Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Crowded House
My husband stayed home to look after the kids and hasn't fully rejoined the workforce (yet). Every day, he comes home from his part-time morning job and either asks if I have a job yet or tells me to get off the phone line because he's expecting a call about a full-time job.
My son has been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. He had the flu in the late fall and never really came back from that. He has been out of school for two years now and had to stop playing hockey. We saw four different doctors including two pediatric gastroenterologists and bought at least a dozen different medicines with no positive result. In fact, most of their recommendations made my son feel worse.
I finally broke down and made an appointment with a local naturopath. I had gotten her name from two different sources. When that happens, I usually take the hint. She had him tested for food sensitivities using an electrode rather than needles (seemed very new age to me). He is sensitive to almost everything-cow's milk, wheat flour, eggs, sugar and much more. We immediately cut coke and chocolate out of his diet. It was really hard finding substitutes at first, but we've managed: spelt for wheat flour, fructose for white sugar, sucanat for brown sugar, goat and soy milk for cow's milk. I still use eggs but only in things, not separately. I have to make a lot of his food from scratch. He's given up all junk food which is hard for a teenager.
After two courses of treatment using her remedies, she has brought his pain down to a manageable level. She had warned us it would be slow from the outset. He still has issues around control of his guts, but there does appear to be a light at the end of the tunnel now. He's on his third course of treatment. We are also working on getting him off the property taking short trips into the village nearby on errands. One of his buddies has gotten his G2 licence and they go out for short drives now. My son has never had an accident, but the fear is always there.
D.
My son has been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. He had the flu in the late fall and never really came back from that. He has been out of school for two years now and had to stop playing hockey. We saw four different doctors including two pediatric gastroenterologists and bought at least a dozen different medicines with no positive result. In fact, most of their recommendations made my son feel worse.
I finally broke down and made an appointment with a local naturopath. I had gotten her name from two different sources. When that happens, I usually take the hint. She had him tested for food sensitivities using an electrode rather than needles (seemed very new age to me). He is sensitive to almost everything-cow's milk, wheat flour, eggs, sugar and much more. We immediately cut coke and chocolate out of his diet. It was really hard finding substitutes at first, but we've managed: spelt for wheat flour, fructose for white sugar, sucanat for brown sugar, goat and soy milk for cow's milk. I still use eggs but only in things, not separately. I have to make a lot of his food from scratch. He's given up all junk food which is hard for a teenager.
After two courses of treatment using her remedies, she has brought his pain down to a manageable level. She had warned us it would be slow from the outset. He still has issues around control of his guts, but there does appear to be a light at the end of the tunnel now. He's on his third course of treatment. We are also working on getting him off the property taking short trips into the village nearby on errands. One of his buddies has gotten his G2 licence and they go out for short drives now. My son has never had an accident, but the fear is always there.
D.
