Spoiled

This post could take a number of directions with that title. For instance, I could tell you how incredibly fast organic food spoils compared to non-organic food. (I can keep organic pears and bananas for a max of 4 days and then if they haven't been eaten, they're too mushy and nasty. Their non-organic counterfruits used to last until someone ate them.)


Or - maybe that title is describing Bubbles the 65lb Black Golden Retriever who is currently snuggled up next to me on the couch because she's cold. (If Rick was here, he'd kick her off the furniture.)

We could even use that word to describe my children at times. (Gasp)



However, that title is for no one other than yours truly today. I have decided that I am spoiled. Now, this is the point where you thank your lucky stars that your reading a blog entry about my spoilage and not having a face-to-face conversation with me because it could get awkward here.


I mean, I'd say I've determined that I'm spoiled and you'd say you know and that you've been meaning to talk to me about my excessive shopping trips to Sam Moon. This is the point where I'd realize you and I were not talking about the same kind of spoiled and a hushed, awkward silence would fall over our conversation. (Then, we'd probably decide to grab some Chipotle for lunch and run by Sam Moon ... )



You see, after yesterday, I have determined that this new way of living (organic, extreme food intolerances, salicylate build up, etc...) has spoiled me.



We began this (extreme) journey on January 26th of this year when the entire family switched to only organic fruits & vegetables, only hormone-free, grass-fed beef, only free-range organic chicken .... you get the idea. (Craig had already been egg free, dye free and gluten free for a few months but we went extreme in late January to test for the salicylates and sulfites.)



I will admit that in the beginning it was (soooooo) hard because we were so limited and because I was having to make every single thing that we ate. We weren't eating out. (my absolute favorite thing to do!!) We weren't able to buy anything already prepared. My work load significantly increased. However, once we began to see results - the work load didn't seem to matter anymore. Remember labor? Once you get the prize at the end, the work of the actual labor and delivery are significantly diminished in size. Results fuel our hope! What about the last diet you were on? (No, the one that worked.) When you were actually losing, you probably didn't care what you were having to go through to see the numbers decrease. As long as it's working, we can usually stick it out.



Once we began to get our son back, the constant (and I do mean CONSTANT) work of trying to stay one step ahead on his food, the never ending trips to Whole Foods, and the lack of creativity in our diet didn't seem like so much of a burden.



Then, something really weird happened. Are you ready for this? They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit. I don't know if that is true - but at some point - this new way of life became a habit. At some point it began to feel normal. I like the way Rick put it when he informed me that we can no longer say that "the weird people shop at Whole Foods". When I asked him why, he said it's because we ARE the weird people now. We ARE the Austin tree huggers. We ARE the hippies. (Ok, maybe I took it too far there.)



That's why yesterday was so hard. You see, we've gotten used to our new kid. We have to work our backsides off to make sure he's eating correctly, but in exchange - we get a new son. I've already told you what a joy he is to be around now and I'm sure you're tired of hearing it, but when you go 6-8 years of "enduring" your child instead of enjoying your child, you tend to bask in the joy for a while.





However, lest I think I have this thing under control (a.k.a. - that I know it all, a.k.a. - get prideful) every once in awhile we have a day like yesterday. When I drove up in the carpool line yesterday at school to pick them up, I could tell by the look on his face that he was "reacting". (Reacting is the term I have coined (ha) to describe how Craig behaves when he has ingested something disagreeable. That's a diplomatic way of saying: When he's acting half-stupid again)


I had the joy of witnessing all kinds of temper tantrums, yellings, and just general irritations yesterday from the boy. He couldn't sleep last night (which is another sign he's reacting) and I fully expected him to wet the bed (yet another sign) but it seems we were spared from that one. (Whew!)



