Growing evidence of childhood fatty liver disease

I am seeing a number of studies and proof to support something I have known since 2008. Our kids are in serious trouble for their futures if they live on processed foods, soda pop and sauces coating anything natural. Finding those kids out there is a challenge. We have about 6 children in my fatty liver disease support group on Facebook ranging from age 2 – 18.  This is 2 girls and 4  boys which is not by any means a predictor.

Doctors DO NOT look for liver disease as a rule. They are NOT taught to look for the disease. They will blame the pancreas, gallbladder, IBS, Celiac Disease, Diabetes before they would even pay attention to elevated liver enzymes.  As a Parent you need to pay attention to your child’s symptoms and NOT be too quick to blindly trust the doctor.  Demand a blood test for your child. review the levels for AST and ALT and ask your doctor what the safe levels are for enzymes. As for an Ultrasound of the stomach.  If the liver has fatty deposits they will be shown in this test.  Ask for genetic testing they are now proving there are genetic links to fatty liver disease. I am not saying every child has a problem with their livers but I would bet my life at this point far more do then are being diagnosed. Studies say between 3 – 13% of kids have fatty liver disease. I suspect its closer to the 25-30% that is happening in adults.

These kids generally have homes where both parents are working. There are few home cooked meals because parents are stressed out and running between all the soccer, dance, skating, hockey, baseball games that kids are involved with. Or because they can’t get their kids away from the video games and their kids are picky eaters who will ONLY eat hamburgers, chicken nuggets , macaroni or other standard processed or junk foods.

The very sad reality is that these products are created by companies who know and love the fact that people get addicted to their products. If your kid eats it once and it has high fructose corn syrup in it there is no message to the brain to tell them that they are full. and there is no balancing of the sugars. This creates a fatty cell in the liver and your child becomes addicted to those products.

So when they are eventually diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease or Diabetes or other metabolic disorders you will find you have a child who is trying to sneak foods, or find ways to drive you nuts until you give in. The problem is that they are actually ADDICTED to these products its like they are coming out of alcoholism or drug addiction. Everything in their body is telling them they NEED those foods.  You essentially need to accept that your child is in withdrawl

You have to be strong and fight for your child. This disease can and does lead to liver failure. Doctors and researchers have no understanding about this disease right now. They are all fighting to find the answers but we are dealing with it TODAY and don’t have time to wait for them. I am aware of 2 men in their 30′s who died of liver failure due to fatty liver disease. Neither of them were alcoholics or drug addicts. They were only in  their 30′s. I suspect you want your child to experience life longer than that!

This generation of children are the first generation which will live shorter lives. This is directly related to processed foods and additives and genetically modified foods. Our body’s DO not know how to process these chemicals. Our poor children do not stand a chance in this world of Monsanto versus humans.

If your child is dealing with chronic illness that doesn’t get better. Try getting rid of sugar! Getting rid of junk food, do they start to feel better? You will find after 3- 6 weeks of not eating those things or drinking sugary beverages they will feel healthier!

Parents please pay attention and do not go blindly into dealings with doctors. Get the right tests, keep all test results…you need to take this into your control for your kids sake!

Baking Fundraising for Me to We Camp!

Megan Clermont described this perfectly I have adjusted slightly.

Do you like baked goods and helping out a good cause?

For the month of May my daughter will be baking a variety of home baked cookies, breads, and cupcakes with all proceeds going towards fees for a Me to We Take Action Camp this summer. Prices for these items range from $1-$7.50 with a total of $500 needed to be raised for the cost of attendance.

This camp offers an amazing leadership opportunity that will be able to help Megan bring back to our community through volunteer work and other humanitarian efforts. Megan will be working with industry professionals to help her learn ways to create tangible changes. To learn more about this camp go to Me to We’s website.

http://www.metowe.com/motivation-leadership/take-action-camp/ontario-take-action-academy/#social-innovation-for-change-fostering-creative-and-innovative-ideas-for-positive-social-influence

Megan is 16 years old and a junior at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School The opportunity to attend this camp would mean the world to her as she looks towards a career in human rights law after fighting for 6 years with a chronic illness called Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease that left me in various states of extreme sickness throughout that time. She has impressed Investor’s Group enough so that they have given her a bursary to  cover some of the costs, but with me as a single mother she need help to raise the remaining funds. Human Rights are a huge passion for her and she will  make a difference in both the local and international community.

If you live in the GTA of Toronto Ontario or Southwestern Ontario we would be happy to deliver the baked goods to you. Sadly we can’t do this beyond that geographical area.  There will be 2 days that deliveries will be made to the Toronto area. This offer is limited to the month of May 2013.

In order to support Megan in this amazing opportunity please go to the attached order form and fill out your information and order request and submit to have it sent to Megan.

https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=PbKTYKRgo2IZr23pmmLnIA

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally 2013 looking much better!!

2013 has been a rough year personally with broken bones ruling my life! As of April 12, 2013 we finally got the news that Megan’s toe was healing and she would not require surgery

Over the last couple of weeks my rib has healed enough that I rarely feel the pain unless i am stretching that specific area.

I have seen Megan walking down the stairs without crutches, climbing up the stairs without having to crawl.

She is still reliant somewhat on the chair in the shower but is standing to wash most of her body and her need for me is reducing dramatically.

