Your Son Has What?

I love seeing the looks on people's faces when I tell them our son has Fructose Malabsorption.  It's somewhere between confusion and "oh that's too bad, I guess, but I'm not really sure so I'll just look concerned".  Trust me, I had the same look when I got the call from the GI clinic and found out we had to do antibiotics and major diet changes and a class with a dietitian and who knows what else! 

So here are the basics about Fructose Malabsorption (referred to as FM from here on out because that's super annoying to type out). 

FM is a digestive disorder where absorption of fructose is impaired by deficient fructose carriers in the small intestine.  It results in extra fructose left over in the intestine.  Fructose can only be absorbed into the blood stream by small fructose carriers or by larger carriers when it has a glucose buddy to attach to...so basically if he ingests more fructose than glucose, we have a problem (side note - Smarties candies are all dextrose/glucose so if you see me giving him massive amounts of Smarties, it's because he needs extra glucose)!  The symptoms are very similar to IBS so we have a lot of fun with that.

The super fun thing about FM is that it seems to affect every one differently.  And everyone seems to have different levels of tolerance for approved/not approved foods.  Like I mentioned in previous posts, he had been sick pretty much his whole life.  He would have these spells where he would just throw up, no food, just mucus.  Now we know that that happens when he has too much fructose and he's constipated.  We knew from around 2 years old that he couldn't tolerate juice at all, we didn't know why, just that it would make him horribly sick to his stomach. 

After seeing the GI doctor for about 6 months, she ordered a Hydrogen Breath Test.  This is the only way to test for FM.  He had to follow a strict diet in the days leading up to the test and then when we arrived at the hospital that morning, he had to drink a fructose solution drink.  For the next three hours we hung out and every 30 minutes the nurse would come out and have him breath in a special bag.  The basis of the test is a failure to absorb the given sugar, which is then metabolized by bacteria that give off either hydrogen or methane. Therefore, the more gas that is produced, the less absorption has occurred.  He was great during the test, had a little upset tummy the rest of the day afterward and about a week later we got the call that it was positive not only for FM but for SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth) as well.  Basically the poor boy was so full of gas and methane he could hardly function without being in pain. 

 We did a round of antibiotics to treat the SIBO and I had to attend a class at the hospital to learn more about his diet which is a low-FODMAP diet - don't you just love all these acronyms?!?

So FODMAP stands for Fermentable, Oligo-, Di, Mono-saccharides, And Polyols.  Got that?  Yeah, me neither...so we have to cut out wheat, garlic, onion, broccoli, cabbage, beans, legumes, stone fruits like peaches, pears, apples, blackberries, cherries, plums, watermelon, mushrooms, and any sweeteners that end in -ol like mannitol, xylitol, sorbitol, honey, agave, and that's the short list.  I'm finding out more and more what works and what doesn't.  He is very sensitive to gluten, but he can handle moderate amounts of dairy.  He can do strawberries and blueberries pretty well, we eat a lot of corn tortilla homemade nachos, thankfully he can eat cheese!  It has been a steep learning curve for me, but not necessarily a bad one!
 

We mainly treat him through diet changes.  We also have him on a really good quality probiotic.  He can't do the Fructo-Oligosaccharides that are in prebiotics so it took a while to find a good one for him.  He also takes a 1/4 dose of the doTERRA Life Long Vitality pack of vitamins and minerals.  He takes an extra Vitamin D supplement.  We try to avoid Miralax as much as possible.  His symptoms manifest mostly as constipation, pain, bloating and behavior issues (very emotional).  We use a lot of DigestZen essential oil to control the pain when we need it and he keeps Peppermint essential oil with him most of the time to smell if he needs to calm down. The great news is that he's gained about 10 pounds in the past year and a half which is amazing!  I was sure he'd be 50 pounds for the rest of his life, but he finally broke 60 this month!

It's a challenging disease and it definitely keeps me on my toes.  I suspect Charlotte probably has it as well and I think I do too...I'm trying to control it in the rest of us through diet and vitamins and probiotics and oils when needed.  Stay tuned for the next post.  I had the privilege to hear Dr. David Hill, the Chief Medical Officer for doTERRA speak this past week about cleansing and keeping your organs and body working well so I want to be sure and capture that information here as well! 

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

My kids love to eat homemade baked goodies.  I love to make things from scratch but time is not always on my side between work and homeschooling.  Sometimes, I actually do make things and these granola bars are gone within minutes (assuming their Aunt doesn't steal them all first)!  These are super easy to make and taste delicious!  Because of my son's diet requirements, we not only have to be gluten free, but we have to be careful about what kind of sweeteners and sugars we use when we cook.  My recipe uses pure maple syrup as well as a little bit of coconut sugar and coconut oil.  To add to the taste, I add a little Ginger and Cassia essential oils.  Ginger has a great taste and is is widely used as a support to the digestive system.  There are reports of Ginger being used as far back as 4,000 years ago in ancient Greece!  Because it has such a strong scent and smell, you only need to use 1-2 drops for the whole batch of granola bars.  Cassia essential oil is similar to Cinnamon Bark oil but has its own unique properties.  It is a strong antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral oil.  Because it has such an intense, strong flavor you only need 1 drop, 2 at the most. 

