Medicine Zone

Thursday morning, my nine year old son, came crying into my room frustrated that he could hardly get down from the top of his bunk.  He came to me all tuckered out and whined, "I just can't pick up the baby today.  I can't stand straight, my back has sharp pains up and down the center.  My shoulder is throbbing."  I was  concerned while listening to him rattle his symptoms off, that naturally he needed a hug - Thank God he had no shirt on!  There it was, the red EM rash, the size of a baseball.  It was a little surprising at first to see, because this was our first ever EM rash.  Then came the dozens of questions only a mother knows how to drill, "Did you fall and hit your back?  Did a ball hit you?  Did your brother hit you?"  and the questions went on.  Then I realized what I  was looking at, the mark of the Lyme beast; and I felt slightly greatful. Unfortunately, he had been suffering from  a list of symptoms since the end of May, right after I removed a normal wood tick embedded deep beneath the skin.  I was told wood ticks can not carry Lyme disease and not to worry.  After symptoms started showing I went in for the tests, but they were negative.  Without a known deer tick bite, EM rash, or positive test results his doctor would not prescribe an antibiotic.  I have no idea if he got bite again, or if this was some delayed rash, but I pray the 21 day antibiotic treatment will be enough.  It is all about how soon treatment can be started, and our doctors need to start using clinical diagnosis, to prevent the long term suffering for some people.  Check out this link, I had no idea the rash could appear around 32 days after exposure - Wow!

I am a firm believer in keeping lists, and well kept logs for each  child and their symptoms (I have a horrible memory).  I had a clear list of symptoms, dates, strange marks or known tick bites for my adventurous son.  As frustrating as it was, I believe we parents need to have this type of knowledge as proof, in order to help direct our doctors in properly seeking the correct diagnosis.  Perhaps these listed dates and symptoms played some roll in helping treat our son this time around, but I truly believe it was the EM rash which was the clincher.

The question was asked by a friend, 'What would you have done if the doctor wouldn't prescribe antibiotic?'  The plan would have been - Find a Doctor Who Will!   As mothers we seem to just know what is normal for our children and what is not. A good doctor should really listen carefully to our concerns.  It just isn't normal for a nine year old to have joints that ache, back pains, shoulder pains, unable to put on their socks, or not want to play their favorite sports.  When they just want to sleep, or lay around sad, then there is really something seriously wrong.  I believe there are other diseases out there as well, and this is the tough part about Lyme, but when in doubt what is the six dollar antibiotic going to hurt?  Yes, I realize we do not want to create the super bug, but diagnosis at the clinical stage is very important and we need to be on top of this disease. I pray our doctors can learn to take ownership of their educations and start learning to be doctors of medical science, to solve problems outside of the box, and have the confidence to treat our sick loved ones.  This is the war zone we are living in, our American medical system at its best. We should hope for a better medical future, where we have doctors who are not under the governments thumb and insurance companies stifling grip; that's a blog for my husband.

Bon Appétit!

Thanks to a friend, I was able to enjoy this 'Meatrix' video. If you haven't seen the movie Matrix, then the above link might not be as funny as I found it to be.

In December, I started researching the food we buy and where it comes from. I enjoyed watching the television series with Jamie Oliver, who has been trying to educate the American people about our horrible eating problems. Check out his Food Revolution! He seems to have encountered some horrible restraints, with absolute fear pressed upon him from our government run agencies. American's should be outraged to know, that in the land of the free, this man is not allowed to reveal the truth behind our nutrition.

Some other serious footage we saw on Netflix, showed how our food is grown, fed, and prepared for our consumption. If you want to be educated on corn, and how good corn really is for us, try this movie on for size - King Corn. If you are a meat eater, or know someone who is, then you should make sure to watch Food Inc., before you purchase your next meat products.

These were just a few of our basic steps in getting back to traditional, healthy, farm fed and home grown food.

Bon Appétit!!

Paleo vs. Traditional Cooking

The showdown started with my husband reading his new book about the Paleo diet on one couch, and me reading Nourishing Traditions across the room from him.  I had to laugh, each was sharing something exciting from their book, trying to win over the other person with a fantastic fact for our future.

In January this past year, I started researching how to help my family eat healthier.  As I have mentioned in other posts, we implemented many changes in our diet, and the biggest was cutting out sugar, and processed foods. The result, aside from the complaining children over what they no longer get to eat, will hopefully be a life altering approach to our favorite pass time - eating! Although, I really enjoy my Nourishing Traditions book, and the fantastic nutritional scientific analysis Sally Fallon provides in her book, I am forced to figure out what  I can continue cooking and what must go.

A question that keeps running through my mind is, Why not MILK? Eliminating milk in all it's forms is required with the Paleo diet, and I admit this bothers me. My family has been consuming raw, fermented, full- fat dairy since January, and loving every minute of it. I use the raw milk in different ways, one of which is for kefir.  I enjoy making smoothies as a probiotic drink with kefir, and for soaking our oatmeal (kefir is one way to help break down our grains - through fermentation).  The raw cream is fantastic!  I use it for cream soups (no more processed powder substitutes or canned milk products), homemade whip cream, drizzled over fresh fruit, or in a cup of coffee (no more artificially processed creamers).  Yes, the milk tastes delicious, and none of my kids have complained of any tummy pains. I believe this is where Loren Cordain, the author of The Paleo Diet, falls short.  I would really like to see research by Cordain or the Paleo scientists on raw, unpasteurized, non-homogenized, grass fed cow's milk. The facts and research he states in his book I agree with, no one should consume the highly processed milk from the store. The research is definitely out there, just start reading to find the many layers with which our government is involved in our food, it is stifling.

