Missing Gluten and gluten mishaps

Honestly, dairy hasn’t been missed too much in the house. I would say cheese has been the hardest, only because there is absolutely no alternative that tastes remotely like it, let alone tastes good at all.  So we do without.  Gluten however is an entirely different challenge, simply because it is in everything.  Hidden gluten everywhere!  Breakfasts have been easy, we have replaced cereals with more smoothies, GF oatmeal, eggs, and GF pancakes.  I found a recipe for GF Cinnamon pancakes that are not to bad, they freeze ok as well.  Lunches are not bad,  plenty of options to throw in a third grader’s lunch box.  Dinner is definitely the easiest, with plenty of Quinoa options.  The difficulty for our family has been the snacks.  Not that we were huge snackers before, but it was always nice to have some quick convenient snacks.  So in my naive determination to  find GF/CF options for all our snacks, I set out to find recipes and purchase every alternative type of flour I could find.  Really, am I the only one to have not heard of Garbanzo bean flour?  So far, my attempts have been just ok. My first batch of GF cookies was not so great, but I used a baking mix which left a weird aftertaste. The second batch I used rice and sorghum flours which were much better. The pancakes as mentioned above were not bad, I made some killer raspberry bars this weekend and one horrible disgusting pizza crust.  So the crusade goes on as  I try more recipes and more premade items.

Bye Bye Dairy

So we left the doctor with a bag of supplements, blood draw orders, and a plan for G’s new diet.  The run down:

Non Fasting Labs: CBC, C  reactive protein, celiac serology, Vitamin D level, Red blood cell elements.

Fasting Labs: chemistry panel, fatty acid profile, carnitine profile, Plasma amino acids, SAGE food allergy testing.

Diet plan, week one:  Start by eliminating all dairy products, introduce gluten free products, reduce sugar, avoid corn syrup, and avoid all food dyes.

Diet plan, week two: Eliminate all gluten and  minimize corn and soy.

Start supplements: Probiotic, Vitamin , Magnesium, aloe vera juice, multi vitamin, and enzymes.

Completely overwhelming at first. But we started slow.  I started by purchasing every alternative milk I thought G would like.  Coconut, soy, rice, hemp, almond.  Almond and Coconut were the winners with coconut being the preferred.  I also bought two cook books and what seems to be a million types of flour alternatives.  But the most important purchase so far, an ice cream maker…the child must have some fun with all this.  So we begin with our first homemade GF/CF recipe… vanilla ice cream! 

My plan is to try and create as much of his favorite foods here at home so that he doesn’t miss his treats as much.  Being a sugar kid, ice cream seemed to be a good start.  Thank goodness for coconut milk!  I will post my ice cream recipes that we have tried so far.

All in all eliminating dairy is fairly easy, next comes the elimination of gluten. I fear that may be more challenging.

The Day Has Come…Our Naturopathic MD

I knew that this was not covered by insurance and I knew it would be expensive. But what I didn’t know was how much this was going to be worth to G.  This was a scary appointment to arrive to, I don’t know why but it just was for me.  I was anxious and nervous. Dr. S welcomed us to her office and spent over 2 hours with us, discussing G’s medical history and current symptoms.  All I can say is this woman is brilliant and amazing.  After going through all our history, she provides us with a plan, finally a plan that doesn’t include new drugs and waiting.  She immediately puts G on a gluten free/caisen free diet with supplements and vitamins.  Probiotic therapy for his bowels. We begin with blood work to evaluate Celiac, allergies, CBC, everything…finally a holistic approach.  I am excited and scared at the undertaking of  a GF/CF diet. My little 9-year-old team mate is in good spirits about our new adventures. And so we begin with a new plan and a bag full of goodies.

Research, Research, Research

One thing that I learned from the specialist was that many of her patients had excellent results from the Feingold Diet and I had never heard of this diet. So the Google search begins. As everyone knows, Google opens so many doors it can be overwhelming. So I settled on a book by Dr. Kenneth Bock, Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, Allergies.  Amazing book!  It was as if the pieces were always there and I just hadn’t put it together. I felt like I had let G down. The signs were all there, I just didn’t know.  G has always suffered from Gastro problems and was medicated for years for severe constipation.  So my research leads me to a Gluten Free/Casien Free diet.   Anyone who knows anything about that diet knows how much of a life change that  requires.  So I use the Autism Research Institute to find a Defeat Autism Now doctor and find our local Naturopathic MD.  Our appointment is set and we are waiting for what we will learn.

The Specialist

So just a recap on how the diagnosis went down on January 31st.  The doctor starts the appointment with gross motor skills tests. Asking G to hop, skip and do a jumping jack, all of which he can’t do very well and it is actually quite awkward.  I immediately felt like a failed mother for not knowing that my child couldn’t do those simple things.  I had never asked him to do a jumping jack so I didn’t know.  The next part of our appointment was spent in the doctors office where we went through all off G’s medical and social history. We discussed how school was for him and how he handled friendships.  After an hour, I was asked to leave the room so that the doctor could do some academic testing.  Thirty minutes later I am brought back  in for the recap and plan moving forward.  I am told that my child is extremely smart, gifted in many subjects. Which is very exciting but also worries me that boredom could be or could become a major issue.  I am also told that he is quirky, that certain behaviors allow the doctor to check boxes.  Boxes in the ADHD world and boxes in the autism world.  While he does not have Asperger’s, he appears to be on the Spectrum, with something called PDD-NOS.  I sat across from the doctor as she rattled all this off and felt like I was getting lost in all her words.  Scribbling notes and trying to keep up.  So finally she tells me her plan. Karate to help with the gross motor skills, increased dosage of medication, continued social skills training and a follow up in 2 months.  That’s it. Nothing more.  Not that I wanted mountains of information, just a pamplet or something telling me what this Spectrum was would have been helpful.  So I left not knowing what to expect in our future but knew that I would not settle for just another dosage of medication.  I have learned a lot in the last month, learned quite a bit.

