Ella’s Story

[Pat Robinson]

[Guest Blog Post from Kimberly]

My baby girl was born a happy and healthy baby in August 2012. All was well in our world and we were as happy as could be to dutifully hang on every need of our first child. We read all the books and did everything that was suggested of us, including fully vaccinating her.

It wasn’t until New Years Eve of that same year, when our little girl was only 4 months old that things began to take a horrible turn for our family. That night our daughter was battling her first cold when I noticed she had a slight wheeze. I immediately called the advice nurse who assured me that baby was probably fine but scheduled me for an appointment with her pediatrician after the holiday had passed.

Two days later I brought baby into the doctor who assured me everything was fine but prescribed her first albuterol breathing treatment. It was horrible. I had to hold her down while she screamed and a nurse held the medicine-filled mask over her face. After the treatment the wheeze was gone and we headed home thinking that was the end of that.

• Over the next 8 months my daughter's symptoms and overall health would continue to spiral to the point of despair and hopelessness.

In a 4 month period, from January 2013 to April 2013, we went to the ER 6 times for respiratory problems. In May my daughter was admitted to the NICU for the first time. She would end up being admitted 2 more times back to back in June and July.

Each time it was worse than the time before. During the NICU stay I just kept crying and saying to my husband, “What’s next, the only thing worse can be dead!” Somewhere in the middle of all this she was put on her first 2 prescriptions for steroids.

• That summer was easily the hardest and scariest time of my life. Actually, I don’t think scary even begins to cover it.
• We literally could not go outside for longer than 5 minutes without my daughter going into a wheezing and coughing fit.
• If she came within 10 feet of someone with the sniffles we would be heading to the hospital within 72 hours.
• We became prisoners of our own home, too afraid to leave and way too afraid to let anyone come over from fear that they might bring a bug that would put our sweet girl back in the NICU.

Throughout this time period I was searching for every angle that could explain why this was happening to my girl. I had a friend from a Facebook mommies group who had emailed me several times talking about vaccines and natural remedies. I rolled my eyes and politely said, “Thank you I will look into it.” I did in fact look into it, however, you can find whatever you want to find on the internet.

I was a good mother, I was following the doctors advice and vaccines couldn’t possibly be related at all.

When I say searching every angle I mean it. I changed the filters in my vents at home, got air purifiers, tested for mold, tested for lead. At one point I took a garbage bag and cleared my whole house of any food that contained or was manufactured with peanuts (my daughter is also peanut allergic) because I thought maybe being in the same house was making her wheeze.

So let me get to the healing.

• My first “Ah hah” moment was on my daughters 2nd to last NICU stay in June when they were trying to swab her nose for RSV and Whooping Cough for the 8Th time. I remember yelling at the nurse, “Why are you testing for that? She doesn’t have whooping cough she is fully vaccinated!” It made no sense.
  
  
• My 2nd “Ah hah” moment was when we came home with her prescriptions after her last NICU stay and they took up my entire kitchen counter. (6 in total to be given twice a day) I just remember thinking “She’s just so little, she’s just a baby, there has to be another way.”
  
  
• My last “Ah hah” was when she was prescribed a Z-Pak for the 3rd time in 2 and a half months. None if it was right.

I came to the Heal Thyself group right around this time looking for help. I was given a ton of suggestions and many of them just seemed so overwhelming. It made my head spin.

• I started slowly looking into the things that were being suggested and in my research found a package insert for the Tdap shot that clearly stated that the vaccination “was not to be administered to any person who was currently on high dose corticosteroids”. All 6 of my daughter's medications where corticosteroids. I was shocked!
  
  We were suppressing her immune system with these steroids and then injecting her with 8 viruses at a time and no one including her Doctors could figure out why she was sick?

I would like to add that my daughter has suffered from eczema and lots of other what I call “mystery rashes.” She had blotchy eczema spots all over her legs and would just break out in these weird rashes all over her body and face that we just couldn’t figure out. I often cried over her in the bath tub just wanting them to go away and her to be well.

• My baby girl was released from the hospital for the last time 8 months ago. We were still following doctors orders regarding medications; however, since that point I finally began really looking at natural healing.

• I decided to hold off on any more vaccinations until I felt sure that it wasn’t causing or contributing to her illness. At this point she is 99% vaccine free, other than 1 that I did allow at her last well check.

I started out giving her Epsom salt baths about twice a week and also giving her organic apple cider vinegar in the juice in the morning. Those were my first two baby steps.

It was often suggested to me in Heal Thyself to cut out dairy, but I fought that tooth and nail for quite sometime. In pure desperation, I finally succumbed and did in fact cut out dairy and soy 100 percent. I later cut out corn as well after a positive skin test with the allergist.

• After cutting out dairy, I IMMEDIATELY saw improved results in her eczema and breathing.
• I also began giving her daily Vit D(2,000 iu), Vit C(500 mg) and probiotics.
• Our next step was fermented foods (my daughter really likes fermented pickles) and homemade bone broth (more of a challenge since she can be a picky eater). So I started boiling her brown rice and noodles in it.
• We have also gone roughly 80-90 percent gluten-free and eat about 90 percent organic.

In the last 7 months time since we have become more “natural” my sweet girl has not had one single asthma attack. Not wheezed once. Not had a single cold. Her eczema has completely cleared up.

• We have been able to wean her down from 6 meds twice daily to only 2 meds once a day. We are working towards getting her off the last 2.

In the last 2 weeks, since the weather has been better, we have been able to play outside and run and jump and swing without the slightest worry of an attack. The wind, dirt, hay and dust don’t worry me. I even used the leaf blower 5 feet away from her just the other day.

• We went from never leaving the house or having human contact to enrolling her in gymnastics and toddler swim classes for twice a week. I don’t look at other kids as the thing that might put her in the hospital or possibly kill her anymore. I have stopped living in constant fear. My beautiful girl has finally been able to live a normal life of any other 20 month old little girl.

I am so grateful for all of you that have helped us! My little girl gets to be a little girl! Thank you! It's all I've been thinking about lately cause she has just been doing sooooo well and playing and being a kid! It means so much to me!