We have gone out without her wheelchair! We have replaced the air cast with very high quality doc marten’s to provide the added support for her foot. But at least she feels more human!

Alex returned from Halifax completing his first year of university it has matured him so much and he is flourishing in that setting.  I got to meet his beautful girlfriend Beth. They are perfect together and were together for most of this school year. Sadly Beth is from England and had a year in Canada which ends at the end of May when she will return home and the relationship will end. This relationship will likely be the one they both look back on and compare every other relationship too as they start meeting other people. I am so happy for them for experiencing this together and I know Alex will not settle for less than what he had with Beth and I hope the same for Beth. You both deserve happiness and don’t settle for less.

Alex has struggled with finding a job in the last year. This is not unusual for students, the economy is very very hard on young adults who are looking for work. The jobs they apply for are also being applied for by adults who are underemployed and need more money.  Alex started watching job ads and saw one for a Caulking company looking for a student for the summer. He contacted them and met with them and he has now officially started working for the summer at 14 dollars per hour which is awesome for a summer job and will make returning to university in the fall so much easier!

For Megan I am always watching for opportunities to enrich her life experience. As she is not in school very much due to health over the last 5 years i try to make sure there is always something to look forward to, always something to fight for.  In February I was looking at the WE DAY website and I found http://www.metowe.com/ On this site their were summer camps with leadership streams that would be so perfect for Megan. But they are 900 for a week and there would be no way I could pay for her to attend.  I noticed that there was a bursary option with investors group and I looked into that. Megan would need to write about why she wanted to attend the camp and what she hoped to get out of it. She needed 2 other letters of recomendations. I wrote one easily talking about why Megan deserves this and her school guidance counsellor also wrote a nice letter for her.

We forgot about it for the month of April , had no idea how many kids would apply for a bursary , whether there was any shot for Megan to attend. We focussed on getting Megan walking and her toe! On April 30, 2013 Megan got a voice mail from MetoWe for her to call them. Megan and I looked at each other and i know i caught my breath thinking would they call if She DID NOT get a bursary…talked myself into that they would want to thank every student for their efforts.

Megan called them on May 1. Not only had she qualified for a bursary she qualified for the highest amount they have ever given a student from Investors group! She was given 400 dollars towards the 900.00 cost of this camp.  This is going to be so incredible for Megan, It will be in August just before she returns to school and I know she will be so inspired! They are not allowed to bring electronics and have to focus on the program. This is the program she will attend

 

Offered weeks one (July 7-13) and four (August 4-10)

This program is designed for youth who are interested in tackling problems in a new creative way that can help foster positive social change. Social Innovation focuses on providing youth with the skill set of a successful “innovator” Youth will develop not only leadership skills and a better understanding of the issues the world is facing, but creative thinking, idea generation, and collaboration skills–all important for producing ideas that change the world.

This stream will:

• Develop campers’ leadership  and life skills, including communication, collaboration, planning and decision making

• Provide a  deeper understanding of the role that social innovation is playing in reshaping the way we look at social justice issues

• Develop the skill set of a social innovator, including:  creating  social capital , networking, generating creative solutions to problems, coming to terms with and dealing with failure  and fostering the self-motivation to carry out and implement an idea

• Creating a blueprint of a business plan that uses these skills to have a positive impact on the local and global community

Ideal for participants who:

• Have an interest in business

• Are creative, forward-thinking and solution orientated

• Are passionate about a range of social justice issues

 

Stay tuned tomorrow as I share the ideas for how we will fundraise 500.00 for the rest of the cost of this camp in the month of May.

Brimming with Happiness here today!!

 

 

Austin’s Story – 14 year old with Fatty Liver Disease – Guest Post Cat Case

My Sons Journey to Diagnosis of Liver Disease

By C. Case©

At age 14 my son was diagnosed with Liver Disease. From the time he was born up until this diagnoses, I just knew something was very wrong with my son. He was born weighing 7 lbs 1. oz  after 8 weeks old his weight tripled and he was constantly hungry, and either had constipation or diarrhea. By age 3 he weighed 70 lbs. By age 6 he lost the weight as he also was diagnosed with ADHD and was on medication.

As an infant and toddler he ate fast and so much he threw up everything that just went in him, and I mean projectile vomiting. He also had digestive problems we went through so many different diagnosis it was spinning my head.  We went from formula allergies to wheat and lactose intolerance. My son had severe gastric reflux and he does have burn scars on his throat from it. My son started to get severe diarrhea, where I took him to the emergency room and they kept telling me it was just the stomach flu. I was like okay and went with the doctors order, but it just continued on.

My son started gaining back that weight even being on the medication for ADHD at age 8  He has had a gastroenterologist that he has been seeing since an infant on and off. It has been about 3 years since he has been back to see him as he ruled my sons problem to a wheat sensitivity, lactose intolerance and severe IBS. He has had a colonoscopy and endoscope and age 9. I was getting concerned as my son has put on a great amount of weight by age 11, he is now 14 and is 5’8 and weighs over 200 lbs. At first I though maybe diabetes since that runs in both sides of our family, but his sugar lever was elevated but not that much, then I am thinking he has an eating disorder, that was not it either, then I am thinking heart issue possibly? His heart is fine as well.

