Eating My Elephant..One Big Bite at a Time!!

In the midst of all the bio-medical interventions we are pursuing in order to recover our son, God has led us to yet another source that I find very intriguing.  Per the suggestion of our son's naturopath I picked up the GAPS book (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) , and wow, all I can say is "I see the light"!!!!  This book clearly delineates all the health issues that my son has been battling with: yeast and bacteria overgrowth, casein and gluten peptides, allergies not to mention my own issues with yeast infections, chronic illness, allergies, etc  The basic premise of the book is that poor gut health can cause all these issues because food is not being properly processed/digested,etc.  The book outlines a program to restore a person to full health with no medicine, just good clean wholesome food.  The only challenge with this is that will mean even more time in the kitchen than before and more food restrictions.  Now our family will be grain free/starch free/and refined sugar free as well.  Additionally,  I will be culturing yogurt and kefir, making sauerkraut, soaking nuts, etc. to be sure that food will be able to be properly absorbed.  For my type A personality, this is a lot to take on.  Then there is the added stress of knowing that this can be that final puzzle piece I am missing to fully recover my son and the stress is really starting to mount.  Thankfully, there is a saving grace to this giant elephant that has now died in our kitchen.  There are resources (lots and lot of them) such as the GAPS Yahoo Group, Tribal Mamas, the book the GAPS Guide,  all to direct me in baby steps towards our goal.
With each step I take, I know I am one step closer, and my family is closer to healing and fully restored health. My home is grain free now (aside from popcorn kernals and brown rice pasta (which will keep), we are whittling our pantry supplies down to only the essentials, I have our entire family taking cod liver oil now,  I have my first batch of sauerkraut fermenting in our cupboard, and I bought a yogurt maker to culture our own dairy.
For some reason this takes me back to my senior year of college.  It was my first semester and I was taking 21 units.  To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement.  One night I called my mom crying on the phone trying to figure out how I could study for my finals and complete my (several) term papers at the same time.  She stopped and prayed with me, but ended our conversation with a question.  The question was: "Charise, how do you eat an elephant?".  Since I don't regularly eat elephants I was befuddled.  And so I said, "I don't know." To this my mom responded, "One bite at a time".  From this lesson I learned that looking at the whole picture would cause this feeling of being overwhelmed.  But if I just focused on the one project at hand, complete it, and then move onto the next project, it wasn't so daunting.  It is this lesson that I am using to get me through the GAPS program.  I am focusing on one project/food, etc. at a time, and I am slowly seeing my dead elephant disappear in my kitchen.  All that is now remaining is a the skeleton and a few tendons and ligaments.  Perhaps that will be my next batch of broth.  :)

I am NOT afraid!!

Lately I have been battling fear, mostly in regards to our son who is dealing with some autism like symptoms.  On my last post, our son was accidentally given Cheerios and we noticed some huge set-backs as a result.  Since that time we have had several tests run which confirmed some of our suspicions.  First, our son has a serve reaction to casein and gluten, so much so, that it causes his body to produce a form of morphine and causes him to act mildly retarded.  The thought that casein and gluten could cause that much damage in our son is overwhelming to say the least.  We also found he is allergic to oats, cashews, walnuts, safflower, sunflower, garlic, soy and cheese.  Obviously the oat allergy helped us to understand why his body responds the way it does to Cheerios.  Add to this that our son tested high to HPHPA (an intestinal bacteria, AKA Clostridia, that causes aggression and defiance) and yeast (which causes language issues) and we have a recipe for disaster.  With so many allergies and food sensitivities we are really restricted on eating-out with our son.  Anything that he consumes can contain an ingredient that his body reacts to, and often those ingredients do not need to be disclosed if there is a "trace" amount.  This has created extra work for me as I have had to make everything at home for him:  ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, spaghetti sauce, almond milk, or any other item that could have a potential contaminate.
We do have an amazing doctor who we are so thankful for.  He is directing us on the tests to have run on our son, giving prescriptions for medications to eliminate the yeast and bacteria, helping us with diet modifications and supplementation, etc.  With each step we take we notice our son is coming back to us.  This is no coincidence.  God has laid the way for us to embark on this adventure even before we suspected autism.  He put it on our hearts not to vaccinate our son, he lead us to a DAN! doctor as our pediatrician (before our son was born), and he also gave us 10 hours of in-home ABA therapy less than a month after we called the Regional Center (which is completely unheard of these days).  I have seen God move, and I am thankful!!!
Despite the fact that I have seen God's hand in this journey, I still can't help but fear. The many "what ifs" that Satan plagues me with are overwhelming at times and I find myself "caving in".  It comforts me to know that I am not alone on this journey to trust God.  In the Bible there are a plethora of passages on fear. In fact, as we come to Christmas I can't help but think of the shepherds in Bethlehem the night Christ was born.  For some reason this passage in Luke 2:10 has been dear to my heart these days.  "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior, who is Christ the Lord."  Oh, how i need that savior.  I need Him to save me from my sins, from the evil one who causes me to question His greatness and goodness, to save my son from the effects of autism, to save my marriage from the stresses that it incurs, etc. So much to be saved from, and yet, there is immense power in that tiny baby lying in the manger.  Power to conquer death, to offer eternal life to all who believe, to heal, and so much more.   God, give me faith and remind me that I have no reason to fear!!!