Weekend in the Big Apple

We took the kids to NYC this weekend.  New York is a wild and exciting place to visit, people bustling all over, cars, horns, trucks, sirens....a sensory overload for someone with Sensory Processing Disorder.  There was a time when this would have been challenging for Grayson and there certainly were times when his hands instinctually went to his ears, but I am really impressed by how much love both boys had for this frenzy of a weekend!  They were kept up well beyond their bedtime, we traveled via the subways and we allowed them to eat some foods while we were out!  They were GREAT!

Even as well as they did, being in a hotel and hiking around a polluted city has it's consequences for the immune compromised.  Then compound the issues with less sleep and honestly, I'm very surprised we didn't have more trouble on our hands.  It wasn't long before Grayson was swatting at his ears and itching his ankles so I knew something was up.  By the end of the weekend, they were happily exhausted, but clearly needed an increase in their antimicrobials to combat the damage it did internally, because we could see their frustration thresholds slowly creeping backwards.  Today I noticed his fear of bugs came back (he was crying at the far end of the deck and wouldn't walk past a bug that he was convinced had a stinger) so we also added in his homeopathic constitutional remedy and I will continue to give it daily until that fear is reduce to a more normal response to bugs.  Gavin's red anal ring had come back too, which is already almost cleared up since having a good dose of antimicrobials this morning.

We had been reducing their supplements and antimicrobials, but then the mold exposure created a riff in that plan.  Just before this trip we had increased everything slightly and returned a lot of the supplements we dropped, just for the sake of immune function and combating the mold exposure.  We had decided this was not a good time to experiment.  Then after this weekend, we went up yet again.  They've bounced back really well too!  It's clear that the antimicrobials are the key to their behavior control.  It NEVER fails us.  When they aren't right, increase the antimicrobials and we get our kids back, but not after a little die-off.

The subway is coming...clearly not one bit afraid!

This weekend it was obvious to us that they are doing really well though.  There was little to no sensory overload, they handled change like troopers, they LOVED the subway even with the number of crammed people, the jolting unpredictable movements and noise!  They were certainly cautious when it was appropriate, but they weren't overly shy or frightened of anything!  In the past, doing anything adventurous and loud (like carnivals) was a highly stressful event with us trying to convince Grayson that he didn't have to be afraid of every sudden noise he heard.  He would literally scream with his hands over his ears, he couldn't even focus on us talking to him.  We had to get out of the situation to get him to listen to us and when he could concentrate, he was always distraught with his own reaction, but it was truly instincts at play.  He didn't want to be afraid of the sounds, he just couldn't control his reaction. 

There was a whole lot of walking this weekend.  At the height of Grayson's symptoms, he couldn't even handle walking around a store without sitting in a cart (mercury effects the mitochondria causing reduced energy).  He walked all over NYC this weekend and we are talking about blocks and blocks and blocks of walking!

Today is our first day home and with their increased doses of antimicrobials, they are playing well together (getting into mischief, of course) and seem very happy and content.  I don't think I could have asked for a better outcome from our little weekend away!

Fitting in

As much as us biomed moms work extremely hard to help our children fit in, it's equally as ironic that WE don't fit in anywhere.  Biomed moms stick together like white on rice, because our lives are so incredibly different from others' and no one else gets us like another from the same world.  We are the side show freak at every event.

I ponder this thought as I sit here splitting our chelation capsules and wonder what other moms out there are doing this very moment.  I doubt they are splitting capsules for their families to take around the clock.  But I would bet that just about every other biomedical mom is doing exactly what I am doing and maybe even at this very moment, since chelation rounds typically happen on the weekends.  It's this craziness that ties us together with a bond that doesn't even require physically facing each other to "get" each other.  I think we would go to the ends of the earth for one another, literally.  We share a passion that runs deeper in our veins than our own blood.  It's this very passion that motivates us.

