I've had a few emails lately from families in the middle of the MRSA struggle. My heart goes out to those of you in the middle of fighting this. I remember the loneliness, feeling like no one else understood what it was like, how hard it is to see your young children in a great deal of pain. But, for those of you struggling, know you are not alone! Over 7,000 people have visited this blog in the last year. Unfortunately, that's a lot of suffering. I pray for each of you fighting MRSA!
So, what's up with our family? We have been doing well! My girls are now 12 and 8. My 8 year old will still get occasional spots, but they are, for the most part, able to be treated with manuka honey or oil. I can't say enough about the natural healing power God created in manuka honey. It truly is amazing, and I am extremely grateful!
We are still in the middle of trying to figure out my youngest's food allergies and stomach pain. We have over the years pieced together many things to discover what she is allergic to. Right now she is on a diet free of gluten (wheat), dairy, soy, egg, nuts, citrus, tropical fruits, melons, avocado, food colorings and preservatives. This has helped her from having bad reactions after eating, but her stomach pain was still a daily battle.
Recently, we were introduced to the book Disconnected Kids. A friend has a son with aspergers, and another friend with a son with processing issues told me about it. At first I wasn't sure what it had to do with food allergies or stomach pain. My daugther doesn't fit the mold that the book talks about per se. She doesn't have aspergers, adhd, autism, etc. I read the book though and discovered that it talked some about food sensitivities and stomach pain. It's hard to explain, but basically if the two sides of the brain aren't working together, a lot of things can be out of whack. For example, the stomach could not be getting the correct signals to digest it's food. This was the part that struck me. We know from an endoscopy done a few years ago that her food sits in her stomach for a long time without being digested properly. After fasting 13 hours, she still had clumps of food in her stomach. This is the part that prompted me to get her evaluated at The Brain Balance Center.
The test results were unreal. They tested so many things on her. THe basic results were that her eyes aren't working together to process information (the reason she is about a year behind in reading and has said she needs glasses but the eye doctor said her eyes are good). Her vestibular system is also out of whack (explains why she gets a headache and stomach ache in the car and is miserable when traveling). There were many other things they tested, but these are the two that were eye openers for us.
While she didn't fit the typical mold, we knew it could really help her. We signed her up for the 3 month course. It has been truly amazing! She feels so much better! Her stomach pain is not constant anymore, which I hope means her stomach is now starting to digest her food. She feels so much better and is able to handle car rides now, most of the time with ease. We still have 3 weeks to go, but I'm hopeful that she's on the road to feeling better and her body working correctly!