How we got here

My child has always had quirks.  He is a very intelligent child with focused interests in anything electronic.  Quite a daydreamer, who has a lack of focus on anything other than figuring out how a computer works.  He struggles with forming peer relationships but is excellent at mingling with adults, if he is comfortable.  However, school is continuing to be a problem. The teacher is frustrated with the lack of focus and the time G is taking to complete work.  G gets straight A’s but the teacher is at her wit’s end. After numerous issues with focusing we finally discuss with our pediatrician what our options are.  He reluctantly prescribes Metadate but wants us to follow-up with a specialist to evaluate his symptoms.  So the waiting begins to see our specialist and drug therapy begins.

It’s a New Day

At 3:47 p.m. on January 31, 2011 my world seemed to change forever.  Sitting in the pediatrician’s office, I was told my child was “quirky” and “gifted” with traits that placed him on the Autism Spectrum.  PDD-NOS and ADHD was the formal diagnosis.  The plan of action was medication and a follow-up visit in 4 months.  I left feeling overwhelmed and scared.  It took a couple of days to even begin to understand what I learned that day and the jury is still out on accepting it.  I have never felt so alone, first there was feeling of embarrassment and shame. “How could this happen to my child?”  I wanted to talk to someone but didn’t know what to say and certainly didn’t want to burden anyone with my problems.  Well, that was almost 7 days ago and this is the first day of the next chapter.  Today my fight begins, I am declaring my personal crusade against the labels that have been placed.  I am not ashamed to go public and ask for help.  My blog has been around for a long time and has documented a lot of change in my life, but no change as big as what is yet to come.  So the focus changes, the fight begins and healing will be the result.

Gobble gobble…

So Thanksgiving came and went this year with the usual flair…too much food, heavy pouring of the wine, friends and family.  This year was the first year in many that I did not host Thanksgiving, not that this was a bad thing, it was just different.  I tend to be very traditionalist with certain recipes and activities that I look forward to enjoying once a year.  Some may say this is rigid, but I like to think of it more as predictable.  I will always make the same cranberry relish, brussel sprouts and Thanksgiving day always begins with a mimosa and the parade.  Tables are set, plans are made, activities scheduled…its just how I am. 

This Thanksgiving we were at my mother’s.  Not that being at my mom’s is a  bad thing. It is very comfortable and we always have a great time. But for me, with my rigid behaviors and insane need to schedule and plan out everything by the hour, this comfortable relaxing setting at times makes me crazy.  So this year I am grateful for the things that are completely opposite of my usual Thanksgiving rituals… I believe that  these alternate experiences may at one point in my life make me a more relaxed or flexible person. 

Thanksgiving 2009…I am Thankful that the centerpieces were not placed on the table days before; choices in china, stemwareand flatware was left to the last 3 hours; a tofurkey was mistaken for a loaf of wheat bread; that I was cooking up until the last possible minute; my mimosa was enjoyed while watching my mother clean the entire house; and that my brussel sprouts actually really sucked ass this year.  With all these new Thanksgiving experiences, some of the usual still graced my day…..the smell of a delicious turkey, potato peeling contests with my brother, tossing of the football in the front yard, 2 days of work for 20 minutes of eating, good wine, many laughs and mountains of dishes. 

It is these experiences that warm my heart and remind me how much I love the  holidays, as I have much to be thankful for.

Lessons: One Year Later

I am back, I am back, I am back!!!!  So after the toughest year of my life and some of the hardest lessons I have learned, I am finally ready to come up for some air.  I became so consumed with projects and problems, that my life revolved around nothing more than the Home Depot, emotional meltdowns and the school of hard knocks for the past few months.  So after my summer from hell and a very tough year I thought I would share my lessons with others, you know, so that others won’t repeat my mistakes!

Lessons of 2009

After any hard life change, renovating your house is an excellent way to divert built up anger

It is amazing how much can be fixed with duct tape and baling wire

No matter how cute you look…Never weed-eat and mow your lawn in a skirt, grass clippings get EVERYWHERE!

When you lose your temper and throw something…God makes sure it hits something breakable..never a good idea

If you give an 8-year-old boy a bathroom of his own, you need to check the toilet every once in a while

Always buy all the materials you need for a project…..at the beginning.

Keeping the house cat happy should always be a top priority

Be able to laugh at yourself, never take yourself to seriously and look only to the future!

So with my few little lessons, I am happy to say I finally feel grounded and back so after almost 4 months of absence the blog posts are back.  Thanks for your patience and support, more to come.

The Things You’ll do for a 7-year-old…

All in a days work as a busy mom, I know we have all been here….

Get up early so you have plenty of time to perfect a “faux hawk”

Drive down town to drop young one off at camp. Not a big deal except the ride consisted of listening to show tunes the entire time.

Rush back down town at the end of day to pick young one up and drive to other end of town for drum lessons.

Walk through entire school black top to drop child off.  118 degrees and high heels are melting into tar.

Drum teacher is running late, walk through black to again to get into hot car.

Drum lessons finally over drive home and start cooking dinner.  Turn and find young one on the couch naked because he is too hot.

End the evening on YouTube and Google searching for the world’s best hula hooper because the 6-year-old at summer camp is telling everyone he is and there is just no way.

Put young one to bed wearing race car driver/ninja costume armed with three laser guns.

Children; they brighten your day, remind you to not take yourself too serious and keep you young at heart.