Our Little Warrior...

We have had great success with many different alternative therapies in our family, as you may know.  Dr. Kang is our acupuncturist and is extremely talented and very wise.  She taught me a technique to eliminate allergies in the kids - and I was able to successfully eliminate Brian's peanut allergy (you can read about that HERE), wheat and egg allergies.  The day that Gavin's febrile seizure stopped his heart, we had just been in her office to start working on his seasonal allergies.  I know I would have been able to eliminate them.  It would have helped him so much - especially in the Springtime.

I keep a very close eye on Brian.  Since Gavin's death, the two of us have been virtually inseparable.  We talk and he shares how he feels about Gavin's death here and there... I read children's books to him about grief or death and that gets him to open up sometimes... but children don't often have the ability to voice what's going on inside of them.  Not because we don't give them the words - but because it's just too much to even wrap their little minds around.  So it often will come out in other ways... physically and/or behaviorally.  

This is the main reason why I bring Brian to weekly visits with Dr. Trish - and for visits with Dr. Kang.  Dr. Trish works with Brian's energy and is able to remove blockages that are keeping him "stuck."  She intuitively knows what is going on in his body and emotions.  I feel like she gives me a window into Brian's little world and, for that, I am so grateful.

Lately I've noticed a change in Brian's typical behavior.  He's a pretty mellow kid, but for the last few weeks he's been a little wilder, edgier and moody.  At first I thought he was bored and missing the structure of school.  Then I thought it was his diet so I cleaned it up and dialed down the desserts after dinner.  He has been seeing Dr. Kang for his skin issues which she told me are the result of an immune deficiency.  I wrote about that HERE.  She has been working on strengthening his immune system - and taught me how to do that at home, which I have been doing every day.  His skin issue is resolving!!  She recently introduced acupuncture to her treatments (up until now it was just massage and acupressure).  He got an acupuncture treatment last week and today and was so brave.  Seriously - this kid is a little warrior.  

He got ten acupuncture needles and barely flinched.

After the needles are inserted, he stays on the table for twenty minutes and just relaxes and plays on his iPad.  (I don't expect him to lay there and stare at me and Hope for twenty minutes!)

Today she also did some muscle testing.  She confirmed that Brian's body is in balance with wheat, dairy and eggs.  Then she decided to test him for sugar. She gave me a little vial that represented the energy of sugar and I held it in my left hand while she tried to push down my right arm - I kept my strength.  Then she had Brian hold the vial - hold my hand - and I had ZERO strength.  (You can't fake this stuff!  It's fascinating)

This doesn't mean that Brian is "allergic" to sugar.  And it doesn't mean that I have been feeding him "too much" sugar.  His diet hasn't included extra sugar at all.  It just means that, for some reason, his body is reacting to sugar differently - and it's probably the root cause of his new behaviors.  So today she had him hold the vial representing sugar during the acupuncture treatment - and his massage treatment.  And she instructed me to fill my trusty glass jar with sugar, put it in his waistband as he lays on his belly and massage down both sides of his spine every day for twenty minutes.  This is exactly how I eliminated his nut allergy.

What will this do?  Well, it will get his body back in balance.  It will help his body not react strongly to sugar.  And, most importantly, it will hopefully give me my old Brian back!  (Don't misunderstand - he's still very well behaved, in my opinion.  He's just been more... shall we say... "spirited?")  Dr. Kang suggested that all kids should get this treatment for sugar.  It helps with behavior issues.  (And it can't hurt!)

Today Brian told me he wanted me to videotape him giving me a message.  I said, "Great!  But can I make it an interview?"  He agreed - but started it with his message to me before I could even ask a question!  This little guy is such a sweetheart...

In other news... Miss Hope is getting more mobile!  I recently put another blanket down for her to crawl on.  It's another sentimental one - like the photo blanket she plays on.  The patchwork quilt you see her on was what Gavin laid on in his hospital bed.  The quilt was underneath him - and he had three other different blankets that were on top of him that Brian has slept with every night since.  I love that both of them have these special "Gavin blankets" to enjoy.