These granola bars are a favorite year round for our family.  They smell like fall and go great with a cup of hot chai spice tea!  They are also a great healthy alternative to cookies or store bought granola bars, let me know if you like them!

Note - I try to use as many whole, raw, natural ingredients as possible when I cook.  Feel free to substitute whatever you have on hand.  It's pretty hard to mess these granola bars up! 

Ingredients:
2 cups gluten free rolled oats (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup coconut sugar (you can substitute brown sugar)
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup raw flaxseed meal
1 cup all-purpose gluten free flour mix (I used Namaste)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup chocolate chips ( I use Costco brand, but Enjoy Life chips are good too)
1 large egg, beaten
2/3 cup pure maple syrup
2/3 cup melted coconut oil (I use Nutiva brand, unrefined)
2 teaspoons gluten free vanilla extract


Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Generously grease a 9x13 pan
Melt the coconut oil and set it aside to cool off a bit
Combine the dry ingredients and make a well in the center of the bowl
Combine the wet ingredients, adding the essential oils last
Pour the wet ingredients into the center well of the large bowl with the dry ingredients and combine well (sometimes it helps to use your hands to make sure everything is mixed up).
Spread the mixture into the greased pan
Bake uncovered for about 25-30 minutes
Cool for 10 minutes and then cut into bars.  Depending on how big you cut them you can get 12-20 bars.

Decisions...Decisions...

I'll admit it, I didn't know a lot about essential oils before I started using them.  I didn't know there were so many different ways and places to purchase them.  I didn't realize the fierce loyalty that people have over their liquid drops of happiness. 

But I did know one thing...I had a need and someone cared enough about me and our family to share with me about a better way.  At that point in our lives, I didn't really care about much else and I feel like that's where a lot of people are...now, I definitely think you should do your research and figure out what works best for you and your family, but the relationship/people factor played a big part in my decision to use doTERRA essential oils.  Here are some other reasons (many of which I didn't really know or understand until after I fell head over heels in love with my little bottles of joy)!

1.  The oils are amazing.  Enough said.  To see something work faster and better than modern medicine was a big deal for me.  And every single product we've used has yielded amazing results.  The oils do what they say they're supposed to do and they do it well.

2.  The standards are exceptional.  When the leaders of doTERRA set out to create this new company, they knew there was a need for excellence in this industry so instead of complaining about it or saying "oh well, we'll just be good and that's good enough", they created a standard of excellence called CPTG or Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade.  This lined up really well with the standards we set in our own house.  We have a rule that says "don't complain about something unless you have a suggestion of a way to make it better".  The standard doTERRA set means that these oils are tested so thoroughly that I can trust that when I open a bottle of Lemon essential oil, all that's in that bottle is Lemon essential oil and absolutely nothing else.  I appreciate the quality of these oils and it shows in how well they work. 

3.  The leadership of the company.  I have had the privilege of attending several training sessions, events, conventions, etc. over the past nine months and I have been so impressed with the focus and leadership of this doTERRA.  I sat in a room full of hundreds of people in Bellevue, WA (which is an extremely liberal part of WA) and listened to the President of the company speak about the power of prayer.  I listened to the Vice President of Sales tell a room of at least a thousand people about how he's never smoked or had any alcohol or done drugs or anything of that type.  Again, that's pretty rare for someone so successful.  The emphasis on education and support that this company gives is amazing.  I have learned more in the past nine months about cellular chemistry and biology than I think I ever did in college!  I have learned so much about how our bodies work and how they were designed and it's amazing.  The resources that they give (many times, for free) are very well done and easy to understand and as someone who has no medical education, I appreciate how easy they make it for me to understand and use essential oils in my home.

4.  My personal team.  I knew the person that enrolled me, now I feel like a part of a big huge oily family or party or something in between.  They are constantly checking into make sure I'm doing OK, to encourage me and support me in my business (and to push me when I need a push)!  There's no way I could do this alone and the support of my larger upline team and my little oil team under me has been such an encouragement! 

A lot of people say they don't like getting involved with MLM companies or they don't like selling or dealing with direct sales...but let me just say this and then I will leave it alone forever (promise)!  Even if I didn't make an income off of sharing about essential oils, even if they opportunity to live financially free and happy wasn't a part of this...I would still buy and use these oils.  It's all about the product for me and that's why I share about it!

