FYI

...we go to our second NAET appointment tomorrow and we are supposed to work on clearing his egg allergy....I'll post how it goes tomorrow evening. Praying it goes well...and we can succesfully avoid all egg stuff for 25 hours (this might be tough since he loves eating chicken!)

Questions, Concerns....

I've received a lot of feedback about this blog and I am wanting to respond to some of the questions I've been asked:

1) Yes, Jackson does see an board certified allergist, a pediatrician, a nutritionist, and is closely monitored for his allergies. He also takes supplements and is healthy and growing...he's in the 75% for height and 50% for weight. He drinks OJ for calcium.

2) No, I will not be giving him any foods without being tested for his allergies again in a few months.

3) Yes, I am aware there was a death somewhat related to the NAET technique but there were definitely some underlying circumstances that I will make sure to avoid. There are specific instructions that have to be followed and I am not planning on giving Jackson any foods until I know his allergist has tested him again. I trust the professional we have chosen. She has 8 years experience doing NAET and has not had any negative results or emergency situations.

4) Yes Jackson eats a lot of foods that contain some of his allergens (not peanuts)....hence we are not sure how many of his allergies are false positives...it's a confusing situation.....as many of you know.

5) Yes I have several Epi-Pens and know how to use them and had to use one when the allergists had suggested we try some milk products......I think Jackson is allergic to whey protein.

6) Yes I am a concerned, sincere parent and I would never put my child in harm's way. We are trying NAET but not putting all of our hope in it. That hope we place in God's hands....we are just trying NAET and will continue to also see our doctors and keep Jackson safe.

7) What results have I seen so far? The first session of NAET she worked on something that might help his brain and body function better as a team. Since the treatment I must say that his language has seemed much clearer to my husband and I and he has seemed able to self regulate his behavior a little better...maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I have seem some subtle changes in him.......maybe it's all in my head, but whatever it is, it's been good. We have our second appointment next week.

Thanks for your concerns, I will definitely continue to discern whether or not this is the path we will continue to take. Here is a very good link if you are interested in reading some of the success stories with NAET
http://www.revolutionhealth.com/drugs-treatments/rating/nambudripads-allergy-elimination-technique-naet

Graduation Day!

Today Jackson officially finished his child development therapy. When he was 20 months old we had him evaluated by child development specialists because of his extreme picky eating and we had been advised by friends and family that maybe he would benefit from some occupational therapy.



To be honest the evaluation process was very discouraging, frustrating and more than I think we bargained for. He was evaluated by a child development specialist, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist. We were told by the child development therapist that Jackson had a sensory processing disorder and would need 2 hours of development therapy and 2 hours a week with an O.T. Um, four hours a week of therapy....would he eat a fruit or vegetable? They didn't seem to be addressing the main issue I wanted him tested. This seemed a little MUCH to me at the time because after all, these therapists had spent 30 minutes with my 20 month old in an unfamiliar setting asking him to do all of these activities, puzzles, and other tests that would make any toddler seem a little apprehensive....I was thinking of my friends who have really shy toddlers....what would they be "diagnosed" with? Why does every child get a "diagnosis?" Oh yes, I was very negative at first and confused. My poor mom, friends, husband and anyone who would listen had to hear me try to figure out what Jackson really needed......most people thought it was all a little overkill...others were thinking he was diagnosed with Autism and expressed their concerns and sympathies. I looked online for sensory processing disorders and besides the picky eating he didn't exactly fit the mold. He was a busy boy, and ran in circles and couldn't focus on one thing for very long...but hey he wasn't even two years old. Right? Well.....



On the flip side, Jackson did have some behaviors that were disconcerting, but most people in our life would say, "He's a boy! He's active, he's picky, he doesn't have a disorder." For example, in the diagnosing process they kept asking him his animal sounds...he would not do them for any of the therapists (partly because outside of the tiny room they were testing him is was a GIANT indoor play area with slides, ect..that's what he was focused on, I would be too...try doing algebraic equations on demand with Hawaii or Disneyland right outside your door). Every time we would leave I would put him in the car, turn around, and ask him his animal sounds and right on cue he would tell me, "moo, oink-oink, woof-woof, meow"...you name it, he did know it. Long story longer...We agreed to the 2 hours a week of child development therapy and to my delight (hee, hee) there was a waiting list for the O.T.



