Snakes and Ladders

I have another story to share with you that’s related to my son’s time in the hospital.

I knew in my heart that Moses would be okay. I knew that to be true in my heart.

And, yet, then longer we were there, and the greater the interventions were being used and the deeper Moses’ illness got, I feared that Moses’ system was being trashed and that there might be a point at which he wouldn’t be able to rebound. That was my fear. I feared that all of the “good” things that we had done to heal my son up to that point were being unraveled before my eyes.

Shortly after our time in the hospital, we consulted with Moses’ naturopath, whom both my husband and I dearly love. We don’t see Moses’ naturopath very often. Currently, we only see her about once a year, just to bring her up to speed on things.

DH and I find it so healing to see our naturopath. She provides a middle ground where DH and I can meet. DH loves her because she is so level-headed and intelligent. He sees her as a physician who uses “natural” supplements.  He can understand her logic (whereas, he just can’t understand Heilkunst homeopathy). I love her because she is so intuitive and empathetic. She provides a very safe space for us both. A session with our naturopath is like having a session with a marriage counsellor for us. DH and I both share our views, and she holds them for us, and helps us to find a compromise, a way that it can work for both of us.

I shared my fears with our naturopath and she told me a story about snakes and ladders. And I will remember this story if I ever need it again.

She told us that Moses’ healing journey is like a game of snakes and ladders. Moses’ healing journey has been step by step and gradual. Taking time. Whereas others around us seemed to be getting a lot of ladders, we would roll the dice and get a one, and then another one, and then another one. But slowly, incrementally, he was healing. We were making progress. We were kicking this game’s butt! And then we landed on a big snake (the pneumonia) and it felt like we were going back to square one. And the fear was that we were going to have to take that healing journey, that long and arduous healing journey, one step at a time again.

She assured us that shortly after our time in the hospital, we would find ourselves landing on a big ladder, and we will wind up back where we were. Maybe even past where we were. She says that she sees this all the time. Healing journeys are like games of snakes and ladders. Not snakes and snakes. And not ladders and ladders. But snakes and ladders. And ladders always follow a snake. And all of the hard work we had put into this journey didn’t just vanish. And we will “win” this game. We  have already won because we’re playing it.

She was right. Moses rebounded just fine. He is right back to his old (healthy) self. It took a bit of time, but he did.

Now the hospital visit is just a distant memory. And, I’ll remember next time not to be so fearful of the snakes*. Because there is always a ladder waiting around the corner.

 

* In actuality, in the shamanic view, snakes are not to be feared at all since snakes symbolize deep healing, shedding of the past and connection to Mother Earth.

Reflections

I feel that I still have things to catch you up on.

I don’t really want to dwell in the past, about the two weeks that Moses spent in the hospital in November, but I feel that I still need to  talk about it because it helps with my process.

I always wonder about the meaning of things…  why things happen…  the message behind events…  what are the lessons?

Why did Moses get so sick and why did he go so deep, after a period of time when he was doing so well.

I have some ideas.

It occurred right before 11-11-11, during the 2 week period immediately following October 28, 2011 (which marked the end of the Mayan calendar, according to some interpretations). It was a time of great light / big energy / huge shifts. Somehow, I feel that time in the hospital symbolized a time for us as a family to be sequestered, away from normal life, away from work and to be together as family.

Certainly some things fell away at that time. It marked a time for me to release some of my old roles, to make space for changes in my life. Self care became a priority.

I feel a real shift occurred for the whole family.

Throughout that period, I felt in my heart that Moses would be okay. That helped me get through that time.

I certainly felt a lot of anger towards the medical system and loss of power. I’m still trying to figure out how to stand in my power, stand up for my son and what I feel he needs, especially when it conflicts with the medical professionals’ opinions.

It’s difficult too because my husband goes to a place of fear during this time, and we often stand divided, not together in how we want to approach things (he’s fearful that I won’t let any medical interventions occur, and I’m angry that he is allowing the medical interventions occur).

I feel that Moses got so sick because of the “just in case” IV antibiotics that he received for four days and the lack of sleep during this time as we travelled back and forth to the hospital during all hours of the day and at night. My boy is a sensitive boy, whose homeostatis gets out of whack easily.

I didn’t mention this earlier, but during that time, Moses was also clearing one of the chronic miasms, sycosis, related to his Heilkunst homeopathic healing. Obviously a huge one for him to clear.

Sycosis is one of the eight chronic miasms, or archetypal diseases.

Sycosis is related to excesses in mind and tissue.  People with an active sycosis miasm are susceptible to vaccine damage.

The main expression of sycosis is excess in all areas. You may have an increased appetite for food, excitement, action. Sycosis is the root of most “-itis” diseases, with inflammation and copious discharge. Memory problems and slowness are typical.

Sycosis is related to a host of conditions involving the prefix “hyper” (duh…  Moses’ diagnosis is hyper IgE syndrome). It’s related to blood disorders (Moses has a second diagnosis, G-6-PD deficiency, which makes his blood susceptible to hemolysis, which actually happened during his time in the hospital as well). Ironically, it’s also related to blood transfusions and Moses needed a blood transfusion during our time in the hospital.

Prior to the clearing, his homeopath didn’t think this miasm would be difficult to clear, and I had hoped that she was right (but had suspected that it would be a big one). I had remembered that early in Moses’ treatment, she mentioned that this miasm was active in Moses (e.g., showing up in the abscesses he used develop), but to a lesser extent than the Syphilis or Tuberculosis miasms.

Four days after we started clearing sycosis, Moses developed the dental abscess, which led us down this road. I think it eventually developed into pneumonia due to his body’s response to all of the suppression that was occurring (IV antibiotics, anti-fever medication, etc.). Our Heilkunstler mentioned that Moses’ sustentive power (his life force that works hard to bring his body back to balance) is now so much stronger and the large pneumonia that resulted was evidence of his body trying hard to rid itself of toxins and come back into balance. I think our time in the hospital was also so long because the homeopathic remedies that he was taking to counter act all of the medical interventions were bringing out strong responses. Responses that the medical system mistook as illness, but was actually his body trying hard to come back into wellness.

It wasn’t an easy ride to take. I consulted with many of my own healers / health practitioners about it after. Some admonished me that I didn’t stand in my power enough. I knew that the medical interventions were going to be difficult on my son and I stayed silent and seethed inwards with anger at a system that doesn’t understand how healing works, but mostly angry at my own silence.

I’ve forgiven myself. I have to. And I’m not sure what I would do different if I had to walk that path again. I feel like a crazy person sometimes because I know that some of the things that I think sound so foolish to many people. Most people don’t understand homeopathy, and Heilkunst, I think is particularly difficult to understand. And yet it is working. This “foolishness” is actually leading my son to true, deep and remarkable healing.

Although I’ve shared so much on this blog, I still feel so vulnerable sharing. Scared that someone in the medical profession, one of Moses’ doctors may come across my blog and read it. Scared that they will think that some of my thoughts are not only foolish, but harmful to my son.

And yet the truth, the real truth is that Moses is healing. And he is healing not as a result of all of the medical interventions, but in spite of the medical interventions. (And I say this with great respect because I know some of our children need to use medical interventions to survive and to thrive. I am merely sharing my own truth of my son’s situation).

The scary thing is that Moses has only cleared two levels of sycosis (there are four levels to clear in total). I stopped the sycosis powders when he was in the hospital and we still need to clear the next two levels. I had planned to do so in January, giving us all a much needed and well deserved break over Christmas. I’m going to wait a bit longer still because I want to see first how he does with increasing his glutathione levels. One thing at a time. But I’m definitely going to continue with it because I feel that Heilkunst is healing the root causes of Moses’ illness.

