A Toxic Diet

I couldn't figure out through all of this why Baby Bear continued to have ear infection after ear infection (8, in fact, before his 1st birthday). At this point in our journey, I had neither learned enough nor gained enough confidence to believe that becoming toxic-free could also expand to limiting myself to the amount of toxic "advice" I received from people in positions of authority such as doctors and nurses. I took everything they told me as the truth and obeyed their every command...try this antibiotic, and this one; let's put tubes in his ears... Needless to say my poor baby to this day has been on 9 full rounds of antibiotics (yes, NINE), and had tubes put in his ears right around his 1st birthday. When he continued having ear infections immediately after the tubes were put in, we were beyond worried & incredibly frustrated. Why?? The doctor told us that it was normal. NORMAL? Constant ear pain, reoccurring infections, a destroyed immune system courtesy of the drugs that were supposed to make it all better...you are telling me that this is normal? Something wasn't adding up.

During this time, BB of course began eating a little more solid food as well. The first sign of a food allergy was the time we went out to breakfast at this (god-awful) diner that served nothing but (cheap) eggs, grease-laden home fries, high-fructose corn syrup toast and every slab of meat you could imagine (Why didn't you just leave, you may ask. Many reasons. Long story). So for breakfast, we fed BB the little bit of fruit I had stashed in the diaper bag and a few tiny bites of eggs. Almost immediately after trying the (seriously TINY!) little bit of eggs, his face and hands broke out in hives.

A few months later, our 4-year old foster daughter was eating her typical PB&J sandwich for lunch (something we don't eat; however, one battle we didn't feel like fighting during this placement) when BB began demanding a sandwich of his own. I attempted to slip him almond butter but darn that smart little toddler, he knew exactly which jar was the PB and incessantly whined until I gave in. After two or three bites of his sandwich, he began to gag and cough. At first I didn't think anything of it...he still wasn't eating much solid food and I figured the consistency was a little tough for him to swallow. He continued coughing like that while I gave him water and soothed him, and a few minutes later he seemed fine. That's when I noticed his entire chin/mouth region was swollen, along with the hand he had been eating his sandwich with. Talk about scary!

Through all of this, from day one of Ear Infection #1, right up to the point where he was showing signs of serious food allergies, not once in my little brain did I ever link all of these things together (nor did I come across it in any of my readings, and I consider myself to be a pretty good investigator!). And do you think one of those fancy doctors or nurses ever hinted or asked about his diet either? Yeah, I think you know the answer to that.

Until, that is, I brought him into the allergist to be tested. It was then the doctor basically told me flat-out: His ear infections have more than likely been linked to his or your diet. This is very common, especially in Western culture. What??? What happened to the "every kid gets ear infections" speech, or the "here's another round of antibiotics and he'll be fine" theory?? You mean to tell me I have been dumping numerous chemicals into my son's body, sitting through exhausting nights of tears (tears..and more tears..) and misery, dealing with (what we genuinely believe to be) the effects of having put our son under anesthesia (nightmares, difficulty sleeping, severe separation anxiety), and bringing him to doctor after doctor and to this specialist and that one--only to find out that it could have all been prevented through a better diet and more information? WTF? (Oh, and notice the "Western culture" comment? Why...whatever are you talking about, Doctor? Years of eating GMO foods? All of the chemicals we dump into our crops? Or could it be the HFCS in 99% of our products, or the fast food, or... yeah).

So needless to say, I have been a little bolder in my quest to rid us of a toxic diet, along with everything else. My husband has been gearing up for it, although a little more reluctantly than with the previous quests. (I am guessing it has something to do with the fact that I have become a total nut-job since the ear infection/food allergy discovery, or maybe because I am spending most of our family's money in the organic produce department?). Regardless, the ship is sailing and I am taking us all even deeper into the seas that are a healthier family diet :) As my knowledge and understanding of food broadens and grows daily, I only hope that the effects of a toxic diet that are seen in all of us--especially in my precious little Bear--diminish with time.