Thankful Everyday

Nov. 16, 2016

It seems fitting with Thanksgiving approaching to write and try to express how thankful we are for the healing Thomas has experienced.  He's loving playing on his travel hockey team.  We are extra thankful that we are blessed with the ability and resources to homeschool him; especially on days like today when he was soooo tired and not feeling well.

Last night's practice was later and we didn't get home until 8 p.m. which meant we were just starting shower and snack at the time when he usually crawls into bed for stories.  He did sleep in but was not his happy self.  He spent most of the day laying around resting.  He also painted some monster trucks that he brought in from the playground.  It's easy to become discouraged on days like this.  I had to catch myself off and on all day to not despair.  I know worrying doesn't produce the woman that God desires me to be but I won't lie and say I don't struggle with it.  It's tough not to think back to when this was an everyday thing for him not to feel well.  Sometimes I panic with thoughts of what if we go back to that.  Those thoughts are fruitless and I am working on squashing them as start but I am a work in progress.
I am thankful for his happy chatter and smile.  The house was so quiet today with him not himself.  He loves to play with his older brother and will try very hard to keep up.
We've determined that the biggest game changer for him is related to his diet.  He absolutely needs to be sugar free aside from sugar from actual fruits.  Every time he has honey or maple syrup we spiral back down and the headaches increase.  I am thankful that we can afford to buy organic whole foods for our family thus providing his body with the nutrition he needs.  He continues to take a variety of supplements but we've been able to rearrange and cut back on some so he only has to take pills at breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime now.  We just canceled his appointment with U of M neurology as his leg pain has been greatly reduced with the mineral supplement.
Isaiah 41:10 states :  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  
I am thankful that I know a God who will not leave me!  I am praying that we will soon be able to leave the "bad" days in the past!

Fall is here

September 26, 2016

When I left off 2 1/2 months ago we had just gone through another round of blood tests.  The first set of those tests indicated elevated CK levels which meant that we had the privilege of repeating the tests one week later.  Thomas was a trooper but I am pretty sure a prize was involved to get cooperation :-)  The retest came up in the normal range so we continued with Physical Therapy 2 times a week and scheduled the appointment with Physical Medicine.  The Physical Medicine doctor really had nothing to add in regards to the leg pain other than that it was not Muscular dystrophy.  He referred us on to a pediatric neurologist at U of M.   That appointment is set for December.   In early August we made a trip down to Indiana for the naturopath.  Thomas had NO spirochetes in his cells or cell walls!  We were ecstatic!! His mineral levels were very low so we bought a case of minerals.  The mineral supplement gets mixed into juice and is actually something Thomas looks forward too because it tastes yummy.  The doctor said that the low minerals could be the cause of the leg pain.  A week on the minerals and Thomas stopped complaining of leg pain!  We decided to take a break from physical therapy as we didn't feel it was changing anything and it was just another appointment to get to.  Thomas started his regular hockey season just after Labor day and so far so good.  He did have a tough first game and looked awful when he came off the ice.  His eyes had dark circles under them and he felt miserable.  He had forgotten his water bottle with his distilled water in the locker room so he didn't have anything to drink during the game.  He was miserable the rest of the evening and I was really second guessing if we'd made the right choice to put him into hockey again.  He was much recovered the next day. Now we focus heavily on the water intake and practices and games have been going smoothly.  This week he has been struggling to fall asleep but I am hoping that it is a sign that he just has more healthy energy than usual.  I won't say that we are "breathing easily" yet as it's hard to let go of wondering "what's next?" but we are trying to trust in God's ultimate plan for us and Thomas.  We are definitely enjoying the freedom of not constantly being concerned that he will wake up miserable or not feel good after an activity.

More tests

I needed to write today to try to express what builds up inside of me while watching a child struggle health wise.   I am confident that every parent out there will say parenting can be difficult at times and even heartbreaking.  I know that is 100% true of parents with children who suffer from chronic illnesses.  Yesterday I told Joe how I wished we could just take a month off.  A month with no pills to swallow or liquids to gag down.  No "gross colored" smoothies with spinach and kelp.  A month without all the appointments to Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, blood tests etc... A month without having to spend hours a day on the Bio Mat to manage pain or using the quad zapper to destroy bad bacteria in his body.  A month where food didn't always have to be organic and sugar free.   A month just to let him be a kid again.  

