My Deepest Apologies!

No, I'm not apologizing because it has been nearly a month since we have posted here although there should be many more posts coming soon (assuming normal bed time routines continue!). No, I'm apologizing because I've been neglectful in spreading the word about the new Ecopolitan website, and an exciting new program the Ecopolitan's Dr. T has teamed up with the Raw Divas to do -- a professional 90 Day Detox!

See so many of you -- lots of online and real life friends and acquaintances have been asking me for recipes and nutritional information. And that is GREAT. I LOVE and feel honored to help out as I'm able to, including sharing recipes and ideas. In fact I'm excited to start doing more in-person "Green Smoothie Parties" soon too ... what could be more fun that nourishing our bodies while also nourishing our social selves?!?

However, because I didn't want to be pushy I always held back and didn't push many of the programs (except for maybe the many awesome free programs and information), and honestly I figured people might be scared of the term "detox." If you are like I was 6 months ago you may think that term should be reserved for those dealing with street drug withdrawal or something else similar ... however, sadly anyone eating anything close to a standard American diet (SAD) or exposed to environmental chemicals (we all are), is carrying a high toxin load in their bodies.

The results of such toxins can be as "harmless" as extra weight in order for our wonderfully smart bodies to store the toxins or it can be much worse -- all kinds of chronic and degenerative illnesses can be related to these toxins (please, go read at the links and the blog entries -- and listen to the audio Q&A here http://tinyurl.com/bs97rz and if you have more questions, leave comments on the blog there).

I have learned much of this through the last 6 months, but I still didn't think I was ready for a professional deep tissue detox ... and then I listened to the Q&A with Dr. T and Tera, and now I know that I am ready. I'm not scared or nervous, and I realize to really regain my health I need to follow a doctor-advised professional program.

So, what about the cost??? I suggest you compare it to other things you have done in your life, especially health care related, or that you are willing to do in your life. Or if you are just focusing on weight loss, compare it to the many programs available for weight loss and what they charge. I have a feeling that will put the cost in perspective.

For me the thing that immediately comes to my mind is the FIRST appointment I had with La Crosses' "Alternative Doctor" ... it was $500 when I walked out of there with a bag FULL of supplements, a few sheets advising me of what foods NOT to eat (but nothing telling me what TO eat), and of course directions to come back many times for more appointments. I spent a few hundred more dollars before giving up and moving on to another alterntaive-minded doctor in the area -- this one covered by insurance so co-pays were only $15 but I had so many appointments that I'm sure it was easily $300 before I quite seeing that doctor after very little change in my condition and many lost hours to me in over a YEAR's time. And of course many of the therapies were not covered by insurance -- Acupuncture alone cost me several hundred dollars, and I was also still on a number of supplements and prescriptions. Heck even the FREE info from the Raw Divas and Ecopolitan (and many other sites I will link to this week from my Learningtoeat.wordpress.com blog), helped me more than all of those expensive therapies!

So, yes, that put the cost in perspective for me!

And with the results of only changing my diet, why should I be shy about letting you all know about how you can find results even faster and with more assitance than I did!

I thank God daily for the abundance of REAL FRESH food He provides ... AND I thank him for the Raw Divas (there is an entire sisterhood) and other knowledgable and encouraging friends I have found along the way!

And again I'm sorry that I didn't let you all know about this as soon as I found out! The official deadline for signing up for this LIVE version of the 90 day detox is February 1st!!! However, I think I could twist Tera's arm to let you still join on day 2, 3 or maybe even 4. ;-)

If now isn't the right time for you, then listen to the Q&A anyway so you have the info for when you ARE ready. And then sign up for the FREE 7 day detox ... Green Smoothie Challenge ... or just join in the blog or twitter chatter! :-)

To your health!
~Tami

P.S. There really will be more blog posts all around soon ... Love you all xoxo

Celiac Journey: Part 1

I thought I better write part one before we get to part two. We will hopefully get to part two on Tuesday.

About 6 weeks ago we took Nessa in to Allergy Associates here in La Crosse (www.allergy-solutions.com). One of the reasons we took her there is because I suspected she had some food allergies giving her "digestive issues" as I politely call them. I had suspected this earlier but during potty training it became even more obvious, and of course now she can talk about it. So the doctor we saw there did run food allergy tests but he also ran a celiac panel due to the GI symptoms she was having. On March 14th we received a letter in the mail with her test results. It stated that all of the tests for food allergies were negative, but her celiac panel was positive.

