Adjusting

After learning about the 25 food allergies, I had a million different reactions.  The first was confusion.  I could not even comprehend what had just taken place.  I was in a daze.  Next, was anger.  What a quack!  He just wants to sell allergy shots!  He probably didn't read the test right!  B has sensitive skin, of course his skin reacts. My child will be malnourished without these foods!  And finally, resignation.  Well, let's start with dairy and see if it has any effects...it did.

B gave milk up a lot easier than we'd thought he would.  He quickly learned to like soy milk and I even found I could make a really tasty tofu lasagna.  B's tics decreased dramatically.  Next, was wheat.  This was a little harder. Everything has wheat.  We took B to get a full blood panel and had to wait 6 weeks to get the results.  I just knew the blood panel would say B had less allergens than the skin test.  I couldn't wait to get the results!  Then, the appointment we were waiting for had finally arrived.

I stared blankly at the page in the Dr.'s office.  43 allergens.  43 allergens.  43 allergens.  This would not leave my brain.  How could I have been poisoning my boy with every single food I'd been feeding him?  He would cry at the dinner table because he felt bad and I would always say, 'one more bite' or 'eat your peas before you can play'...and it was poisoning him.

This is B's (incomplete) allergy list:  apple, barley, beef!, bran, cashew, cheese, coconut, codfish, crab, gluten(bummer), Honey (okay not an allergen, but not recommended), lamb, lobster, malt, milk, mushroom, mustard, oats, green olives, oranges, peas (favorite), peanuts, pork, rice, rye, safflower, salmon, sesame, shrimp, sole, soy (yep, no more soy milk either), sugar (again not an allergy, but bad for yeast overgrowth), swordfish, tuna, walnut, watermelon (his favorite),wheat, yeast, yogurt.

We got a handy little book that had B's diet all written out for us.  B was put on a rotation diet.  This means the food he eats on one day can not be eaten again for four days along with every food in that food family.

This is what Day 2 of the book looks like:
 Protein: Crayfish   Haddock
Grain: Buckwheat, Tapioca, Hemp
Vegetables: Asparagus, onion, seaweed, pumpkin, cassava, shallot, cucumber, rhubarb, squash, leeks, scallion, zucchini
Fruits: Avocado, mango, pineapple, cantaloupe, melon, pomegranate, caba melon, date, persimmon
Nuts: pine, pistachio, poppy
Spices: bay leaf, cardamom, chives, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, saffron
oils: canola, olive
beverages: cinnamon tea, hemp milk, pineapple juice

Overwhelmed.  I was beyond overwhelmed.  I dreamed of food all that night.  I didn't even know what to give B for breakfast.  I didn't know how I could even fit those foods together to make a meal.  One evening that week, Erik came home from work and I went into our bedroom and I melted down.  I shut the door to our room and didn't come out until the next morning.  God was at work even then.  I'd been having trouble sleeping and was just about to doze off when I bolted upright wide awake with this one almost audible message, "It's just food."  It's so silly that this would bring me so much comfort, but my whole outlook began to change.  The next morning, God gave me this verse:

 "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous hand. ~ Isaiah 41:10"

God's Hand

It till amazes me to see how God has intervened in our lives.  I know He's always been there, but to be able to go back and pinpoint His work in this is....well I don't even have words.  I am humbled that he would even reveal His miracles to us.

A while back, before our daughter was born, Erik had run across an article detailing the biological responses of the human body when receiving vaccines.  I realize this is controversial, but bear with me.  I don't feel like delving into that topic at the moment.  I only bring this up because without this article, we never would have found the proper treatment for B.

This article caught Erik's attention.  He became very interested in vaccine safety, vaccine side effects, and eventually studying Autism itself.  Through his research, we learned about DAN! doctors.  (Defeat Autism Now)  DAN! doctors use biomedical treatments to treat the root cause of symptoms.

Honestly, I didn't know what direction to take with B's tic disorder.  In conventional medicine, it is common practice to send children to a neurologist, observe symptoms for a year to diagnose Tourette's Syndrome, then either medicate or wait to see if the tics subside.  Erik decided we needed to see a DAN! doctor.  Thank you God for this!

Our first meeting with Dr. Baptist was interesting to say the least.  Honestly, I had no idea what to expect.  I just thought we'd go in, he'd say, "here are some supplements" and send us on our merry way.  Ha!  I should have been more prepared.  He decided to allergy test right then and there.  B tested positive for 25 foods.  Milk being the most tragic for little guy.  He loves milk!  (I would find out later that people with food allergies often become addicted to the foods they are allergic to.  The offending foods create a 'high.' So, when B said 'I need milk cup!' He really 'needed' milk cup.  The lush.)  Also, has many environmental allergies that we are now treating with allergy shots.

Had Erik not found that article, B would either still have major tics and be waiting for a diagnosis or be heavily medicated.  God is Good!

The Beginning of it All

 B has always had odd little quirks.  We just assumed he was a quirky kid, that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.  He doesn't like loud noises.  The vacuum would send him hiding in his room.  I must admit, the vacuum makes me want to hide, too.  Although for different reasons.  He freaks out when his hair is washed or he gets a hair cut.  He would often complain about the morning sun hurting his eyes.  He began to fear swinging on his swing set.  Finger paints would send him into a panic.  As a toddler, I could not put him down.  He had an attachment to me that was more than clingy.  It was desperation.  He would often throw extreme tantrums, not necessarily anger, but frustration.  There was no consoling him.  It's strange to look back at what seems so obvious and realize we were so oblivious.  Something was wrong.

In October of last year, B's grandma noticed he was blinking often and hard.  I blamed it on fatigue.  He had spent a fun filled week with one of his most favorite people in the world.  I ignored it.  Then, around Christmas time, he exhibited a few more peculiar tendencies.  He would chew his food, then refuse to swallow it.  He would do this with tears in his eyes like he really wanted to swallow, but couldn't.  Then he would cough/sniff, cough/sniff, cough/sniff repeatedly.  So much so, it interrupted his speech.  Then, the shoulder popping began.  Shoulders back, then forward, rib cage sliding over his pelvic bone.  The tic that concerned us most was the head rolling.  He would roll his head around so often his chin became red and chafed from rubbing on his chest.  We could ignore the symptoms no longer.  It was time to seek help.  What follows is all God's doing......

All About B

His smile can light up any room.  His giggle is contagious.  His imagination is bigger than life.  He loves his baby sister.  He looks up to his Daddy.  He can always be found close to his Mommy.  He has an ear for music.  When he grows up he wants to be an astronaut and a skeeber diber (scuba diver).  He adores footy jammies.  He sleeps with 3 stuffed animals: Hoo Hoo Ha Ha (his sock monkey), Blue Doggy, and Branson the bear.  He is brilliant, wonderful, amazing, a true gift from God.  And he has food allergies.  43 of them to be exact.

I will attempt to share our journey to create understanding, to keep family updated, and organize my own thoughts.