I know at least for myself, when I try to fit into groups of other moms, I find it so hard to relate to them.  As much as I would love to chat about karate lessons or school mishaps, our experiences differ so much that I can't even chime in.  Generally when I open my mouth to share my own version of our experiences, I hear the crickets.  There are two exceptions to this though and you can pick them out in a heartbeat.  There are the morbidly curious, the same people that rubber-neck at gruesome crash sites and then there are those who clearly see a connection in what we do, probably because they themselves are searching for answers, whether it be for a child, a loved one or themselves.  They are sincerely interested in the information rather than being intrigued by how very different we are.

One thing I hear frequently is, "I don't know how you do it!"  Again, I tend to wonder about the intention of this commonly heard phrase.  Is it that they truly give us credit for all that we do, witnessing the significant change we produce in our kids' lives or is it more like, wow, you are nuts and I wouldn't do what you do for your kids!

I'm sure there are some people who just lack the understanding, it's hard to grasp unless you have personally witnessed the change in our children.  If you are a parent who was lucky enough to have children born with health on their side, you probably just don't understand the concept of the behaviors we see in our children.  You can't understand what it is like to witness your child loose eye contact and pull away from you or when they take part in strange repetitive behaviors that scare you out of your skin.  Or perhaps your children aren't the healthiest either, but you just don't comprehend how some of the things we do can encourage such huge changes.  Either way, it's this lack of knowledge that puts you on the other side of the fence.  I love the parents who have an envy for the work we do, they give credit and watch in awe, but I'm sure they would never want to be in our shoes.  And as much as I would love to wash my hands of all this intense work, I would never want to change our past, because it has carved the path for our future and I have learned more through this experience than I could even put into words.  Our lives have truly been enhanced by the needs of our little ones.

There is nothing like watching our boys fit in, even if we don't, it's all because of what we do for them every single day of our lives.  It's our dedication, the work of going against the grain in every aspect of our lives that has offered them the chance at a normal life.  I would say that makes us pretty darn amazing.  If you are a fellow bio-med mom, take the time to pat yourself on the back for all of the selfless hours you research, cook and dedicate to your family, for the hours of intense pain you've experienced beside your child as s/he suffered the worst days of pathogenic overgrowth, die-off or food infractions and for the many sleepless hours of chelation you have under your belt.

It's you who is changing the world for your children.  Congrats!

Writer's block, but so much to report

I think when a lot is going on at once, I lose the insight it takes to write from my heart and soul.  I am so overwhelmed with the flurries around me that I just keep putting writing off until I have something specific to focus on.  So for now, I am going to attempt to push myself for fear of forgetting to report something going on in our biomedical world.  And so much of it is important.

The hot topics for today are mold repairs, a 504 plan for Grayson at school, IgG food panels for both boys and camel milk!

MOLD
So I will start with the oldest news, the mold.  We are still eyeball deep in trying to figure out how bad the problem is.  The location where the leak occurred is the most obnoxious place to reach, it's directly behind where the deck is attached to the house.  You guessed it, the deck has had to be loosened (today in fact) to provide access to the wet wood.  Yesterday the contractor working on providing the mold company with access to the mold, pulled up the tiles for the sub floor that was wet, and he removed ALL of the siding on the backside of the house under the deck, plus some from above the deck to be sure that they follow protocol which is to remove anything within a foot of the damage.

You can see from the pictures how they are trying to access the side of the house where the deck connects to it!The picture to the left shows the mudroom door above the deck and our window in the basement, below.  To the right is the siding removed where the mold is, which is around and to the right of the window.  The worst of it all is located just to the right of the mudroom door (picture below) so today he actually removed more siding and deck towards the slider (this picture is from yesterday). He also loosened the lag bolts that connect the deck to the house!

 

 The way the water was traveling was starting at the bottom right of the mudroom door where the threshold and trim met.  It would pour down to the right and settled in the subfloor and under the threshold as well as overflowing down the basement wall.  So RIGHT where the deck meets the house, to the right of the door is the bulk of the problem.  Two panels of wood between studs in the basement have to be completely removed, so tomorrow, this view will look right clear into my basement!

