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!!

Why did I create Ignite Health Ontario?

Ignite Health Ontario was created for a number of reasons. 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 the event 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.

Michelle Clermont

 

My Experience with Hospital for Sick Children – Toronto, Ontario

My daughter has been sick since 2008. She was 12 years old when her life changed for the worse. Initially it was a bad case of Pneumonia that took 3 rounds of strong anti biotics to clear up. Then she got Mono and that took another 8 months of her life. We were dealing with pediatricians, blood tests, ultrasounds, and family doctors. In 2009 she started bleeding for her menstrual period and it was excessively heavy.  She went to her first gynacologist and she was put on birth control pills to control that bleeding. Through this 2 year time period all I ever wanted was to get Megan to the Hospital for Sick Kids where they would actually care about her and find the root cause of her health issues.  It was my dream, it would be the answer for us.

In 2010 Megan lost her ability to walk. She had extreme vertigo. She looked like she was drunk when she walked, I took her to the emergency department at Markham Stoufville hospital and she was completely ignored. We waited 4 hours and she still was not brought in to be diagnosed.

We took her to Sunnybrook hospital the next day and they actually treated her wonderfully. But because she was a child they transfered us to the Hospital for Sick kids and I thought YES we finally have a chance to have Megan looked at by this world class hospital!  We got Megan into a Wheelchair as she was not safe walking when she was catching herself on walls and could possibly injure herself.

All of my hopes and dreams were coming true for Megan. The doctors at Hospital for Sick Kids would surely look at Megan and work hard to help her get healthy. I don’t know how to describe in words what this meant to me, but it was very positive. I was sure we would finally get answers.

Our first doctor in the Hospital was an Ear Nose Throat doctor who tested Megan thoroughly for any ear issues that might be causing the dizziness. He could not find anything specific but he was very interested in Megan’s case and refered us to the Consultant Clinic where he said we would get an experienced Pediatrician who could pull all the doctors necessary for Megan to get diagnosed.

At the hospital for Sick Kids you can’t help but notice all the kids with burns, cancer and other serious medical illnesses. In reference to the way those kids are treated I give Sick Kids an A+.  Megan felt strongly that those kids deserved the attention of the doctors and she has cut her hair twice in the last 2 years to donate to kids with Cancer undergoing radiation.  So we totally respect the hospital for that work.

We finally got to meet our consult team . An old friendly doctor who fully analyzed Megan’s walk and I felt good, this doctor would take a hold of Megan’s case and fight for her, thats what I expected and hoped for.

We were scheduled for a consultation with Neurology and megan had an MRI, and a Cat Scan. The Neurology department didn;t find anything wrong in her results either. They decided to put Megan on a drug that might stop the dizziness. Megan took that drug for 3 weeks and got no results so we stopped that one.

The Pediatrician then suggested we bring Megan in for a week so that doctors could review her case and run any other tests while she was in the hospital.

Again I felt hopeful, surely with Megan in the hospital we would get answers. Our pediatrician forgot to mention he was leaving for Africa and would not be in the hospital while Megan was there. He had left instructions for Neurology, Psychology, and Physiotherapists to review her case in his absence.

I slept on a couch with Megan for a few nights that week. It was not easy being at home knowing she was lying in a hospital bed.

I very rarely saw any doctors with Megan that week. They did not run any tests on her other than testing her balance by making her do exercises in her room. I was getting concerned and things got worse when the psychologist came in to see Megan and suggested that we try putting her on Zoloft to settle her nerves and possibly resolve the dizziness. I cried and tried to make it clear that Megan had been told this was in her head a lot over the last 3 years and the last thing I wanted Sick Kids hospital to do was confirm that by putting her on an antidepressant.

My heart dropped at this point. I realized that the doctors were not on our side and they had no idea what was wrong with Megan. I do not feel that we ever truly had a doctor there that knew what was wrong with Megan and the reaction to patients that doctors can’t diagnose in Ontario is quite frequently to put them on anti depressants and say its all in their head.

