It's been a while since I updated. Life has been busy. The first week of November I attended the Weston A. Price Wise Traditions Conference in San Francisco. It was so much fun to be with over 3,000 holistic / natural / like minded people. There were not enough hours in the day and it seemed that many of the seminars I wanted to attend - like Sally Fallon's Eat Fat Lose Fat - were at the same time as another one that I wanted to attend. My highlight was to attend Dr McBride's all day seminar on the Gut & Psychology. Boy did this strike home for both myself and my children. I highly recommend listening to this clip from the conference. She discussed reasons for food allergies, behavior issues and how to heal the gut with diet.
My favorite doctor - Dr. David Brownstein - and friend spoke as well. He discussed the iodine & thyroid connection. He just released a new edition to his Iodine book where he discusses Iodine and children. My son's story is part of this topic as a case study. Lynne Farrow of Breast Cancer Choices gave a wonderful presentation on the history of Iodine uses in clinical practice and how it effects breast disease.
Now for me. I am doing very well. As I finished 2008 I began to reflect on the progress I have made again this year in restoring my own as well as my family's health. I have so much vitality and have been so healthy this year. I cannot think of a time that I was sick for the last 2 years. I have my bouts of headaches and feeling a bit fatigued but then I just take it easy and I am back up and running. I think it is detoxing related. This year I lost over 30 lbs bringing from almost 170 lbs to the 130's. I have not been this thin since the 8th grade. It feels so good. I get workouts done 3x / week at the YMCA too.
In November we took the kids gluten free. We have had to continually increase their thyroid medication and I was getting concerned about their behavior. When my son's teacher approached me about his ADD like issues I called my doctor and asked him his thoughts. Could it really be gluten? He told me if it where his child that he would try it. So I cleared the house of all gluten so there was no whining that they wanted something they could not have and took them both gluten free. I didn't think my daughter had much of an issue with gluten but it was easier to do both than one. My son had been having issues with GERD, Stomach aches and Constipation. My daughter was just very emotional.
One week into the gluten free diet my son's issues melted away. I asked him if he felt better and he said "My tummy doesn't hurt anymore". He has been very good about making sure his food is safe. It is now 2 months later and he is finally starting to eat more food. My ND says that it takes 6 weeks to heal 50% of the gut and then another year to heal the remaining 50%. My daughter's behavior got better too. The house became a calmer place and they became more attentive. I highly recommend reading Dangerous Grains - an eye opening book on why gluten is so dangerous. Also there is a great website for gluten issues info for kids from a Dr in New Zeeland that calls himself "Dr Gluten".
My daughter had an exposure to gluten 6 weeks after getting taken off of it. She was at her class Christmas party and she ate 2 Dixie cups full of pretzels. I picked her up from school not knowing this had happened. She was screaming in the car and hitting her brother. When we got home every little thing set her off and she would run out of the room crying. I wondered what was wrong with her. Then at lunch we were discussing her party and I asked what they had to eat (the teacher and I had gone over the "menu" to make sure she was safe but they changed the food grrrrrrr.....). She told me she had eaten pretzels. I said "OH that's gluten". She burst into tears and said she didn't know. Well that explained the behavior. But then 2 days later when she was taking a shower I went to dry her off with a towel and she had a rash all over her torso, buttocks and legs. The poor child was peppered with it. This can happen when there is a gluten exposure and you are sensitive. It was so itchy and she was clawing at it. There are still a few on her bottom - almost 4 weeks later. It takes so long to get this junk out of her. It has taken some time to detox her and get her attitude more level. So gluten is out of our home for good - see my Gluten Free Naturally blog for some great kid friendly recipes.
This week I am doing a 3 day fasting colon cleanse. My stools have been "off" lately and I am so constipated. I think this is due to the level of bromide I dumped when I was dieting. I did an Iodine loading test during this time and my bromide went to a 62 Ug/L when it had been 28 Ug/L when not dieting.
I will have my follow up appointment with Dr. B on Wednesday. He called me with my lab results last night and I am happy to report that my cancer markers were 13 - last one was 11.9 - so we are still hanging on with great markers. It's hard to believe that 3 years ago when I went to see him for the first time I was dying. They wanted to do external beam radiation for a recurrence of the cancer. My thyroglobulin markers were up to 24. I have gotten them down naturally. Praise God. I am glad I followed His leading in taking the road less travelled. Our bodies are amazing and can heal if given what they need and by caring for them as God intended.
So that's my update. Live well!
Stephanie