She is often mesmerized by the pictures and colors. 

 I have a video of her "scooting," but first I want to show you in photos.  She was desperate to get my camera once she turned her head.  Watch... 

She eventually gave up and went back to studying her squares.  

But here's the video of her latest attempts to crawl on all fours!  (Forgive my poor videography skills)

Brian's Medical Mystery...

Last week, after Brian's graduation from preschool, we went to one of his friend's house for a playdate!  There were a bunch of his classmates there and they were all having a great time playing while the Moms were hanging out enjoying actual conversation.  Like real grown up talking.  A novelty when you have young kids.  But, I digress.  At one point during the party I noticed Brian's cheeks were very red - my gut told me something was up, but I blew it off and told myself that he must be hot.

We got home and headed to the shower.  When I took off his clothes, I was shocked.  He was red and scaly everywhere!  His entire body.  And his skin felt like leather.  Totally bizarre.  I gave him the shower and slathered him with coconut oil, my moisturizer of choice, and decided this must be some type of allergic reaction.  Thankfully, he wasn't itchy or showing any worrisome symptoms.

Two days later, there was little to no improvement.  Actually, it was looking like it was turning into something else in addition to the rash.  He looked like he had goosebumps everywhere.  So off to the pediatrician we went.  He said we were dealing with two things - a contact allergy and Keratosis Pilaris. 

I racked my brain about the contact allergy.  Our friends have a dog - but Brian had never tested positive for a dog allergy.  I questioned him about what types of things his group of friends were playing that day - and I immediately thought I had an answer.  He said that they were using his friend's comforter to hide under and use like a "fort" - basically, he was rolling around on the fabric.  (My apologies to my friend!!)  I called her to ask if I could steal a sample of her laundry detergent.  I was convinced that was part of the problem.

Since Gavin, we have only ever used Dreft.  And we never have any scented products in the house.  Gavin had eczema (and Brian has patches of it, too) - and kids who have eczema can be prone to asthma.  Scented products can exacerbate both.  Gavin also had contact dermatitis.  So if you were to hold him against your shirt that you washed in Tide or All or any other detergent that was strong and scented - he would instantly break into a rash.  

I decided to make an appointment with Dr. Kang, our acupuncturist.  She is the doctor that taught me how to (successfully) eliminate Brian's peanut allergy - I knew she'd be able to help me get to the bottom of this.  If you are new here - you should know that I rarely believe anything is forever.  If it says a condition takes years to resolve - or will never go away - or that you'll need toxic medication or cremes - I just don't believe it.  I suppose that mentality comes from mothering Gavin.  I refused to believe things like "he'll never" or "he won't be able to" or "he'll probably not" for any milestone.  I always believed that Gavin would do everything.  I didn't know when - but holding onto that hope kept me positive and motivated to help him.  Along the journey, I met incredible complementary healers like Dr. Kang (Acupuncture) ... and Dr. Trish (Energy Healer) ... and Dr. Thompson (Nutrition).  When Gavin was a baby and was getting physical therapy I had a bit of a breakthrough.  I thought the therapist and the therapy was great and necessary - but I wanted to get to the root of why he needed therapy to begin with.  And I knew it started in his brain.  I had to figure out how to heal his brain. That is what led me to google which led me to research which led me to Dr. Thompson.  Over the years, she helped me slowly heal Gavin's brain (and many of his skin conditions!) through nutrition.

While waiting for Brian's appointment with Dr. Kang, I wrote to Dr. Thompson asking her for her thoughts.  She knew that this was an "inside job" too - and said that often things like this erupt when there deficiencies of Vitamin D and A.  She told me to give Cod Liver Oil to Brian - it has both D and A.  And she told me to add healthy fats to his diet.  I'm doing both - and I also added Nordic GLA to the regimen (Borage oil).  Brian is just like his brother - tough as nails.  He doesn't like the cod liver oil that much (does anyone?) but he takes it because he knows it's good for him - and it will help him.  Dr. Thompson also told me to stick with the Coconut Oil on his skin.  Sometimes I switch back and forth to Aquaphor, but she said that Aquaphor is not good for kids with Keratosis Pilaris.  Since it is "petroleum based" it can actually clog the pores and contribute to the "keratosis."

