gone gluten free

A bit ago I gave you the back story on some of Josie's health issues which included symptoms of arthritis. I mentioned in that post that I had plans to meet with a homeopathic practice to investigate if diet could be part of her problem, a possibility that the rheumatologists didn't seem interested in checking out and pretty much told me that diet has nothing to do with arthritis. Just so you know...I'm not bitter about this but I felt very strongly that I needed to at least investigate a possible dietary issue before committing to medicating Josie for an unforeseen amount of time or to label her with a very heavy diagnosis.

I saw a homeopathic nurse practitioner at Webster Family Physicians just after Josie had received a steroid shot for the continued swelling in her ankle. (The shot was the next step recommended by the rheumatologists since medication alone wasn't totally fixing the problem.) The homeopathic nurse and I discussed doing some blood tests to see if diet was a player in the arthritis. After drawing blood that day, it took nearly a month to get the test results back. Her bloodwork indicated that she had no "allergies" but several low grade offenders which cause inflammation in her immune system. One of the offenders was apple which I had been giving her pretty much non stop through juice and applesauce which were the only foods she consistently had interest in. I had no idea that it was causing inflammation to build up in her little body! :(

The nurse explained that it was good news that Josie's tests showed no severe reactions to food but that we needed to get the inflammation under control so that her fragile immune system could recover, mature and strengthen. She assured me that if we got things under control now, she would almost certainly outgrow these sensitivities!

The plan of action was to completely remove wheat and gluten for a year or two and also cycle through the other inflammatory foods every four days, giving her system a complete digestive cycle before reintroducing them into her digestion.

I have to say, since being on this diet since March, (about two months) Josie is like a different child! She is sleeping through the night (HALLELUJAH!) which happened almost immediately. She is no longer emotionally reactive. Before, she would scream in frustration constantly, needed holding all the time and just didn't act like the carefree, easy-tempered girl I once knew. Now she's back to her old self! She sings and runs around, and laughs and plays with her siblings. And she's finally eating food! She's become a GREAT little eater! In fact, this morning I noticed that the onesie she wore to bed was way too snug. I thought to myself, "I need to take these old onesies out of her drawer because they are pulling on her neck." Then I stumbled across this photo of her from only four weeks ago wearing the exact same onesie:

Here it is baggy and loose. She has gained 4-1/2 pounds in about six weeks. It's incredible!

I so appreciate medicine and love our doctors. But I can't tell you what a relief it is to speak to a medical professional who sees the validity of diet and who is not in a rush to over medicate. I thank God for this amazing turn of events!

As of now, the swelling in her ankle has not completely disappeared. But it is well under control and is not causing her any stiffness or changing her gait. The difference between her two ankles is very subtle. But the idea is that once the inflammation has worked it's way out of her system over time, she should return completely to normal. I'll keep you updated as things progress! I'm one relieved Mama, I have to say! xx

For your viewing pleasure, here are some recent photos we had taken last week. The happy changes are visible!

Check out that healthy little toddler body!

To close, here is an image of her sleeping, sweet sleep, on the couch. She just laid down after lunch and fell right to sleep:

So happy to have my girl back.