28 years

Today is my parents 28th anniversary. I hope you have the most wonderful day...I think this is the first one as empty nesters... Much love

Earth Day

Hopefully everyone is having a great earth day. Luckily for us, it is still nice during the mornings and early afternoons to have all the doors and windows open...but we will be out and about today soaking up some sun and playing in the dirt.


The last time Griffin was in the hospital some of my new planted friends did not get the attention they needed because we just weren't home, so unfortunately they became mulch, so today I thought it would be a great day to replace them...



Hope you all get a little dirty today...

Struggles

In beginning this journey of traveling down a different path to determine what is best for my son, I knew that there would be struggles and difficulty. While I am most certain that we have made the right decision in the form of natural medicine and seeking a further path and answers down that road, it is still a struggle. We still have two more weeks until we get the blood test back and the waiting is killing me because I don't know if there is something that I am giving him that is hurting him. For example, I made a loaf of banana bread the other night and kept out the egg yolk because we are positive his is allergic to just the yolk of eggs, but after eating it that night he started coughing and wheezing. This time I was able to correlate that to something he consumed and gave him benadryl and one breathing treatment and he was fine...no hospital.

The biggest struggle is his behavior in the last week. I know that his body is trying to assess what is going on and adapt to vitamins and supplements and learn how to cope without the medicine. I also think that the withdrawal of soy is playing a large part in this. I wouldn't say that he is horrible, but he is not listening, being mean to McKenna, throwing tantrums, whining, crying at everything...and so on. Our time out spot has seen more action this week than it ever has. This is definitely not him, but it is getting better everyday as his body continues to "relearn", and it has become safe to go out in public again...

We will get there and I have absolute certainty that the answers will come, I will just be relieved when they do...

A weight lifted

Finally, yes finally the direction we were waiting for. After this year long of trial and error, really, for finding what is best for Griffin, the answer and direction I was waiting for. After taking him to a naturopath doctor this week, I left there not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Tim was busy that night, so I called my mom on our way home and was talking a mile a minute. I asked my mom if she could tell that I was excited and she let me know that she could tell.

After going over his history for about 45 min. The doctors left (it is a teaching school, so they went to consult with their supervising doctor), they came back in and asked a few more questions and decided to have his blood tested to see if he had an allergy or intolerance to milk, soy, wheat, eggs and citrus. We knew of some of his allergies from testing that he had done last year but they explained how there are different allergy tests then what he had done last year at the allergist.

Finally, a different direction. Also, they put him on some immune boosting supplements and pro biotic to replace all the good bacteria that has been stripped from his body with all the medicine and antibiotics that he has consumed over the past year. However, this wasn't the best part of this experience, besides a direction for finding a real solution to this problem, they said that the blood test could come back and show he doesn't have a problem with food and then proceeded to explain their plan B and C. They did all this while talking with Griffin, talking to Griffin and asking him how he felt...this is the first time for that. Plus they asked me what has and hasn't worked for him. Relief...refreshing...hope for a solution not just a band aid to cover up the problem.




Plus more news, we went to his allergist as well and she was great when I told her we went to a naturopath and wanted to do some tests to compliment what they had tested for. Turns out Griffin is allergic to shrimp and egg yolks, who knew. He just developed the egg allergy over the last year because he had been test for that before.

So until we go back in 3 weeks to get the results of the blood test we are going to just keep growing, laughing, playing and try to stay out of the hospital.

A Step in the Right Direction

One thing that can be said about my little man is that as fast as his lungs seem to give up on him, that is as fast as he can make a recovery. He is back to "normal" and wants to be out doing everything, into everything, playing hard. The struggle is that I know what his little body has endured over the last several days, and his comprehension is not there yet...so I have to hold him back so he doesn't get himself in trouble again. Providing activities that allow him to play but "settled down"...lots of play dough, 2 hours walks in my most fabulous double stroller (he pretends he is a race car driver, hilarious), Tim and I even took him to the driving range (which has become one of his favorite activities!!)

We make our way to the naturopath doctor this afternoon, who specializes in pediatrics. I am very excited to go to this appointment...The more research that I have been doing on all the medicine that Griffin has taken over the last year and the possible affects that they can have, leave me with a pit in my stomach and a sense of disappointment in myself that I have put these things in his body. Some research is being done as we speak on medicine that he taking...for example, he takes singulair once a day...the research: to see if this drug is related to suicidal depression as have been reported by other patients taking this med. Not to say that Griffin experiences this, but he has had other reaction to meds that doctors told me he would not have.

One change that we have made is Griffin drinking soy milk. My dear sweet friend, Diana, called me all the way from Australia after reading my last post and we starting talking about naturopaths and other things and she told me of some alarming things in soy that I was not aware of. This will be one of my first questions to the naturopath...

I know that we don't have it that bad when it comes to Griffin. I know that there are parents out there dealing with much more. Especially after being at PCH twice in the last 2 months and seeing kids that have been there for 9 months, 10 months, since they were born and their parent have had to go on with their day to day lives and hope that the nursing staff is taking good care of their kids during the work hours. However, I am hoping today I will begin to receive answers that I have not been given and make changes that allow Griffin to move past this and truly be healthy.

And in terms of more steps in the right direction...Griffin has obviously been the focus here, but I can't forget about my other little love. She is taking steps two at a time and then falling on her little bum. I just can't believe she is so close to walking...beautiful...


Thank you so deeply for all your encouraging thoughts, calls and emails in this journey...

Another round...

"We have exhausted all our efforts here, the next step is have him transported to Phoenix Children's ICU, the ambulance will be here in about 20 minutes. Do you have any questions?"

Yeah, I have questions, a great deal of questions. This little beginning intro came from the ER doctor at the hospital next to our house to start the week. A little runny nose Monday turned into another fun hospital stay for us this week. This time was different, I thought that he would have to be admitted for one night, not transported from one hospital in an ambulance to another.

I feel at this point I am back to square one with this situation, we know all his allergies and avoid them...we are proactive in his diet, we eat as organic as possible and read every label that enters the house...we have tried several aspects of the doctors advice...and here we are. He has asthma, I get it...he has allergies, I get it. However, the way in which he gets into distress, the unbelievable rate in which this happens, the way in which his stomach expands and his rib cage seems to shrink, the fact that there are no warning signs before he is beginning to turn pale...these things leave me with this feeling that there is more to what is going on his body that has not been discovered yet. Answers that I am determined to find. I have plans to take him to a naturalpath doctor at a co-op clinic where his chiropractor is taking her practice to, she doesn't start to take patients until April 20, so I am going to see if I can move this up...the doctors at the hospital want to fill him up with meds and I don't' want that in his body...again this discussion took place, and again I was "wrong"...I am his mother, I know how he reacts, and these medicines that fill his body take him into a worse state for about 36 hours before there is even an ounce of recovery signs. I know when it is out of my hands, that is why we end up at the hospital, I believe that you do what works for you, and for Griffin, this path is not right for him. So I am going to be on a mission in the next few weeks and try and get answers for this precious little boy, answers that I don't believe we have. With those answers I am looking to find solutions that work for him in a healthy, safe, secure way...