I had higher expectations of the hospital for sick kids. I had been there as a child due to a kidney disease, my sister had been there for childhood illnesses. My sisters children had epilepsy and other stomach issues that were properly diagnosed and treated at the hospital.

Were they really sending Megan home with Anti depressants and a pat on the head. Yes thats what they did. I took her off the anti depressants after 3 weeks when they made no difference to her dizziness or her mood for that matter. 

We went to follow up appointments at the hospital but my mindset had changed, I knew they just wanted to see that this was in her head and they were not really trying to find the answer anymore.

We moved to the holistic side and changed Megan’s food to a very strict diet, We had her see an osteopath, We took her off the birth control pill and 3 months later she was able to get out of the wheel chair and walk again.

I wish I could say that I was happy with the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto. Sadly my experience tells me that they are great for kids that they can put into a silo of a specific disease. But as soon as you are a mystery patient they don’t treat you with respect or consider your case serious.

We now live in London Ontario and its 2 years since the hospital for Sick kids experience. It still exists as a knot in my stomach of disappointment, of breaking my heart.

We are giving London Ontario doctors a chance to diagnose Megan now.  Megan is still bleeding constantly and its been 2 years now. Megan sleeps 3 hours a day, Megan catches any cold or flu and holds on to it for a month instead of a week. Megan does have a diagnosis of Non Alchoholic Fatty Liver Disease but that is only a small piece of a much larger puzzle. I will not be going in with blind hope to the doctors in London. My expectations are low. If they cannot find out what is wrong with Megan I won’t freak out. We will just take her to the Cleveland Clinic in the states and hope that they will be able to find the root cause of Megan’s health issues.

I wrote this for the Toronto Star who wants to do a story on Hospital for Sick Kids. I hope that things change in the future for kids like Megan and they will take them seriously.

 

Michelle

Waiting to Breath! Megan fainted…

It was a beautiful Wednesday in London Ontario, I had a pleasant walk with Toby in the morning and laughed at his efforts to get the squirrel that had just teased him and went up a tree. I got to the office and things were quiet, settled in with my green tea and decided to contact Koworks London about doing monthly workshops on reading labels, designing grocery lists and the health implications in our grocery stores. I was making progress on many things and felt good that I had come out of my rut.

My phone rang at 11:40 a.m. Megan sounded out of breath on the other side and she said mom I just fainted. I asked how she knew that she had and she said she just got up from her bedroom floor where she had been putting her clothes on. Megan has not fainted since 2010.  I asked how she was feeling now and she said the dreaded word dizzy.  This is the word that strikes a nasty feeling in my gut.

Megan spent 10 months in a wheelchair due to Extreme Vertigo that no medical doctor could explain. The experience that we had during this time in the medical community destroyed any faith I had in doctors. The only doctor that took this seriously was the ear specialist who did full testing in her ears to ensure there was nothing triggering the vertigo.

Megan was put on Anti depressants and told this was all in her head. I took her off the anti depressants and we focussed on making her diet extremely clean and osteopathy. These were the things that made the difference. No doctor ever did.

I talked to Megan into the afternoon and the dizziness was replaced with light headedness. She has no idea if she had a seizure before she fainted or how long she was out for. Thats unknown and will remain that way. I took her to the walk in clinic last night and had her blood pressure and ears tested. Both were clear, this is such a familiar feeling. Nothing that doctors test for Megan comes back with a clear diagnosis. Everything with Megan is always gray.

So today I am holding my breath, waiting for her call, wondering if the light headedness has gone away, wondering if she is dizzy, wondering if she fainted again. If this happens again today I will take her to the hospital tonight for another checkup and any tests they need to do.

After work today I already have one appointment for Megan. She has finally admitted that she would like to talk to someone about her fears and concerns. I am happy that Megan has asked for this help as she gets frustrated with me getting upset about her health. This is her pain, this is her insomnia, this is her not being able to go to school and having no social life. I just hate seeing my child suffer like this. I will also start some counselling to help me cope with the constant roller coaster ride that this brings to our life.

