I Promised to Share More (Part 2)

Camping August 2003

That Summer after Curt turned one and refused to nurse proved to be an interesting one.  I found that Curt would drink dehydrated Barley juice powder in apple juice.  I sure wish I had known about green smoothies then.  But anyway I was grateful to have that.  He did have a few fruits that he liked and I found that he liked beans.  Things were going really well with my herbal studies and I was finding them to be very helpful keeping us from needing to go to the Doctor!  We were doing much better at eating healthy although I was still struggling with my sugar addiction.  But I was learning to make some healthified treats and really my attachment at this point was pretty much emotional.  I didn't want to say or admit that I would ever totally give up sugar.

Then in August of 2003 we went camping with family and my Mom gave me this book!

 

 Diet decisions for Latter-Day Saints

I'm not sure that this book is for everyone but man oh man it was just what I needed to "hear" I was to the point I was ready for it.  And I think the Lord knew I needed that extra push because he knew I needed to be prepared for what was soon to come.  I just love how smart he is, don't you!  After reading this book, I cleaned out my cupboard got rid of all refined white things there really was very little left but like I said I was still emotionally hanging onto it.  Throwing the last little bit away was actually quite therapeutic.  None has entered my home again ever since then.  We also gave up the last bit of dairy (cheese and eggs) we were still consuming.  Not that there aren't some more healthful types of dairy but at this point I felt we needed to stay totally away from any for a while.

Then I also read this book - Cancer why we're still dying to know the truth.

It's a very good book and it talked a lot about the chemicals and things in our soaps, shampoos, cleaning products, etc. that can cause cancer.  I felt that where cancer runs pretty strong in my family and having a Mother who had colon cancer at age 33 I should do all I could feasibly do to keep known cancer causing carcinogenics away from me and my family as much as possible.  So I cleaned out the bathrooms and the broom closet.  I got rid of hair sprays, window cleaners, soaps, shampoos, deodorants, toilet cleaners, etc.  Anything that had ingredients that were talked about in this book and that I had researched or that I just felt were toxic for us to breath and/or use.  Many people including my husband at times thought I was loosing it and turning into some crazy fanatical, going to make healthy living my religion type person.  I was a bit offended but knew that only the guilty take the truth hard and since I didn't feel guilty (unsure of myself maybe but not guilty) I chose not to take it too hard.  Being offended and trying to prove my point would only make me appear that much more fanatical to others.  But in my heart I knew I needed to do this and that only time would prove to others that I wasn't completely off my rocker.

January 2004

Then came Winter!  And Curt caught the first thing that came around.  And with it came what we started calling "The Cough!"  Oh it was horrible sounding and just scared me.  I gave him all the herbs I had used for coughs before and some of them seemed to help but then I noticed some seemed to make it worse.  I found things like Echinacea or other strong immune stimulants would make him cough more.  Then there was the wheezing oh it was more scary then the cough.  It sounded like so much work just for him to breath in.  I would stand with him in a steamy shower to help loosen things up.  I would then rub Mullein and Lobelia oil on his chest and back along with Dr. Christopher's X-ceptic formula and Vicks.  When he was feverish I would do garlic feet on him. (more about that later) When his coughing would keep him up at night I would give him Dr. Christopher's Lung and Bronchial Formula and rub Anti-Spasmodic formula on him.  When he was the very wheeziest and we worried about him getting enough air I would lay sliced baked onions (making sure they were not too hot) on his chest.  I would give him Chest Comfort Formula, it was in powder form, in his juice he wouldn't take much of it though because it had Cayenne in it and he didn't like it.  I tried to see if there was a trigger that caused the cough.  I looked at food allergies or other types of allergies but there just didn't seem to be any type of pattern or trigger.  He would be fine one day and then the next, "BARK" the cough would start up.  It did seem to be tied a lot of times to a runny nose or other sickness but not always.  And the cough would hang on for quite a while after the cold or sickness was gone.

That winter was probably the very longest winter ever for me.  Oh did I pray!  I told the Lord that I didn't feel that I could do this on my own that I didn't have the knowledge and that I needed to take him to a Doctor.  I told him to let me know who would be the best to take him to that could help me and work with me and wouldn't force Steroids on him let alone Vaccinations which I also had not felt good about for this child.  I had no problem using drugs in an emergency situation but by now I was convinced that Curtis had Asthma and I knew exactly what the medical profession does for Asthma.  If I could keep my son breathing and getting enough air by using foods and herbs I didn't want him to be dependant on an inhaler or bronchial dilators.  I knew the side effects of Steroids and I knew I wanted to avoid them unless of course there was no other option.  I searched for Doctors to help me I asked friends who had taken their children to a Naturopath in our area and every time I would be ready to make an appointment I just couldn't do it.  I'm not sure what it was but it didn't feel right.  I kept getting the feeling that God had given me the information I needed and that the herbs He created were going to help my son who He also created.  I was very scared and impatient though!  I had a lot of faith I aways have.  I had my husband give him many priesthood blessings and I prayed for a miracle! 

Then I got mad when off and on all winter long we fought and struggled with "The Cough!"  I laid awake by Curt many nights just listening to him breathe and praying like crazy that God would just cure my son.  He wasn't thriving like I wanted him to be.  He was still growing well but skinnier then I wanted him to be.  He would also get so tired and wore out when he would have his coughing fits.  He would throw his chest back just to give his lungs some more space.  Then something interesting happened, the Lord humbled me.  I quit being stressed, fighting with God, telling him to cure my son now.  And I started putting it in his hands again like when I was pregnant with Curt.  I started to really trust.  I quit worrying what others might be thinking.  Because trust me there were people who were very concerned and convinced it was our diet with all the lack of mucus forming dairy, meat and sugar, that was causing the lack of health in my son.  I told my husband that I knew the Lord had things for both me and Curtis to learn and that I knew if I continued to try to listen that He would teach EVERYONE involved!

Spring 2004

Well teach He did!  And let me tell you our timetable is NOT at all what the Lords is.  He requires us to have much faith and PATIENCE.  It was so hard because I trusted the Lord but I didn't trust myself I was going against the grain, against what I had been taught all my life was considered healthy, against modern medicine that I had been taught was a miracle. (Don't get me wrong I still believe it is in many ways just not in my particular case with my son)  But they said Asthma was incurable and the only thing to do for it was to use an inhaler your whole life.  I didn't feel like God made our bodies to be reliant on drugs our entire lives that just sounded like good marketing to me.  But it was hard because why should silly little me with very little "formal education" know best what to do!  I doubted myself so many times I doubted that my feelings were correct.  But then I kept hanging on to the fact that God gave ME stewardship over this little boy that was His and I needed to just TRUST!

We made it through that Winter and by Spring the cough was happening less and less.  Curt started liking more foods and became well, older and able to reason with just a little more.  And you are just going to have to wait until tomorrow to find out the rest!  Sorry I can't seem to sum it up with less words! ;)

Read Part 1 here
Part 3 here