Just Because

As I was putting my son to bed this evening, he asked me to rub his back for him until he fell asleep.  This is not an unusual request, but tonight it struck me how different things are these days from the past few years as I felt his smooth, baby-like skin.  We were both commenting on how smooth his skin is, and we kept trying to find spots that were even smoother . . .the tip of his nose, his belly, his back, his cheek.  This was missing when he was an infant and toddler, I envied children with "baby-skin" as my son always felt like sandpaper, not to mention the rashes, flaking, and staph infections.  As I marvel at his progress, I almost forgot how for years his privates were so itchy that he would dig until they bled and scabbed over.  It was so painful watching him suffer and hear him beg for relief; if he could have torn it off he would have.  I worried that he would be permantely scarred both physically and mentally. It dawned on me this evening that it has been a good portion of a year since his privates have itched.

There were nights when I would be up for most of the night holding his hands while he slept to prevent him from doing further damage to himself.  One night in particular I rubbed his face for seven hours so he could rest.  This went on for several months, and I felt as if I aged twenty years. It's all a distant memory now, I just hope he forgets completely one day.

He begs for a baby brother or sister, but I know I have all I can handle.  I've been blessed that he's a loving, empathetic, and bright child.  But I've given all of my energy to healing him, and know I don't have it in me to start all over again.  What if he's my healthy one?  That thought scares me to death.  I hope he doesn't resent being an only child.  And if he does, he'll understand once he has a child of his own just how hard his mom worked at keeping him healthy.  Since I've become a mom I have often wondered if my mom loves me as much as I love my son.  I know the answer is 'yes', but it's hard to understand until you have a child of your own.  Which leads me to my favorite quote: “Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ” Elizabeth Stone

6 Years Old!

Happy Birthday to my big kid, we now have a six year old!!  It's been a fun-filled week of birthday parties for my kiddo, 3 parties to be exact.  And they all involved LOTS of pizza and cake. He's had pizza from 3 different places this week including Chuck-E-Cheese and the bolwing alley, and the good news is that he's done GREAT! No itch and no hives, just the way we like it.  He's also had a few different cakes, check this one out from a local bakery:

It's a traditonal cake, not gluten-free.  He was in heaven to say the least!

He also had a school field trip to a local farm where he played in the hay and fed baby animals.  I drove separately in case we needed to high-tale it out of there, but amazingly he did fabulous. Even the teacher took a benedryl before heading out.

As for NAET, we're still going.  We've recently continued working on lungs, and last week he treated for 'spleen' which numerous organs showed weak to (which typically it's just his kidneys that test weak.)  We did come across one food that gave him some problems, and that was an organic Soneyfield strawberry go-gurt yogurt squeezer.  Soon after eating it he said it felt like "rocks in his throat" which was then followed by a stomach ache.  Looking at the ingredients it's hard to pinpoint which one it could be; it's possible it's a combination of some sort.  The odd thing is that he does fine with plain Greek yogurt, he eats it most days with honey added.  Greek yogurt has a higher milk protein, so it must be another ingredient in the squeezer that's the culprit.

All-in-all, he's made amazing strides since 2009.  It's awesome to watch him enjoy himself and to enjoy food again.

uKnow Peanut Allergy Test

Phadia announces first-ever commercial availability of peanut allergen component tests


uKnow Peanut Test™, a new, more precise peanut allergy test, provides physicians and patients molecular level clarity to aid in the diagnosis and help assess the risk of allergic reaction to peanut


Phadia announces first-ever commercial availability of peanut allergen component tests - Phadia - Setting the Standard - Phadia.com

My allergist has been talking about this for the past few months, as it was recenlty made available in the US.  The issue right now is cost, it's not currently covered by insurance.  Apparently it's been used in Europe for sometime.  The test isolates the specific proteins, 'Ara', which peanuts have 8 Ara I believe.  Allergies to certain Ara are harmless, while other Ara are deadly.  With this test the idea is to know how dangerous your peanut allergy really is, and if it's necessary to avoid them.

Good News, Bad News

We headed South for spring break and enjoyed some fun in the sun.  My almost six year old decided it was time to swim without floaties, and spent about four hours each day swimming which proved to build up quite the appetite each evening.  One night he ate six slices of pizza, and neither we nor the waitstaff could believe our eyes as he scarfed it down.  We were pretty laxed on this trip, letting him eat most anything he wanted within reason and we also weren't very stringent on taking the daily dose of Flovent for asthma control.  The doctor has told us in the past that it's ok to take a break and see how things go.

The good news is that the eczema has been non-existant, and while we were on our trip there were no bouts of asthma.  However the bad news is that after we arrived home he was wheezing within an hour.  The house had been closed up for a week and the air seemed a bit heavy, which my husband made mention of, too.  Then three days later while at a birthday party he ate the frosting off a store bought cupcake that had a zillion bad ingredients in it, and I noticed him scratching followed by wheezing.  A dose of benedryl cleared him up.

We'll get back into our routine of making sure he gets at least one dose of Flovent a day.  I also snagged a cupcake to go so we'll try a NAET treatment for that as well.  He did do a treatment recently for 'muscous membranes.' I know he's so very relieved that the itching has subsided, but I'd much rather have the asthma vanish forever.  Nothing is scarier than watching your child struggle to breathe.

Is Aluminum a Culprit?

I've often wondered if Aluminum in vaccines was a culprit of my son's hyper-sensitive immune system. It's a known neurotoxin that is used as an adjuvant in vaccines to trigger an immune response to make the vaccine effective.  The problem is that sometimes that response goes into over-drive and doesn't shut off, which is what the medical doctors suspect is what happened in my son's case.  This Age of Autism article interviews Dr. Chris Shaw who along with Lucija Tomljenovic published a study on this very topic in the August 2011 Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry titled, "Do aluminum vaccine adjuvants contribute to the rising prevalence of autism?"