It’s obviously not an easy path, but it is a path that has brought remarkable healing for my son.

Glutathione and enlightenment

A cosmic wink…

I’ve been reading a lot lately about the benefits of glutathione, and how increasing glutathione levels can help people with many disorders, diseases, syndromes, etc. It’s been stimulating my left brain as I’ve been delving into the scientific literature and I’ve been finding the reading so rich. (In case you are interested, I’ve been compiling what I’ve been learning here).

Then last night, just for fun, I wondered if there might be a link between shamanism and glutathione.

Much to my surprise, Dr. David Perlmutter and Dr. Alberto Villoldo’s Power up your Brain book came up in my search.

This is of particular interest to me because a couple of months ago (around the same time that I was getting the message that it was important to increase my glutathione levels), I was getting the message that it was important for me to read this book. I knew about the book because Dr. Alberto Villoldo is one of the main influences in my shamanic path. He is the teacher of most of my own shamanic healers and teachers, and I’ve read as many of his books as possible. He’s the author of one of my favourite books, Shaman, Healer, Sage. At the time, I tried to find out what supplements are recommended in the book to “power up your brain” because I knew that their suggestions would be useful for my son. I couldn’t easily find out during my search, and let it go..

In Power up your Brain, Drs. Perlmutter and Villoldo team up to teach about the science of enlightenment. Dr. Perlmutter discusses the neuroscience of enlightenment, as well as treatments and supplements that can help best feed your brain, and Dr. Villoldo discusses spiritual and shamanic exercises one can do to awaken your higher brain. Two of the treatments that they discuss as being important in stimulating your higher brain is hyperbaric chamber oxygen treatments and IV glutathione treatments (interestingly, both of these techniques are also discussed in McCarthy and Kartzinel’s Healing and Preventing Autism book as being treatments that can help autistic children). Fascinatingly, Dr. David Perlmutter is one of the pioneers of using IV glutathione to treat individuals with Parkinson’s disease. (You can watch a video about that here and read an interview with him here).

Our protocols utilize intravenous glutathione and hyperbaric oxygen to optimize mitochondrial function as well as foods and supplements that help undo the damage done to the brain by years of stressful living. We find that mitochondria, the mind, and the brain respond extraordinarily quickly to these interventions. Then, through shamanic meditation practices, we can heal from toxic emotions and discover inner peace…

Using this program, you can develop the gifts once ascribed only to a privileged few. And in the process, you’ll have the chance to gain other health benefits, including a reduced risk of devastating brain diseases, cancer, heart disease, and Parkinson’s; elimination of debilitating mood swings; the breaking of unhealthy emotional and behavior patterns; the overcoming of painful memories and past traumas; a powerful clarity of thought; and the potential for maximum human life span; all without the use of drugs. When we repair our brains and heal our toxic emotions, we move toward a state of personal health and well-being. Then, we can bring forth the qualities attributed to enlightened beings: inner peace, wisdom, compassion, joy, creativity, and a new vision of the future. (excepted from their article here)

Felt like a big cosmic wink to me and how I’m on the right track…  Just seems so funny to me that such seemingly divergent topics are actually related.

I’m going to get a copy of Power up your Brain and will share more as I learn more…

More reading:

• Power up your Brain website
• read an article by Drs. Perlmutter and Villoldo about the neuroscience of enlightenment here.
• How glutathione can help children with autism here.
• A way to increase glutathione levels by supplementation here.

Breathing in and breathing out…

My intention for this year is balance, ease and joy, and I have been making that my moment to moment meditation (when I remember!)

I have been feeling very good (I really feel that increasing my glutathione levels have helped with that).

I’ve been (as much as possible) taking time out every day to centre, ground, connect with the earth and Spirit, practice a cleansing and purifying breath and a candle meditation. Balance my chakras.

I’ve been walking 20 minutes every day. Stretching when it feels like my body wants to stretch.

Practicing gratitude.

My shift from teaching a weekly yoga class to taking a weekly yoga class has been a great one for me. Took a contact improvisation class with some friends a couple of weeks ago to try something different.

Our family went for a little walk through the woods on Sunday. It had been a long time since we had done that, and it was a good reminder for us to do more of that. We had forgotten that nature is our church. It was good to spend some time breathing in fresh air and the smell of spruce trees, connecting as a family.

I feel that I’ve created more space in my life. Less stress. The days are feeling longer because I have been trying to practice more moment to moment mindfulness.

I’m planning a trip to Sedona in October. Have my mom’s yearly visit to Newfoundland booked for November.

Moses is thriving. Emotionally, mentally and physically. My husband and I are so pleased.

Breathing in….  breathing out…  Life is good! Feeling thankful.

Carly’s Voice

Two FB friends posted about Carly’s story today. In case you haven’t heard about her, I wanted to share her amazing story with you too.

My name is Carly Fleischmann and as long as I can remember I’ve been diagnosed with autism.

I am not able to talk out of my mouth, however I have found another way to communicate by spelling on my computer. (and yes that is me typing on the computer by myself)

I used to think I was the only kid with autism who communicates by spelling but last year I met a group of kids that communicate the same way. In fact some are even faster at typing then I am.

Last year a story about my life was shown on ABC news, CNN and CTV here in Canada.

After my story was played I kept on getting lots of emails from moms, dads, kids and people from different countries asking me all sorts of questions about autism. I think people get a lot of their information from so-called experts but I think what happens is that experts can’t give an explanation to certain questions. How can you explain something you have not lived or if you don’t know what it’s like to have it? If a horse is sick, you don’t ask a fish what’s wrong with the horse. You go right to the horse’s mouth.

Carly’s website is here.

Her story on ABC news is here. This brought me to tears, particularly the part when she tells her dad how much she appreciates how he’s always been there for her, supporting her and how much she loves him.

Healing by increasing glutathione levels

I first heard of glutathione while reading the book, “Healing and Preventing Autism” by Jenny McCarthy and Jerry Kartzinel.  An entire chapter in McCarthy and Kartzinel’s book describes the importance of glutathione, how it is the most important substance that our body produces to help our immune system fight infections. It’s the body’s most important antioxidant and the body’s most powerful detoxifier. Most autistic children are low in glutathione (I’ve read that autistic children have 50% less intracellular glutathione than other children), which is why they have so much trouble detoxifing vaccines, medications, environmental toxins, toxins in food and why they have so much trouble fighting infections and diseases. Read a Talk about Curing Autism article about detoxification, glutathione and autism here.

Dr. Kartzinel discusses how many autistic children come from “poor methylating families”, meaning families that tend to have a difficult time producing glutathione (i.e., the overall function of the methylation pathway is under genetic control). Poor methylating families have a family history of depression, bipolar disease, schizophrenia, suicide, constipation, attention deficit disorder, alcoholism and, of course, autism. See also this list of diseases and illnesses that are linked to low glutathione levels. Furthermore, the methylation pathway is sensitive to environmental toxins, such as mercury. So a person who is exposed to a toxin (like mercury) who is already undermethylating (i.e.,  under producing glutathione) will have an even more difficult time detoxing when exposed to such toxins. It turns into a vicious cycle.