My son in the past three years has missed so much school from either vomiting uncontrollably to a severe case of diarrhea or constipation and cramps. He put on over 80 lbs since this time last year. He also has migraines associated with the above mentioned . He still has episodes of vomiting and having diarrhea or severe constipation and this year he was complaining about cramps and pains under his rib cage on his right side. If he ran in P.E. He could not go far as the pain and cramps became unbearable.  His disposition was always irritable, and just plain mean when he was having flare ups.

I took my son to the doctor last month for a check up as he was having bad migraines, and diarrhea, the doctor run a blood panel on him and his liver enzymes came back elevated, we waited to 2 weeks to go back and have it redone and it came back elevated ever more. She sent him for an ultrasound just last week and within 45 minutes, my doctors office calls and tells me the news that he has Liver Disease as in a NAFL and to lower his calorie intake and certain carbohydrates and for him to get out an exercise if possible and to stay away from certain foods. His Cholesterol is also high its at 245. Apparently his liver is not breaking down any of the fats in his system for some reason and is just sitting there,. I am surprised that his PCP did recommend him to see his gastroenterolgist or a hepatologist. So I will contact his Gastrenetologist for further assessments on the issue.

So for now my son is on a low fat, low carbohydrate diet, he is drinking a lot of water and is off soft drinks and he is making good choices in school for lunches.

 

Join our group on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/fattyliversupport/

Follow us on Twitter @fattyliverhelp

And join our website with patients helping patients at http://www.reversefattyliverdisease.com/

Marina’s Story – 14 Year old NAFLD patient

I met and started talking to Darlene who is Marina’s grandmother after she found my blogs about my daughter Megan. I have asked her to share the story of her grand daughter Marina.

It was Nov 1. 2012. Marina woke up for school and said her stomach hurt her. She generally never gets up at 5 am and for her to wake me up that early, I knew it must hurt her very badly because she is not a complainer.
She showed me where it hurt and it was like the top right side of her abdomen. She started getting ready for school and she was still in a lot of pain..so much so that I took her to the urgent care clinic instead of waiting to call her family doctor’s office. At the clinic ,they took Marina right back and drew blood, after examining her and with her being in so much pain, they reviewed the blood work wnich showed her (* white blood count was way off) they actually called an ambulance to transport her to Children’s Hospital.

When we got to the hospital…they hooked up an IV…started drawing blood and she was in so much pain she was crying. They did a CT scan and a Sonogram and took her right to the ICU. Her blood pressure sky rocketed..her blood count was way off…and she couldn’t stop crying about the pain. I was trying to act calm on the outside to keep Marina calm, but I was so worried …thinking…let this be her appendix so it will be solved quickly!

That would have been to good to be true. They call in the Gastroentologist and we were told the scan results were in and she had pancreaticitis. Marina just had to stay for a few days in the hospital …keeping a good eye on her in the ICU. No food to give her pancreas a rest with just an IV and lots of pain medication. So, I could breath again… she stopped crying cause the pain medications were working.They brought a portable toilet for her to pee in because she was hooked up to monitors.She was dealing with nausea but didn’t throw up…her blood pressure was high but they said it was due to the pain. To me, she looked so uncomfortable from the pain the whole thing,then she goes pee and what the heck her urine was brown like coffee. I almost passed out but I am still acting calm on the outside..she was groggy and I calmly asked the nurse why is her urine that color? Oh that’s ok, its just that her pancreas is inflamed and it needs to rest. Ok they are the medical experts… so for the next 24 hrs..she continued to feel nausea she was still getting the iv so she could let her pancreas rest, still urinating brown ,blood pressure high but a little lower with drugs,she did not sleep much and I didn’t sleep at all.

So 24 hrs go by and the doctors came in to make their rounds. I asked all kinds of questions…like what caused this what can be done why is her blood pressure so high…why is her urine so brown…they answered all my questions and said her pancreas got infected…they don’t know how…these things happen… no med for it just no food to rest it and the pee is brown because the pancreas and liver work together and the red blood cells are coming out in her urine because the liver is not working correctly because of the pancreas being swollen…its fine.

So two more days went by and she still was on pain medications but it was hurting less everyday…her blood pressure was returning to normal and her pee was a light brown….so they moved her to a regular room and had her start in liquids… they gave her soda POP…with sugar in it…coke, pepsi,ginger ale, they gave her pudding, ice cream, jello and these are medically trained doctors?. So I not knowing they were poisoning her liver, I was so happy Marina was holding it down. So after a day of sugar galore, her face started turning red,then purplish. Again I was calm on the outside falling apart on the inside. I Go and tell the nurse and they see her blood pressure rocket, her pain was coming back. They rush her back to the ICU. What’ going on?? I go to an empty room to call my daughter long distance to tell her help!. I was so weak inside my daughter (marinas aunt) and my son in law and my daughters best friend get on their computers they are searching reading, looking, talking, trying to save Marina.

I am sitting in marinas ICU room when a nurse…now this is extremely important to remember..THIS NURSE who was taking care of marina that shift…commented to me…who by the way NOT ONE DR. OR SPECIALIST SAID A WORD ABOUT to me…her liver enzymes are so high. So I freak out inside what? her liver enzymes are so high I am thinking no doctor or specialist said that to me!!! As far as they were concerned it was all only about her pancreas So now back home they start thinking maybe its not her pancreas maybe her liver is causing her pancreas to be sick!

