he had.
"He had trouble keeping in touch with the kids at
school. We did encourage Brendan to attend his church youth
group meetings to keep some friends in his life and to
get out of the house, even though he would be very fatigued
and have worse headaches the next day.
"People gave us all kinds of suggestions as to what
could be wrong with Brendan when they found that we didn't
know. Some suggested that perhaps he had a psychological
problem in need of counseling.
"Brendan resisted going to counseling and strongly
denied that there was a "hidden" problem. We
even wondered if his problems were due to adolescence and
perhaps just not wanting to go school.
"Only he could really know what kind of pain
he was in. It was heartbreaking for us to watch.
"We were all beginning to wonder if this would
be the pattern of his life from now on. That was very
sad, because he had been quite a capable person,
both physically and mentally.
"He couldn't go to school. He could not
continue playing the trombone and the cello. He couldn't
go
to his sister's field hockey games. We often stayed home.
"From total lack of activity, he was slowly
looking weaker and weaker. Our doctors did not have
any answers.
"Brendan
was not getting better and we didn't know what was
wrong with him.
"Brendan's mom considered quitting her job to be
able to stay home with him full time and arranged to work
at her job from home. Our days were spent at doctors or
with tutors, trying to find some encouragement and trying
to have a somewhat normal life for our daughter.
"We are a family who has great faith in God but this
put a great stress on us. We pleaded for wisdom, direction
and healing.
"Finally, after one doctor suggested Prozac and counseling,
we got very worried and decided that we had to try other
treatments.
"We took Brendan to a doctor who was successful in
treating Lyme disease patients and asked his opinion on
treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. He suggested massage
therapy. This meant considering alternative treatments
that were not covered by our insurance, so things could
get a lot more expensive.
"We called the PA School of Muscle Therapy and connected
with a massage therapist, Jane [not her real name], who
practiced Pfrimmer Deep Muscle Therapy. She gave Brendan
once a week treatments to attempt to loosen his extremely
tight muscles. She was able to make progress, but only
to a point.
"After four months she recommended another alternative
practice, craniosacral therapy, as a possible solution
to this sticking point. She gave us the book Healing
Your Child to read.
"Anxious to try anything that
was noninvasive and might work, we called Dr. Barry
Gillespie.
"This was one of the hokiest looking therapies I
had ever seen, or read about. Everybody knows the cranial
bones don't move at this age, but Dr. Gillespie said they
did. I had never heard of the bones moving before, and
I was a biology major in college (albeit a long time ago).
When Dr. Gillespie held Brendan's head, I expected to see
at least some stress put on the tissues to trigger tension,
but saw none.
"It looked so strange: he held Brendan's head as
if he were meditating or praying over him. Although I know
acupuncture and acupressure do indeed have analgesic properties,
its philosophical basis of the balance of Yin and Yang
did not seem to have a physiological basis.
"Otherwise, the ideas made sense: restriction
of a natural motion could have unnatural consequences;
tissue damage, like scar tissue, can cause problems;
all biological systems are interconnected; tight soft
tissues can cause pain and dysfunction.
"Dr. Gillespie said Brendan had one of the "tightest
heads" he had ever seen. He felt that Brendan's
braces and sinus surgery had contributed to his problems. Brendan
and his mom kept mentioning to every doctor they saw the
fact that his symptoms began after his braces were put
on, but no other doctor claimed that there was a connection.
"Brendan felt a little better after his very first
treatment: his headache was less. And he was relieved
to find a doctor that didn't blame his problems on being
an active, achieving kid but rather recognized that he
was in pain.
"After another treatment he felt he could think more
clearly. Each week he looked forward to "moving up
the scale" of wellness.
"After about three or four weeks Brendan
started to smile again. A sight we hadn't seen for
over a year.
"After 3 months of weekly visits, he felt perfect,
although a little weak, and was told not only did he
not need any more treatments, but also he would have
no relapse.
"Brendan's mom remembers the day when he offered
to go for a walk with her and didn't complain of fatigue.
"Brendan's vision improved and he needed new glasses
with a weaker prescription. We decided not to begin the
allergy
shots and Brendan is able to cope with the now mild symptoms
that he is experiencing without drugs.
"Our orthodontist graciously agreed to follow Dr.
Gillespie's recommendation of not tightening the top braces
until Brendan's treatment was complete.
"Brendan was able to begin 9th grade in September,
2000. His teachers were glad to see him back in school.
The anniversary of his illness and a slight cold brought
us some anxiety because we feared a relapse.
"And checking in with Dr. Gillespie, he confirmed
that Brendan was still healthy and his confidence grew
and fears of relapse lessened. Going back to school after
being home a year was not easy but as the year proceeded
Brendan was able to feel comfortable with the workload
and take on more musical and fun activities.
"He is the happiest he has ever been (having
seen the other side helps).
"He has resumed his music lessons and taught
himself the electric bass and plays in one of the best
junior
high jazz bands in the area. He is an A student and won
3rd place in the science fair.
"He has quite an active social
life and is quite a "normal" 15 year old with
a great sense of humor and a newly discovered patience
and understanding. We praise and thank God for leading
us to "the answer" to Brendan's problem."
His mother writes to Dr. Gillespie . . .
"Brendan is doing great! He listens to his body now.
He tries to rest when he feels he needs to; he eats well,
and we had to say "no" to his trying out for
track this year just because he was already in plenty of
activities. He is going to run the mile in gym this week.
He hadn't done that in 2 years.
"How thankful we are that you are doing what you
do and that God led us to you. In the midst of my discouragement
my pastor reminded me that God would show us what to do.
"I often tell people it was as if someone was holding
out a fan of cards (the different ways or treatments we
could have tried) saying, "pick one," and we
picked Jane [the message therapist] and you."
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