Waiting our turn at the lab

This morning we are finishing up our morning routines and then we will head up to the local lab for another blood draw.  This time they are testing in relation to his leg pain.  One of the tests the CK we had done last year and it was normal.  The CK is an enzyme test for a protein that your muscles need to function properly.  The other test is called Aldolase and is supposed to be more in depth.   Aldolase is a protein found in high amounts in muscle tissues  It helps break down sugars into energy.  

We are still holding off on the Xray of his leg because even the physical therapist thinks it's muscular pain not skeletal.  It may be that he needs a scan of his calf instead.

He was a trooper for the blood draw but it was not without tears shed prior to going about going.  He adamantly sobbed that he "hates blood draws!".  He climbed up in the seat like a pro and watched the whole process yet again.  When he was done he declined a bandaid but after a few steps towards the door his arm literally squirted blood out and down onto the floor.  He said "Wow that's never happened before!",  and accepted a band-aid with gauze (which he left on for hours just to be sure it was ready).  On the way back he said "that was a different lady then I usually have".  I responded with "you're right, do you remember the name of who you normally have?".  He laughed and said " No way mom, I have to many doctors to keep track of!"  He always can make me smile!  

He watches very closely!

The tears are what get me... his tears of frustration and his tears from pain.  I would do anything to take those tears away.  This past weekend we enjoyed camping for Mackenzie and Chris' lacrosse tournament.  On Saturday night we wanted to get a "treat" at the local Meijer.  Mackenzie and Chris wanted icecream which we agreed they could have.  Unfortunately that meant that Thomas would have to watch them enjoy icecream so we searched for a suitable treat for him.  He was so frustrated at one point that he let me pick him up in public while he cried on my shoulder.  We finally settled on organic grapes, dates rolled in crushed almonds and a bag of organic dried berries not quite the same as icecream but he did finally say it all tasted good.    

I guess today I just feel like having a pity party or something.  It's tiring preparing all the food whenever we go someplace.  After Michigan Adventure in early June we stopped at Logan's; a massively rare treat to go out to eat and we let Thomas have french fries and baked apples.  The rest of his dinner was organic food from home.  He suffered a set back after that and his acupuncturist thinks it was a combination of the sugar and other stuff in the food on top of dehydration and activity that caused it.  It's frustrating that something so simple as eating french fries in a restaurant can harm his body so!

But Joe is good at rallying and making me feel better by seeing the positive.  He reminded me that even after this latest camping trip we didn't have a major set back.  Last year it would have taken a month or two to get back on his feet.  We were super careful and didn't cheat on his diet and took all his supplements with us plus made sure he had plenty of water.  He also had a "rest" time at the site during which I fell asleep and he laid there making faces at me.  

So now we wait to see if this blood test shows any indication regarding his ongoing leg pain.  I am not quite sure how to pray- do I pray that it shows something so we know why or pray that it doesn't show that he has yet another autoimmune disease...  I think I will default to the best prayer of all; praying for God's will in our lives and over Thomas' health.  

Physical Therapy

July 8, 2016

We went to see our family doctor a few weeks ago because Thomas is still having leg pain and it seemed to becoming more frequent.  The doctor wrote a referral for physical therapy plus one to another specialist who deals with joint and muscle issues as well as ordering more blood tests.  We opted to start with just the physical therapy as the stress of added tests and more doctors poking and prodding is quite hard on him.  He's gone 3 times now to physical therapy which included 2 treatments of Astym.  Thomas likes going for the exercises and use of the machines but he HATES Astym.  It hurts especially when it's done on the back of his calf muscle while he lies on his stomach.  He literally bites the pillow and buries his head in it.  Astym involves the use of plastic tools that are pressed into the muscle to release tension and scar tissue.  It is essentially a soft tissue therapy that helps rebuild and heal while eliminating pain and restoring movement.  Joe had it done following his knee surgery and he attests that it is not a fun treatment.  Results are said to happen in just 4-6 weeks though.  Tom's therapist is great and she comes up with lots of fun activities for him. He keeps her on his toes though and isn't always truthful about the number of reps he's completed.  
 

At home he has quite a list of exercises.to do to strengthen his outer thigh muscles which are weak.  He also is working on 2 muscle groups in his lower legs the Soleus and Gastrocs.

