This morning I read, correlation doesn't equate to causation.
The scientific part of my brain knows this to be true - but sometimes, you only have your own empirical evidence to rely on. Sometimes that is all the proof you need.
This is my story. It is based on my own empirical observations and 'experiments' into improving our family's health. I am not telling my story in an attempt to persuade anyone to alter their family's current health treatments. I am just telling the story to show the way our family has dealt with health issues. I'm telling this story, to empower mothers to study, research and learn as much as they can about how to ensure your kids have the best shot at health.
I have 2 kids. Both on the Autism Spectrum.
My son was really healthy, he never cried, never was sick, may have taken antibiotics 3 times in his life. He had his tonsils out at age 2, and has never had any major health issues. He is now almost 14, and rarely misses school due to illness, and reported his very first headache to me at age 12 (which was part of a virus). He is a normal healthy child.
My daughter is the polar opposite. It honestly feels like she was born to be sick. She was born so congested she couldn't feed. I had to express into a syringe to feed her. She was diagnosed with failure to thrive within weeks of birth, she always had a cold, a runny nose and she ended up in the 2% for weight. She was scarily thin, and I had no idea what to do.
She cried 18 hours a day. 18 FRIGGIN' HOURS A DAY - for around 12-18 months. By the age of 12 months old, she'd had at least 6 courses of antibiotics. By age 3, she'd had 10 burst ear drums from severe infections despite having 2 lots of grommets. She's had her tonsils and adenoids out before her second birthday.
By age 10, she'd had 6 sets of grommets. 27 (yes TWENTY SEVEN) burst ear drums. She had also had over 50 courses of antibiotics. She's had 5 myringoplasty surgeries, one which involved cutting of her entire ear to try to repair the damage caused by the grommets. She had a canalplasty, which involved boring out her ear canal for better surgical visibility for future surgeries. Every surgery involved more antibiotics, and longer courses of them as she became resistant. Recently, an audiologist put a fibre optic camera in her ears to show us the damage. Her entire ear drum is scar tissue. She'll probably never have normal hearing.
She missed at least 10 weeks of school a year, sometimes 12. Considering a school year is 40 weeks, it meant she missed a lot of school. She is in grade 6 and has missed more than a full year and a half of school. We are very fortunate that she is an incredibly intelligent girl, as it hasn't affected her and she is an amazing student - but an average student would have suffered with their learning!
Around age 10, I had to take her to the pediatrician (again) as it seemed she'd developed allergies. After testing we discovered a lot of allergies. Ranging from dust mites to grasses. We were advised to do drop therapy that would have cost us around $10,000, pull the carpet out of her room, paint the house with mold proof paint. Keep her indoors in spring, and give her high dose antihistamines every day for the rest of her life.
She also had constant stomach pains for several years. Debilitating cramps that had her in tears. The GP's always put it to a glandular issue that was linked to her constant ear, nose, throat, chest and urinary tract infections. I told the pediatrician I suspected she had a wheat intolerance. He told me that if you didn't have an actual allergy - you had nothing and that 'food intolerances' were a way for overprotective mothers to control their children. He proceeded to tell me food had nothing to do with her health issues. He suspected she had an immune disease. He then ordered blood tests for every immune disease under the sun. That was the last time my children saw a pediatrician.
I didn't know what to do next. I was sure that she had a food intolerance. She would get cramps within half an hour of eating bread. Sometimes she'd be in tears. I decided to take her off all wheat. Within 2 weeks, all the pain had stopped. Completely. I was cynical about naturopaths, after having taken her to one as an infant only to discover she was a dud. I knew I had to do something different though, so I decided to give another one a shot.
It was an interesting experience for me, taking my child to a naturopath. I by nature believe in science. At uni, I studied a Bachelor of Science, data, research methodology and empirical evidence are important to me - they're what I know. How my brain works. I will admit, taking her to that office I was the biggest cynic about naturopathy. I had already been burned once, and I was chastising myself for even booking an appointment. When he started a physiospect I can tell you my cynicism was escalated to a point it's never seen.
I was quite withholding with information, as I wanted him to tell me what was wrong - and I wanted this physiospect to prove itself to me! Without going into to much personal detail, I'll tell you that after about 40 minutes I believed unequivocally in this machine. The naturopath was able to tell me in detail every health ailment that my child had. The most troubling was the state of inflammation in her gut and her head. There were cells in her gut that were pre-cancerous. At age 10! He put her on some supplements, and together we changed her diet.