Glutathione can be taken intravenously, transdermally or through a nebulizer. Note that supplementing directly with oral glutathione is generally not effective because studies have found that glutathione does not survive the digestive process. Furthermore, supplementing with oral glutathione can result in a yeast outbreak and gut imbalance. Watch a news story about autistic children receiving glutathione IV treatments here. Injections are only minimally useful, since glutathione cannot enter into the cells themselves. It must be manufactured inside the cells (when the necessary components are available.) As Dr. Kartzinel explains, methyl B12 injections and supplementing with trimethylglycine (TMG) or dimethylglycine (DMG),  folic acid and N-acetyl-cysteine can increase glutathione levels. Read Dr. Kartizel’s blog post about the methylation process, glutathione and autism here.

When I first read about glutathione, I knew that both my son and I needed to increase our glutathione levels (given that we have a history of diseases within our family that indicates that we are a poor-methylating family), but it sounded so complicated to do. When I first found out about this supplement, MaxGXL, that is known to increase glutathione levels, a voice within me told me that it was a significant supplement that could help many individuals (including autistic children).

I first found out about MaxGXL 1.5 years ago.  I tried it back then and found a noticeable difference in my energy levels and my mental clarity. I felt excited about it and felt that it could really help Moses, as well as many others. But, one of its ingredients is derived from shellfish (one of Moses’ allergens), and so I didn’t continue with the supplement because I was looking for something that could help Moses.

Then back in November when we were in the hospital with Moses for two weeks and my reserves were depleted, I kept getting the message that the supplement could help me.  So shortly thereafter, I did many things for my own self care, and one of the things that I did was order some MaxGXL for me.

Within hours of taking it, I felt my energy levels increase and my mental clarity improve. I felt more focused. More balanced emotionally. I found that my body was starting to crave healthier foods (like greens, salads and smoothies) and not comfort foods (like potato chips and chocolate). I was having energy at night to exercise. I could actually feel my brain detoxing and GI tract detoxing. I could literally feel poisons being released from my system through my bowels. Really.

I’ve spent the last month researching it and not only do I intuitively feel that this supplement could help most people, I also feel that there is strong science behind this (because glutathione has been so well researched, and there is strong science behind MaxGXL as well).

Also in the last year, Max International introduced another glutathione producing product, MaxOne, that is allergy-friendly because it is not derived from shellfish or mushrooms. Since MaxOne is so potent and my boy is so sensitive, I’m giving him the tiniest bit of it right now (approx. 1/6 of a capsule). Even with that little bit, I’ve been finding that he’s been noticeably detoxing, which is a good sign that the MaxOne is working. Nonetheless, I’m going to cut back to 1/6 of a capsule every other day and see how that goes. I’d like to support a gradual increase in his glutathione levels, while making it comfortable for him. Over time, I’ll eventually increase it to 1/2 to 2/3 of a capsule, which is appropriate for his weight (45 lbs).

Within the first week of starting MaxOne, Moses’ penmenship and ability to use scissors drastically improved (I feel that this has something to do with something in his brain detoxifying which allowed these neural pathways a better chance to function). His face had a “glow” to it. He stabilized emotionally (prior to this, he was understandably “fragile” emotionally, after our time in the hospital).

In any case, I’ve decided that I like the product so much that I’ve decided to recommend Max International products. If you want to find out more, I’ve written more about this topic in the following posts on my Healing with Glutathione website:

• What is glutathione;
• Disease and illnesses linked to low glutathione levels (there are A LOT) here;
• Why glutathione production is important for autistic children, including testimonials by other parents with autistic children here;
• What is MaxGXL, including ingredients;
• Testimonials;
• Price and how to order MaxGXL; and
• General instructions for taking MaxGXL.

As always, I’ll continue to let you know how things unfold for me and the family. And, if you have any experience with trying to increase your or your child’s glutathione levels using this product or other methods, I’d love to hear about it.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or send me an email at spirityoga@live.com.

Additional reading

• read these scientific papers about autism and glutathione here
• a general article about the link between Parkinson’s disease and autism [i.e., low glutathione levels] here;
• Scientific paper: “A clinical trial of glutathione supplementation in autism spectrum disorders” here (note that they did not test MaxGXL specifically, but this study shows that scientists feel that there is scientific merit to increasing glutathione levels in autistic children).
• Low natural killer cell cytotoxic activity in autism: the role of glutathione, IL-2 and IL-15. “We conclude that that 45% of a subgroup of children with autism suffers from low NK cell activity, and that low intracellular levels of glutathione, IL-2 and IL-15 may be responsible.”
• Mercury and autism: Accelerating Evidence? “The process of cysteine and glutathione synthesis, which are crucial for natural mercury detoxification, are reduced in autistic children, possibly due to genetic polymorphisms [13,30]. Therefore, autistics have 20% lower plasma levels of cysteine and 54% lower levels of glutathione, which, among others, adversely affect their ability to detoxify and excrete metals like mercury”
• Biomarkers of environmental toxicity and susceptibility in autism. “Significantly decreased plasma levels of reduced glutathione (GSH), cysteine, and sulfate were observed among study participants relative to controls. The transsulfuration abnormalities observed among study participants indicate that mercury intoxication was associated with increased oxidative stress and decreased detoxification capacity.”
• read an article by American Healthcare Foundation about glutathione and autism here. “A study performed at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine suggested that excessive cellular oxidative stress may be a factor causing autism. In the study, researchers measured plasma glutathione and its metabolic precursors in 95 autistic children and 75 children without autism. It was found that levels of glutathione are significantly lower in autistic children than in the children without autism.”
• an article discussing the importance of glutathione for detoxing heavy metals of autistic children here and here. Glutathione is the body’s chief detoxifier.  It works with MT proteins to remove heavy metals and other harmful substances like pesticides and PCBs. Dr. S. Jill James has shown that 90% of children on the  autism spectrum as well as their parents have impaired methylation.  The active form of glutathione is reduced 80% in kids with autism.

Listen to Your Gut

My friend shared with me this great resource: Jini Patel Thompson’s Listen to your Gut website.

Jini Patel Thompson feels that there are eight key protocols that nearly everyone needs to implement in order to see their digestive healing progress rapidly:

1. Rest the bowel
2. Eradicate pathogens
3. Re-opulate the gastrointestinal tract with good bacteria
4. Heal inflammation and ulceration
5. Resolve nutrient deficiencies
6. Detox your living environment
7. Heal emotional contributors
8. Balance your endocrine system

Such great information. A lot of information that I’ve seen before, but she has specific supplements that she suggests in Step 5 (click on this link to find out which supplements she suggests), and I also like that she includes step 7 (i.e., heal emotional contributors) and suggests techniques such as emotional freedom technique (EFT), which is a method that I’ve used in the past which I’ve found to be very effective and easy at addressing and healing emotional issues.

Healing the gut is so important for some many ailments, including colitis, Crohn’s, diverticulitis, IBS, auto-immune disorders, MS, allergies and autism.

She also had specific suggestions for my friend’s son, who has Hyper IgE Syndrome (Job’s syndrome), including:

• an elemental diet
• Jini’s Wild Oregano Oil Protocol (cycling on and off as needed, according to his symptoms). See her video with 5 year old Zara for the easy way to take it.
• cod liver oil – 6 capsules per day, or 1.5 tsp.
• Vitamin D (get levels tested, but likely needs at least 3,000 IU per day)
• Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) – 1 per day
• Bone Support – 1 tbsp per day
• Minerals Of Life Trace Minerals – 1 tbsp per day
• Natren probiotics – high dose
• Cycle on and off (2 weeks on, then 1-2 weeks off) these immune strengtheners: Astragalus, Maitake
• L-glutamine – 1,000 mg per day
• N-Acetyl Glucosamine, or if he has intestinal inflammation or pain issues, then MucosaHeal instead – follow label directions for adults
• B-Complex vitamins – 1 per day
• Houston Enzymes
• MetaCleanse – likely will only need a small amount, or 1 tbsp. chia seeds mixed in liquid

She also suggests a daily green juice (here is a recipe for a green smoothie that we use in our family).