Now keep that comment from my daughter’s friend in your mind along with what the nurse said about marinas enzymes
So I see my precious grand daughter is getting so sick again after she started getting better!

I go to the room where marina can’t hear the desperation in my voice and tell my daughter listen to this a nurse just said to me wow her liver enzymes are so high. I said why would she be concerned about that,all along the doctors and other nurses were saying to me…no its her pancreas, the other organs are just helping with her pancreas. So my daughter says mom let me talk to her doctor. And I took my phone and went and found Marina’s doctor and told her to please explain to my daughter about marinas health… 20 min the doctor hands me back the phone and my daughter says to me MOM..WHY ARE YOU TELLING US COMMENTS MADE BY A NURSE…GETTING EVERYONE WORRIED THAT MARINAS SO SICK..HER DOCTOR SAID HER LIVER IS FINE she just needs to rest her pancreas everything is fine!

so I am numb am half happy, half thinking no she is back in the ICU, I am in a mind set of total confusion. I’m thinking about what the nurse said and I have marinas mom stay with her and I went to a computer, typed in liver and Fructose in Google searched fructose, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, every thing I typed in about liver..dark urine pain. I start seeing all this about children…fructose ,liver, dark urine and I’m like what??. So I send all these links to to my family. My son-in-law said get Marina out of that hospital something is not right!

marina was so sick when she came here they didn’t put anything in her body meaning no sugar because they wanted her pancreas to rest and it was working her blood pressure went down her blood count was getting better her urine was lightening with every pee. Then since she was getting better they took her out of ICU and gave her all liquids and soft food high fructose pudding high sugar jello, sugar in chocolate milk The comment stood out in my mind….maybe its her liver that’s making her pancreas sick I said I am taking her home…The doctors said you can’t, no said marinas mom! I said OH YES I CAN I AM HER LEGAL GUARDIAN I took her home and put her on a strict no sugar diet and my family and I read everything about fructose sugar liver and by the next week when they did blood work…wow….was her body getting better not much pain at all pee turning yellow not brown no nausea, sleeping good Since then we have been very on top of marina walking for exercise..every day she has to walk… he set her up with drinking watered down cider vinegar every other day….and on the other days she drinks a spice with water… turmeric. Every label is now read for hidden ways of saying sugar!

Marina is an honor role student and is doing very well since we took her health into our own hands! Doctors are not taught enough about this disease and they don’t look for it and assume its other things. We blindly trust doctors with our lives and sometimes you just need to listen to common sense. If the sugar brought all symptoms back then there is something to consider getting rid of for your body!

This disease is hitting kids as young as 2.

Do not ignore it, if 1 in 3 north Americans has liver disease someone you love is dealing with it before it starts showing nasty symptoms like this.

Join our group on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/fattyliversupport/

Follow us on Twitter @fattyliverhelp

And join our website with patients helping patients at http://www.reversefattyliverdisease.com/

A balanced approach to reversing fatty liver disease

My daughter Megan was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease in 2008. In the Ontario medical system we have seen the worst of what is offered. She has had doctors tell her to her face that her symptoms were all in her head. When doctors do not easily identify an illness you get to see the worst of who they are professionally. They get flustered, frustrated, impatient and can easily take it out on the patient. The number of times a doctor has talked to Megan in a condescending voice implying she is causing her illnesses is disturbing. Very rarely do you find a doctor who will treat her with respect and be on her side.

The focus of that 5 year journey based on what doctors said was always food related. They never gave concrete advice about what to eat, they would just say low fat. This was not easy to accept. How could all the low fat, diet foods that the companies I trusted be making my daughter so sick? But over that time I did find that processed foods do hurt her. I did learn not to trust the companies selling the food.

I didn’t focus on the alternate options in the health care sector, That was a sector i didn;t understand, I had never been exposed to anything other than massage and chiropractors.

I blindly trusted doctors who put Megan on birth control pills which likely created the 10 month of extreme vertigo. Why would doctors prescribe drugs that are going to cause other health issues? and why would they do that to a child?

I reached my breaking point after Megan spent a week at the Hospital for Sick Children, I was so thankful that Megan was FINALLY being seen by the best kids doctors! I love that hospital it was all I ever wanted for Megan. But that hospital did nothing for Megan. They were the ones who put her on anti depressants, they were ones that were pushing that she had psychological issues creating her illnesses. They broke my heart. They were not supposed to give up on kids and here they were..writing her off as a mental case. She was 13 years old. How dare you?!!

Now I do also keenly know that mental stress can create medical symptoms in the body. This completely depends on your bodies coping mechanisms and if this is what is causing your illnesses then please by all means talk to a professional and find your answers. This was not the answer for Megan.

After that experience I did not know where to turn. I was approached by a friend who was selling supplements and she was certain that the supplements would fix Megan. At this point I had nothing to lose so I took the chance on the supplements. The supplements did nothing for Megan , no changes in any symptoms. This was disappointing and hurt financially too.

I felt so defeated, I could not turn to doctors, I could not trust the corporations making our foods, I could not trust the drug companies. How would I help my child?

I tripped over an ad for a personal coach who was offering free advice and looking for someone to build marketing around. I decided to contact Brandon Krieger and take the step.