Welcome!

Hi everyone and welcome to my new blog!  I've been on this amazing journey over the past nine months and I just can't keep it to myself anymore, I have to share about how essential oils are changing our lives. 

I know, that sounds dramatic...but it has been pretty dramatic!

So how did I get here?  How did I get to this crazy all natural, organic, homeschooling, essential oil-using, growing my own food kind of life?  It all starts about 10 years ago when I swore up and down that I would never be one of those crazy people that bought over-priced organic baby food.  I mean, come on, right?  I was raised on normal baby food, and anyone who thought that wasn't good enough was being pretentious!  Fast forward a few years (by which time I actually had a baby of my own) and I would tell you that kids can eat whatever I'm eating and it won't bother them.  I spent my entire first pregnancy eating chicken nuggets and strawberry milkshakes (and gained 60 pounds) and fed that sweet little boy microwave toddler meals and cookies and who knows what else!  

A couple of years later I felt like my life was starting to spiral out of control.  I had been working full time and got laid off.  Now I had another baby, who was totally different from the first, and I was at home full time with these two little blessings.  My sweet little boy, though, was turning into an out of control crazy kid!  Don't get me wrong, he is all boy and I love every bit of him...but most days he was more than I could handle and the complaints started rolling in...

"he's out of control, he won't sit still or listen during class"
"he hit a boy in class today and all the other boy did was bump into him accidentally"
"he talks too much and he doesn't know how to behave in circle time"
"have you talked to his doctor about ADHD?"

He was four by now and his polar opposite little sister was two and the tornado of a baby sister was on her way.

So we went to the doctor and we heard about how he must have ADHD, he's so impulsive!  He can't sit still!  He can't focus!  Let's put him on medication!  That is still one of many (but probably the biggest) regret I have about being his mommy.  But y'all...the medicine worked.  He was calm, he actually fell asleep most afternoons because the medicine was making him so tired.  He entered Kindergarten at five and a half and I heard great things about his behavior!  He's so stinkin' smart, that kid was reading on a third grade level by the end of Kindergarten!  Now, preschool and Kindergarten up here was all half days.  Once he started first grade, the craziness started to seep back in...we started hearing the same old "concerns" again from his teacher.  I remember thinking, "here we go again"!

To top it all off, in October of his first grade year (2012), he got a stomach bug, and then another one, and then another one and then another one...and it landed us in the E.R. three times in 10 days.  Before we knew it we had been referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist and he was being tested for celiac disease, he was having an endoscopy, he was on reflux meds...nothing was helping.  This poor kid had thrown up at least once a month or so from the time he turned a year old and nothing the threw at us was actually helping.  By March, the stomach issues had gotten so bad and his behavior in class was getting worse so we ended up pulling him out of school and began our adventures in homeschooling. 

Finally in May of 2013, his G.I. asked to do a Hydrogen Breath Test.  I had no idea what it was really for or what would come of it...but praise the Lord, something FINALLY came back positive!  He was diagnosed with Fructose Malabsorption and SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth), which is a topic worthy of it's own post (so stay tuned) and everything changed!  We made some major diet changes, we saw almost immediate changes, it was amazing.  He still suffered with abdominal pain though and by chance, a friend had posted on Facebook that she was going to be teaching a class on how to use essential oils.

Here comes the dramatics...are you ready?

She sent me a few samples.  One of them was a blend called DigestZen.  My little guy was having a bad tummy day so I pulled it out and rubbed a couple of drops on his stomach.  He stopped whining and sat up and talked like a normal kid.  Did you catch that?  Within seconds...he stopped being in pain and was able to function normally again.  I called my friend that very day and asked how I could get some more of this wonderful magical craziness called essential oils! 

Since we started using them, he has come off of six prescription and over the counter medications...that's right.  My sweet baby boy (who is about to turn 8 this month) was living his little boy life dependent on SIX medications every day and now he doesn't take a single one.  As a matter of fact, in the past nine months, we haven't used any conventional medicine at all.  All of the successes we've had are a big deal to me, but this one...this is my "why".  Every good direct sales employee has a "why" and this is mine. 

So to recap all that...I used to be crazy.  I used to think natural, homeopathic medicines and remedies were a bunch of nonsense voodoo, but my life was changed.  Our lives have been so completely changed by essential oils, I can't even imagine ever going back to what we had before. 

So that's why I'm here, that's why I created this blog.  This is my story.  I want to share what has happened and what is happening in our family and hopefully inspire and empower you to take control of your health care, to stop living symptom to symptom and start LIVING!!  Please share this blog with your friends...part of any home based business is shamelessly asking your family and friends to help spread the word, so here I am and please show some support.  If there is ever a topic you want to hear about on this blog, let me know!  I'd love to hear from you!