(Anyone reading that needs a basic definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease)

I walked around in shock for hours as I was just familiar enough with Celiac that I knew this was going to be a big deal, and would not go away with age or any type of allergy treatment (as I had hoped when I went to Allergy Associates). I also knew that we couldn't merely treat the symptoms with drugs even if we wanted to. No, there is only one way to treat Celiac -- COMPLETE Gluten avoidance. This means no wheat, barely (malt), or rye products; and no products made from wheat, barley (malt), rye or a derivative of those three products, and no oats for the most part either ... and we won't even talk about cross contamination of many, many products (bulk bins at health stores, production lines that produce wheat products along with the nonwheat products, and so on).

I kept reading the paragraph over and over:

From Doctor's letter:
"Antibody assays for gluten intolerance (also called celiac sprue) are significantly positive. Anti-gliadin IgG is positive, but the most significant and reliable test, anti t-TG IgA is greatly elevated. There is no question that this means she has celiac sprue. Although the gold standard for celiac sprue is an intestinal biopsy, it is an invasive procedure which could and should be avoided."

For anybody interested in numbers, Nessa's TTG-A level was 159.74 and anything over 30 is considered positive.

And we would need to decide if we were going to pursue an intestinal biopsy or not. It is indeed the gold standard for diagnosis. The allergist doesn't think it's needed, but yet he referred us to a pediatric GI doctor that surely will think it's needed (?). When I talk to other parents raising kids with Celiac I get strong responses on both sides, and am left more confused than ever. After a few weeks of research, much thought, discussion between Shawn and I, and prayer, we have decided that we almost certainly will pursue a biopsy. The only reason we wouldn't is if the specialist feels the other evidence is strong enough without a biopsy, but that is not expected to happen.

The specialist? Oh yes. It was clear from just a couple of phone calls and a couple of phone messages from one of my own doctors that nobody in La Crosse would see a soon-to-be-3 year old for a Celiac diagnosis, so we were referred to Mayo in Rochester. And, after faxing Nessa's test results to them, we were in fact invited to have an apt. with them (yes, this is how it works). So, we have an apt. with Dr. Rayna Grothe on Tuesday April 8th at 7:45 a.m. Please send us your thoughts and prayers for this apt. to go well on all levels. And pray for my anxiety not to get out of control too! :-)

What we expect to happen on Tuesday is to have a lengthy apt. discussing Nessa's symptoms, etc., Celiac, and what to do next. And then we will schedule when to come back for "additional tests" within the next week or two, and those tests will likely include an intestinal biopsy. To biopsy a 3 year old requires general anesthesia, and that is the main risk of the procedure.

I'll try to update the blog when I can on Tuesday to let you all know how it went and where we're going from here.

In the meantime I continue to spend my spare breaths researching Celiac and how to raise a celiac child. There are thankfully some excellent resources now as compared to merely a decade ago. I have so many offers of support and assistance online that I cannot keep up with them in my meager online time (I've also been putting in overtime hours at work), and yet there are very few local resources and almost nobody I talk to here has even heard of it. There is still a great deal of education to be done so that everyone knows about this under-diagnosed disease!

I've gone through shock and a little grief already and likely will again as it is simply part of the emotional process. One thing my past experiences have taught me is not to fight that emotional process! At the same time Shawn and I both realize it is something we can easily deal with, and in fact we are so grateful that the diagnosis was a not a disease that was more immediately life-threatening or included treatments with potential (or certain) side effects. This really is very doable, and will be so worth it to have a happy healthy daughter. We're also thankful that it was caught SO much earlier than most pediatric celiac is diagnosed as frankly Nessa wasn't that sick compared to many of the stories I have already read. And it is a proven fact that the earlier Celiac is diagnosed and treated with the gluten-free diet, the less likely the individual is to develop additional autoimmune disosrders, associated disorders, or even cancers.

Just a few of my favorite sites lately (will eventually add to sidebar of blog)

http://www.celiacdisease.net/ -- University of Chicago

http://www.celiaccenter.org/ --University of Maryland

http://www.twincitiesrock.org/ -- Twin Cities ROCK (Raising Our Celiac Kids)

http://www.glutenfreecupboard.com/index.html -- Rochester Gluten Free Store

http://www.celiac.com/

http://www.sillyyaks.com/content/index.php