Even in my cynical stance, were truly blessed with a great child development therapist who came to our house twice a week and "played" with Jackson, and by default with Presley too. Paul and I became very fond of her and watched as she was able to help Jackson sit and focus and quickly build quite a positive relationship with him in a short amount of time. She was here on his turf and got to know the real Jackson and not the boy who was a little overwhelmed back at the clinic. Jackson and Presley were always so excited to see her and during our hour with her she would play games with Jackson that helped him learn his colors, numbers, shapes, "bigs" and "littles", fine and gross motor skills, self-directed behavior skills, pretending skills, writing skills......and she felt that he was ABOVE his age level at all of these things. After a few months she told us she did not feel he had any "disorders" and that along with her therapy and Jackson starting preschool, he had learned the "ropes" of being a toddler. We have never had any issues with him at his preschool, in fact his teacher said he adjusted faster than most do to the schedule, new friends, new surroundings. He is VERY SOCIAL!!! and is compassionate and gentle and fun loving with his friends. He knows all of the letters of the alphabet and their sounds and all of his shapes, colors, numbers. He recognizes his name and Presley's when written,and he has an incredible memory. He potty trained in two days and is always surprising us with things he says and does. His final evaluation today put him above age level and although he still has some areas to work on, as every toddler does (AMEN!) I am so super grateful to our therapist for the free tutoring she gave him this last year and how it has enhanced who he is even more. Is he still an extremely PICKY EATER!!!! YES!!! Did we ever do Occupational Therapy? YES....did we drop out....YES (it wasn't helping..but that's another story).......



So today he's done with therapy, but I still need to find help for the picky eating. Although his extreme pickyness has probably saved him from anaphylatic shock since he won't eat or try anything new. In a sense I don't want him to stop being picky because I know he probably won't get into a dangerous situation. Hey if there aren't chicken nuggets involved, he's not interested. I am so curious to see if the NAET technique helps his body and brain accept new food when it's ready and when it's safe.



Happy Graduation Day Jackson, we're so proud of you!

You Are Not Alone

If you are visiting our website it is may be because you have a child who has food allergies. I want you to know that you are not alone. I remember feeling so ALONE in the beginning of our journey with Jackson. I remember his pediatrician calling with the results from his first RAST test...she said, "milk, dogs, peanuts, eggs, wheat, tree-nuts, soy, and cockroaches." I remember hanging up the phone in tears, looking at our two beloved Labs in the backyard, opening the cupboards full of milk and soy based formula and thinking, "What do I do?!?" There was no one to call, no friend who had gone before me in motherhood that could help me this time, no relative who had ever experienced this issue, none of my "What to Expect" books had much to offer, ALONE! I jumped on the Internet and scared myself to death......I went on my trusted "friend" babycenter.com and jumped on the chat board for food allergies...I was shocked at how many people were dealing with food allergies. We were not alone! Phew! I think my husband and I have felt a change from feeling alone and feeling sorry for ourselves and Jackson, to trying to educate others and ourselves on how to protect Jackson and help him live his life to the fullest as we know this is what God wants for him. His allergies are part of who he is, but not WHO he is...He is wonderfully made by His Creator and this is all part of the life God prepared for him and for us. Just now I packed his backpack for a trip to his Uncle Brett's house for a couple of hours....Epi-pen is like packing a juice box...or a diaper..it goes where he goes. I just thought I would write this afternoon to remind you that you are not alone! I promise.

What does Jackson eat??

A lot of you have given me some great feedback and questions about Jackson and NAET already! Thank you, and I am so glad to help. A lot of people have asked as they often do after hearing Jackson's story, "What in the world can/does he/will he eat??"

Here is a list of Jackson's favorite and only foods:

Chicken Nuggets (Tyson, McDonald's, Jack in the Box)....