The supplements she was on managed to really help her start to regain her health. She had 16 warts under her feet, which doctors had tried in vain to dry ice off numerous times. They went away completely within 2 weeks. They have not returned 3 years later. We worked really, really hard on her diet. We eliminated dairy, wheat, many grains, fruits and all nightshades. Her diet was so very restricted, and it was really, really hard. Fortunately, with all the research I'd done, I was confident she'd be able to tolerate all of these foods when we got rid of her inflammation issues.
Around this time, I was accepted into the Australian College of Natural Therapies and Endeavour College to study Nutritional Medicine. I was so happy - I was going to use the power of food to heal my daughter (and my own fibromyalgia and depression) completely. This was the time I found out my Dad had cancer. My world collapsed. I knew I couldn't leave my family at this time, I didn't want to take my babies to the city so I didn't accept either place. I always decided I'd go back to my study at some point. To date, I haven't. I'm not sure I will now, because I am more interested in preventative healthcare using food as medicine. I think Hippocrates was onto something!
I can honestly say, I haven't stopped studying. Every day I am still looking for answers, for ways that food can help to give us optimal health. All of us are doing great now. Each of us has done elimination diets, based on our own body's needs. Each of us knows the foods that will inflame us, the foods that heal us. We all self monitor and regulate. We listen to our bodies. We are getting healthier by the day. My son and I have lost weight, everyone has more energy. All of us have less illness.
My daughter had one more surgery after we changed our healthcare from the allopathic system to a holistic system. It was in an attempt to repair the eardrums further - another myringoplasty surgery (to fix holes left in the eardrums from grommets). We didn't give her antibiotics after the surgery. We gave her a supplement. She healed faster, and didn't get sick. She has only had ONE course of antibiotics in almost 3 years. For her, this feels like a miracle. I can't actually begin to describe the changes in her. Her medically diagnosed allergies seem to have gone away. Her inflammation levels are very low. She's replacing the gut bacteria with probiotics. She can eat the foods that cause her inflammation (in small quantities) without pain. She is happy. She is healthy.
As a parent, knowing the things I know now I would never have done things the way I did. I wouldn't have let her have all the antibiotics I did. I just didn't know. I didn't know they kill all the beneficial bacteria our bodies need to thrive. I didn't know that the beneficial bacteria in our gut protect us from allergens. I didn't know the food I was putting into my daugther was making her sick. I can't change the past, as much as I'd like to, I refuse to chastise myself for choices I made before I knew any better. All I can do now, is learn as much as I can, and try as many 'experiments' as I can to improve my families health.
I see friends travelling the same path with their kids. I just want to give them a big hug. I know how hard it is to constantly feel sick. To be so tired you can barely cope. To constantly take time off work to look after sick kids (to the point I didn't work for years, as it was impossible to get months a year off to look after a sick child). I don't know how to help them. I do know, maybe, if I share my story - their kids won't suffer the way my kid did. We are so dependent on allopathic medicine - we believe there is a pill for every ill. We've forgotten to listen to our bodies, to nourish and protect them. If my story helps just one mother to empower herself to change her child's health, then I'm a happy lady.
I can't tell everyone to stop using a doctor, or to change to a naturopath or holistic practitioner. But I can tell them that the power of food is something that is so important. It has the power to heal.
So my story ends here - with correlation and causation. Perhaps the correlation between us changing to a holistic approach and my child's improved health mean nothing. They don't prove causation. Scientifically speaking there is no proof that changing treatments caused her to become well. But as a Mother, I don't care. My child is well, my family is healthier and that is all the proof I need.
So, just eat real food!!
Much love - Marney xxx
P.S - comments always welcome! I'm really interested to know your thoughts.
Edit: She also had 'hereditary Asthma'. For years she had steroids daily, as well as massive quantities of Ventolin. I was told given the strong family prevalence of asthma on both sides of the family that it was genetic, and inevitable. She would have it for life. She would require medication for it for life. She hasn't taken any asthma medication for over 3 years. She hasn't had a single asthmatic episode for over 3 years. (Her history is so long, I honestly forget to mention things - but Asthma is a biggie hence the edit).
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