She also suggests watching this “Healing Journey Movie”.

Many of her suggestions are things that we are currently doing for Moses, have considered doing, or have done in the past. It also gives us some ideas for things that we might want to implement at some point.

A year of balance, ease and joy

My intention for the year 2012 (and beyond) is to experience
balance, ease and joy.

For myself. For my family. For you. For your family. For all of us.

I played The Wish Game with this intention a couple of days ago with some dear friends.

During The Wish Game, you are guided to choose cards from various decks and the cards that you choose are messages from Spirit about your wish.

During the game, one of cards that I chose said, “You are blocking your wish. What are you anxious about?”

I spoke of how I have this underlying anxiety that runs constantly, an anxiety about Moses’ health, that it might take a turn at any moment. It’s like a computer program that’s constantly running in the background, draining my energy.

I spoke about how I wanted to let go of this anxiety, to release it, since this anxiety doesn’t serve or help Moses or me.

I asked for Spirit to release me from this anxiety. So be it. And it is so, and so it is.

During the game, my friends reflected back their own intuition / messages that they received.

One shared that she felt that somehow Moses and I were orchestrating this dance and that my anxiety was feeding Moses’ episodes of illness, which was feeding my anxiety — a vicious cycle.

Another shared that she experiences the love of our family (the three of us) like a huge waterfall, the size of Niagara Falls — big, tremendous, powerful. So much love.

And the other gently reminded me that our children are not our own. That Moses is on his own soul’s journey.

As Kahlil Gibran says in The Prophet:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they do not belong to you.

You may give them your love, but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

Other messages came up for me during the game. Messages like, “We are all One”, which is a reminder that we are all connected. And me wishing for balance, ease and joy also helps everyone else around the world come into balance, ease and joy. For we are all connected. We are all One.

One of my friends shared that I often help her to feel balance, ease and joy in her life. And I remarked that I feel like my life purpose, through teaching yoga and through energy healing, is to help others experience ease and joy in their own lives.

And so dear friends, I am wishing for us all, a year of balance, ease and joy — for my family and for yours. For us all.

I feel that the universe is calling us strongly home to our heart space, and if we remain in that space, we will be in balance, ease and joy. Our heart is calling us home.

Carrot, beet and avocado salad

Happy New Year, dear friends!

I had this amazing carrot, beet and avocado salad at a Christmas party, and it was delicious and full of goodness!

Red beet is unique for its high levels of antioxidants that protect the body against heart disease and certain cancers. They are high in carbohydrates and low in fat and an excellent source of folic acid.  Betacyanin, the the pigment that gives beets their red color is absorbed into the blood and can greatly increase the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood.

I’m sharing this on my blog so that I don’t lose track of this great recipe, and so you can enjoy it too!

Ingredients

1 large carrot, grated
2 medium beets, grated
2 cups jicama, grated (or you can use 2 green apples instead)
1 avocado, cubed
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
 For dressing:

3 Tbs. frozen apple juice concentrate
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw sesame seeds
Celtic sea salt to taste
Directions
Place the carrot, beet, jicama (apples) and cliantro in a bowl and toss. In a separate bowl, wisk together ingredients for dressing. Pour dressing over vegetables and toss with seeds. Salt to taste if desired. Add the avocado just before serving.

Autism and health of the gut

Tonight, I watched The Nature of Things with David Suzuki’s recent documentary, Autism Enigma. You can watch it too at this link here.

A fresh perspective on autism research with the developing “Bacterial Theory” of autism. The fastest-growing developmental disorder in the industrialized world, autism has increased an astounding 600 per cent over the last 20 years. Science cannot say why. Some say it’s triggered by environmental factors and point to another intriguing statistic: 70 per cent of kids with autism also have severe gastrointestinal symptoms. Could autism actually begin in the gut? The Autism Enigma looks at the progress of an international group of scientists who are studying the gut’s amazingly diverse and powerful microbial ecosystem for clues to the baffling disorder.

I love and highly respect David Suzuki and was glad that he addressed autism in this recent episode. The documentary mostly addressed the link between the health of the gut flora and autism. I feel that it was mostly well done for a “mainstream documentary”. (In my opinion, parents who are healing their children with autism could put together a better documentary since they actually know what is helping and healing their children. I disagree with the fact that the documentary discredited the potential link between vaccines and autism, and feel that it was too bad that it didn’t discuss many of the other biomedical or homeopathic treatments that are out there and are actually working).

Healing the Gut

Nonetheless, I feel that it is worth watching. It provides the scientific explanations for why healing the gut of our children is so important. And this is why probiotics, cultured foods, the Body Ecology diet, and the GAPS diet are an important part of healing our children. Likely most of my readers will be very familiar with much of the information that is presented in the documentary. (Read my friend, Lisa’s, recent post about the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet here).

Given that my son has been on a prophylactic antibiotic for over a year now (related to his Hyper IgE Syndrome diagnosis and something that I’m not a big fan of), this documentary was important for me to see to remind me of what is likely going on in Moses’ gut. He is on a daily probiotic, but it feels like it’s a losing battle since he takes the antibiotic twice a day. I also need to get started on the cultured veggies again.

(Happily, despite the fact that Moses is on a daily antibiotic, he is still healing and has been getting stronger overall in the last year, therefore, I feel that all of the other good stuff that we’ve been doing with him — especially Heilkunst homeopathy – has outweighed the potential negative effects of the antibiotic.  My long-term goal is to eventually get DH onside with using a “natural antibiotic” instead of a pharmaceutical one.  Moses is on miracle mineral solution (MMS), which is a natural antiobiotic as well, but DH doesn’t feel that it’s enough at the moment).

Increased rate of autism in Somalian children

One thing that I learned from the documentary is that there is a high rate of autism amongst Somalian children who have immigrated to North America (and autism is virtually non-existent in children in Somalia — so much so that they refer to autism as a “western disease”). In Somalia, fermented foods are a typical part of the diet. What they didn’t say in the documentary is that children in Somalia don’t receive the same number of vaccines as they do in North America (in general, children in Somalia don’t have the same access to vaccines, and certainly don’t receive up to 36 vaccinations by the time that they are five years old). Things that make me go ”hmmm…..”

More reading:

• Article about  Somalian children, vaccinations and autism here.
• Globe and Mail article about the “Somali autism puzzle” here.

Mama’s self care

After our stressful couple of weeks in the hospital, these last two weeks have been about mama’s self-care:

• Received cranialsacral therapy and total body modification from my chiropractor;
• Consulted with my shamanic healer;
• Consulted with my Heilkunst homeopath;
• Consulted with my naturopath;
• Received acupuncture;
• Played a Wish Game with some dear friends
  (To feel safe and supported in my life — so be it, and it is so, and so it is!);
• Started to move my body again;
• Went to a yoga class;
• Walking on the treadmill / shaking on our vibration machine;
• Daily breath work and meditation;
• Have a massage booked for this Friday;
• Have a facial booked for next week;
• Made a green smoothie;
• Started a new supplement to help increase my body’s glutathione levels;
• Drinking some lemon juice with maple syrup and cayenne pepper.

