Griffin went to a new doctor today who is a Dr. Andrew Wakefield fan and I had my skeptic hat on but listened to her anyway. I am willing to do all the testing but as far as the radical diets I am here to say that I am not for it for several reasons.
#1 The days of believing Dr. Wakefield are over....long over! I stopped blaming myself for vaccinating my child years ago and believe that there is a very good reason for doing it and that is to keep my child alive and free from disease! I do not care to have my child die from a simple case of the measles and I don't believe that that is far fetched either, the disease is still around and very real.
#2 I believe that my child deserves to find some comfort in life and if that is in his diet than so be it. If the tests show that he does not have any allergies then I do not believe that I should cut out any foods. There are so many things in this world that he has to cope with and adjust to that it is not fair that his diet is drastically changed and taken away from him. Sure I can adjust his sugar intake which is very low as it is already but to take away all his comfort foods is not fair to him.
#3 My pocketbook will not bear the weight of all fresh foods, I can barely afford to buy the cheap foods that I buy now at the discount grocery store where I can afford to shop. Besides, Griffin will not eat only fresh foods, he had rather starve than to eat vegetables and fresh fruits. He prefers carbs like many autistic kiddos and some protiens but totally dislikes vegies. He takes vitamins and his other doctors have told me that that is acceptable until the day comes that he can transition to vegies and fruits. I plan to get his new O.T. to help me get him to try new foods gradually.
I do plan to make a few changes but only a few mind you and they will be affordable ones at that. Like smoothies with ground flax seed for fiber. He will drink those and he definitely needs the fiber. Constipation has always been a problem but I have always just given him apple juice for it and it works but it is a good time to incorporate something new.
I appreciate that the doctor took two hours and was very thorough with his history up to the present but at the same time I must be realistic and I am not changing my mind about Andrew Wakefield MD or about my choices in the past. We will do the heavy metal testing of the hair, testing the stool, and the allergy testing and then I will remain a skeptic after that and choose carefully where it goes after that. Temple Grandin mentioned that refined sugar was one of the main things to take an autistic child off of in order to quiet their minds and that is sound advice to me so I am gradually going to do so and find substitutes. I think that he can live with that.
I slept last night without the aid of medication which is good news but tonight I discovered that it is not that good because I am feeling depressed and that is why. Everyone keeps telling me that I look tired and yes I am. My meds need to be tweaked because I have cycled down and that is why I am sleeping so easily, like I could fall asleep right now and it is only 7:00 so that is not a good thing. So glad that I am going to see my doctor deity on Monday......so it damn well better not be snowing on Monday!!!!!!!
5 comments:
hey Lora,
the name Wakefield strikes dread into my heart, and to be honest i'd find it hard to have faith in a doctor who thinks that what he did was justified.
I'm glad you don't blame yourself re vaccinating your son, but i worry that attending a Wakefield fan will expose you misguided pressures.
Hope you meds get sorted. It's great that you're sleeping, but not so good that it's affecting your mood.
Take care of yourself hun XXX
god lora me and you have exactly the same thought with both the vaccine and the diet! Id AJ tested for allergies and all was clear so theres no way im taking out the only things he enjoys. he'd starve!!!
My heart goes out to you with regards the sleep. Its so hard to function during the day with no sleep and thats not good for anyone. hope it gets sorted soon.
good luck with all of the doctors. u know ur son better than ANYONE
XXX
Thank you for wearing your feelings on your sleeve. It is tough to be a parent and manage everything that goes in and out of a kids mouth. Keep encouraging him to eat healthy and you do the same. Be well
Wakefield has a lot to answer for - not only the furore over his claims but the guilt and anxiety he has placed on parents who feel that their child's autism is somehow their fault.
As far as diet goes, sounds like Griffin and Button like the same things. If i took Button of dairy and gluten, he'd starve, and he's rather starve than eat a veggie - though he does like a bit of brocolli! Stay well, honey. xx
Let me jump on the bandwagon re: the vaccinations and diet. In fact, you know that we tried gfcf with Conor for 8 months when he was newly diagnosed and nothing changed, other than the fact that he became even pickier than he once was before the diet!
As for the vaccinations, I never believed that it was the cause of Conor's autism. I am not going to tell another parent that they didn't see changes in their child after an immunization, but I am just not of the belief that it causes autism.
I think that you're just an absolutely amazing mom. Love you!! <3
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