Yesterday was our standing appointment with Dr. Trish.  She treats Brian AND Hope every Wednesday afternoon.  She has been instrumental in helping Brian navigate through his grief.  Hope is a peaceful, happy baby who breastfeeds well, is rarely fussy and sleeps beautifully.  I am sure that Dr. Trish's treatments have much to do with that.  So at our appointment I told her what we were dealing with and we discussed that it really is no coincidence that Brian has been having a more difficult time with his grief recently.  (Not anything drastic or dramatic - just talking about Gavin and feeling sad more than usual)  What's going on inside your body - and with your emotions - can manifest itself physically.  

I hope you're as fascinated by this stuff as I am.  Either that or you're bored out of your mind.  I feel very grateful that I have these wonderful doctors and women to learn from.

So today was our appointment with Dr. Kang.  One of the  techniques she uses is called "muscle testing" - completely non-invasive and the results are impossible to deny.  Here's how it went down today:

I got on the table - on my back - and put my right arm straight up in the air.  She tried to push it down... but I was strong enough to keep it in the air.  Next she had me hold a sheet of my friend's fabric softener.  I kept my strength. This meant that my body was in balance - and not reacting to the fabric softener. Then I acted as a surrogate so she could test Brian through me.  He held the fabric softener and then held my left hand while Dr. Kang tried to push down my right arm.  I kept my strength.  So we knew it wasn't the fabric sheet.  Next was the laundry detergent.  She tested me first - I kept my strength.  Then Brian held the dish with the soap in one hand while he held my left hand with his other hand.  Dr. Kang pushed my arm down and I had ZERO strength.  Bingo.  Just as I suspected.  He was sensitive to the detergent.

Dr. Kang suspected that the underlying cause of all of this was an immune deficiency, so she tested him for that next.  She gave me a little vial that represented the energy of immune deficiency and I held it in my left hand while she tried to push down my right arm - I kept my strength.  Then she had Brian hold the vial - hold my hand - and, once again, I had ZERO strength.

Lots of things can cause an immune deficiency.  And an immune deficiency can trigger an allergic response.  It can be caused by food, chemicals, environmental and/ or emotional allergies.  It appears for Brian that it was a combination of emotions and chemicals.

To treat Brian, she had him lay face down on the table - holding the vial representing "immune deficiency" in his hand.  She massaged using a tapping "percussion like" technique up and down both sides of his spine and down his legs.  He LOVES this and is so cooperative.  Even taking big, dramatic deep breaths when instructed.  It's adorable.

Next, she respectfully asked him if he would prefer acupuncture (with needles) or acupressure.  He chose acupressure.

He had gone to this appointment willingly knowing that he might get acupuncture and he was okay with that.  I wanted to completely respect his boundaries around going to Dr. Kang.  Her office was the last place that we were the day that Gavin had his "incident."  We were there to discuss how I could begin to eliminate Gavin's seasonal allergies - and Brian was getting his first acupuncture treatment.  Gavin started to act funny and I cut the appointment short to take him across the street to the doctor... but when it turned out that they were at lunch I made the split second decision to take him to the emergency room.  We all know what happened after that.  *sigh*  So, if Brian didn't want to go today - I would have 100% respected that.  He likes Dr. Kang a lot - and he was fine about going.  

He turned over on his back for the acupressure - still holding the vial representing "immune deficiency" - 

and he laughed his way through the treatment.

After she was through - she re-tested him through me.  I went from having (less than) ZERO strength in my arm to complete and total strength.  She wasn't able to push my arm down at all.  Brian's body was back in balance and his immune system was no longer deficient.  Incredible.  Even Hope was impressed.  I know it doesn't look like it - but she was.  *wink*  

After that, Brian had to lay on the table holding the vial for twenty minutes.  He was so cooperative.  We talked and told stories to pass the time.