Looking for more balance in my life.

A big shift for me is that I let go of teaching a weekly yoga class and have started taking a weekly yoga class for me.  I might even take a dance class. As you know, I love movement and dance.

After taking a bit of a break from doing energy work, I am accepting clients again, which I love.

Looking for that balance.

I really feel that I have been pushing through something big over the last two months. I’ve been going through another death phase of sorts. To create space for something new to emerge and be born. Releasing old patterns, old paradigms. Letting go of old fear.

From a Heilkunst perspective, it makes sense that I’ve been going through this as I’ve just spent the last two months clearing the energetic “trauma” associated with my birth. My mom tells me that my birth wasn’t particularly traumatic, nonetheless, it was a doozy for me to clear energetically. I went through a period of time when I was having difficulty breathing (something that is generally not a problem for me). Felt depressed. Lethargic.

From an energetic perspective, I think it makes sense that I’ve been going through this because of all of the energetic shifts the whole world has been experiencing. We are in the middle of experiencing a great shift. The shift of the ages. Everything that is not in alignment with our greatest good /highest truth feels very uncomfortable. We are being asked to shed our old skin, so that we can be reborn and remember our true magnificence.

I feel like I’m finding myself again. Discovering new ease in my body that I wasn’t aware of before. Learning to be in that place of ease. I’m still learning.

Moses is doing well, by the way (which I’m so grateful for), and is also why I can make this time about me. Mom and dad’s self care is so important (as I’m sure you know). As my mom says, “When mama is nurtured, the whole family is nurtured”.

(This is very similar to my post, “It’s Mama’s turn now” back in June).

Camel Milk for Health

Something that I’ve been recently thinking about is camel milk. That’s right, camel milk…

Several months ago, someone on one of the Job’s syndrome FB groups mentioned that camel milk is known to decrease IgE levels. I immediately dismissed it because well, I assumed that it wouldn’t be easy to get camel milk in Canada, and since Moses is allergic to cow’s milk, I didn’t think that it would be something that would be safe for us to try.

Then, out of the blue, a couple of weeks ago, one of my blog friend’s (Tamara) posted a comment about camel’s milk on my blog. Again, I didn’t give it much thought for the same reasons as above and the fact that Moses was in the hospital at the time. But then, Tamara FB’d me about it, asking me if I’ve tried it yet and mentioned that it was good for high IgE levels. And then, one of the blogs that I am now following (You are What you Eat) just posted a video from TEDx NHH about camel milk.

When something is brought to my attention three times, I start to pay attention.

And, in particular, I pay attention when parents of sensitive children say that something is unequivocally helping their children. (And as you know, I pay particular attention when something helps autistic children because I have found again and again that these same treatments also help my son)

I’ve since learned that individuals who are allergic to cow’s milk are, in fact, safely able to drink camel milk (I haven’t found any instances of individuals who don’t do well on camel milk). In fact, camel milk helps to heal the allergies of highly allergic children, including children who are allergic to cow’s milk.

Camel milk is nothing like cow’s milk, they are not even in the same family and camel milk does not contain the beta-casein, which is what causes the opiate-effect with cow’s milk. Allergies to camel milk are very rare.

[Note: Although camel milk still does contain casein, but camel milk does not contain the 2 caseins (including beta-casein) that are allergenic.  Thus people with cow's milk allergies generally have no problem drinking camel milk. In addition the problems with an immune system are healed with camel milk].

Other things that I’ve learned from the Camel Milk website is that:

• Camel milk can be easily digested by lactose-intolerant individuals.
• The lactoferrin in camel’s milk has antibacterial and antiviral properties. It also has anti-tumor properties (Ueda et al., 1957).
• Camel milk has an apparent positive effect on breast cancer (Eiseler et al., 1998).
• Camel milk has three times the amount of vitamin C than cow’s milk.
• Camel milk has been used for centuries to treat liver disease, and studies have been performed for hepatitis and liver cancer with promising results.
• Camel milk is rich in B vitamins and iron.
• The immunoglobulins in camel milk have been shown to protect against types of cancer (Fage et al., 2005).
• Camel milk has been used to cure the following illnesses:
  • Autism (Shabo and Yagil et al., 2005);
  • Milk allergies (Shabo et al., 2005);
  • Tuberculosis (Agarwal et al., 2005); and
  • Crohn’s Disease (Shabo et al., 2005, 2006; Donechenko, 1975).

I’m still reading and learning about camel milk, and deciding whether this is something that I’d like to try with Moses. I know that others in Canada have been able to access it by getting frozen camel milk FedEx’d to your home, but it’s pricey to do.

Nonetheless, I wanted to share some resources about camel milk, in case it’s something that might be of interest to one of my readers. If you do wind up trying it, let me know what you think!!

If you want to learn more:

• Jessica’s  “You are What you Eat” blog posts about camel milk and how it is helping her sensitive (allergic) boys, one of which was once considered on the autistic spectrum – here.
• Drew’s Autism Recovery Diary — Drew just recently started camel milk. Read about that here.
• Camel Milk in the Spotlight – TEDx NHH video about camel milk here.
• Camel Milk for Health  – read about Dina’s son’s remarkable recovery resulting from drinking camel milk (her son’s IgE levels were 6,000 and decreased steadily as he continued to drink camel milk). It only took two days from the time that he started drinking camel milk for her son’s health to start to improve.
• Scientific studies done on camel milk, including:
  • Etiology of autism and camel milk as therapy  
  • Camel milk for food allergies in children – follows 8 highly food allergic children (many of whom were allergic to cow’s milk). All suffered from severe allergic reactions. The most prominent symptom was diarrhea and vomiting after eating. Other accompanying symptoms were skin rashes, lactase deficiency, chemical imbalance, and asthma symptoms.Within 24 hours, all children’s symptoms decreased after having camel milk. Within 4 days, all of the allergic symptoms that the children were experiencing were eliminated. No recurrence of the allergic symptoms were reported.
• Camel Milk: Healing or Hype?  A great article about some of the science (in layman’s terms) for why camel milk is beneficial for the immune system, as well as for autistic children.
• Camel Milk for Health Facebook Group – connect with others who are using camel milk for health and find out where to get it.
• Healing with Camel Milk – connect with others who are using camel milk to heal their children and get your questions answered. It’s a closed group, but you can ask to be added to the group. Take a look at their “Docs” section, which has a lot of useful information.
• Dr. Reuven Yagil’s conference speech on video.  Video #3 is the one with most of the technical information about how the milk heals and why it’s tolerated by those with dairy allergies.  This is a MUST, if you are interested in healing with camel milk. http://www.camelmilkforhealth.com/symposium.php
• Camel milk for children with autism
• A camel milk association in the US, where you can get camel milk (but they don’t ship to Canada) – unfortunately, they are currently (Dec 2011) not accepting any new members
• Oasis Camel Dairy - America’s first camel milking farm – they do not currently sell camel’s milk, but you can contact them for a list of American herd share programs.

Update:

December 13, 2011 – My friend has ordered camel milk for her son with Job’s syndrome. Can’t wait to hear how it goes!!!

December 20, 2011 – Well, my friend’s son had a strong healing reaction to 1 teaspoon of camel milk (he was having difficulty breathing and his nose became very runny, like he was having an allergic reaction). My friend has decided to wait until she consults with his medical team about continuing with camel milk. Given that he is highly allergic, her fear is that he might be allergic to the camel milk (which is very uncommon, but then again, his condition is very uncommon and he is so highly allergic to everything, it is so hard to tell…).