I can’t escape the fear that this is the hint that she is headed back to extreme vertigo. That thought scares me so much. I can’t imagine another long period in a wheelchair for Megan. My 3 storey townhouse certainly does not make sense for us if she has this again.  I have to keep reminding myself to thoughts of now and not thinking too far ahead. But the memory of the time in the wheelchair does not want me too.

I made an appointment for Megan to see an osteopath in London in April. This is a good step regardless of whether the vertigo returns or not. I will keep moving forward no matter what the outcome is for Megan, but I sure could use your thoughts and strength for Megan to fight this!

 

Hugs

 

Michelle

 

Roller coaster ride in finding doctor for Megan!

I am so tired of doctors in general. They make me sad, they make me feel like I can never get the right answers for Megan. I moved to London Ontario in July 2011. This was a fresh start for Megan and I after 3 years of being talked down to by doctors and being told its all in her head. Megans life since 2008 has included the following realities that doctors have no answers for:

1. She has been bleeding constantly since 2009 with her menstrual cycle. With birth control pills its basically spotting every day, and then when her pill ends she deals with extreme bleeding that makes her wear 2 pads at a time.

2. Extreme Vertigo in 2010 that had her in a wheelchair for 10 months. She was 13 years old and in a wheelchair!

3. Colds and Flus that impact Megan take 3 – 5 times longer to recover from… you and I might be 5 days she will be 15 days.

4.Insomnia – This week Megan is getting 1 hour sleep per day. This is as bad as it gets but she averages 3 – 5 hours. 5 hours is a GREAT day!

5. Liver pain is there as a good reminder if she eats anything bad. Her liver tells her quite clearly. Sometimes its nausea and sometimes she looses her appetite.

6. Extreme dryness and redness on her arms.  Constant battle for Megan. Any creams or lotions tend to make it worse and make it sting.

She is a SICK kid. She is homeschooled due to these issues.

 

I have been trying to find a family doctor since July. Initally I started via the HealthConnect program in Ontario that is supposed to match you up with a doctor. So far that has resulted in NOTHING.

I tried finding the list of family doctors accepting patients and then we end up on a list never to hear from anyone. I call and follow up and there is never a good answer !

A friend in London recently talked to a family doctor in London about Megan and she was given the name of a Hepatologist in London that actually focusses on Fatty Liver Disease! This was perfect! But then found out that because Megan is 15 she is not eligible to be seen by this doctor. We were pointed to the Pediatric Gastroentologists!

The Pediatric Gastroentologist read about Megans symptoms and said he has seen 100 cases of Fatty Liver Disease and none of them with megans symptoms. They suggest we start over with a pedicatrician and search for the root cause

I have done nothing but try to find a doctor who will treat Megan with respect and truly look into her case uniquely in Ontario. So far I have gotten no where!

I am ready to burst into tears and Megan is scared that she will never get a doctor that care! She is cynical after The Hospital For Sick Kids in Toronto didn’t help her. They even put her on anti depressants at 13! We do not need more doctors patting us on the head and saying that this is all in her head. This is her reality EVERY DAY!

What do I have to do in order to help my child? Why won’t a doctor take ownership and truly focus on finding out whats wrong with her?

We are in Canada where Medical care is free. But its looking more and more like I will have to take her to the States to get the attention she needs.

She is 15 years old with a chronic illness and this is no way to leave a child to live!

Please if you are in London share this story with your doctor and ask if they will take her case on and help her! I just need 1 doctor to truly be there for her!

Thanks

 

Michelle and Megan

Angels in my life Osteopath Jason Brandow

As the worries for Megan falling back into old patterns of uncontrolled menstrual periods hits home I take a moment to think about Jason who actually got Megan to the point last June where she was healthy for 9 months.

Time can make you forget details and I had totally forgotten that when I first brought Megan to wonderful Osteopath Jason he discovered 2 things that could be accounting for the odd bleeding patterns that Megan encountered.