Headaches overall have been rarer.  He did have a really bad one on Monday the 4th and he hurt all over.  The acupuncturist thinks it may have been a combination of being dehydrated and the chemicals given off from the fireworks. He ran in the mile fun run that morning and that may have attributed to everything.   There's also some correlation insect bites and his symptoms.  It almost seems to make the Lyme more active.  I am trying to always remember to set the timer for his distilled water.  The goal is about 6 ounces every hour up til about 5 pm then just back off so no wet beds :-)  We are once again going to try going 3 weeks between treatments mainly because Thomas so badly wants a break.  We did add back in the essential oils Sacred Frankincense and Thieves- 2 drops each mixed together and applied to the bottoms of his feet to try to raise his body's energy.  He's been struggling with his energy levels since the end of May again.

Today we head out for camping and Chris and Mackenzie's Lacrosse tourney.  I have been busy preparing all the food and making sure to pack plenty of organic fruits and veggies for Thomas.  Praying that the weekend goes well and that he doesn't have setbacks without the use of the bio mat, grounding blanket and harmonic quad zapper.  He is looking forward to swimming in the campground pool!

 

Spring busyness

June 9, 2016

I haven't "journaled" an update in 2 months- Wow- spring sure can be a busy time!  Spring lacrosse season has come to an end and summer activities and camps have begun.  Overall Thomas had a wonderful time with his lacrosse team.  He played hard and well and setbacks seemed to be minimal over the course of the season.  On May 28th he turned 10 and celebrated with a birthday luncheon with his grandparents followed by a party with four of his friends complete with a water gun war.  After his friends went home he climbed into my lap, cried from exhaustion and fell sound asleep in my arms.

  I tried to enjoy the snuggling but there was also a nagging inside my that said while we've come miles from last summer we've still got miles to go on this journey.  He seemed to recover after his nap and played in the tent with his sister.

I have started noticing that he complains more frequently of leg pain something that had gotten better and wasn't a big issue even during running with lacrosse.  He also has had several headaches of late. The other thing I've noticing is that he has been crawling into bed with me in the morning for extra snuggles in the morning.  I love to snuggle him but knowing that if he was feeling good he'd be up running around makes the snuggles harder to enjoy.  Today he came into snuggle and drifted back to sleep a bit.  After his smoothie for breakfast he laid down on the biomat and said his head was really hurting.  Then he asked to take a shower.  He then confirmed what I was wondering and that was he was feeling dizzy.  The dizziness that I thought we were so done with, the dizziness that last year made it so he didn't walk on his own for days, oh how I loathe the word!  After his shower he laid back down on the mat and fell asleep.  He stayed asleep even while the reading specialist was working with Chris and Mackenzie basically in the same room.

After his nap he said he felt a bit better.  He wanted to go outside so we did for a little bit.  He moved around slowly but did shoot a few basketballs into the hoop with me rebounding most of his balls.  The best Joe and I can come up with for now is to increase his water intake and reduce anything with added sugars.  While he consumes around a 85% organic diet daily and the rest being whole foods but perhaps not organic; we have started letting some organic packaged snacks like granola bars which have organic sugars.  Sugars feed Lyme and cause inflammation so it's always been best for him to have very limited amounts.  We had just opted to try going 3 weeks between treatments with the acupuncturist or normally he would go today.  I haven't been able to connect with the doctor and I think he was at a conference today but as of now his next appointment is next Thursday.  It could be that he is going through a growth spurt too and that is causing some overload on his system.  Time will tell.  I am thankful that he is better than he was this morning and is moving around more and not complaining of the pain. 

I am clinging to Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I will trust in you.  

Running

Thomas has been running at lacrosse and it amazes me to see him run each time.  A year ago he wasn't walking on his own much and now he's running with his team.  He's the youngest kid as a 3rd grader on a team that goes through 6th grade.  He came in 2nd one night and 3rd another.

His acupuncturist thinks his liver may still be congested which may be why his skin conditions aren't clearing up.  The Naturopath had said the same thing about his liver and had put him on Zymboless. Thomas finished the bottle as directed.  We are schedule to go back on April 20th.  Meanwhile, Thomas is to take the juice of a 1/2 a lemon in water water in the morning to help with inflammation.  We also started him on Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil by Green Pastures to increase his essential fatty acids.  This is also supposed to help the calcium get into the tissue and skin better.  In regards to the anxiety at bedtime, we moved his min-col pills to earlier in the day as they the Phosphorus can actually "amp up" the system.  He is back taking Min-Tran at bedtime which is supposed to calm the sympathetic dominance (fight or flight response).   I am supposed to come up with some whole food juices for him including beet juice.