Tips from another holistic mom of a child with Job’s syndrome

With her permission, I’ve decided to start a list of tips that my new friend, a holistic mom of a 12 year old child with Job’s syndrome / Hyper IgE syndrome, has shared with me. This is so that this information is available for the  Job’s syndrome community, and also so that I can easily access all of the good information that she is sharing. This will be a living list, and supplements the information that I’ve been compiling in my “Tips for Living with Job’s Syndrome” post, where I’ve compiled ideas from several different individuals with Job’s syndrome. (You can read about Moses’ current treatment plan here).

Her son’s health team includes an integrated doctor,  integrated pediatricians and an experienced homeopath. Her son’s IgE levels are around 25,000 IU/mL. His mom has tried everything over the last 12 years to help her son. Now that her son has a diagnosis and his physicians and homeopath know what they are dealing with, it will now be easier for them to treat her son.

Homeopathy

• She feels that out of all of the things that she has done for her son (and she has tried a lot), that homeopathy has been the most effective at helping to heal her son.
• His homeopath has him on a specific homeopathic regime, depending on what he needs.
• In addition, he takes two homeopathic remedies, Stapholococcus and Croton Tiglium, (both 3x a day) which are two good remedies to prevent staph infections.
• They use a homeopathic flu remedy each year for the family.

Supplements

• Omega 3 oils are important for the skin of individuals with Job’s syndrome. They haven’t yet found one that their son is not allergic to, so he takes 6,000 mg of virgin organic coconut oil daily from “Now” (i.e., 3 coconut oil pills in the morning and 3 at night), which helps his skin a lot (coconut oil is an omega 6 oil)
• He takes Natren probiotics daily to help heal his gut.
• Her son drinks honeybush (a red tea) or red roobioos tea several times a day with local honey. A good site to order tea is Mountain Rose Herbs.
• He  takes either Thorne Brand HMC Hesperidin 2 or 3 times a day or Quercetin Bromelain (all help with allergies and immune system).
• Host Defense (4 capsules / day), a mushroom supplement
• 200 mg of Zen (GABA combined with L-Theanine) for emotional stability.
• He takes l-triptophan at night because his serotonin level is so low.  It helps with his mood and to sleep.
• He will be starting camel milk soon!

Skin care

• She was told by an integrative pediatrician that another patient with Job’s syndrome has been helped tremendously by taking daily baths in Dead Sea Salt.  The best brand is a company called Ahava (you can order online).  They mix in bleach baths once a week as well, and also add tea tree oil to the salt baths sometimes.
• She  makes calendula oil in big batches for his skin. “We order fresh organic calendula flowers online, mix with organic olive oil, put in glass jars and stir daily for six weeks. Have a dry paper towel or other breathable top during the process. After 6 weeks, pour through strainer and it’s a soft comfy oil that my 12 year old will actually put on himself after years of fighting all else. You can add lavender essential oil, tea tree or other organic essential oils to the calendula.  The calendula is anti inflammatory and helps fight infections. We still use steroid cream for spots that look like they are getting infected, before applying the oil all over. It soaks in nicely. You can order fresh calendula flowers (4 oz makes a ton of oil) from Mountain Rose Herbs online.”

Medication

• Her son is not on prophylactic antibiotics. (He was on prophylactic antibiotics for 6-9 months, and it wrecked havoc with his gut). He has been off of prophylactic antibiotics for 18 months now.
• Ketotifen (an antihistamine)
• Albuteral and Flovent morning and night for his asthma, which is mostly under control. They often use the nebulizer, sometimes the buffer depending on how bad it is.

Mama’s Self Care

• She does yoga and uses homeopathy to help with her own self-care (just like me!)

I know that there’s more, but it’s a good place to start!

Connections with a holistic mama of a child with Job’s syndrome

I’ve been thankful that through this blog, I’ve “met” many other like-minded and holistic moms, and am thankful for the support that I’ve received during difficult times, as well as the sharing of information amongst us all.

I’m particularly excited that I have recently connected with a like-minded mom of a 12 year old boy, who was recently diagnosed with Job’s syndrome (Hyper IgE Syndrome). She has an amazing integrated doctor (and integrated pediatricians) who are treating her son, as well as a wonderful homeopath. I’m thrilled, thrilled, thrilled beyond belief to have met her, as prior to this, I haven’t found any other individuals or parents of individuals with this diagnosis who is treating this condition holistically.  Now, I have someone who I can share notes with!  We had a Skype date today, and she shared information about how her integrated doctors and homeopath are treating her son.

I was absolutely thrilled to find out that her son is not on prophylactic antibiotics as I have not found anyone else who has Job’s syndrome who is not on prophylactic antibiotics. I feel less alone (and less crazy) knowing that someone else is approaching Job’s syndrome in a holistic way (and has been finding that the holistic and integrative approach to be an effective one).

Yay, yay, yay!!!!!

I am also happy to know that there are integrated doctors out there in the world (they are not quite yet here in the small city of 200,000 where we live), but it’s great to know that they are out there.

To read about her son’s current treatment plan, click here.

Family pics

Here are some of our family pictures that we taken in early November. I *love* these pictures, which show our family, healthy, happy and rested. 

Family

My little man

Goofing off

Dancing

The loves of my life

Happy!

A picture of Moses and mama to follow shortly (need to find the cd with the rest of the pictures on them)…

From dental abscess to pneumonia

Here’s the story of how a dental abscess can turn into pneumonia for a sensitive child like my boy. I’m still processing these events on several levels.  During my last post, I focussed on our many blessings. 

Dental Abscess

On the evening of November 9, 2011, Moses complained about a “bump” on his face. Although it wasn’t easy to see, when we palpated it, we realized that the abscess was quite well developed, so we brought him to the ER the next day. (Note that the development of abscesses are typical of individuals with Job’s Syndrome, and Moses has had several in the past). After an ultrasound and x-rays, they discovered that the abscess was the result of an infected tooth, and the infection had migrated up to his cheek. The abscess measured 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm (quite large)!  They started him on an IV antibiotic and we stayed overnight at the hospital. It was a bit of bad timing because this was the Thursday before the Remembrance Day long weekend and the dentist wasn’t going to look at it until Monday. The next day, they put Moses on day passes from the hospital, so that he didn’t need to stay between antibiotic doses. We needed to bring him back at 8 am, 4 pm, and 10:30 pm, for about 45 minutes.

I consulted with Moses’ homeopath and she prepared a new drainage dropper for him, as well as a new Thuj dropper to help resolve the abscess.

During the first two nights at home, Moses’ abscess started draining through his mouth (he had bloody pus on his bedsheets from where it was draining). The good news about this is that they didn’t need to surgically drain the abscess, as they did twice in the past.

During this entire time, Moses remained in a great mood, and so I wasn’t very concerned. My Heilkunstler always reminds me that Moses’ state of mind is a better indicator of overall health than the symptoms (in this case, the abscess).  I knew that the abscess would resolve itself (in the Heilkunst view, an abscess represents underlying issues being brought to the surface, to be resolved). I was making peace with all of the hospital interventions, knowing that they too would pass and his Heilkunstler would be able to prescribe any homeopathic remedies that might be necessary to clear the negative effects of all of the interventions (i.e., IV antibiotics, ultrasound, x-rays, anesthetic).