French Fries (gotta ask what kind of oil they are cooked in...one of our favorite restaurants uses peanut oil which is not common these days, GLAD I ASKED)

Veggie Chips from Whole Foods

Pretzles

Potato Chips (if they have "safe" ingredients, but most of the time he tells me they are "danger" or they are "daddy's"

Organic Pop-Tarts from Whole Foods

Tings from Whole Foods

The Vegan Pirate's Booty (which I can only find and order online)

Lorna Doone cookies

ORANGE JUICE

Goldfish crackers (only if we are at church)

Pizza with just sauce (if daddy makes it/Albert son's brand seems to be safe)...'

oh and how can I forget...KETCHUP...by the spoonful if we let him, which we try not to. He's not much of a "dipper" yet. Presley has joined in his ketchup obsession too.

Now, you may be a little confused, as we all are, but there are milk/soy/egg products in some of the foods above. It seems like when the allergen protein is baked into a food he doesn't react..SOMETIMES...it's a scary game of trial and error, but the above foods have been safe thus far. Thankfully soy lecithin has not been an issue and one time he dipped his finger into Presley's BBQ sauce from her Happy Meal and soy sauce is listed on the ingredients. Go figure? Like I said, food allergies are very confusing and tempermental.

Most days he eats Chicken Nuggets for breakfast, lunch and dinner and not much else. He will drink OJ all day and choose not to eat. He gets Iron and Vitamin Supplements and Singular in his first OJ and Claritin in his last before bed!

Jackson's Journey

Jackson William David Roth, quite a big name for our little sweet and sensisitve boy, was born on June 19, 2006. He came into our lives with a little bit of drama as his arrival came after a long day of labor and a surprise C-section! Poor little guy was bumping his little head on my pelvic bone and could not EXIT as planned. From the moment I held my little boy I felt a strong connection to his sweet little self and fell in love instantly. Along with that intense love came so much unexpected fear. Being a worrier, from the beginning I would lay awake at night fearing everything from terrorist attacks to fires, from earthquakes to carjackings...I worried about things I had never thought of before...little did I know our greatest worry for Jackson would be something so common and ordinary, something extremely social, enojyable and normal....something commonly known as FOOD!

Jackson is allergic to milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, treenuts, wheat, bananas, dogs, and has seasonal allergies, and the beginnings of asthma. At two months old he started getting eczema and rashes. We did the RAST blood test and thus started our scary journey of keeping him away from foods that he tested "positive" for. We were perscribed the Epi-Pen and my fears tripled. Would I really have to inject my son with this needle to save his life? Could we ever leave him with babysitters? What if we ate something and kissed his little cheeks, would he go into anaphylatic shock? Oh the fear, the fear. Unless you have a child with food allergies I think it is impossible to understand the reality of it. I think people feel that food allergies give our kids a tummy ache, or a little rash on their belly. Most people don't understand that coming in contact with some peanut butter accidently left behind on a toy by playful fingers could take our child's very life. People don't understand that going out to dinner or going to a birthday party causes severe anxiety in the parent of a child with food allergies. A trip to Disneyland or other public places becomes a battle of what and where we can eat that will be safe for our little ones and the hope of public areas being free of any food left behind on shared surfaces. An innocent bite of a cookie from a friend or relative could mean an ambulance ride and a hospital stay. An accidental cross contamination in a cereal box could be life threatening. Having a child with food allergies is stressful, sad, discouraging and a purposeful daily responsibility of keeping your own child from tragedy. But there is always hope, prayer and fun......Jackson is evidence of that!

When Jackson was 11 months old he had the skin prick testing done and the results conflicted with the RAST test, hence causing endless confusion to what was causing so much pain for my little boy. If you have a child with food allergies, you know that the diagnosis is always not 100% accurate. It's frightening.....the only way to know if they are truly allergic to the food is to see if they have a reaction when they eat it...no thank you!

We saw dermatologists, received second and third opinions, tried many perscription creams and medicines, gave him strong allergy medicines and watched as he would scratch his wrists and knees until they were bloody and raw. I was often depressed and frustrated that I could not find the help my son needed and would spend hours on chat boards, searching the internet, DESPERATELY trying to find a solution to this scary journey. I prayed and prayed for his healing (and I still do) as I know God is our Healer, but realized quickly that this is our journey with Jackson. A journey to keep him away from FOOD.