Thomas went to sticks and pucks with Daddy after church and had a good time.  Next weekend starts spring skates with the travel team.  We are so thankful that he is doing so well!

Time Change and Lacrosse

March 13th began daylight savings time and it apparently created havoc for Thomas' system.  He did alright Sunday and Monday night but by Tuesday night he couldn't sleep.  He was up until midnight despite everything Joe and I tried to help him fall asleep.  His legs also starting hurting again.  Wednesday night was similar but we managed to get him to sleep by 11 p.m.  On Thursday he has his bi-weekly appointment for acupuncture and treatment.  Our doctor treated his hormones and hypothalamus plus increased the dose for the Min-Tran (hay pills).  Thursday night he slept like a rock and woke up full of energy and super excited for swimming class.  Unfortunately, Friday night we were back to the not being able to sleep.  We've tried some recommended massage technique and also have been having Thomas lie on the Biomat closer to bedtime.  He still is up later but it slowly is getting better.  He's also had a few mornings where he lays down at breakfast which is torture on this her mamma as my heart just tightens up at the prospect of him going back to the condition he was in just a year ago of barely sitting up.

Thomas has been loving lacrosse but his leg pain has increased.  He also had a terrible leg cramp one night and came and got us our 3:30 a.m. because it hurt so bad.  Practices are starting to be more frequent.
 In the beginning we had basically traded his one swimming night for a lacrosse practice. The last 3 weeks he's had practice Mondays and Wednesdays.  Starting next week it is every week day so that will be a big indicator of how his body handles the extra activity.  We will keep him home from some practices if it becomes to much.  We have been in communication with his coaches regarding his physical limits etc.  

Overall he is doing amazingly well!  He hasn't missed a day of "homeschool" in months other than when he had the flu.  He's happy and silly again most of the time.  He takes breaks as needed and loves to watch cartoon shows to rest.  He's reading a lot of books too.  Some favs have been the Pirates off the Caribbean kids chapter books and Judy Moody and Stink.   Thomas has also become quite the artist.  He watches artists on You Tube and learns from them.

Little Scare

On February 4th our oldest came down with a stomach bug.  She recovered but a few days later our other daughter got it and then days later our oldest son and myself had it.  Thomas was doing great and were hoping that he would not end up with it.  On the 15th he went to his first indoor conditioning for lacrosse practice.  He had a great time.  Around midnight though he woke up  and threw up.  He threw up once more around 4 a.m. but pretty much slept through the night other than that.  He slept in and I was rushing to get the other kiddos out the door with my mom who came to my rescue to take them all to their babysitting job for MOPS (mothers of preschoolers).  When Thomas did get up I asked him to just go lie on the couch for a bit without really looking at him.  Once I got everyone out the door, I went to snuggle him and noticed red dots all over his cheeks.  Upon further examination I saw that his eyelids and chin had significant reddish purple markings.  I knew that vomiting can cause broken blood vessels but I was alarmed because it looked like when he had ITP (low platelets).

I called my husband and then the family doctor.  I also texted with our acupuncturist.  Our family doctor was out of the office and all the other practitioners were overbooked and could not see him.  Given his history they recommended taking him to urgent care or the ER.  We opted for the main hospital ER in case he did have low platelets and needed his specialist.  However upon arriving in the ER we noted that it was packed.  I did not want to expose him to more germs so we left.  I called around and found an urgent care place that sounded reasonable and who could run labs (one urgent care said they send their labs out and it takes 3 days- that would not have helped us).  They were great and we were in and out within and hour with the awesome news that his platelets were well within the normal range.  I had prayed and let God know that we were ready to handle anything and not lose faith.  I'll never know for sure but I think that maybe his platelets truly were low and yet God granted us a reprieve and healed him prior to the test. By the next day his face looked normal.  He was also able to go sledding with a field trip and I did not have to worry that his platelets could be low which can cause internal bleeding.
Thomas had his acupuncture appointment on the 18th and he did well.  He is working on the endocrine system now.  On the 25th Thomas got to skate with his hockey team for the first time all season at their last practice on the season.  It was bittersweet.  So thankful that he could have that one time out there. He was super happy to see his friends.  He is looking forward to some spring skates that the coach has set up.  He'll have to work hard to catch up.
Yesterday we went sledding with the church youth group.  He had an amazing time and kept thanking me and telling me what a great hill it was.  Afterwards we went to Costco and he was really tired and hugged me a lot.  Today he's told me many times that he is really tired.  He cried several times too.  At bedtime snack he was falling asleep and finally he gave up eating his snack and just brushed his teeth.  He was almost asleep before I got into say good night.  I am hoping that he's just growing and that this is just a normal tired not a sign of too much activity.  We dropped one of his swimming classes now that he has lacrosse one night a week.  Time will tell but this is the test we need to try to know what activities to allow him to do and how much he can handle.  We are SOOOOO ready to be beat this and move on with a normal active childhood!!!