I did not know how important Brandon would become to Megan and I. I did not know he would help me research and find solid answers for Megan but thats what happened.

Brandon is a Holistic Coach, focussing on the whole person not just medical symptoms. The focus quickly moved away from my health and it was clear my biggest challenge was trying to help my daughter. He reached out to resources all around the world to get advice from health advocates and leaders in nutrition to create a specific diet for Megan which would be kind to her liver. All foods were from the ground, the animals and the water and nothing was processed. Megan hated this but she started to feel better.

Brandon introduced us to an Osteopath who determined that Megan’s uterus was twisted which explained her uncontrollable menstrual cycle. He found that she had blockages in her brain stem and others that would impact her hormones. He found her liver was not processing clearly.

Brandon and others researched the birth control pill Megan was on and we determined it could certainly cause the extreme vertigo. Megan was moved to another pill and we waited.

We changed her diet, we added exercise, we added Osteopathy. Megan started to feel better, She was able to get past the extreme vertigo. The answers were in the natural world for Megan not the medical community.

So that is the reason I am passionate about igniting a passion in you to take your health into your own hands, Listen to your body signals, do not blindly trust doctors, corporations or supplements. It is Never a 1 solution problem to fix. You need balance, Food , Exercise, Spiritual, Mental. You need to consider alternate therapies , you need to share your stories to find others who have travelled a similar path. You may have found an answer that someone else hasn’t considered.

I don’t expect everyone to walk away from here and change their life overnight. I don’t expect anyone to take every piece of information shared and use it. I want you to make 1 change to improve your health , just 1. Remove pop, Start taking walks, see a chiropractor, talk to a professional about your anxieties, learn to meditate, take a yoga class.

Find what works for you and make small changes that you can live with. If you listen to your body you will start noticing clues and you can determine if the changes are positive.

Those changes can easily make you feel worse initially. But give it 6 weeks. If after 6 weeks you are still feeling worse. STOP doing what you are doing! Find another option. Do not give up on yourself!

This is my story and why I am passionate…I hope I can help you find some natural solutions to symptoms.

If you have Fatty Liver Disease come check out our new support website http://www.reversefattyliverdisease.com/
Michelle Clermont

My daughter Megan’s story

If you haven’t known me for more than 4 years you are not aware of the incredible challenges that my 16 year old daughter has been through.

She got sick in 2008 with pneumonia, that was followed up with mono, this essentially destroyed grade 6 for her

She got sick in 2009 with extreme menstrual bleeding and fatty liver disease essentially making grade 7 a right off.

She got sick in 2010 with extreme vertigo and spent 10 months in a wheelchair. She almost attended no days of school in grade 8.

Doctors, and family members did not hide that they thought this was all in her head and that she was just trying to avoid school .

Her self esteem was as low as it could be with people calling her a liar and thinking she wanted to be sick

She was put through to grade 9 without completing any real schooling in grade 8. Megan was certain they had given up on her too.

Megan got healthy in June 2010. A ton of work with my holistic coach Brandon Krieger , osteopath Jason B, and Megan hated the extreme healthy foods that she was forced to eat.

But in the end , nothing any doctor has done for her made any difference. Osteopath and holistic eating did the trick.

She entered grade 9 and we ensured her first semester was light. She took applied french, academic math, drama and art. No one had any expectations and honestly I worried she would get sick again in September.

She insisted on getting help from my Aunt Pat all through the summer,she wanted to be prepared for grade 9 math and megan worked extremely hard. It helped that my aunt believed in her and slowly but surely Megan’s confidence was rebuilding.

Megan worked hard on homework, she asked to see my aunt whenever she felt insecure about a math concept. My aunt constantly told her she was doing well and that all Megan needed to do was to take the time to read the question properly before she started working on it. Mistakes she was making were small ones all related back to not reading the question correctly.

Grade 10 started in London Ontario and Megan was only able to manage a month before colds and flu’s started attacking her and she doesn’t heal from those for 2 -3 weeks. She had to once again move to home schooling and online learning. She worked hard and did very well in the credits she was able to accomplish.

Megan struggled so much over these years with low self esteem and no hope for her future. She was terrified that she would be unable to be a functional adult and unable to ever have a normal life. She got so upset about how far behind she was in school. That was so heart breaking for me to hear said she couldn’t hear me yet.

Fast forward to Spring 2012 and I got asked to be a food revolution ambassador for Jamie Oliver. I needed to create a one day event. Megan was in singing lessons and enjoying them. I decided to have the Britown Music school perform during the kids event and i challenged Megan to Sing a song she was learning. She sang her heart out and life started to change!

My daughter Megan actually started flourished! She decided that she wants to be a lawyer, she wants to be accepted to the best schools for University. Her plan is to become a big part of her high school when she returns in September. This is huge for her, she was not in school last year due to her health and lack of sleep. She is fighting back and I could not be prouder of Megan! She is saying Screw you to her health issues and insisting on having the best life she can. She is volunteering for the Anti bullying coalition, she wants to fight for civil rights and her big goal now is to work at United Nations. I am her biggest cheerleader and I will be cheering for her all the way to the top!