Dr. Kang came back in and told me to use the juice of freshly cut Ginger on his skin - twice a day for three days.  I am also to place the laundry detergent my friend gave me (the one Brian reacted to) in a sealed glass jar - put it in the back waistband of his pants as he lays on his belly - and massage his back the way she did.  This is the exact technique I used to eliminate his nut allergy... which I did every single day for a little less than six months to slowly desensitize his body to that allergen.  Massaging down both sides of his spine while the detergent is near his skin (but not touching him) will desensitize him to it... while also boosting his immunity.  It will also mean that Brian shouldn't have any issues when he's around other people's detergents!  Happy day!

I know this probably all sounds wacko - but trust me, it has worked for us.  Dr. Kang is incredible - and we have learned so much from her.  

She was so happy to see Hope today!

I will keep you posted with his progress - but I fully expect this issue to completely resolve!  Once it does, I'll keep him on the Cod Liver Oil and GLA - and use the Coconut Oil on his skin - because all of that is good for him anyway.  Dr. Thompson also recommended that I get him a zinc based sunscreen - and to use clothes more than sunscreen.  "Sunscreen is just chemical clothing," she told me.  I never thought of it that way.

The last week has had me in "fixer" mode - which is how I spent most of Gavin's life.  I was back to researching and alternative healing and more.  I can't help but wonder if this little hurdle that was so abruptly thrown into our world was designed for me and Brian - as part of our healing journey.

Nothing is by chance...

We're Nuts About Brian!...

WE DID IT!!!

Today was Brian's allergy testing to see if the "allergy elimination technique" I've been doing with the help of our Acupuncturist, Dr. Kang, worked.  He was retested on his back for peanuts and tree nuts.  Nothing showed up.

Seriously - nothing showed up!!

To quote the allergist, "Wow.  This is a surprise!"

To say that I'm happy is the biggest understatement of the year.  I really needed this good news!!

Here was the timeline of events.  You can click on each date to read the posts from that day:

January 29th (of this year) he had his first incidence of hives after eating peanut butter.  He had had peanut butter before...and was getting a cold.  The pediatrician thought the hives were caused by the cold virus and not the peanut butter.

February 9th - his next experience with hives after eating peanut butter - the first peanut butter he had since January 29th due to my fear.  This time the hives were much worse and very itchy.

March 9th - the official "diagnosis" by the allergist (along with a compassionate hug and an epi pen)

March 22nd - we officially started treatments using NAET.  I put the nuts he was allergic to in a glass jar.  Every evening before dinner, Brian would lay down on his belly and I would put the jar up one of his pant legs so it touched his skin.  Then I'd perform the percussion massage down his spine - stimulating up and down the meridians.  I was very diligent Monday through Friday.

We would go back to Dr. Kang for her to check our progress using muscle testing (completely non invasive - you can read all about the technique in THIS POST.) until last week when she said she thought the peanut allergy had cleared.  I immediately made an appointment to get tested by the allergist  which brings us to today...

July 16th - GONE!

Four months from his diagnosis.  Six months from his first hives outbreak.  I can't wait to tell Dr. Kang.  The allergist told me that she'd like Brian to come back, just to be on the safe side, to do a "peanut challenge."  It's an all morning appointment where they'd slowly feed him peanut butter to make sure he doesn't react.  The "final test."  Although she shared with me that I could probably do it myself at home - she really doesn't expect anything to happen.

IMPORTANT:  Please - do NOT try ANY of this with your child on your own without consulting with a doctor.  This worked for Brian, but I don't know enough about nut allergies to know if it would work with your child.  Nut allergies are no joke - it's a very serious and scary allergy and could very easily be life threatening.  The statistics I found say that tree nut allergies are the second leading cause of fatal food anaphylaxis, with peanut allergies being the first!  I also read that only 9% of kids with a tree nut allergy will outgrow it by their sixth birthday.  

Gavin, Brian and I left the allergist office and headed right to the toy store to celebrate.  

Brian picked out a bongo, of course.  

Gavin got a cool magic magnet board that he used in therapy this morning with Miss Janna and loved.  We had to have it after that!!  