I feel a little better after Franklin sent this post to me today about dairy, and another with regards to the paleo diet.  I believe for now we will continue to drink milk, at least those not infected with Lyme in our family, but reduce the quantity of raw milk consumed each day.  As for cheese, I had already made the switch from shredded, colored, or highly processed cheeses, to the longer aged, milk based (raw grass fed - if possible) and to learn more about the farm or region that our cheese came from.  I have found some acceptable cheeses at Costco, costly , but the taste is amazing. No longer does my family oink down cheese like we used to.  We are limited to one slice when served for a meal (because of cost), and this has been fine considering the quality of the cheese is notably better.  Research that I had found, stated  that the longer the cheese aged the less lactose it has, the less lactose in cheese the less carbohydrates present; result less sugar and that is great.

Even though I am clinging to our dairy, my husband will be dairy free, and Zachary, well he is trying very hard to figure out all these new changes.  Like my younger son exclaimed, "I am on the Paleontologist diet, like dad!" as he joyfully refused his glass of milk today. With laughter in our hearts we remember we are on this journey together, and God will help us.

Bugs, Bugs and More Bugs!

Currently, I am struggling with reminding myself not every pain, ache or fever my children come home with is a result of the haunting bacteria, Lyme disease.  This past week of runny burning eyes, aches in our bodies and joints, headaches, fatigue (like mono), and fevers which plagued our family, reminded me that we can actually get sick from other bugs!  Last night, as my husband and I cooled our 104.4 fever ridden daughter, I worried about the infection known as anaplasmosis, which she could have gotten from a deer tick.  Of course, I knew nothing about this disease except what the local news put up about it this past month, and so I worried. Especially, because our little one's fever was so sudden and eventually a rash started over her arms and chest.  Reassuring our daughter she was not going to 'die' as she kept asking, we all calmed down.

Looking back over the years, I can say it is definitely scary to see my active child go into such a lethargic, withdrawn state and see them suffer so quickly from something invisible to the eye, doctors, and even those unreliable tests. Non, of my infected children ever had the EM rash, but all of them presented with a few or all of the following known acute Lyme disease symptoms, such as; headaches, mild aches and pains, low grade fever (rarely over 101 degrees F), and mild flu-like symptoms.  As you can see, that sounds like every flu our children have ever had!  Well, I still keep a notebook close at hand and make sure to note strange flu's that are out of season, and any other possible symptoms - just in case. Tonight, we enjoyed grilling on Nana and Pop's deck, being bit by mosquitoes, watching the bugs crawl over the deck, feeling the warm air hold us, and walking back home through the woods. This is living.

Under His Eye

Our first prayer request to find a doctor for Franklin and Zachary has been answered!  On Friday May 27th, I shot out an email  to a Lyme aware doctor in the twin cities, and received an immediate reply from him, "Yes, make them an appointment!"  Thank you Pope JPII the Great!

So why do I believe Pope JPII is praying with us for the doctor and the cure? First, I had an intolerably difficult week of calling numerous doctors. Continuously, I was turned away with, "We are not accepting any new Lyme patients." This I am certain, was my cross to bear for the week.  Then after some crying, and praying,  I received the name of Dr. F (he is trying to "stay out of the radar") from our chiropractor.  Tired of calling doctors, I decided this would be my last attempt for the day.  I researched Dr. F's clinic, and to my surprise, I had found that he was connected to a particular homeopath I had been trying to contact for a few day's without any luck. Then the email!  Three minutes after sending him an email, requesting treatment, I  received Dr. F's immediate response to treat my spouse and son. Overjoyed with this hope, my family was able to enjoy most of our long weekend.  Then there was the cancellation of an appointment at Dr. F's office, which lead to Franklin being seen several months earlier, and for my sick husband this was a big deal. Zachary, however, will have the next available appointment which is in August, but I am praying for a cancellation to bump him up as well.  After praying that God would open doors he wished opened, and tightly close those He knew needed closing, we began waiting for the appointment.  God is Great!

Franklin, has since been to his "Surprising!" visit with Dr.F, who he seemed to mesh well with.  His doctor wrote out the plan for his recovery, and started him on a second antibiotic.  We were strongly pulling for this kind of treatment, and hoping to see further progress in healing.  Dr. F has asked Franklin to change his diet with the adherence to no processed foods, no dairy, and no grains - following the strict diet from, The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain PhD (80-85% adherence before his next appointment).  Franklin has also increased basic supplements that Dr. F advised for the general area's of vitamin and mineral nutrition, fatty acids, gut ecology, vitamin D levels, and healthy immune function. We're mindful of how important it is to have faith in these times of trials, and to keep our eye's on him.