First he discovered that an area in her brain was slightly blocking her pituitary gland which as a result blocks her hormones from working through her body correctly.

Second he discovered that her uterus was twisted…this can also account for strange reactions in her menstrual cycle.

The last treatment that Megan received was in May 2010. There has been 9 months for her uterus to revert back to its twisted state and her pituitary gland to be blocked again. This is so logical to me and I now have a lot of hope for Megan as she returns to visit Jason tomorrow for a treatment.

Ultimate Sports Therapy in Mississauga Ontario absolutely are angels in my life.

Tomorrow I will share the difference Brandon has made to our lives but today its about Jason.

I was unemployed when I met Jason. He is in final stages of his study of osteopathy. This clinic really wanted to help Megan and they did it out of their hearts.

Osteopathic Manual Therapy (OMT) is a holistic form of hands-on therapy or “Manual Medicine”. This means that any part of the body that is in pain or dysfunction can benefit since OMT’s goal is to restore proper function to the body. An Osteopath practices OMT by applying very gentle but powerful techniques to realign the body and stimulate its inherent natural ability to heal itself. The results of Osteopathy are often fast and long-term!

I am a believer , Megan was dealing with extreme vertigo, extreme mentstrual periods and fatty liver disease when Brandon introduced us to Jason. Over 4 or 5 treatments Jason took Megan from a child who was unable to walk, always in pain, and bleeding uncontrollably to a child who spent 9 months being a normal teen. Walking, running, dancing at her grade 8 graduation.

Brandon clearly made a difference as well with ensuring she was eating the right foods and allowing her to take her anger out on him!

If you ever get frustrated with the medical community, if you ever get tired of taking all those pills that seem to be masking a problem or creating a new one…consider osteopathy as part of a holistic complete therapy package….

I might just have to consider a treatment for myself on that note!

Wishing all the powers of Osteopathy and Jason bring Megan the relief she needs again!!

Thank you Jason, thank you ,thank you ,thank you!

A glimmer of hope on a day to remember

Saturday June 5, 2010 goes down as a huge milestone date in my daughter’s life. She woke up at 8 am and realized she didn’t feel dizzy, she pinched herself, laid herself back down, tried a few steps and then came into my room…mom I  can walk! I am fast asleep and certain that was a dream so i rolled over and cuddled my pillow…she said MOMMM I can walk , I am NOT dizzy!!

After 9 MONTHS of constant dizziness that has had her wheelchair bound , there was no way we were prepared for this. Doctors did nothing to help her, she lost a year of school , she lost any social contact with friends.

We had a huge hug and i got up, she was giddy and excited I was in shock! She wanted to go out right away..so we got dressed and headed over to Golden Griddle for a buffet breakfast so that she could practice walking for her meal.

We both were confused looking at the last 9 months and trying to figure out what change could have made the extreme dizziness go away? Was it the Osteopath treatment on Wednesday, the change in foods, the focus on exercise, coming off the birth control pill 3 months ago? Nothing jumps out as a specific reason for this miracle. Lots of my friends have been praying for Megan, possibly this is as simple as God giving us a glimmer of hope.

We drove to http://gethealthywithmichelle.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpmy stepdad’s apartment to surprise him, we NEVER just show up,  and he is not a morning person, so when we rang his buzzer at 10am his reply was “WHATS WRONG, ARE YOU OK?” Told him he needed to let us up. Megan and i giggled on the elevator ride, knowing he was very confused.  We knocked on his door and megan hid around the corner….he opened the door and looked so concerned, i told him we have a surprise and he noticed Megan standing still…WOW , then she walked in and we told him about her miracle.

Megan called her dad to surprise him, we went shopping at the mall , not having to push megan in the wheelchair was a great break for me lol…Megan loved being able to walk…it was hurting her leg muscles and we realized we needed to take it easy on the walking today.

