This loan has been repaid in full!
First Posted On: February 28, 2009
Name: Jonathan ("Boogie")
Age: 3 years old
Location: Florida
Diagnosis: Autism
Loan Sought: $475
Loan Needed For: Travel expenses to the next DAN! doctor appointment. (Dr. Levinson in Miami, Florida)
Repayment Terms: One lump sum in February 2010.
Other Notes: Jonathan's mom, Kitty, writes: "Jonathan rocks, what else can a mom say! He's a wonderful kid, we've been blessed to have him in our lives. He's taught me so much and he's only three! He was a typical regressive autistic child, he had some words and lost them at eighteen months. He's always had gut issues, but since we're doing SCD [the Specific Carbohydrate Diet] he's improved unbelievably! We're so happy that he's doing physically better in many ways, but now we want him MENTALLY back! I miss my son! Since his diagnosis we've taken every thing we have and put it into him. We're trying all aspects, biomedical, therapeutic, dietary. This loan would be to cover the cost of going to see our DAN! doctor. We'd like to actually see the doctor that is making such a difference in my child's life." (The family has done phone consults with Dr. Levinson so far.)
Special Notes: Jonathan was the very first loan recipient we had on Lend4Health, in June 2008 [click HERE]. That loan was used for his food sensitivity test. It was fully repaid (on time), so the family is eligible to request this second loan. Click HERE to listen to Jonathan's mom, Kitty, interviewed about her experiences with autism on Blog Talk Radio from February 11, 2009.
Reference Provided By: No references needed since this is the family's second loan, and they are in good standing on Lend4Health.
Jonathan's Community of Lenders:
Jean: $75
Karen (again): $5 [Cinco de Linco Day loan]
Jeanne: $5 ["Happy Cinco de Linco Day!"]
Tori: $5 ["Cinco de Linco!!"]
Petra: $5 ["Happy Cinco de Linco"]
Renee: $5 [Cinco de Linco loan made via new "Cinco de Linco Quick Loan" button. Not reflected in ChipIn, so ChipIn goal has been reduced by $5]
Dana: $5 [Cinco de Linco loan made via new "Cinco de Linco Quick Loan" button. Not reflected in ChipIn, so ChipIn goal has been reduced by $5]
Summit to Sea: $25
Wendi and Matt: $5 "In honor of Mason." [Cinco de Linco loan made via new "Cinco de Linco Quick Loan" button. Not reflected in ChipIn, so ChipIn goal has been reduced by $5]
Jeanne (again): $5 [Cinco de Linco! Made outside of ChipIn, so ChipIn goal has been reduced by $5]
Karen: $5 "Happy to be able to help!" [Cinco de Linco loan made via new "Cinco de Linco Quick Loan" button. Not reflected in ChipIn, so ChipIn goal has been reduced by $5]
Cathleen: $55 [Cinco de Linco!]
Cara: $5 [Cinco de Linco loan made via new "Cinco de Linco Quick Loan" button. Not reflected in ChipIn, so ChipIn goal has been reduced by $5]
Michelle: $10 [Cinco de Linco]
Carrie: $39 [Re-loaned from Julian's repaid loan!] This loan was made outside of ChipIn, so the ChipIn goal has been reduced by $39.
Bonnie: $5
Petra: $6 ["To honor Potatey who is turning 6 on 3/18 and who was saved from autistic regression through biomed."]
Karen (again): $10
Petra: $10 [re-loan from Sawyrr's repaid loan]
Jeanne (again): $8 [re-loan from Sawyrr's repaid loan] Note: This loan was made outside of ChipIn, so the ChipIn goal amount has been reduced by $8.
Will: $25 "All the best" [re-loan from Sawyrr's repaid loan]
Jeanne (again): $10 [re-loan from Dazmen's repaid loan] This loan was made outside of ChipIn, so the ChipIn goal amount has been reduced by $10.
Anonymous: $50 ["For Jake"] This loan was made outside of ChipIn, so the ChipIn goal amount has been reduced by $50.
