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Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Free Family ;-)

Well, let's see, our latest development with our dietary issues is this...Jay's adrenal glands are so shot they are not able to handle small amounts of an allergic reaction to anything, as a result, they are not as bad as before, but that is not saying much. His repair will be uphill, but at least we have the problem and are going from there, it is just a battle. Poor guy, he feels great, but he can't eat as much (unless he has a reaction and does not absorb anything) and he is trying to gain some weight which is hard for him, especially in the summer. we are trying to up his calorie intake with an additional nuts and seed mix (with chocolate chips and raisins, etc) to keep him going. We have recently found out he cannot have peanuts anymore, he may never be able to since his reaction was partially anaphylactic, but we will see.
Katherine is off of cow milk products and we think that may have been the issue in the first place, not peanuts, although, those have to stay out of the house now anyway =)
There are all the things I cannot have...lots of fruits, almonds, carrots, now it seems dairy either and I do not eat meat...where does this leave us? Well, we eat a lot of whole food type things: fruits, veggies, rice, beans, eggs, fish, meat for them sometimes, nuts, seeds, etc. It is actually a pretty good diet of refinement. I don't think it is good for people to eat too much processed foods as it is, it just isn't natural. And there is a whole LOT of stuff that has additives that just aren't necessary, just check your natural foods store, lots of the same things, without all the gunk. I know, just not practical for everyone to shop at the natural markets, but even a little bit helps. Ok, enough rambling...for now ;-)
So, that puts us: Gluten, cow milk, peanut free (and for me, that whole list too) family.
I am ok with it now, especially since we are learning how to 'deal' with his reactions to things...they could be lurking anywhere. Well, from here, we just keep on going, trying to repair Jay's such extensive damage from years (who knows how many, really) of problems. It is my suspicion that his adrenal glands would not be quite so bad had he not been practically living on adrenaline in Iraq, but such is life and our struggles. We are doing our best to rise to the challenge. There is a test Jay could take that could help us to see just how bad his glands are, but that is $100 and we cannot afford it right now...at least we know what to avoid, maybe that will work out in the nearer future also...
Anyway, just a ramble today, that is about it...'til next time!

3 comments:

Brigitte said...

sounds like you had a doctor visit?

Susan Sophia said...

Hearing you talk about adrenal glands being shot reminded me of the book I was recently reading called "The Schwarzbein Principle". She talks about how sick we can get from years of eating the wrong kinds of food (processed, unnatural foods our bodies can't digest properly) and the biggest thing she talks about is that our adrenal glands get completely messed up. It causes allergic reactions to everything. Might be worth checking out at the local library. She has 2 cookbooks that go with it, one vegetarian. She's big on goat dairy products instead of cow because of the allergy so many develop.
Another great food book I'm reading for the 2nd time right now is "Food Smart" by Cheryl Townsley.

My prayers are with you all.

h west said...

Dang. There go the Snickers. Susan Sophia's recommendation sounds interesting. I think I may have to check that one out. It's really amazing to think of how screwed up all of us are making our bodies by eating the wrong things. Who'd a thunk it?