Four days later (on the Monday following the Remembrance Day weekend), the dentist removed the offending tooth. The sad thing about this was that back in April, Moses’ dentist gave us the choice for one of Moses’ molars to be pulled or for it to receive a root canal. We opted for a root canal (due to my insistence) because one of our natural health practitioners had mentioned the negative impacts of teeth extraction. Well, if I could turn back time, I would have opted for the tooth to be extracted back in April because it would have saved us a lot of time and agony. (See also this article posted on the Heilkunst site re: potential problems with root canals).

Moses remained in a great mood during this entire time, but after the tooth was removed, he started vomiting (likely because of all of the blood and pus he swallowed after the extraction — the abscess was draining into his mouth). He vomited again during the middle of the night twice and couldn’t keep any liquids in his system. He spiked a fever of 39.9. Oh my.

Pneumonia

During the next two days (Day 5 and 6), Moses’ health deteriorated quickly. He couldn’t keep anything down, not even water. He had terrible diarrhea. He complained of a headache. He wasn’t feeling good at all. He ran a continuous fever, despite the fact that the nurses were constantly giving him Tylenol and Advil (something I don’t agree with, but that’s another story). He received more x-rays for his stomach and his lungs and complained “I can’t take this anymore”. My poor baby. I was worried and upset. Livid actually.

His Heilkunstler felt that he was having a hard time after the dental anaesthesia, and his body was also having a hard time with all of the suppression that was going on (IV antibiotics, anti-fever medication, etc). She started him on new homeopathic droppers for the emotional stress that he was under, as well as homeopathic powders to clear the effects of the anaesthesia, ultrasound, x-rays, IV antibiotics, etc.

And then they diagnosed him with pneumonia (on Day 7). Ack!!  A serious pneumonia that affected 2/3 of his lungs, his entire mid and lower lobes of this right lung.

I was comforted by his Heilkunstler’s reminder that pneumonia (in the viewpoint of Heilkunst) is a strong healing reaction (not a bad thing in their opinion) and that given that Moses’ pneumonia was so extensive, it was an indication that his sustentive power (the part of his life force that works to keep him healthy and in balance) was strong. A good sign that his body was working hard to bring itself to balance after all of the destabilizing events that his body was under (related to the aggressive allopathic treatment that he was receiving).

The medical doctors aggressively treated his pneumonia with four antibiotics (three via IV delivered 8 times a day and one oral dose). Moses didn’t have any energy and he couldn’t walk on his own. We had to carry him to the bathroom. He often couldn’t hold his urine or his bowels and soiled the bed several times. My poor boy.

We received some good news on Day 8. Moses’ IgE levels decreased yet again to 16,612 IU/mL (down from 22,311IU/mL just a month ago). I felt that this was a sign that underneath the symptoms, his overall body is getting stronger and more well.

A day after they started him on IV antibiotics, he stopped having fevers, but a couple of days later, he started having fevers again. This puzzled the doctors since this was an atypical response to the IV antibiotics. His state of mind started to improve during this time (which is something that I took strong note of — in the Heilkunst view, the state of mind is the best indicator of health), so I knew that Moses was on the mend (in my mind, the homeopathic remedies helped with this).

Blood Transfusion

A few days later, they noticed that Moses’ hemoglobin levels were dropping (it was 110 g/Lwhen we admitted him to the hospital and it declined to 66 g/L  on Day 11. Normal is 120 g/L or higher). His blood cells were hemolyzing (breaking down) either as an inappropriate response to the infection or as a result of the stress that his body is under, related to the fact that Moses has an enzyme deficiency, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G-6-PD deficiency, which makes his blood susceptible to hemolysis when his body is stressed). We knew about Moses’ G-6-PD deficiencey due to difficulties that ensued shortly after Moses was born.

That’s when they decided that he needed a blood transfusion. Ack! This was just getting worst and worst.

We reluctantly agreed to the blood transfusion after considering the risks associated with doing so. We asked if we could pray over the blood before they started the transfusion, and the nurse respectfully gave us all the time that we needed with Moses’ new blood. I prayed that the blood would help with my son’s healing. DH said his own silent prayers over the new blood. I told everyone to imagine “healthy, new, shiny, dancing, healing blood to help my boy”.

His temperature rose when they started the blood transfusion, and for some reason it was painful when they started the transfusion. We worried that he was having a reaction to it (one of the potential risks is an allergic reaction, even anaphylaxis to the new blood). Twenty minutes later, they tried again, and this time there were no problems. That was the last fever that he had.

Healing

During the next four days, Moses’ energy levels and appetite slowly returned and his hemoglobin levels not only stabilized, but actually increased from 106 g/L the day after his transfusion to 120 g/L (i.e., to normal levels, the highest his hemoglobin levels have ever been) on the day we were discharged (Day 15).

We were happy and thankful to bring our boy home. There was a big snow storm during the night before and the morning that Moses was discharged. As we were driving home, it occurred to DH and I that the new snow symbolized a fresh start for our family and our boy. He was discharged on the day that our American neighbours to the south celebrate Thanksgiving. So much for us to be thankful for.

Another thing that I wanted to mention is that Moses’ skin during this time has remained clear. He seems to be releasing through his lungs, but not through his skin (whereas in the past, he released through both avenues). I need to remind myself to count the blessings where they can be found.

Joy pockets #3

My boy’s still in the hospital, and I feel that I want to focus on the blessings. I’m joining in on Holistic Mama’s  joy pockets this week.

Support, Connection and Love

• Friends and family visiting;
• Moses’ grammie is sick too, so hasn’t been able to visit, but has been making sure that we have home-cooked meals to eat;
• An outpouring of calls, emails and FB messages from friends and family far and near;
• A loving call from an auntie, who I haven’t heard from in years;
• Dear friends bringing us dinner from The Sprout to our hospital room last night;
• Moses’ Kindergarten class sent a get well card and pictures from his classmates now decorate his hospital room;
• Tons of care packages for Moses to brighten his day;
• Calls from his Heilkunstler and amazing support from her;
• Some amazing nurses;
• DH and I sharing cuddles in the hospital room before one of us heads home for the night;
• My employer being amazingly supportive during this time, so I am free to take this time off of work and focus on my boy;
• Cuddles with my boy; and
• “I love you, mom”.

Healing

• Moses’ IgE levels have decreased yet again to 16,612 IU/mL (down from 22,311IU/mL just a month ago) — this is a true miracle, my friends — and, I think a sign that underneath the symptoms, his overall body is getting stronger and more well. In his Heilkunstler’s opinion, Moses’ body is getting stronger, which is why it was able to create such a large healing reaction in the form of pneumonia.
• Comfort food;
• Laughter; and
• Daytime naps.

Please continue to pray with us, my friends, envisioning Moses’ strong body, continuing to do its thing. Continuing to heal.

November 24, 2011 – Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. (I’m in Canada, but was born in the U.S.) and I have a lot to be thankful for. My boy is home. Hemoglobin levels are normal (120), the highest it’s ever been. Lungs are clearing. He’s back to himself emotionally. Still recovering physically. But I’m so happy that my baby boy is home.

Research about the pneumococcal vaccine (Prevnar)

Moses’ doctors are strongly recommending that we get him vaccinated with the pneumococcal vaccine (Prevar) (once he’s recovered from pneumonia). Below is some of the research that I’ve compiled about this vaccine.

Note that immunocompromised children are the ones that are at the greatest risk for an adverse effect related to vaccines, and Moses has a history of adverse effects with vaccines. Also, it doesn’t appear that Prevnar is even effective at decreasing the incidence of pneumonia (there has not been a decrease in the rate of incidence of pneumonia in the US  since Prevnar was introduced), although it does increase the risk of developing severe lung infections and more difficult to treat cases of pneumonia. Note that the vaccine is for only 7 or 13 strains (depending on the vaccine) and there are 90 known strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The risk just doesn’t seem to be worth it.