We went to Tuckers Marketplace for dinner with her brother , and my stepdad as a celebration for Alex’s birthday last week and a celebration of Megan’s ability to walk again. Another buffet for Megan to walk back and forth for and just a wonderful evening…

By the time we got home Megan’s legs were exhausted and she was very tired. She still did her exercises and refused to give up even though she was in pain.

I had been fighting a cold myself and had an invitation to go out dancing…I was so tempted to just stay home and settle in after the busy day celebrating Megan’s walking!

Megan looked at me and said Mom just take some cold medicine and go out to enjoy yourself.  So I drugged myself up and got dolled up for a night of dancing. My sweet friend Louis picked me up and we met up with some other great ladies and danced the night away…

Truly a perfect day with a perfect ending…  Sadly this morning Megan woke up dizzy again but there is nothing that can take that day away and I KNOW its hope and she will have more days like this one coming up!!

Progress on other levels!

I continue to move forward with my exercise, and my nutrition, went to my family doctor for a physical and she is absolutely thrilled with my blood pressure, and all my blood results except for one little number that will be resolved with my new lifestyle soon.

My coaching is also looking at the self defeating habits and teaching me to view things differently. I am in a processing mindset right now ,some of it hurts and makes me cry, but all of it is correct and its time i lived the life I am entitled to without all the baggage of my past.

Now for what is really on my mind!! My daughter Megan is the key to my getting healthy, she has been a sick child and I have to model for her the right eating and exercise for her to start getting healthy too.  She is currently dealing with extreme dizziness, stomach issues, and general pain throughout her body. I knew after the traditional medical system was unable to find answers for her and prescribed anti depressants and physio that she had been written off.

So I have moved into the Alternative medicine world for her, she saw an osteopath on Tuesday this week. He spent an hour with her and found that her uterus is twisted like a corkscrew , which is likely the cause of a lot of her pain. her liver is covered with fat and is not functioning at a good level which in turn will not properly detoxify her body and is  causing more of the pain. Her brain does have some overlapping that has blocked her pituitary gland as well. Some of this may be related to the dizziness but there are no promises it will resolve that. We can look forward to relieving some of her pain, and a side effect could be an improvement in her ability to walk.

This gives us HOPE again. We had hope when we went to Sick kids and it was destroyed. I have faith in my team now and megan feels validated for the first time in 2.5 years of illness!!

I know we have made the right decision for Megan and I am praying that we can finally get her the relief she so desperately needs to be a normal 13 year old girl!

This is a thinking week, a processing week, a learning week….I am growing!

I found a simple test to ensure your vitamins are effective try this:

TESTING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR CURRENT VITAMINS

Few people know that the majority of vitamins and supplements on the market today fail to fully dissolve after consumption. This is largely due to a process known as compression, which compacts the contents so tightly that they cannot breakdown during the digestion process. As a result, most of the nutrition simply passes through the body, without you receiving the full – or any – of the intended benefit.

A simple test can show you the difference between good multivitamins and the other leading brands. Mix one-half a cup of warm water with one-half cup of white vinegar (this liquid will mimic the acidic conditions within your stomach). Drop the brand you’re currently using into the mixture  Wait 30 minutes and then look at the differences.

1. The supplement has not dissolved – in fact, it looks almost like it did when you placed it in the mixture. In this case, you are likely to excrete all of the contents of the supplement, which means you’ll not get any of the promised nutritional benefits.

2. The supplement has only partially dissolved, and is now floating on top of the mixture, possibly stuck to the side of the glass. In this outcome, you are likely to excrete most – if not all – of the contents of the supplement, thereby depriving your body of the promised nutritional benefits. Not only that, but you’re likely to experience an upset stomach.

3. The supplement has mostly dissolved, but the contents have sunk to the bottom of the glass. As in the second case, you are likely to excrete the contents of the supplement, depriving your body of the promised nutritional benefits.

4. The supplement has fully dissolved and is floating on top of the mixture. This is the result you should expect from your supplement, and it means that your body will benefit fully from the included nutrients.