I'm not going to lie - I feel really proud.  I left the allergist feeling so empowered.  I so wanted this to work - and it did!!  Now I feel like I can handle this Lyme disease crap.  Just yesterday I was feeling rather defeated.  Today gave me the boost I needed.  And with this success, I'm motivated to move on to other allergens.  I'll be getting a new glass jar and filling it with Wheat Gluten flour.  The next jar? Eggs.  Followed by dog hair.  Can't hurt, right?

There's so much more I could share with you about our weekend and Gavin and therapy and Brian's speech - but I don't want to share this post with any other news.  Today is such a big day for Brian...and for me!! 

Allergy Update...

As you know, we deal with several allergies and sensitivities in our house.  Brian is allergic to nuts...and he's sensitive to gluten and wheat.  Gavin is also sensitive to gluten and he's allergic to eggs...and detergents...and, unfortunately, dogs.  We had a wonderful dog named Lucy that we had to gift to our friends when we were told about Gavin's allergy.  So today was a treat for Brian!  Miss Sara was dog sitting a sweet "Goldendoodle" named Daisy.  She brought her over at the end of the day so she could have a good run in our yard.

It was nice to see Brian interacting with Daisy.  It kinda sorta made me miss having a dog.

Until I remembered rainy days and muddy paws and hair everywhere.  But besides that...

This afternoon I took Brian to see our Acupuncturist, Dr. Kang.  She has been treating him, and I have been treating him at home, to hopefully eliminate his peanut allergy.  I wrote about it in THIS POST.  Each time he sees her, the allergy appears to be reduced.  Today, it seemed to be eliminated.  I will soon make an appointment with the allergist to have the skin testing repeated - that will be the true test.  I'm very anxious to see if it comes up negative for a nut allergy.  He is still sensitive to Gluten and Wheat, so I will begin the home treatments using Wheat Gluten Flour I bought at Wegman's.

Who knows?  Maybe I can one day say goodbye to Gavin's dog allergy...

...and hello to another cute dog like Daisy!

Dethroning Our Pineapple Prince...

This past Monday I mentioned in my post that Gavin had been breaking out in a rash.  We were kinda confused by it.  I thought about some of the new foods I had introduced.  There was the black eyed peas with onions and tomatoes....the mushrooms and onions in his veggie stew...the orange Champion greek yogurt...they were the only "new things."

Tonight, I took Gavin to see my Acupuncturist, Dr. Kang.  I told her about the new foods - and the other things he has been eating.  In the end, he showed a reaction to PINEAPPLE!  Our last batch of chickens that we pureed had fresh pineapple in there.  He has had it before - Pineapple Chicken - but neither of us remember him having a reaction.  But he sure reacted tonight!  So we promptly threw out our freezer stash of Pineapple Chicken and ran out to get more chicken to puree.  Gavin LOVES chicken.

I feel so grateful to be able to turn to alternative medicine like I do.  I might have waited weeks or a month or more to get him tested at an allergist - and it would have been the needle pricks.  This was SO much easier.

Speaking of Gavin and his eating...

Today he had Occupational Therapy with Miss Stephanie.  And yesterday he had feeding therapy with Miss Maggie.  Both therapists work with him on his feeding issues.  Maggie is more interested in what he does in his mouth - chewing, moving food around, closing his mouth, etc.  Stephanie is more interested in the practicality of eating - getting him to feed himself.  As for Gavin, he's more interested in whatever he's interested in.  As usual, his performance in therapy depends on his mood at that moment.

When he started with Stephanie today, his mood looked like this:

Translation:  Not interested in the Cinnamon Applesauce on that spoon.

She tried several times while I was singing and dancing in the background to keep him from swatting the spoon out of her hand.

But then we switched the food to Yams - one of Gavin's all time favorite foods. My idle threats, claiming that if I didn't get "Money Shots" for this blog that he'd be out of the will - they fell on deaf ears.  Put some Yams on a spoon?  Suddenly he's a regular performance artist.

 

Gavin knows what he likes.  I guess you gotta hand it to him for sticking up for himself.

Healing My Children...

Today was so, so busy. Here was the lineup:

Drop Brian off at school.

