THE HOLY GRAIL?

I can't believe my last post date is April 26. I knew it was a while...but that date feels like a lifetime ago. Though absent from posting, I have been on a journey since Spring and am now ready to sit back and summarize. I started this blog with the intention of never ever discussing doctors or medical issues in detail, even though they dominate the management of a child with food allergies, eczema and asthma. I have never made a recommendation other than cookbooks, loaf pans, cup-a-cakes, etc. And I love those posts, because they string together a life of joy filled with yummy treats, snazzy containers, and numerous nuggets of fun. But for my final post for this blog I must make an exception and discuss our experience for two weeks this summer as participants in the Pediatric Day Program at National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colorado. And excuse in advance the lengthy post - I am not only making up for lost time, but it is also my swan song!

To begin the journey, I have a journal I just unearthed from a tote bag in my closet that I haven't opened in months. Written across the top it says 2010 My Son's Path To Wellness (it actually says his name but we'll stick with "my son" for the internet!) The first paragraph reads, "On Monday, January 1st, I had an overwhelming feeling while sitting n Whole Foods that I absolutely had to get to the root cause of his allergy, eczema and asthma". That lunch, sitting at a table for two in the Whole Foods dining area with my four year old, was my tipping point. In an enormous, healthy grocery store, where we were infinitely blessed to have the means to buy whatever we wanted, there was nothing I could give him to eat on site other than some ham, ketchup, rice milk and chips. The meal itself was not so bad - it was the fact that it was probably the 500th time he had eaten it, and never before in a setting surrounded by such choice. It was both ironic and devastating. This intense low was followed instantly by what I can only refer to as my "Oprah Moment": I wasn't going to feel sorry for him, or me, ever again - I was going to fix it.

As certain as that last statement looks on the page, it must be clear that I had absolutely no idea how. The only thing of which I was certain, was from that day forward I would do something every day. If I never reached my goal of "fixing it", I certainly couldn't make it worse. From Whole Foods we went straight to Barnes and Noble, which just seemed a logical "step one". I left with one eczema book and a copy of Jenny McCarthy's Louder Than Words (no autism on our front but I longed to read about another mother's journey). The next few months involved some non-invasive energy healing for my son when, finally, a watershed "discussion" with my husband led me to finally commit to take the journey to Denver.

National Jewish Hospital had been generously recommended by a new friend in town who had taken her son, and a loving niece who had sent me a link to this Wall Street Journal article months prior. On July 25th, 2010 my son and I boarded the plane for Denver and both our lives changed forever.

In keeping consistent with both my intense hesitancy to make any medical recommendations, and my desire to keep my son's privacy intact while "spreading the word", I will stop our journey here. If the Pediatric Day Program seems like it could help, please consult with your physician or call the incredible nurses at National Jewish Hospital who are ready to take your calls and answer questions: 1 800 222-5864. As their website states, food allergy, eczema, and asthma are chronic illnesses. They are are daily and persistent, with or without a trip to Denver. But the gift of knowledge, compassion and management that the doctors and nurses at National Jewish Hospital impart is golden. I now understand that there is more than one definition to "fix it". I wish you only the best of luck and much love on your own path to wellness.