We haven't even begun to address the rotted structural wood that was left in the front of the house by the previous mold remediation company!  The mold contractor thinks that is where the stachybotrys is coming from too.  We have a completely different contractor involved with that repair, since it involves the structure of the home.  I am still waiting to hear from him on an estimate.  He advised us that he will need to have a structural engineer sign off on the job.  Not sure, if that was a warning on how that changes the price....and we can't clean the air or get the post work air testing done until this is ALL done.  In the meantime, the boys have been sneezing, coughing and have runny noses.  Of course, adding insult to injury, it's also allergy season.  They've never reacted like this to allergy season though, so I am inclined to think they are reacting to the mold.  We do have huge hospital grade hepa filters in the house running at all times so that must alleviate some of this nastiness.

Gimme the 504
Something interesting came about from Grayson's food infractions on the bus....a 504 plan stems from the Americans with Disabilities Act.  A 504 plan spells out the modifications and accommodations that will be needed for students who have: physical impairments; illnesses or injuries; communicable diseases; chronic conditions like asthma, allergies and diabetes; and learning problems.  They make accommodations to offer them the opportunity to perform at the same level as their peers, and might include such things as wheelchair ramps, blood sugar monitoring, an extra set of textbooks, a peanut-free lunch environment, home instruction, or a tape recorder or keyboard for taking notes.

For Grayson, this specifically addresses the bus situation as well as handwriting.  And let me just say briefly, the bus situation is a God-send.  He's been driven to and from school by a mini van (like a personal chauffeur) with one other child, a friend's child actually!  And how does handwriting come into play?  Well, when Grayson was having the food infractions his handwriting went down the tubes, he was complaining of being too tired to write, he was uninterested and his writing was atrocious! His teacher and I spoke about this (keep in mind we didn't know about the food infractions at the time) and I mentioned how in the past he had he had been diagnosed as having delayed fine motor skills.  I wasn't sure this was our problem, but we both thought it was possible and decided on having an evaluation done, to be sure.  In the time between having the evaluation done and receiving the results, we discovered that he was eating gluten and casein among many other things he can't have, all resulting in personality changes as well as physical changes.  Once we got his diet cleaned back up, his writing soared!!  His mood improved, his interest skyrocketed and even his teacher said, "He can't be stopped!".  His evaluation identified a few areas to target, besides his fine motor skills which are actually pretty on target with other kids his age (yeay!), it didn't used to be!!  But his sensory issues came up, visual and auditory processing as well as muscular (tone) problems that can effect his ability to participate in school.  So the 504 plan allows him to have 30 minutes of occupational therapy once a week, the "private" bus, and a sensory "diet" at school which is anything he needs to be able to function without distraction, this could mean therapeutic brushing, weighted blankets, joint compression, which all help with prioprioception.

You might wonder why I didn't stop the process when we noticed the food infraction was our cause when even the teacher noticed how he has made a considerable change since resolving the issue....this is because I feel like OT can offer him some other solutions to things that might still need addressing while we go through the process of healing him from the inside out.  Having the additional coping mechanisms at his fingertips is a benefit many kids don't have and I want to take advantage of anything that can help him stay in the playing field.  He's been doing exceptionally well since the "incidents" and even the teacher has commented on his remarkable composure, maturity and interest lately.  This is a testament to the things we do....and why.  I love the opportunity for those around me to see what value there is in dietary changes.  It's a big problem in our Nation and it needs awareness.  This is the best way to create awareness, real life situations.  No one can deny the changes they have witnessed in this situation and every person involved has voiced that opinion.  During our meeting with the school and therapists, it was clear that they believe in the power of healing through foods.  They supported my efforts and plan to continue to do so.  I am so thankful for this school every single day!