Come home and work on organizing sale items for an upcoming consignment sale.

Go back to pick Brian up from school.

Wave to Mr. Don, the bus driver that Brian HAS to say hi to every day...

Go from school right to Dr. Kang, the Acupuncturist's office for Brian's allergy treatment.

Head right home in time for Gavin's therapy with Miss Janna...

Get Brian set up for lunch so I can join the therapy...

Say goodbye to Miss Janna - and hello to Miss Maggie for Gavin's speech therapy...

Say goodbye to Miss Maggie and a hello to Miss Patti! Patti was Gavin's very first Physical Therapist when he was just an infant. She was with us for three years! She recently started working for the school district and was so excited when she was randomly assigned to evaluate "Gavin Leong" for Kindergarten!

As I'm sure you can imagine, she was quite impressed with his progress. When she left us, he was only crawling and had just started learning how to crawl up the stairs (which he didn't master for months afterward!).

Today was a no nap for anyone...running from one thing to another...realizing at 4pm that you hadn't eaten all day and that must be why you feel faint...and an early bedtime for two tired boys.

But it was a great day. I am very excited to start a new treatment program with Brian and our Acupuncturist. We are hoping that we can eliminate Brian's peanut allergy. I've been getting lots of private messages lately asking questions about Dr. Trish...and Dr. Kang. People asking if they really think that these type of doctors - these types of treatments - can really help Gavin and Brian. Especially Brian with something as serious as a nut allergy. My answer is - I really do think so.

If you've been around here for a while, you know I'm a big believer in alternative medicine, therapies and, well, thinking. When Gavin was toddler age, we did Craniosacral therapy once a week. We also had Brian treated several times to help him with some breastfeeding issues. When Rheumatoid Arthritis hit me severely after Brian was born - and for a while they thought I had Multiple Sclerosis - I found almost complete healing with Dr. Trish, an energy healer. And when she started treating Gavin once a week, we saw HUGE improvements with him after each session...in many areas. I give the boys Fish oil and Aloe Water. I put Baking Soda in their bath water. For a long time, I liquefied coconut oil and massaged it into their skin after baths. Most recently I started seeing an Acupuncturist for my fertility issues...and she then diagnosed the boys with their food allergies and sensitivities. And we famously did a family Shamanic ceremony which was quite amazing. I am a little bit...out there.

But I am a firm believer that these types of therapies and treatments and medicines work. Which is why I am turning to my Acupuncturist to help eliminate Brian's nut allergy. And once we do, we will work on the gluten issue for both boys. And when we're done that, we will deal with Gavin's other allergies - seasonal, dogs, detergent and eggs.

How?

The technique is called Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique - or NAET. I'm going to attempt to explain it to you here...

Muscle-response testing is the first part of the NAET treatment used by more than 400 practitioners in the United States to eliminate reactions that a surprising number of people have to common foods, as well as to chemicals, plants, animal dander and other substances.

During the muscle test, Dr. Kang asks the patient to raise his or her arm and hold it tight. She pushes against the uplifted arm, which normally remains strong. Then she gives the patient a vial containing a solution of the allergen, or in some cases, the actual allergen, to hold in the opposite hand and repeats the muscle testing procedure. This is a case of her vials that represent each allergen...

If the patient cannot resist the pressure, she knows an allergy is present. In our case, she tested Brian through me. First she tested me while I held the vial of "nuts" so she could see how I responded. She was not able to push my arm down. Then, she had Brian hold the vial and hold my hand. She tested my strength again and I couldn't resist the pressure - which told her that an allergy was present.

She then does a simple five-minute acupressure treatment along the spine while the patient continues to hold the vial. Brian laid on his belly with his face through the face holder and I read a book to him from below. The experience felt good to him- like a massage! Next, six acupuncture points are stimulated either with needles or acupressure, which works just as well. With children, she only uses acupressure.

Once that was done, Brian had to remain in the room as calm as he could for the next twenty minutes. During that time, the vial with the nuts was in his sock. We read books and talked and laughed. We laughed so much that we heard people laughing at us laughing from the other side of our door. 