Wiseclerk: $10
Jeanne (again): $5 [loan to match $5 loan to Geoffrey, which was a re-loan from Delia's repaid loan]
Diane: $50 [loan made from Delia's repaid loan]
David: $10
Chloe: $22
UPDATES - UPDATES - UPDATES
March 27, 2009: Jonathan's loan has been fully funded!
March 30, 2009: Promissory note sent to Jonathan's family for signature.
April 20, 2009: Signed promissory note received.
April 21, 2009: Loan of $475 sent to family via PayPal. This loan will be due in one lump sum repayment on February 15, 2010.
June 16, 2009: Update from Jonathan's mom:
Our visit to Dr. Levinson!
The trip went smoother than expected. We rented a car with part of the loan, we asked for a full size sedan, we got a very cool magnum wagon. The kids LOVED that, when Jonathan saw it he said “vroom, vroom”. It was a relief for us, to not have to worry about breaking down in an unfamiliar city with two small children. So we got the car and got on the road. The kids took the ride very well. We packed plenty of toys and snacks and we stopped at nearly every rest stop. At one rest stop little David got ATTACKED by ants, he got at least fifteen ant bites. In a moment of mommy intuition I packed hydrocortisone in my purse and a quick application possibly saved us a trip to the Miami ER.
We found the hotel pretty easily; parking in Miami is twenty-five dollars a day! The hotel was nice but not great for small children. The hotel was right off the beach; the atmosphere was interesting, very urban beach-city. We reserved that particular place because they had cribs and a kitchen and it was close to the DAN doctor’s office. We needed a kitchen in case we needed to cook for them since they’re both on GFCF/SCD (minus IGG allergies) diets (yeah I know it’s a mouth full). I guess I was nervous about this because I cooked at least a week worth of food for them. So for them all we had to do was pop their food into the microwave. We thought we’d cook for us but the kitchen was a little un-balanced, it had plates, silverware and bowls but no PANS. So we had microwave cuisine too, lol. Jonathan got to sleep in the humongous, luxurious hotel bed since they didn’t have a crib for us after all. The bedroom had the least amount of breakables. Dave and I slept on the double pull out from the couch, that was fun. By time we put them down they were exhausted and so were we.
We were right on time for our first “in person” DAN doctor appointment. The office was homey and comfortable. We watched a movie while we waited, and the kids tried to tear down a large art work tree hung in the waiting room. The kids were great for the first five or so seconds of the appointment. Dr. Levinson asked someone for more toys and discussed Jonathan's latest set of lab results with us. It turns out somehow Jonathan has lead in his blood, which is very scary! Jonathan and David were fascinated by Dr. Levinson’s paperweight and sculpture. The sculpture is an abstract and I think because of the curves Jonathan kept calling it a dolphin (which is one of the animals he loves). Dr. Levinson said “it’s whatever he wants it to be”. Jonathan also said hello to Dr. Levinson which I have to admit, I thought was very cool. We also did some blood test while we there, we’ve gotten the same blood work done at other labs three, yes three times, and they kept screwing it up by mishandling the sample. I’m so glad we got that done properly I was about to physically harm some Phlebotomists! The last thing we did was a challenge test; this test is to check for heavy metals within the tissues. The nurse gave him an IV of a chelating agent after drawing his blood and we tried to distract him with SCD cookies and the Disney CARS movie. He took it pretty well, daddy does the holding and mommy sits there and looks faint and little David flirts with the nurse. So after that we pick up our supplements, lab results and kiddos and pack up to go home.
The drive back was a bit more stressful but not unbearable. The toughest part was collecting all Jonathan’s urine for six hours for the challenge test. I’ve seen enough gas station bathrooms to last a lifetime but we did get enough for the tests and should be getting the result soon. We also had to find a place on the road to feed them, which is impossible on their diet. So we went to McDonalds and brought in their food, luckily the workers didn’t give us any trouble.