Culprit foods
On that note, when he was clearly exposed to both gluten and dairy at minimum, we decided to take advantage of the timing and order an IgG food panel update to see, if he was/is still sensitive to these foods.  I have also wondered, if there were any other foods that could be causing some inconsistencies in his moods.  They have been bearable and nowhere near the way things were in the past, but it still appeared as though he lacked control of them and felt considerable remorse afterwards, as if he didn't even know himself anymore.  Gavin on the other hand, has never had an IgG panel done so we still needed the baseline on him.

Want the good or the bad news first?

The good news is that neither of them is sensitive to the many foods we use repeatedly in their diet (we still rotate them) and their gut permeability is good.  Gavin's intestinal barrier assessment was negative at well below half of what it would take to be considered mildly effected and Grayson was just 8 points over the threshold!!  So what we are doing IS most definitely working, yippee!!! 

The bad news is that BOTH boys are effected by egg whites and yolks, grrrrr!!  This is a hard one to avoid, but with Gavin moderately effected by them and Grayson in the high category for sensitivity, it's one food we have to remove indefinitely.  Ironically, they are both moderately effected by kidney beans, not even a food we give them.  For Gavin the only other foods that came up in the low range were kale and oranges.  Grayson had just about every food in the dairy category plus gluten and yogurt in the moderate range.  His low foods were baker's yeast, chicken (just barely over the threshold), soy, peanut, tofu, pineapple (this was high in his previous test), tuna (odd, he's never even had it), kale, pork, wheat, oranges and shrimp.  This is MUCH better than the 23 foods that came up in his last IgG panel!  I also wonder about the genetic factors involved, because both boys had almost identical reactions to foods that weren't even considered positive.  The test shows a bar for each food that was tested and even though a reaction may not be high enough to warrant fitting into the low category, it may still show a slight reaction.  Both boys reacted to a lot of the same things, for example cinnamon and green peas.  It is certainly interesting looking at these tests side by side.  Very telling of the big picture in our genes.

One thing that is clear for sure is that everything we are doing in the face of prevention with Gavin is working.  He only reacted to 4 foods and none were high!  This is considered in the very low range of normal.  It's wonderful news and had us floating on cloud nine!!

But isn't camel milk still milk?
Yes, camel milk is milk, BUT it's very different from cow's milk!  It has medicinal properties that have been healing people at record speeds, people with diabetes, allergies, cancer and autism.  Studies are confirming these findings at rapid rates.  There is still about 4-5% lactose in camel milk, but the lactose is even different and much easier to digest than cow's milk lactose.  The proteins of camel milk are the decisive components for preventing and curing food allergies because camel milk contain no beta-lactoglobulin and a different beta-casein – the two components in cow milk that are responsible for allergies. Camel milk contains a number of immunoglobulins that are compatible with human ones. Camel milk is also rich in vitamin C (three times as much as cow's), calcium and iron (TEN times as much as cow's milk!).  How do you like them apples? The healing properties are numerous, from the amino acid profile to the enzymes and minerals!

We found a farmer about an hour and fifteen minutes away and my husband just happened to have an opportunity to be down there yesterday so he went by and grabbed some frozen bottles for us and a friend.  I really expected the kids to fight it since we don't do milk at all, but they took to it immediately, even Gavin who has never enjoyed a dairy product in his life even when I tried!  They both sucked down the first cups I offered them of the fresh raw milk and promptly asked for more....and more.  We went through about 14 ounces in one sitting with both boys!  Then this morning, they both had cups of milk with breakfast and again at dinner, they will have more.  I'm not really even sure what I am looking for or what I expect out of this, but it seems to be doing a lot of good for those with similar health problems so I had to give it a try.  So onward with our newest adventure.

Read more about camel milk and autism here from a clinical Toxicologist!

This is a link to a study confirming that camel milk can heal liver disease!

And below are the kids with their first camel milk mustaches!!

SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder)

So going back to where this whole thing started for us....SPD was how we came to this place in our lives. It indicated something was off with our son and threw me into an OCD (yes, I have it, but generally it just fuels my research, he he he) fit of looking for answers. I was not satisfied with accepting that he just had SPD, I needed to find out why and ultimately, how to relieve him of it. Jenny McCarthy has really shed a lot of light on the biomedical route of recovery for much more severe children and what I noticed is that many of the things we were dealing with were VERY similar to what happens to autistic children, just on a much less severe level. So are we preventing him from being diagnosed as having Asperger's Syndrome? I don't know, but my gut tells me that, if we let him just continue the way he was going, by the time he got into grade school, there would be some sort of diagnosis like ADHD and/or Asperger's. I believe in my heart of hearts that we are preventing that! And just for the record, ADHD/ADD is in the autism spectrum...meaning they all share in the same neuro-disconnects! The autism spectrum varies considerably.

So what is SPD? And not in medical technical terms? It is not in and of itself an ASD, but it certainly is shared with those who are on the AS. What does that mean though? As far as I am concerned, it's not about the label, it is about WHAT is going on in their little bodies! SPD is a disconnect between the sensory nerves and the brain. So for example, for the average person, a warm food is tolerable, but to someone who is sensory deffensive, that warm food might be HOT and truly feels that way to them. Their brains do not properly organize and read the senses. Most people have some sensory issues, but not to the degree that they effect your everyday life. In the end, what it all comes down to is do these issues consume you or your child? Do they effect your way of living? A child who is bombarded by everything that makes them either sensory "defensive" (feeling a lot of pain all day) or they are sensory "seekers" (needing to bounce, jump and crash), they feel completely disorganized and tend to lash out emotionally. I know that when I have a canker sore, a little tiny painful annoyance that is underlying everything I do all day, I have constant irritation and I become moody in my response to things, it exhausts me. Imagine how these kids feel? They don't feel right either, they are irritated by the world around them and then their parents and teachers are telling them they aren't acting appropriately and they aren't feeling what they feel...."That isn't hot, it's warm!!" Well to them, it's hot and they aren't being justified or understood. Nor are they being taught how to compensate for what they are feeling. Could you see, if your husband constantly told you how you should feel? Or maybe he does and you understand their frustrations?!?! ha ha ha

Since SPD is neurological, I decided to research further into what causes it and found that all of my search results brought up "autism", probably because the more severe cases do involve autistic kids and interestinly, our son shared a lot of similar traits; although he wouldn't be categorized with autistic children, because he is highly social and can read body language. But keep in mind that there are a LOT of layers and overlap there. Just because he is social doesn't preclude him from sharing many traits with an autistic child. It's just not that black and white. The "diagnosis" doesn't need to be there for there to be similarities. When he was younger, I noticed hand flapping and rocking a LOT! While those traits lessened or went away, they were replaced with others, like inscesant lining up of toys, but don't all kids do that?! The constant nagging feeling in me that something wasn't quite right needed to be dealt with and I must say, I wish I addressed it earlier. I let everyone (including doctors AND my own husband) tell me that our son was perfect, that I was over analyzing. Look where we are today....need I say more?

Holy infraction batman!