However, I realized in experiencing it all over again yesterday that I have become very accustomed to the new things in my life. #1) This new way of eating (while alot of work) has become our new "normal". #2) This new boy that I live with now has so many "good days" that the bad days seem all the more bad. I don't mean that in a negative way. I also don't mean it to sound ungrateful or snarky. It's just that we've had so many good days now that when a bad one rolls around it is completely out of character and it catches us off guard. (That's a diplomatic way of saying: It makes us wish we could crawl under a rock and hide.) So what do you do with a day like yesterday? Well, I don't know how you're "supposed" to handle it. I mean, as of yet, no one has written the Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Dye-Free, Salicylate-Free, Sulfite-Free Handbook. But, I can tell you what we did: I read and re-read (and then read again) the food journal. (Rick will tell you he despises the amount of reading I do in the food journal when Craig is reacting. It drives him insane.) When he reacts I look at everything the child has ingested for the last 5 days. This particular time, I realized that Craig has had an apple, an orange, and a handful of strawberries every single day for at least 5 days. That is an ENORMOUS amount of salicylates. While I knew this in packing his lunch each day, I wanted to know how many days he could go before he "filled up". You see, salicylates accumulate in your system. They build up. That is why one orange may not be the trigger, but two oranges might do the trick. When we first started this, Craig couldn't even tolerate one apple. However, now - after 64 days of doing this, he can handle 5 days of salicylates. What does that mean? Well - it means his body is slowly healing. And - the mommy hope inside of me hopes that it means that eventually he will be free from all of these restrictions. 

1. I throw the t.v. rules out the window. I don't know how it works in your house, but over here the kids are encouraged to play outside or with their toys in their rooms. (That's a diplomatic way of saying: we keep the t.v. off as much as possible until the kids are in bed.) However, on days like yesterday, I throw rules to the curb and turn on Disney. Craig vegges in front of the TV and the world is a happier place. This keeps him away from the Wii (which angers him when he's reacting), away from his sister (who angers him when he's reacting), and away from me (who gets angry when he's reacting). :) Ok, seriously speaking - it just works for us. And I could get all bent out of shape about him watching 2 hours of t.v., or I could realize that it's one day and he's probably not going to be any worse off because of it. (Grace is a beautiful thing, you know?)
2. I put him to bed early. It's not a punishment although it feels that way sometimes to him. However, I try to keep in mind that any time I feed him something that causes him to react, his body has to heal (yet again) after that encounter. Our bodies heal when they sleep. (Particularly in the first two hours we are asleep.) So, more sleep equals more opportunity to heal. (It also enables him to have some quiet moments in his bed with nothing to yell at, throw things at, or attack. That's a win-win for everyone!)
3. I give a few extra supplements. Some of the supplements that he takes are to help him digest foods better. Some are to help with liver function (which I think I've mentioned was weakened because of too many years of poisons). Then, we have some that are specifically to help with allergens he encounters in his food or environmentally. When he's having a rough day, I give a few extra of those. Sometimes we see a direct result. Sometimes we just grit our teeth and get through the rest of the day without a result.
4. I go back to the bare basics for at least 24 hours. Bare basics means ABSOLUTELY ZERO eggs, gluten, salicylates, dyes and sulfites. (If you'll recall, we are slowly adding back in a few salicylates a little at a time.) So, while Craig has been recently having an apple and an orange in his lunch (because he's been tolerating them well) and then enjoying a berry smoothy when he arrives home from school - today he will be enjoying none of that. No fruits. Very low salicylate veggies. What if it's not the salicylates he's reacting to this time? Well, until I know everything and can read minds, I have to err on the side of caution. If it's not the salicylates and he's simply reacting to an environmental allergen (like the mold count or cedar), that will run it's course and he'll return to normal. However, if it IS the salicylate and I just continue to feed him those, they will build in his system only making things worse. I'm an all-or-nothing kind of gal. I'd rather pull out all the stops and get him back to our (new) normal than tinker around with ideas and notions and eventually land on the right one.

So, here I sit today ... spoiling. (hee hee) I'm incredibly thankful for the good days as one year ago there were no good days (in reference to food allergies). However, I'm also incredibly thankful for the bad days because they remind me how far we've come.