Hope this helps you ensure that your vitamins are helping you….if your vitamin is not effective get in touch with me for one that is!!

Have a great week!

Michelle

Venting to prevent emotional eating!

venting

I have to get this out, the stress I felt after the appointment at sick kids yesterday is creating havoc internally. I went into this appointment hoping that the new symptoms that megan is encountering would spur them into taking actions for further diagnosis with the hope that there are now indicators to point at the root cause. Purple spots of dizziness that blind her and are not related to migraine headaches, they disable her for a minute or 2 and then it clears and she can continue to make her way to her room with the dizziness. The light headedness when she turns her head left to right on top of the dizziness is also brand new. The dizziness prevents her from walking without wall or chair or person support and it has been ongoing since September. Other illnesses have proceeded this for the last 2 years!

The reaction by Sick Kids Hospital was not one of concern, it was wow megan you lost a little weight and you look happy. She is on antidepressants so yes she is coping better with this illness but she is far from happy, she does not speak up and correct them she just sits and stews and i know she is thinking they doesn’t understand her at all and she is right.

His suggested plan of action…. get her eyes checked by an optometrist. That was IT!

I waited for a moment hoping to hear him say and we need to get her looked at by neurology again , but he didn’t say it. So I asked if we needed to have her seen by them and he said we can do that and is following up with a referral back to the doctor who saw her in December while she was at the hospital.

I know that if I had not said anything IT would NOT have happened. This creates problems because its clear that I am also viewed as panicking and that they are only doing these things to appease me! BULLSHIT if i am not the advocate for my child NO ONE else will do so. My ex just sits there and all actions make it clear he thinks its all in her head!  So with the doctors not pursuing the lines of investigation it once again reinforces in my ex that Megan has this all in her mind and i am just encouraging her BAD behaviour.

I am so sick of fighting this battle on my own, Sick Kids hospital should care more than they do and should be fighting just as hard to get megan healthy as i am.

When will I ever find a doctor who takes Megan seriously and truly fights on her behalf to get answers!

So how has this effected me, well tears are in my eyes, I could absolutely go pig out on something to try to calm my nerves but this time i will not. I am writing this out so that I can move on and keep fighting the battle that I am captain of, I will not let this derail my efforts to get myself healthy, never again will i give that ability to those in my life that disappoint me!

My Reason for getting Healthy!

My 13 year old daughter has been wheelchair bound since September 2009, this is the latest in 2 years of undiagnosed health issues that have plagued her. 2 years ago she came down with a bad case of pneumonia…started to recover and then was hit with another 3 months of mono….she was struggling with a lot of pain and exhaustion , occasional fainting and dizziness and in december 2008 they diagnosed her with fatty liver disease. February 2009 she started her first period and it ran constantly until August 2009. No reasons found for that either… back to school in september 2009 and week 2 she is hit with extreme dizziness, i mean bouncing off walls no ability to balance herself EVER. She was looked at by ear, nose throat specialists, neurologists, and a special pediactric team at sick kids…she spent a week in december being looked at by as many doctors as possible at sick kids and they have NO idea what is wrong with her. All tests come back clean and her body is not providing any traditional clues.

All through this 2 year period i have been so emotional, fighting doctors and systems that cannot help my child. I know now I have to start looking outside the traditional medicine sources and look to alternative medicine for answers.

A friend of mine donated a wheelchair to megan so that we could stop renting one, she also let me know about a program she is part of called shrink a thon. …where we get people to pledge support of 1 – 5 dollars per pound and that money is put towards a charity or special cause.

well my daughter will be a cause for this, there is no better way for me to feel motivated or focussed on losing weight. If i can earn money to pay for alternative treatments and diagnosis for my own child this way I am committed to it. I am 41 years old, I must be 265 lbs at this point. i have high blood pressure and I am on anti depressants….its time and if I can be blogging my progress regularly i know that is an additional motivator and i can be providing updates on my daughters progress as we go!