As Jackson became a toddler we realized that he is afraid of food too. He is very picky and sometimes I feel that God made him that way to protect him. He generally eats about 7 of the same foods and really drinks orange juice instead of eating. As frustrating as his picky eating is, it does slightly give me a break from worry, knowing that he won't grab something and eat it. Most foods don't appeal to him at all. He attends a peanut-free preschool and is a very silly, happy, funny, loving, and very sensitive little boy. He is absolutely the joy of our lives along with his little sister Presley (who also has some food allergies). He is now aware that some foods are "danger" and is starting to be very much aware that he is different. He cries at school when other kids celebrate birthdays and get to eat cupcakes (even though I don't think he would try one) and he sometimes will eat something he knows he can't have just to test us. I know I have instilled fear in him, and that makes me sad, but it was definitely not intentional.

In November of 2008, the day I feared the most arrived. Jackson's allergist had given us the okay to try milk products because Jackson seemed to be tolerating foods that had milk baked into them...ie chicken nuggets, eggo waffles, other cookies and snacks. Trusting the allergist, I gave him a new snack that had milk in it, and moments later he was in anaphylatic shock. Epi-pen, ER, ect. Thankfully, he was fine, but the excitedness, hope, celebration and relief that I had the day before was stolen out of my head and heart, and FEAR returned on a greater scale. I was so hopeful that he was growing out of these allergies. He'll be 3 years old in June and it doesn't seem like much is changing. His eczema is much better than when he was a baby, and he seems to tolerate soy oil and milk that is baked into some foods, but that's just it, SOME foods. We never know if he'll react to a new food, so most of the time I think we're all to afraid to try it.

Our daughter Presley who will be two years old in July has only tested positive to peanut, eggs and dogs. Well I guess I shouldn't say ONLY....as the peanut allergy scares me. She is not picky, she wants to eat everything we do and we also carry an Epi-pen for her as well. We plan on doing the NAET program with her as well. I am so thankful that she does not have as many allergies as Jackson. God is good.

My prayer is that the following posts will bring encouragement, information and hope for anyone who reads about Jackson's journey. I will explain the NAET program and you can journey with us as we try it out as a hopeful option for Jackson's healing. Please pray for us and for Jackson. I know and believe that God will heal Jackson, and will use people, places and our experiences to do so. Feel free to contact me with any questions or prayer requests sroth220@sbcglobal.net

What is NAET

The NAET treatment stands for Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques and was created by Dr. Devi S. Nambudripad, M.D., D.C, L.Ac, Ph. D. It is a gentle, non-invasive process that has been proven to, in my prospective, "cure" people who suffer from allergies and other ailments as well. It has been proven to help children with Autism, ADHD and other illnesses as well. There is a book, that I bought on Amazon, Say Goodbye to Children's Allergies, that explains NAET in it's entirety and has a number of actual cases histories, and a lot of information on what allergy-related illness this technique helps. I STRONGLY suggest you read this book before seeking out a NAET professional in your area. It helped me to gain confidence and information before I made Jackson's first appointment. You may be thinking what I was thinking when I stumbled upon this on the Internet...."WHAT?!? if this is true why isn't everyone lining up for hours to have this treatment done!!!???? Why haven't I heard about this on Oprah (okay so my brain thinks like that) and can this really be true!!?"

I suggest you research this as much as you can for yourself. I talked to a lot of people, including Jackson's pediatrician, before I even called to make him an appointment. I had friends talk to people they knew in the chiropractic and medical field and I talked to medical professional friends as well. A lot of the medical professionals had heard of NAET and gave me a green light to try it. Our pediatrician (WHO I LOVE) also thought it sounded interesting and without crossing any ethical boundaries, gave me the "it's worth a try!" I needed to move forward.

Here are some links to get you started:

http://www.naet.com/

www.revolutionhealth.com/stories/view/2e229a38bbe81029878b0013725222f6 - 53k -

www.beyondallergy.com/allergy-abcs/naet-allergy-elimination-technique.php - 24k

Or just google "NAET" and you will be amazed at the information out there...be prepared...I was researching for 6 hours straight the first day I read about NAET.

Let me know what you find!!