Updated supplements and therapy list

I thought it would be helpful to have a listing of all the supplements and therapy products we are currently using and having success with and where you can purchase if desired.  I am NOT an affiliate of any of these companies or products and receive nothing from any of them.  I am simply sharing what we are using.  Consult with your health care practitioner for medical advice.

I will start of with our newest one that we just started today: Liposomal Gluthathione.  We opted for the spray form as the liquid is super nasty to take and the pills aren't as effective.  We are just starting with 1 spray 3 times a day.  http://www.amazon.com/CCL-Glutathione-Technology-Absorption-Satisfaction/dp/B00TG2TRL6/ref=sr_1_8?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1454792807&sr=1-8&keywords=liposomal+glutathione

It is supposed to help increase his energy levels.




Diatameous Earth http://www.amazon.com/Lumino-Wellness-Grade-Diatomaceous-Powder/dp/B00FSOBPIY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454776722&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=Lumino+diatamatious+earth+food+grade
He started out taking a teaspoon a day dissolved in water now he takes 1 Tablespoon a day in water. It tastes like gritty dirt.  This one is good for getting rid of parasites and balancing PH.

Citricidal http://www.amazon.com/Citricidal-Grapefruit-Extract-Concentrate-Nutribiotic/dp/B0038Q44OQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454776849&sr=8-1&keywords=citricidal+grapefruit+seed+extract

Very bitter- mix with Orange juice.  Thomas takes between 1-3 drops a day based on what he muscle tests for at the acupuncturist every other week. The Naturopath had recommended 2 drops twice a day.  This is a "bug" killer.  It works against the spirochetes in particular.  Die off symptoms can/do occur.





Samento http://www.amazon.com/Vitamin-Research-Products-Samento-Extract/dp/B00CFCRH34/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1454777013&sr=8-4&keywords=Samento
This week Thomas is taking 8 drops a day but some weeks he can't tolerate it at (again based on muscle testing).  The Naturopath recommended 6 drops twice a day.  This is also a "bug" killer.  It works against the spirochetes in particular.  Die off symptoms can/do occur.

Standard Process Min Tran- I just looked on Amazon and do not buy it there.  Our aucpuncturist sold it to us for like $6 a bottle.  I would check with local chiropractors or anywhere that sells Standard Process supplements.  We aren't currently using this but did for about a 1 month and half when Thomas was struggling to get to sleep.  It is essentially Alfafa. Take a between 60-90 minutes before bed.  Thomas took 2.

Min-Col- Calcium http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Manufacturing-Min-Col-Capsules-supplement/dp/B00CO6SXZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454777266&sr=8-1&keywords=Min-Col

I was able to buy this through our acupuncturist for $25 but Amazon isn't bad for $30.  He takes 1 pill three times a day.

Barley Greens- 1 teaspoon in a smoothie with 1 cup OJ, 2 cups organic spinach, 1/2 banana for breakfast every day.  http://www.amazon.com/Hagiwaras-BarleyGreen-Endorsed-YH-International/dp/B008Q8RP74/ref=sr_1_21?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1454779480&sr=1-21&keywords=barley+green

Cyruta Plus- form of vitamin c.  Works best if you chew the pills but they taste yucky.  He takes 2 with each meal.  Sometimes he swallows one and chews the other.

Ferra Tonic- Iron supplement.  I bought through the acupuncturist for about $9.  He currently takes 8 drops in organic apple juice at lunch.  This one is also for energy increase.




