For the love of our children

My cousin and I were recently discussing our paths down the clean eating corridor. Our journeys have been different but our reasons are the same – for the love of our children. My cousin was motivated to make changes in her life to set an example for her boys; I was motivated to make changes in our lives because my son was sick.

When Pumpkin was 21 months old, he spiked an extremely high fever out of the blue. He had no other symptoms and he was too young to convey to us how he was feeling. We cut our weekend away short and by Monday morning, the fever was gone. He was perfectly healthy and happy once again.

A few months later, the fever came back. It would get high, 105+ degrees, and we would pump him full of pain relievers, put him into a warm bathtub, alternate holding him through the night and we would pray that he didn’t have a febrile seizure. A few days later, the fever would be gone. But almost like clockwork, the fever would come back again. The doctor said it was normal. The next doctor said it was a part of childhood. Yet another doctor told us he was prone to getting a non-specific viral illness. Really? OK. They are the experts.

He was so miserable during these episodes; my vibrant, active baby would cry and cling and he’d refuse to eat or drink. He'd wake up screaming because he was literally burning up with a fever. One time the fever got the better of us and he ended up in the ER with dehydration. I was pregnant with Peanut at the time and I remember holding Pumpkin against my belly, watching the fluids drip back into his body, feeling utterly helpless. I continued taking him to the doctor, countless times really: “He must have strep, we’ll culture him.” The culture was negative. “Well, he is around other children and children get sick. He keeps putting germs in his mouth.” Children get sick every 6 weeks, really? OK. Well, I must not be washing his hands enough. We started slathering his hands in Purell. We bathed him every night. We gave him vitamin drops. The fevers continued. The trips to the doctor continued.

On numerous occasions, we ended up contracting something worse at those routine doctor’s visits – we got coxsackie three times, we both got roseola, and the whole family got a whole bunch of stomach viruses. We stopped taking him to the doctor when he was sick. Instead, we got really good at managing his episodes. We noticed he would limp at the onset of a fever episode and we’d batten down for the storm. My Honey and I literally missed weeks of work staying home with our sick baby.

After Peanut was born, our "regular" doctor retired. I was heartbroken -- he knew all about Pumpkin's non-specific viral illness though! On one of Peanut's well-baby visits, I mentioned to our "new" doctor that Pumpkin was still having these fevers with regularity. She referred us to a pediatric autoimmune specialist. And yes, my Pumpkin had an autoimmune disorder; he had Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis Syndrome (PFAPA).

His little body was recognizing something as an invader; something was causing him massive amounts of inflammation. Was the source internal or external? I was hell-bent to find out. I started being scrupulous in what I brought into the house. I followed every tip I’d ever heard … eliminate gluten, eliminate sugar, eliminate dairy, eliminate food dye, avoid GMOs (whatintheheck is a GMO?), buy only organic, feed him lots of protein, feed him a vegetarian diet, give him kefir and yogurt,  give him whole grains, remove grains entirely. During this time, all I did was read the nutritional labels on what I was buying too. I was SHOCKED to realize that I couldn’t pronounce 50% of what I was seeing. I started shopping with my smartphone so I could Google the ingredients. When did this happen? When did food turn into chemistry compounds? I was overwhelmed, to say the least. What in the health was I supposed to feed my family?

My momma intuition kicked in – this needs to stop! My son was not a dietary project. My family was not a science experiment. I decided to feed our family with healthy foods. I removed all processed sugars. I removed all foods with additives, preservatives and food dye. I increased our whole grains. I switched to pastured eggs and grass-finished meat. We eat organic fruit, vegetables and pretty much whatever else we put in our mouths. I make 90% of what we eat and if I have to buy something processed or commercial, I follow my “no more than 5 ingredients” golden rule.  

Our story had a happy ending; or perhaps it is my happy beginning. My Pumpkin is almost one year PFAPA free. He had his tonsils removed last summer (by a brilliant surgeon and guardian angel to whom I am eternally grateful) and it did the trick. It doesn’t work in all children but for us, it worked like magic. His illness sent me on a journey full of love, education and awareness; what began as a mission to help my son through nutrition resulted in my dedication and duty to promote real food. 

And I am happy to have you here, traveling with me.

Love and light,
K

PS:  This post is dedicated to my cousin, L. I am so proud of the amazing, life-enriching changes she made in both her and her families’ lives. She also just did something incredibly kind and generous for the betterment of a complete stranger. Thank you for being my family. XXOO