Fall 2012 and Megan started Grade 11 with a very positive attitude and got involved in choir, a play, social justice committee, and on and on. Her grades were amazing and she was well liked by all her teachers. She got to participate in WE DAY in Toronto and that just inspired her more.

January 2013 Such a sad change Megan fell down 12 stairs and broke a toe. This would be a simple thing for other people but because megan doesn’t heal it took 3 months to even start healing. Once again stuck at home doing courses online. Once again feeling defeated.

She has another issue somewhere in her body that ensures she doesn’t heal for ages. I will take the xrays from this broken foot and ask to see a specialist to start looking into her lack of healing.

You are an incredibly smart girl with a great support system in my aunt pat, Grandpa Stan and your brother and me! You will continue to shine you will continue to flourish and I am incredibly proud of my baby girl! You prove everyone wrong and you rock and your life will shine no matter what health issue tries to take you out!!

Erin Krenzler’s story of HELLP and how she has overcome it

Guest blog Erin Krenzler

Yesterday the most amazing thing happened to me… I wish that I could not only tell you all about it… but I wish that you all could feel the feeling that I feel right now!

For the past 8 years I have battled numerous random major metabolic related health issues that have made the quality of my life poor at times and prevented me from doing many things that I wanted to do. I had to quit my job as a medical laboratory assistant in 2010 and I had to stop attending college after putting almost 3 years into working on my nursing degree… all due to my health.

One week after our baby Ryleigh was born just a year and a half ago… after months and months of terrible sickness and pain they discovered that my liver and spleen were enlarged. I was shortly thereafter diagnosed with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (an advanced form of fatty liver disease). I was 24 years old. Liver disease was the tip of my ice burg… I feared the fact that if I didn’t figure out what was wrong and if I did not fix it… I would not be around as long as I would like. My family has been ridden with metabolic disease, diabetes, heart disease, and death at an early age.

I sat there… holding my brand new baby… knowing that there are two little girls in this world that depend on me… one of them depends on me completely. If something were to happen to me god only knows what would happen to miss Brave Mykayla… but I sure knew I didn’t want to find this out. I can’t even describe how sad it felt to me to know that I had a condition that could potentially cause me liver failure and/or death… and in the period of 5-10 years in some cases! On top of the kidney issues I have had since the age of 17. I slipped into a state of mind where I was worried, sad, fearful, but determined to find another option besides failure. That was not an option. My mind constantly pondered thoughts… and I spent hours and hours researching and reading each and everything I could.

I refused to go back to a physician after I was diagnosed… because I had felt so ignored and abandoned for so long that honestly I felt as if I could do a better job myself with the test results I had on hand… the knowledge I have from my medical assisting degree… and the years I spent researching and working in the medical field…. Like I said… I slipped into a state of mind. I learned everything I could find to learn about genetics, metabolic syndrome, mitochondrial function, metabolic diseases, cannabis, the truth about food, livers, immune systems, insulin resistance, diabetes, fat build up on body organs, etc. The amount I have learned continues to blow my mind when I think about how all of these things function together to make our bodies work… I took the information that I was learning about and implemented it to my life. I began healing my bodies deficiency’s… supplementing with a combination of antioxidants, herbs, roots, supplements and amino acids based on my symptoms and long term problems. I made sure to develop a combination that focused on increasing mitochondrial function and repairing and cleansing the liver. I also made huge diet changes. Most people think that they could not eat the way I do… but I have to… my life depends on it. I plan on sharing more on my diet in this blog… just haven’t had a whole lot of time lately.

I wasn’t going to physician’s for check ups… but I began to slowly drop pounds without even trying! I did not even have to exercise any more than I did before. I knew my choices were working <3 I was healing myself! I slowly began feeling better… and the pain went from excruciating to an annoying constant tenderness.

In January of this year I decided it was time to go back to the doctors (after 14 months)… to ensure the changes I was making were helping me as much as I thought they were… also I wanted to make sure that the constant tenderness (that I thought was my liver) was nothing majorly wrong. She ran a bunch of blood work and referred me to an actual Hepatologist *liver doctor*… yesterday I had my appointment with the liver doctor… and I got the most amazing news ever!

I HAVE HEALED MY LIVER DISEASE 100 PERCENT!!!

The pain I have been feeling is scar tissue build up on a nerve that they accidentally hit when doing my liver biopsy… its not even my liver at all… actually it is a nerve that runs by my last rib! I feel that this pain will be tolerable knowing its nothing major at all… and not a major body organ hurting!

I never understood why I developed this condition when the first doctor diagnosed me with it. I did not fit the classic description of the diagnosis….and the liver disease itself came on rapidly during my pregnancy. Through the research I did I suspected it to be related to my families genetic metabolic problems and not knowing the correct way to care for myself. The liver specialist confirmed this. I am genetically predisposed to insulin resistance and diabetes. During my pregnancy with Ryleigh I developed HELLP syndrome that the doctors failed to diagnose… this initiated the problems in my liver and caused the massive swelling and inflammation that generally occur over a long period of time in an average adult.

I have lost a total of 46 pounds since the day they discovered my liver enlargement! The day I was diagnosed I didn't even consider myself that large… I never in a million years thought I could lose 46 pounds… and to top that off… I surely never thought that losing that much weight would be so easy and not require much of anything except learning the truth about what foods you should eat and what foods you should not!