Silver- we make our own silver with our silver lungs machine http://www.silverlungs.com/  It was an investment of about $500 but now that we own the system it only costs the price for a few gallons of distilled water to make 64 ounces.  One nice feature is that the machine makes both Colloidal Silver which is amber colored and Ionic which is clear.  We used to use Sovereign Silver http://www.amazon.com/Sovereign-Silver-Bio-Active-Hydrosol-Support/dp/B00JG73O0Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1454777526&sr=1-3&keywords=sovereign+silver
We've learned now that Ionic is best for topical applications and in the ears and Colloidal works better internally.  At one point he was taking 5 tsp. a day.  We've backed down and only use occasionally (1-3 times a week a teaspoon or two)

Harmonic Quad Zapper
https://www.precisionherbs.com/content/harmonic-quad-hq5 
Thomas uses this twice a day for 10 minutes each session.  It works in as little as 3 minutes but if you use it for 10 your red blood cells get recharged too.  We saw a drastic decrease in spirochetes from October to December while using this in conjunction with NAET treatments and supplements.

Bio Mat- Thomas loves this!!  It uses infrared heat, negative ions and amethyst crystals.  He will lay on it for several hours a day.  Here is a site that tells about it; we did not order from that particular site but through our massage therapist.  https://www.biomathealth.com/whatisthebiomat.html

Stagnating

In some ways I feel like the last month or month and half we've kinda of stagnated in our progress. Thomas isn't worse but I don't seem to be able to pinpoint any measurable progress and that's a bit frustrating.  Joe pointed out that Thomas is swimming 2 hours a week (1 hour classes) and participating in his homeschool gym class among other play dates.  I just see how tired he is after each activity but thankfully he does recover after a rest time.  He LOVES the Biomat and sometimes will complete his school worksheets while lying on it.

Drawing and watching a movie on the Biomat

He has been doing fabulous with school and hasn't missed a day of work the whole month of January.  Last week we went on an all day bus trip to the Capital building in Lansing and he did well with no set backs.  He also is skating on our ice rink 30-60 minutes several times a week.  So now that I type out all he is doing, I see he is making progress.  I am hoping that his skin conditions clear up soon too!

At the Capital

Happy New Year

We made it through all the holidays!  There were definite up and downs but nothing long lasting as in the past and for that we give our grateful thanks to God!

Thomas still bruises easily and after our New Year's Eve party his legs are covered in new bruises from playing.  They also take a long time to heal.  Cuts are the same way with him.  I think the acupuncturist told us it was from his cells not getting enough oxygen.

We ended up choosing to purchase the Biomat.  It arrived a few days ago and Thomas LOVES it as does everyone else in the family.  He fell asleep on it after our party last night and was begging to sleep on it again tonight.  It uses infrared heat, negative ions and amethyst crystals.  The infrared heat allows us to induce a fever which in turn kills spirochetes.  Many people with cancer and Lyme rely heavily on the Biomat.  Tonight I laid on it with Thomas and he was laughing and giggling.  It was such a blessing to see him so carefree and in less overall pain.  It seems to particularly help his leg pain.

His weekly acupuncture appointment went well this past week.  Thomas' liver is processing better and he's able to tolerate higher doses of his supplements which is a good thing for him.  He recommended that we research a new supplement called Liposomal Glutathione to see if we wanted to try it with Thomas.  It is apparently heavily used on the west coast where chronic Lyme is more readily acknowledged.  So far I've read about a lot individuals with Lyme who highly recommend it. One down side is the liquid form is most effective but absolutely tastes terrible.  There is a pill form but it is not as recommended although it is what our acupuncturist said Thomas could take.  He didn't think we'd be able to get him to take the nasty liquid.  I tend to agree that it would be difficult.  We already have tears every morning with the Diatamaeous Earth followed by a green smoothie so it may be the pill form that we choose. I'll write more on it after further research.

On the topic of his smoothies; I now sneak in 1 tsp of Barley greens which is mainly Kelp and Barley grass.  His smoothie recipe currently is:
1/2 banana
2 cups spinach or power green blend (spinach, Kale mix)
3 strawberries
5 pineapple chunks
10 blueberries
1/2 cup distilled water
3 Tbsp. organic applejuice
1/2 tsp. chia seeds
1 tsp. barley greens
Blend well in Vitamix and serve with a stainless steel straw

The plan for January is to continue with acupuncture but take a break from massage therapy.  A dear friend shared an amazing devotional with me.  I am particularly drawn to the first "goal" for 2016 involving expecting a daily miracle.  I know I got mine tonight with his laughter.  I fully expect more miracles for our whole family in the coming year!  You can check out the devotional at http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=0348337f7efa4750da32a7587&id=50bd5394bc