And now, we’re home and happy to be there. Our town is no Miami and that’s part of what I like about it. Yet still, I’m so glad to have made the trip, so many important things have come out from it. It was great to put faces to names. To see the people who are paving the road to Jonathan’s recovery. I want to thank everyone who loaned even ONE dollar, that one dollar helped us make this trip! The trip is part of the larger journey of Jonathan’s recovery and hence his and our advances are yours as well.
Thank you from the bottom of our ever deepening hearts
Kitty, Dave, Jonathan and little David
April 12, 2010: The lump-sum repayment due on this loan (due February 15, 2010) has been marked past-due. Kitty has contacted Lend4Health to say that she still intends to repay the loan and that she is planning to write an update for her lenders.
April 25, 2010: Partial repayment of $25 received. Remaining amount due is $450.
April 25, 2010: Update from Kitty: "I'm so sorry that we haven't paid back our loan, no one could be more grateful than us, trust me. I've delayed in even writing this because I've been trying to justify our lateness and I don't have a definitive cause. What can I say, life has gotten in our way. Over that last six months Dave got laid off from his job of six years. I had to go back to work full time and then some. We've had three cars go Ka-boom. Jonathan has needed two new specialist doctors, with a third on the way. We're just strapped for cash and time. My days off are spent in doctors offices and catching up with my children. Jonathan is creeping closer to five everyday which terrifies me. He is doing well and making good progress everyday but of course that progress didn't start until he'd fallen FAR behind. Please forgive us, we are truly struggling right now. I'm going to pay 25$ each week until this is paid off. I'm sorry about the way it will look. I just know we won't have large sums of cash ANYTIME soon but I cannot let this linger any longer.
Sincerely
Kitty"
July 8, 2010: Partial repayment of $25 received. Remaining amount due is $425.
August 22, 2010: Partial repayment of $25 received. Remaining amount due is $400. Note: This repayment was made as a gift from an anonymous member of the Lend4Health community.
October 9, 2010: Partial repayment of $5 received. Remaining amount due is $395. Note: This repayment was made as a gift from an anonymous member of the Lend4Health community.
February 23, 2012: Full amount due of $395 received. This loan has been repaid in full!Thank you letter from Jonathan's mom, Kitty (written 2/13/12):
Dear Lend4Health lenders,
I’m so happy to be writing this letter. I FINALLLLLLLY paid off our loan. First off I want to apologize for it taking so long. The guilt about this has been eating away at me. I want more than anything the repaid money to go to help other children. I KNOW there are too many being diagnosed everyday for anyone one person to help. Knowing our family troubles may be holding someone else’s child up from recovery grieved more than anything else. I don’t have a lot of excuses. Our life just got in the way. We had to move, twice. We took on a car payment to get Jonathan to and from Chelation, his special school, and other treatments and therapies. Autism has turned out to be more expensive than we anticipated. On a positive note, I would like to report that after all this time we are nearly finished with Chelation and THANK GOD for that. Jonathan is a different kid without the lead and mercury in his body. We only have approximately four to five Chelation treatments left. I can’t wait to see the full results. He is doing the most awesome things every day. He has a very wide and varied amount of interests. It ranges from Godzilla, transformers, reptiles, spiders to Bakugan (sometimes it’s a bit hard to keep up). We even recently had his FIRST ever updated Individual education plan (aka IEP) at school. In short that means he is learning to read, to write to count, things every child should do. He has the most wonderful eyes and looks at you frequently with them. I was recently reminded of the time when he couldn’t say “good night mommy” and cried a tear (or two or maybe more, who’s counting anyway). Those days are long gone. He will have a conversation with you, again it may be about Godzilla but I also get “goodnight mommy” at the end of the day. “Good night mommy” is worth all the Godzilla talk in the world. Lend4Health helped get us there, helped us start Chelation and helped him to come back to us. So thank you all for having faith in us, for not forgiving our loan.
Lots of Love
Kitty, Dave, Jonathan and little David <
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