In conclusion the study stated that: "Aluminum has all the necessary biochemical properties to induce neurological and immune disorders; and (iii) autism is a multisystem disorder characterized by dysfunctional immunity and impaired brain function.  Because the current safety data for Al exposure in infants and children is unsatisfactory and because this demographic represents those who may be most at risk for complications following vaccination, a more rigorous evaluation of Al adjuvant safety than what has been provided to date seems warranted."

M.I.A.

I've been M.I.A. for the last couple of weeks, mostly because I've taken on a huge professional endeavor that is occupying all my time.  But on the occassion I get the urge to blog, I find that I just don't have that much to say.  I mean, everything is going well and my kid is healthy and happy.  That should be a major headline in itself!  When I look back at how far we have come even from 6 months ago, it amazes me.  I still can't believe that it was only one year ago that my son had his first bite of an oat granola bar after treating for oats which use to cause severe hives. The blog has allowed me to put things into prespective.  For instance, I keep thinking to myself that he's been doing great since this fall, and lo and behold my timeline indicates that is when he went through the vaccine treatments.

As of late, we have continued to work on his lungs.  He's been on one puff of his Flovent 44 since January (reduced from 2) and is doing great. He's completed NAET treatments such as lungs & cold, lungs & heat & humidity, lungs & stress, and sinuses.  He's also gone down to one NAET treatment per week instead of two.

What I really find amazing is that so far this school year (knock on wood!) he has missed only 1 day due to illness, and that was back in October, I think.  Not sure what the usual stats are for kindergarten, but when I compare him to my sister's "healthy" kids who have been on multiple doses of antibiotics this winter, he's doing great.

The one down fall of becoming so healthy is that I now find he's not eating quite as healthy as I would like.  My husband is routinely making him grilled cheese on wheat bread with butter, and my son has eaten his fair share of St. Pat's decorated sugar cookies as of late.  Don't get me wrong, no kid in their right mind would want to visit us for the tastey food and treats we keep in our cupboards, but it is nice to be able to relax a bit around food and have it be a more enjoyable experience.

Parenting is an Enormous Responsibility

There's a recent news story of a young girl being given 4 vaccinations by a school nurse, all without consent. The mother claims that "she even signed a document indicating never to administer medical treatment to her daughter."  The article goes on to state that the girl came down with a full body rash. 

The first thing that went through my head is that I have to have a talk with my son about what to do if anyone ever tries to give him a shot. His life depends on it, vaccinating him is like playing with fire and I unfortunately have the medical records and doctor waivers to prove it, and so does his school but apparently these things slip through the cracks from time-to-time. So not only do we have to have the "Stranger Danger" conversation, we also have to talk about what happens if the nice nurse tries to give you a shot without mommy there. Wow, was I naive going into this parenting thing.  The decisions and responsibilities are enormous.  One of my favorite quotes is, "   “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body"--Elizabeth Stone.
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/detroit/mother-angry-after-daughter-vaccinated-without-her-permission

I was asked in the comment section of one of the postings to list the food items that my kid as able to eat prior to NAET.  Here's my response:

"That's easy.  For 7 months it was basically water, meat, and white rice.  We had to take out everything because almost everything was causing a reaction--honey, egg, oats, tomatoes, citrus, peas, chick peas, corn, dairy, soy, wheat, broccoli, celery, nuts, blueberries are the ones that come to mind.  During those 7 months we slowly added things back like apples, carrots, and green beans that we were certain he was okay with.  He's now eating everyting on the list aside from nuts which we haven't approached with NAET.  He also refuses to drink "cow milk" as he calls it, but does eat yogurt daily and has had baked goods with milk."

I have previously posted his RAST IgE results pre and post NAET that show the dramatic reduction in everything aside from the egg.  At the time of his last RAST he was still having issues with egg (although reduced), but has since undergone a handful of addtional combination egg treatments and is now able to eat them.

Dr. Mom?

I got the chance to expand on my doctor mom skills this week. My son came down with some goop in his eye, more than likely pink eye. On a the few occassions that he or I have had this issue, I've resorted to the Simalison Pink Eye Drops which work like a charm--even faster than any prescription antibiotic eye drop I've ever used.  (Being a longtime contact user, I must admit I used to wear them far past their useful life and would end up with eye infections.  That was many years ago, I've since wised up and take them out nightly now!)  Anyways, after the prompt recovery my son made I said to my husband, "We should have been doctors."  Which he replied, "No, because if we were, our son would still be a medical mystery with no answers."  Given our past experience with the so-called "experts", I'd have to agree.  What this journey has taught me is that when it comes to your health, you have to be your own best advocate and seek answers.  And once you discover certain truths and information, it's nearly impossible to put your head back in the sand no matter how much easier that would be.

Enjoying Life & Food!

Enjoying life, and food!  That's what my child has been doing these days.  We had a family birthday that led to a weekend of food, family, and friends.  Friday we had dinner at a Japanese steakhouse, hibatchi style.  I was hesistant to bring my son for the fear of an allergic reaction, but when I broke it down he's been eating most everything as of late so we decided to give it a try.  He had chicken & vegetables with teriaki sauce,  white rice, and some soup.  As a precaution, I had his food cooked in back in a separate pan.  However during the hibatchi entertainment, the chef proceed to fling fried rice at my kid,which is made with butter/margarine, soy sauce, and egg.  Needless to say, he enjoyed the flavorful food immensely!  And he even shared in some birthday ice cream--all without one sign of a reaction.

The next night we enjoyed pizza, breaksticks, store bought cake, and vanilla ice cream (made with egg.)  What a joy to watch him eat and mingle with his little buddies without being singled out.  And the best part is that he is healthy!