I knew in my heart the entire time I was learning… and the entire time I have been learning to live a new life style… that one day I would hear that I was all better… I honestly did not expect it to be this soon! I cannot even begin to put into words how this feels!

I feel like yesterday I was given the gift of LIFE <3

I feel like I have a fighting chance to see my babies grow old… to hold my own grand babies… To help my children through their teenage lives and adulthood. I now have a new found assurance that things like this will be a part of my future.

I thank god that he put me on this mission years and years ago… It has been a journey of ups and downs… frustration… sadness… fear… anger… helplessness… braveness… strength… courage… love… and so much more. This mission taught me the key to living a long life… If I would have been in my 40's or 50's when I discovered my insulin resistance and fatty liver the doctor said it would be so much harder to lose the weight along with reversing the damage that had been done to my liver. I feel blessed that I had the unfortunate happening occur so early.

I am 25 years old… I am very young… I have a very long life ahead of me that will be filled with good health, family, love, success, and lots and lots of good times!!!

This is the first time since I was 17 years old that I can officially say "I am free of chronic disease"!!! As you can tell if I could stand on top of the world right now and scream out how happy I am… I totally would!!!

NEVER EVER EVER GIVE UP HOPE <3

Thank you cannabis… for helping control my metabolic syndrome… thank you for getting me through my pregnancy when all the physicians lacked compassion….thank you for allowing me to control all my pain without any need for medication… thank you for making me hungry enough to eat the food that I once thought tasted like poo (because I used to be addicted to high fructose corn syrup like most of the people in our country… food without it doesn't taste as good until you have gone without it a while)… Thank you for being an essential antioxidant to my body… thank you for helping me create a homeostasis in my body in order to reverse my disease… THANK YOU CANNABIS!

Until next time my friends…

Fatty Liver Disease tips for newly diagnosed patients!

You were just diagnosed with NAFLD or NASH and now you are being told to eat healthy and exercise with no direction and a pat on the head. You search the internet and you find so much mixed information but your doctor told you not to worry about it too much.

There is something bothering you, you sense that there might be more to this since you are struggling with exhaustion and stomach aches.

Your liver is one of the hardest working organs in your body. I want you to think of it as a powerful sponge that is absorbing all the food you eat, all the beverages you drink, all the air you breathe,all the drugs or supplements you use, all the products you put on your skin, and everything you touch.

Your liver is an investigator. It will break down everything that it absorbs. It will take the vitamins and minerals that are in your liver and send them to other organs to make them work better. It will take all the toxins and chemicals and send them to the dump to be rejected from your body.

If you are are not overwhelming your liver with too many toxins your liver can do its job and your body will be happy!
Sadly our environment, drug, supplement, skin care, cosmetic manfacturers are generally about making profits and your health is a secondary concern if it is even on their radar.

There is very good news for your liver though. Your liver is the only organ in the body that has its own regeneration factory. Your liver is constantly trying to fix itself. Its like a busy body that can’t take a break no matter how much you warn it that its a workaholic
When its not trying to break down toxins it is replanting a cell, watering it, giving it nutrients and care. The cell needs to be nurtered in order to grow. This is the livers part time job and its a careful balance. Its priority is to break down toxins and nutrients that are being absorbed.

Your fulltime job as someone with liver disease is to support that balance and be kind to your liver.

My job is to share what I have learned that will help you help your liver!

1. Review the drugs and supplements you are taking. Determine which have warnings that they should not be used if you have liver disease and talk to your doctor about coming off them.
2. Do not buy over the counter medications, Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, Cough Medicines, Stomach medicines. They all have to be broken down by the liver and most are proven to have a negative impact on liver.
3. Read supplement labels and make sure ingredients are from nature. They should be top quality and tested scientifically.
4. Use natural cosmetics, natural skin care products.
5. Use natural products to clean house and clothes.
6. Exercise daily – start with walking and build up to include aerobic exercise that you enjoy.
7. Avoid all added sugars and high fructose corn syrup!
8. Do not lose weight quickly this can further damage your liver! No more than 2lbs per week!
9. Avoid Genetically modified products. They are not natural and our bodies consider them a foreign toxin for liver to deal with.

Supplements:

You can consider using the following basic supplements daily to improve your immunity and help your liver.

Millk Thistle
Vitamin B complex
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Quality Pro Biotic
Vitamin D3 1000 mg
Essential Fatty Acids – Omega 3

If you are on Statins you need to supplement with CoQ10

Once a week to boost immunity:
L-Carnitine
Chromium

Food and Beverages:

1. Fresh organic vegetables and a few organic fruits. Fruit has lots of natural sugars and if your liver is compromised your intake of fruit should be limited. Lots of Lemon and dark green leafy vegetables.
2. Processed foods should be avoided as a rule. Read labels and look for products that have ingredient lists that you understand.
3. Nuts – Almonds, Walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts all have nutrients and fats that are healthy for live.r peanut butter should be organic try almond butter!. Use Raw organic unsalted nuts!
4. Grains limited – spelt, rye, sprouted grain, Brown rice, brown rice pasta, steel cut oats, air popped popcorn
5. Dairy- Organic greek yogurt, skim milk, organic cheese.
6. Seeds – pumpkin,sunflower.
7. Legumes – chickpeas, beans -not sweetened! Soy not genetically modified!
8. Protein- Lean Chicken,Turkey, Beef, Pork. Nothing with nitrites! Fish – avoid high mercury in Shark, Marlin,Orange Roughy, swordfish, tilefish, Ahi Tuna. Be careful and limit intake of canned albacore or yellowfin tuna, sea bass, grouper and bluefish.

