Here we go...

Holy freakin' hell, my head is spinning. We had our first appt. yesterday with the DAN/biomed/homeopath/Functional Medicine dr. I'm not sure how I feel, really. First things first, she wants us to start the dreaded GFCF diet, damn it (gluten-free, casein-free... essentially no wheat and gluten from some other grains, and no dairy). Not that I didn't know this was coming... I did. It's usually a prerequisite. I was HOPING that maybe she would take a look at how the food sensitivities testing came back and go from there, but... she wants us to start by eliminating gluten, 2 weeks later dairy, and 2 weeks after that soy. Shoot me. I know I HAVE to do this. I HAVE to give ALL of this 100%. In my mind, I am committing to 6 months of giving biomed my ALL. I need to do this for my daughter. It's just gonna suck. Well, not if it works! But my fears are... ha! Where to start with that? I would say first and foremost, my daughter's reactions to this elimination diet. Though I am worried about home, it will be easier at home, because we will do it as a family, and it just won't be available. What I am worried about is school, summer camp, parties, etc. I learned last week that an anxious child does NOT like to be different. I had no idea that was part of the reason for her obsession with being like certain other children. To say she is going to lose her shit when she can't have the same snack as the other children, or the same cupcake at a party, or eat the same food at Gaga's house that her cousin is having... well, that's an understatement. Lord help us all. But I don't see any way around this.  My next fear is getting her to take the supplements that she needs to take. My child is not an easy-going, go with the flow, do whatever Mommy says kind of kid, to say the least. And I guess lastly, I am concerned with spending this BOAT-LOAD of cash on all of this stuff (we dropped $400 yesterday on an initial visit and 2 supplements) and it not working. Again, no way around it in my mind. It's worth a try, right? It's my daughter's LIFE we're talking about. I HAVE to try... for her. I owe it to her to do EVERYTHING I can.

The dr. was nice enough... very sweet with my daughter. I sat and talked with her the first hour, and my husband brought our daughter the last 15 min. I will say that the dr. seemed VERY sure of herself. Not arrogant, necessarily, but just really very sure of herself. Which is good... but I guess I just don't want any false hope. From all the research I have done, it seems roughly 20-30% of children are actually helped by this kind of treatment. My daughter's counselor feels it is probably closer to 50%, for various reasons, mostly because people have a hard time following the VERY strict diet, (i.e. any little dietary infraction makes a BIG difference) and that often people don't give it enough time to work. So I have to keep those things in mind.

The tests the dr. will be running to start with are: a complete digestive stool analysis, urine caso morphine through Great Plains, hair analysis, and this blood work to start: Candio CRP, CBC w diff, CMP, Lipid panel (fasting), Magnesium (RBC), TSH, T3free, T4, Urine R & M, C & S, Zinc (RBC), 25 (OH) D.  2 weeks later, she will do a Triad from Meta Metrix or Great Plains. I'm not sure what a Triad is or what it is testing for... I do have some follow-up questions for sure that I need to call about later today. We already are doing EFA (essential fatty acids- she is taking fish oil) supplements, but she wants us to take 4 a day now. We are also already doing digestive enzymes and probiotics. We just have to stop these 5 days before the Nutri Eval test... though I'm not sure what/when that test it.


I picked up Dr. Kenneth Bock's book and just started reading it. Hopefully it will help me to understand all of this stuff. It is one that keeps being recommended by various people. The dr. referenced it a few times yesterday, and seems to be interested in following the same protocol for the most part.


Say a little prayer for us as we begin. I'm scared... nervous... anxious... and yes, even a little hopeful. :)


I was feeling pretty pissed off yesterday. Pissed that we are the ones that have to do all this stuff. I mean... 99% of all of the people we know don't have to do any of this shit and their kids are just fine, you know? It just freakin' pisses me off sometimes. But it is what it is. We have 2 beautiful children who need us to do everything we can for them to have great lives, so we are trying to do just that. It just annoys me sometimes. Again, refer to my first blog post to hear how I feel about being blessed, and knowing how good I have it, etc. I get it. Just venting. After all, this blog IS called HOW THIS MOMMY REALLY FEELS. That is how I really feel. And I do have a very dear friend whose little boy is literally allergic to EVERYTHING. He simply cannot eat. I think his two safe foods are baby food applesauce and Dum Dum lollipops. He has to be fed through a tube in his stomach. So wah wah me, I'm gonna whine and complain because I have to remove a few things from my daughter's diet? I think we'll survive. It's just gonna suck until we get used to it. Time to put on the big girl panties and get this done!!!!