Gallium - Metals in pediatric daily practice

Case Gallium
Pierre started being brought to see me when he was 13, because he was failing at school. This year (2002 – we are in June now) has been a disaster and he will not be moving up with the rest of his class to the next year, he has to repeat the same year again.

He’s a physically fit young man, an excellent skier. Every weekend in winter he spends in the Alps taking part in skiing competitions. Every member of his family is involved in skiing too. Most of them, brother, sister and cousins, are either skiing teachers or competitors in downhill racing.

Pierre’s school performance has been dismal for 2 years now and his mother, an excitable passionate woman who believes utterly in homeopathy, has already consulted me about it.

The family history is not good. Pierre is the youngest of three children, his father having left home virtually as soon as he was born. Even now he sees him infrequently; he is a withdrawn man, buried in his retirement and bothers little about his son. The other children have left home one by one and are getting on with their lives, leaving her to cope on her own.

All she has now is Pierre and they live in a small flat. Many of their possessions have been sold off bit by bit to keep the two of them going.

Pierre is an obstinate boy and can’t bear his mother’s ‘nagging’ to the point where he can’t wait to follow his siblings out of the home. His mother knows this, but feels there’s little she can do about it, she’s quite worn out.

His schoolwork is a real trial to him. He is seriously dyslexic, but his special teacher has had no visible effect on his performance over the years. It’s as if Pierre has refused to accept help and support. So now he’s failed all his grades.

He has keratosic eczema on the back of his hands and the insides of his elbows which he has had for the past two years (about the same time as he’s really been in trouble over his schoolwork). He also gets conjunctivitis in springtime with the arrival of the pollen in the air.

For a long time he has been receiving SULPHUR, which had supported him well, but now seems to not be having a beneficial effect.

Pierre doesn’t like strong heat, he craves coolness and fresh air. He sweats a lot, especially when he exercises. His eczema is aggravated in the evenings and in winter. It disappears in summer.

Food-wise he likes meat, garlic and strong cheeses, and detests fish.

I prescribe GALLIUM (200C).

Follow up
Pierre comes back to me in September 2002 for a homeopathic boost before he goes back to school to repeat last year’s class. He seems calmer, is listening more to his mother and his eczema and conjunctivitis have cleared up. I give him a second dose of GALLIUM (1M).
He returns at the end of the school year. He has done relatively well this year, but what he is most pleased about is the fact that he has been picked for the French junior ski team this winter.

Comments
GALLIUM was prescribed to this young sulphuric because of his bad school reports and his obstinacy. He was a young man who was suppressing part of his ability to succeed. He avoided outside help feeling he needed to do it himself. Obviously his approach to his dyslexia was less successful than those offered by the experts. The GALLIUM helped him out of this academic problem and gave him the extra necessary boost to sports success as well.

Patricia Leroux
pediatre.leroux@wanadoo.fr

Next edition we will publish two more pediatric-metal-cases of Patricia Leroux