iJust the other day Dave picked up a baby puff that inadvertently made it's way from baby fingers to the floor and he said that we need to be careful about Grayson getting a hold of one. I thought nothing of it until the next day when Grayson came into the family room and told us he found a puff....and where was it? Yes, you guessed it, in his belly!! Uh oh...oh well, not much we can do now. I gave him a few No Phenols, and upped the enzyme action for the next few meals, to no avail. Let me tell you the havoc that darn little itty-bitty fluff of a puff caused!! Yesterday was like sensory hell. He was on overload, everything bothered him especially his pants and his shirt - he shrugs constantly, pulls on sleeves, stretches his arms, because he can "feel" his clothes, ummm, don't we all feel our clothes?? Yes, but he FEELS them and hates it, on his bad days!! He was an emotional basket-case, crying even when he had to talk to me about anything that wasn't going his way, which was ohhhhh, just about everything!! His attention span was minuscule, he pulled out every possible toy he owns as he was trying to tame the boredom monster within, he was making messes faster than I could conjure them in my wildest dreams, meanwhile I have a 6 month old going through severe separation anxiety who won't let me put him down, that makes for a whirlwind of mess around me! After a nutty and severely emotional dining experience, he actually managed to earn a tv pass which allowed him to watch a show before bed. Can I tell you how much I LOVED these few moments of peace?!! It would be SO easy to just turn on the tv and let him veg, but we all know that would be the easy way out and not so helpful in the long run. Yes, you can call me a glutton for punishment, I never take the easy road. So back to the infraction. you would think he could sleep off something like that - WRONG! Yesterday he was Dr. Jekyl and today, you guessed it, Mr. Hyde! I had a slew of new "symptoms" to cope with today. He was lethargic, slurring and speaking slowly and drawn out, spaced out at times, tracing everything within arms reach with his fingers, literally tripping over his own feet left and right, he said he didn't feel well, his tummy hurt and what really got to me the most was that he was enjoying Gavin's misfortunes. If he bumped his little head with a toy or fell back from sitting, Grayson would laugh hysterically. Grayson has NEVER been anything but encouraging and caring towards his baby brother. My frustration levels were skyrocketing. But oddly, every time I looked Grayson in the eyes, he would grin widely and say, "Are you happy mommy?" How could I not be with that goofy little boy looking back at me. I am reminded of how much he needs us, how far he has come in this struggle, because we seek answers and because we don't take no for an answer. We go against the grain for him. I love this little boy with more heart than I even have, even on his worst days. So I am utterly exhausted today, but tomorrow is another day and I can't wait to wake to their little faces...

The hair says it all

The holidays are over, we had a sick-fest in our house through the holidays!! Everyone is getting better and we are now moving on to a happy and healthy 2009! The boys are both doing great and we are coming along in our adventures with Grayson's health!

We've decided to test his hair for toxic metals, it will tell us what the elements in his hair are and that will indicate, if there were any heavy metals responsible for malabsorption of certain elements. We are reading a great book called Children with Starving Brains, what an eye-opener! I am learning that the cause for many of these issues (food allergies, SPD, lack of enzyme production, ADHD, ASD, yeast overgrowth) is often undetected heavy metals in the system. If a person cannot metabolize them, they just build up with each offender (a mother's silver fillings - of which I have SEVEN, EMF from power lines - we used to live UNDER them, vaccinations - which he reacted to at 12 months old, the list is unfortunately endless). Mercury is one of the worst metals to introduce to a child who cannot metabolize metals, it is one of the most toxic metals in the universe! It passes through the blood-brain barrier and causes neurotoxic responses. Mercury in the brain just stays there!! It remains in other tissues as well, such as the organs. So when you think you are repairing the problem by removing allergen foods, offering supplements, detoxing the liver, treating yeast...well, if mercury is the cause, you are just pedaling in reverse. You are swimming against the current! You will never get to the cause of the problems without removing the heavy metals. So while we don't KNOW that this is our problem, it's certainly worth investigating, so today we are sending in a good sized portion of the hair from the nape of his head to a lab for testing. If he does in fact show signs of heavy metals, we will need to begin the process of detoxing (AKA - chelation) his body of the metals. This is a process that can take years, but will ultimately reverse the effects of excess metals in the system.

In the meantime, nursing a baby when a mother has excessive silver fillings exposes the infant to mercury as well, so I have recently learned that taking an additional 100mcg of selenium daily will provide the mercury with a place to bind. They are opposing ions so mercury is attracted to selenium. By giving the mercury a place to bind, it loses the ability to attach to the tissues in the body. Here's to hoping...