Juicing is a great way to get the raw nutrients that your liver craves.
Low Glycemic Index foods are important to keep balance in your body.
Organic and Gluten free products tend to be natural always read labels.

Try to keep your insulin levels balanced and help your liver as well!

Avoid the following ingredients:
Aspartame
acesulfame-k
Artifical colour or flavour
Brominated Vegetable oil (BVO)
Corn Syrup
Dextrose
Fructose
Heptyl Paraben
invert sugar
corn sugar
fructose-glucose
lactitol
maltitol
mannitol
olestra
partially hydrogenated vegetable oil
Monosodium Glutumate
mycoprotein
lactose
hydrolyzed vegetable protein.
gums for thickening
guarana
casein, sodium caseinate
caffeine
benzoic acid
polydextrose
potassium bromate
propyl gallate
qunine
rebiana
salatrim
Sodium Chloride
sodium bezoate
sodium nitrite
sorbitol
stevia
sucrose
tagatose
trans fat
xylitol

Fatty Liver Disease in Children and Adolescents

Medical Files
Fatty liver in children and adolescents
By Rafael Castillo M.D.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:24 pm | Friday, April 12th, 2013

A few weeks ago, a chubby 14-year-old teenager was referred to our clinic due to a mildly elevated blood pressure. We did some blood tests and the liver enzymes were found to be elevated. He has no history of any liver problem like hepatitis in the past; he swore he has never tasted any alcohol preparation, and I believed him. We did an ultrasound to check on the liver and it showed an extensive fatty liver.
We couldn’t help but ask: How many of our young people already have fatty liver, which can remain undetected for many years, until it progresses into something much worse already like cirrhosis of the liver?
As the term implies, fatty liver consists of a collection of high amounts of fat around the liver. There are two types: alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The first type is due to an excessive consumption of alcohol, while the second one develops in non-drinkers, usually associated with an unhealthy diet, diabetes, cholesterol problems and obesity.
Simple fatty liver, also called steatosis, is due to the deposition of fats in the liver. There is no liver inflammation or scar tissue formation yet. And the risk of progressive liver damage is relatively low. Usually, individuals with simple fatty liver are symptomless.
Swelling
If the risk factors causing the fatty liver are not controlled, it can progress into a non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), wherein inflammation or swelling of the liver cells are present already. If the swelling persists, this can cause some liver cells to die; and if this becomes extensive as what happens in a few, it may lead to liver cirrhosis, characterized by extensive liver scarring.
I remember when I was in residency training in internal medicine, NAFLD was regarded as a benign condition, likely just a concomitant finding of being overweight, or being a diabetic. But published studies over the last 12 years now strongly consider NAFLD as a disease entity by itself, which can have serious consequences in the future if neglected.
Of course, the progression to a severe form may take many years, perhaps decades. But if one has already fatty liver at a young age, he or she would still be relatively young after three to four decades. And since the risk factors for fatty liver are the same risk factors that cause heart disease, metabolic syndrome and other diseases, the picture becomes more complicated.
The following risk factors have been implicated, which are all present in the adolescent patient we saw recently: unhealthy eating habits like eating high-fat concentrated, fried foods rich in bad cholesterol, “fast foods,” sugar-rich snacks; lack of physical activity or sedentary life; and being overweight or obese.
Fatty liver is now truly becoming highly prevalent even in children and adolescents with the so-called modern diet and modern lifestyle we have today. For the more adventurous teenagers and young adults, a fat-rich diet coupled with alcohol drinking significantly increase their risk of developing fatty liver.
Healthy eating, regular exercise, and drinking in moderation—or better yet, complete avoidance—are simple ways to prevent a fatty liver disease, and if practiced at an early age, can go a long way in preventing fatty liver. Our schools should inculcate this in our youth’s mind, as part of the curriculum.
Increasing prevalence
With the increasing prevalence of obesity in our children and young adults, the risk of developing fatty liver has remarkably increased too. In 2008, obesity has ballooned to 25 percent from 1987 statistics of only 13.5 percent. Type 2 diabetes mellitus, not the insulin-dependent type, has also been increasingly reported in obese children and adolescents.
Not all cases of fatty liver will have a sad ending. But if it’s a loved one who has it, we don’t want to take any chance of it developing into something much worse than just fatty liver. So we need to teach our kids at an early age to practice healthy lifestyle and good eating habits by avoiding fatty foods like junk foods and French fries. Adults should also show them the example on “responsible drinking,” but at their age, they should be encouraged to lay their hands off the alcohol bottle.
Chubby kids may look cute and healthy, but not if they already have some “precursor diseases” like prediabetes, prehypertension and fatty liver. By allowing them to get used to an unhealthy diet and lifestyle, we may be unwittingly compromising the health and lives of these children and adolescents. Let’s take pity on these young souls.

If you or your child has Fatty Liver Disease please consider joining the support group on Facebook called Fatty Liver Disease Support Group. You will need to request to join but we are there to support you with 400 members across the world