As of today (Nov 17, 2011), data from Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) showed 55,122 adverse reactions to the three pneumoccocal vaccines (including Prevnar [Pneumococcal - 7 valent, Pneumococcal - 13 valent, and Pneumococcal - Polyvalent). These included:

• 1247 deaths;
• 10,489 serious cases;
• 1449 life threatening conditions;
• 973 permanent disabilities;
• 8,477 hospitalisations;
• 491 prolonged hospitalisations; and
• 21,067 emergency room cases.

Reactions of three individuals to the Prevnar vaccine (from the National Vaccine Information Centre website):

• Allyson (14 months) - hospitalization with bacterial sepsis; developed milk sensitivity that wasn't there before
• Mira (2 months) - developed persistent eczema.
• Vincent (12 months) - sick for a week with fever, loss of appetite, sleep disorder and serious weight loss. He also developed severe eczema.

Of the people that we know with Job's syndrome who received the Prevnar vaccination:

• one developed pneumonia two days later;
• one developed cellulitis (a bacterial skin infection); and
• 3 did not have a reaction to the vaccine.

What's in the Prevnar Vaccine? 

The following information is from the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network (VRAN) (a Canadian website)

Prevnar – 7-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine - each dose (0.5ml) contains:

• 2ug of each saccharide for serotypes 4, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F and 23F,
• 4 ug of serotype 6B (16 ug total saccharides); and
• 20ug of CRM197 carrier protein.

Nonmedicinal ingredients:

• aluminum phosphate adjuvant (this is the problem. aluminum increases IgE levels, and my son's IgE levels are already ridiculously high. Read Dr. Mercola's article about why aluminum is even more toxic than mercury).
  
• sodium chloride
• and water for injection

Product monograph is here.

How is vaccine safety determined?

The following information is from the Flu Preventions Naturally Website here.

Of course, there have been studies to determine the "safety" of the Prevnar vaccine. The main study was the Northern California Kaiser Permanente (NCKP) Prevnar Efficacy Trial conducted from October 1995 through August 20, 1998. The NCKP trial involved 37,816 infants who received either the Prevnar vaccine or a control vaccine at two, four, six and 12-15 months of age. Smaller scale follow-up studies were also conducted in Finland.

It is important to understand how these studies are conducted and how the "medical experts" decide whether a vaccine is safe. Without any background information, the average lay person would assume that if a vaccine has been declared to be "safe" it means that studies show it does not produce any serious side effects.

No so. In the case of the NCKP study, of the 17,066 subjects who received at least one dose of the Prevnar vaccine, the researchers recorded:

• 162 visits to the hospital emergency room within 3 days of vaccination, including 20 cases of seizure, 15 cases of otitis media (ear infection), six cases of pneumonia and 1 case of sepsis.
• 24 hospitalisations, including two cases of pneumonia, one case of otitis media and one case of congestive heart failure. In addition to this there were also 162 visits to the emergency room department including 20 cases of seizure, 15 cases of otitis media, 6 cases of pneumonia and 1 case of sepsis.
• 12 deaths, including five cases of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome, meaning sudden, unexplained deaths) and seven cases "with clear alternative cause" meaning there could have been another reason, apart from vaccination, to explain the death.

How can such serious side effects be considered acceptable?

The following information is from the Flu Preventions Naturally Website here.

Here's the interesting part. In normal drug trials, the experimental drug is compared to a placebo, a "dummy drug" that is usually made from sugar. In the case of a vaccine trial, however, the experimental vaccine is compared, not to a "dummy" but to another vaccine. As long as the experimental vaccine produces no worse side effects than the other vaccine, it is considered "safe".

There's more... The experimental vaccine does not even have to be compared to one that is already approved and known to be safe. In the NCKP study, the Prevnar vaccine was compared to another experimental vaccine, for meningitis. And it so happened that the other experimental vaccine produced even more deaths - although fewer of the other less serious side effects - than Prevnar. And so Prevnar was pronounced "safe".

More info about the risks of the Prevnar vaccine can be found at the following websites:

From the Vaccination Risk Awareness website:

• Prevnar results in "superbug" ear infections;
• Prevnar is causing pneumonia to mutate to different types;
• Prevnar increases severe lung infections by 70% (PEDIATRICS Vol. 125 No. 1 January 2010, pp. 26-33); and
• There has not been a decrease in the rate of incidence of pneumonia in the U.S. since the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine (Reuters Health).

From the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network (VRAN) website: here and here.

• The US FDA only approved Prevnar® for use against the invasive diseases, p. meningitis and p. bacteremia, not otitis media or pneumonia. The 2008 Prevnar® monograph tells us that, in the US clinical trials, pneumonia cases were reduced by only 10% and “The estimated reduction for all AOM [acute otitis media] episodes was 7%”.

Read what Vaccine Truth has to say about Prevnar’s risks here.

Read about other information that I’ve compiled about vaccinations in general here.

Update:

December 14, 2011 – DH also agrees that we will not be vaccinating Moses with Prevnar. I’m so thankful and relieved.

“I love you, even when you’re angry”

Well, dear readers, we’re going through a bit of a rough patch right now. Moses has been in and out of the hospital for the last week due to a dental abscess, which has escalated to him throwing up everything in his stomach for the last three days, a fever, a terrible headache, a bad tummy ache and, now, we just found out that he has developed pneumonia! Ack!

I kept my calm for the first five days, but yesterday, I started to lose my patience (angry at the hospital, the medical establishment [all of their interventions just drive the "disease" deeper into Moses' system, causes Moses' body to create larger healing reactions], and then the doctors are bringing in “bigger guns” to suppress the healing reactions. Just so tired of the situation). What my boy needs is rest (which you don’t get at the hospital), a calm environment and to be at home. His body needs a rest and to be supported, not suppressed.

We all need a rest.

Last night, I was tired and angry. Sadly, I started to lose patience with Moses.

As we were getting ready for bed last night, my sweet boy told me, “I love you, mom…. even when you’re angry”.

Oh, my sweet boy.

As one of my friends remarked after witnessing him calmly and contently playing on his hospital bed: what a teacher he is.

I told him that I loved him too, and told him that I was sorry that I was being such a cranky puss.

To which, he responded, “That’s okay. Sometimes, I get angry too.”

International Memorial for Vaccine Victims

If you or your child has suffered from a vaccine injury, I encourage you to share your story on the National Vaccine Information Centre’s (NVIC) International Memorial for Vaccine Victims’ website.

If you have a vaccine injury story, please share it. We need to let the world know. I submitted the story of Moses’ reaction to the MMR vaccine today.

An even better website to search if you want to find out about vaccine reactions is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). To date, the VAERS website has 375,565 vaccine reactions that have been reported (whereas the NVIC’s website only has 171 so far).

In Canada…

• You can also report your vaccine injury to Health Canada using their Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting Form.
• You can also report a vaccine injury to Vaccination Risk Awareness Network (VRAN), which is a non-profit educational society.

In the US…

• You can report a vaccine reaction to the US Government Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
• You can report a vaccine reaction to the US National Vaccine Information Center NVIC. You can also search the NVIC Vaccine Reaction Database. NVIC is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1982 by parents of vaccine-injured children.

As most of you know, I’ve been compiling stories of vaccine injury in a blog post here. It’s the most read post on my blog.