Shake the sickies out

Tis' the season for the sickies. Grayson was always that kid who never got sick, that is, until he started preschool, ha ha ha. I was warned that when they start school for the first time, everything that goes around, comes home! He has been sick three times since the start of the school year, so we are averaging about one illness per month. Anytime we are dealing with a virus, we end up with regression in his SPD symptoms in a bad way! Viral die-off causes an overgrowth in yeast, and this makes him much more sensitive to his sensory aversions and his need for input becomes greater. So a typical day for us includes a lot of swatting at his head, ears and face, increase in bumping, crashing and touching, clothing bothers him, blankets are never on right, the coat is on wrong, shoes are too tight, the sun is too bright, pajamas bother the armpits, the fork doesn't work, the chair is pushed in unevenly, get the picture? When there is viral die-off and an increase in yeast, the two best natural remedies are grapefruit seed extract (GSE) and olive leaf extract (OLE), however, he is slightly sensitive to both, so we must administer each of them along with a No Phenol to reduce a possible reaction.

Oh, and just for the record, viruses are not living things, they are particles made of proteins and DNA so technically, they don't really "die-off", this term refers to what is happening when you are trying to get rid of a virus. Here again, enzymes come to the rescue (they are powerhouses). A virus is surrounded by a protective protein which is digested by our friend the protease enzyme! Once that coating is stripped away, the virus is unprotected and vulnerable to antivirals (OLE to the rescue)!

Grayson's latest virus is croup, which amazingly is an influenza virus (diphtherial) and can actually be caused by coming in contact with someone who has just had the measles or flu vaccination! Ironically, the Hib vaccine is supposed to protect against this very virus, which he has had. Vaccinations do not make our kids bulletproof.

Sorry to cut this short, but I am needed to help unveil our HUGE Christmas tree, let the festivities begin....

Reality check

You are what you eat....This statement could never be more true in our house! I have always been into eating healthy and living healthy, but having a son newly diagnosed with several food allergies adds new meaning to that theory!!

Our adventure began with a diagnosis of SPD (sensory processing disorder). His sensory seeking behaviors, tantrums and low self esteem was becoming increasingly more disturbing and when the behaviors began to effect life around our household, we knew we needed professional help. So in addition to seeking help for the SPD, we saw a wonderful holistic doctor who pointed us in the right direction. I also read a TON of great books addressing behavioral issues, SPD and even diet. I knew that there was a possibility that something he was eating could be effecting him so with the combination of therapy and diet intervention, I thought we could figure things out. And boy, I couldn't be more right!!

Fast forward to the current status of our household....a three year old who is always sweet to his baby brother, who has impeccable manners, is empathetic, smart beyond his years, glows with happiness and pride!

So what did we do differently you ask? We REMOVED allergenic foods that came up on an IgG blood test. Is it easy, heck no!! But it turns our child into the person he used to be, and I will do anything to keep him happy and healthy including baking, re-baking and baking again when the recipes turn out awful!! So if you thought meals in your house were challenging, try working without wheat, milk, eggs, rice, potatoes, kidney and pinto beans, coconut, cheese, asparagus, all citrus, pumpkin, olive (yes that includes the oil), canola oil, sesame....ugh!! There is at least one of these ingredients in just about everything! Not to mention the HIDDEN ingredients associated with wheat and milk. I have become a scientist, a chemist, a doctor and oddly enough, a chef! I HATE baking!! Luckily he can eat corn, because it seems like everything he DOES eat is from corn, corn chips, corn pasta, corn cereal, corn corn corn. Another great replacement for us has been a grain called quinoa (pronounced KEEN wah), which is actually not really a grain at all, it's the seed of a fruit and contains major amounts of protein. We use it in place of rice, it's so versatile and tasty, not to mention, great for you! Luckily for Grayson, one thing I have going for me is creativity. So while our ingredients are limited, our diet hasn't been quite so boring. I mix it up a bit and amazingly, since we started this diet, Grayson's cravings (a sign of food allergies) have disappeared and he eats everything!! He wouldn't touch meat with a ten foot pole, now he eats steak, turkey, chicken, pork, fish of all kinds, shellfish, he's eating veggies without a fight, imagine that? A three year old eating veggies and saying he likes them? I make creative pestos for him, he loves garlic which is great for him and adds some umph to his foods, he is very interested in spices and cooking with me, so while this has been a challenge, we are up to it and we are learning and growing from it, and with it!