Brian does have an infectious laugh.

When the twenty minutes was up, she came in and repeated the muscle testing. First on me - negative. Then she had Brian hold the vial again and hold my hand. This time, it was negative! I was able to resist the pressure whereas I wasn't able to before!! I can't say I truly understand it...but that's what happened.

The theory behind NAET is that allergies are the result of energy blockages in the body due to contact with opposing energy of other substances. When energy is freely flowing along the energy pathways, an allergic reaction is impossible. The goal, therefore, is to simply open the energy pathways through acupressure.

NAET works between 80 and 90 percent of the time, according to practitioners who use it – and the results are usually permanent. All patients start with an initial 10 treatments that clear groups of allergens. Sometimes, additional sessions are needed to eliminate specific allergies.

I've had a lot of people telling me in their private messages (the number of messages all of a sudden took me by surprise!) that they were nervous to comment here - or on my Facebook - for fear that they (or I!) will get attacked for this. I can understand that to a degree - people get nervous with unconventional things. And, as you know, I've been a target of haters lately so anything is possible. But I will tell you that most of me doesn't understand hesitation with things like this. With any of the treatments or medicines or therapies we've tried with Gavin and/or Brian - none of them were invasive. None of them put them in any harm whatsoever. My philosophy is - if it doesn't hurt them, we'll try it. And believe me - that philosophy has served us very well.

Dr. Kang left us with instructions between today and next Friday's appointment. I need to get a glass jar or vial and put nuts or smear peanut butter inside - and seal it shut. Then, with it tucked safely in Brian's sock, I am to do the back massages up and down the sides of his spine that she taught me. Every day. When we go back next Friday I will be so interested to see if he tests positive for a nut allergy again. I don't know how many treatments he'll need to eliminate the allergy...but we're committed to this journey! And we won't leave you behind. 


Stay tuned...

My Theory...

Valentine's Day continues this week! This morning Gavin gave Miss Stephanie, his Occupational Therapist, his superhero Valentine.

I think he hoped it would make up for his lackluster performance during their therapy session. He started off well with some self feeding for her...but then it all went downhill. He was more interested in staring out the window or flirting with Miss Stephanie. In his defense, she is rather beautiful. The boy has good taste.

Brian opened his Valentine from Miss Sara and her Mom when he got home from school! He was in a grouchy mood yesterday so we saved the present for today. Miss Sara gave him the sweetest Clifford DVD...and his Mom gave him a recordable teddy bear that sings songs with Brian's name!! So thoughtful.

Brian has been the "Star of the Week" at school all this week. Today his school friends gave him compliments as part of the celebration of Brian. They said things like they liked his laugh...his hair...his smile. These kids have good taste, too.

Thank you to everyone for bombarding me with emails and messages regarding Brian's food issues. I am trying to slowly get back to everyone. Just for the record, it was the Acupuncturist that told me about these sensitivities. I have an appointment with his allergist (the same one that tested him before and everything came up negative) - but not until the end of March. The only "extreme reaction" that Brian has had were those hives...and only those two times. He's had eggs and gluten and wheat and peanut butter before and nothing really has happened.

However! I do have a theory. I believe Dr. Kang, the Acupuncturist. You can't fake these tests that she does. And I immediately eliminated all of those foods from Brian's diet at home. He's completely gluten, wheat, egg and peanut butter free. I do believe in the body mind connection and will be very interested to see if this dramatic change in his diet leads to behavior changes. I even wonder if it will free up his mind and help him with his speech. I know it sounds crazy - but maybe these foods are clogging up his body in ways that we don't realize! I also realized, in hindsight, that his bowel movements tend to be on the soft side. And they're rather smelly. So, if anything, this will be a great experiment. I decided not to totally freak out until I see what the allergist says. On the bright side - out of sight, out of mind for Brian. With only new options in the pantry and the fridge, he eats whatever we give him. Thank God.

Tonight Ed is taking me and my Mom out on a date for Valentine's Day! I better run to get dressed. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow! Big thanks to Miss Sara for staying with the kids while we are out!