Dane's Path to Wellness!

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time researching various health and nutrition topics. I mainly started to look into nutrition and health because my son is ALWAYS sick. If anyone knows Dane, they know he goes to the doctor a lot. Research was my strongest skill in accounting (tax research is the only 'A' I got in accounting), so my research skills have come in handy.

Maybe some of this information can help other parents who are trying to help their sick kids!

Here's a little overview of some of Dane's illnesses.

Age 6 months to 15 months: 6 double ear infections (1 month he had antibiotics for about 30 days straight!); hand foot mouth disease twice; strep throat twice; RSV; and some "major" virus that caused him to become anemic following a 10 day period of 104 degree fever

He managed to get all of those things without attending mother's day out/day care! Some of those illnesses he caught from his older sister. Despite good hand washing and limiting his trips in public, he managed to get sick for more than 6 months straight. He eventually got tubes in his ears and that helped with the ear infections.

Fast forward to Age 3 (now): constant runny nose that's lasted for 1 year; 6 antibiotics plus 1 steroid in 5 months; $750 spent in 5 months on medication, doctor visits to ENT and allergist, and culture tests done on his nose

If he doesn't improve, then we will schedule an adenoidectomy this summer.

Dane's happiest days at school this year have only been the few times his nose was not running. So you can see why I'm trying everything I can to make him better!

So what am I doing differently to help him?

1. Giving him the highest quality multivitamin, omega-3, and probiotic that I could find on the market. The multivitamin & omega will help with any nutritional deficiencies he may have and probiotics help with allergies and immunity.

2. Giving him Nutriferon which is a product that boosts your immunity and helps with allergies using natural ingredients. Nutriferon was developed by the doctor who discovered interferon. It took him 40 years to discover a way to increase your interferon naturally. I had my pediatrician review the human clinical studies before I started giving this to Dane. She said that there's nothing in it that will hurt Dane, and that it won't hurt to try it!

3. Giving him more protein. When you are sick or stressed, your body needs more protein (sometimes 6 times more than normal!). He doesn't like meat, fish, chicken, nor protein shakes, so I've found an instant protein soy mix that I can cook with. It's got all the amino acids in it which your body can only get through diet. He likes peanut butter, so I give him that too.

4. Using only non-toxic cleaning products including laundry detergent. Traditional cleaning products are full of toxic chemicals and children are more sensitive to chemicals than adults. The allergist said that he may have asthma, and common cleaners give off fumes that can increase the risk of kids developing asthma.

5. Reducing his sugar intake. The bad bacteria in your body feeds on sugar, so that's why it's important to limit his sugar.

6. Using a Britax water filter which reduces the number of chemicals he ingests through the water he drinks.

7. Opening the windows on nice days. According to the EPA, air pollution is 2 to 5 times worse inside the house than outside.

What's his status right now?

Still has a yellow runny nose when we've been outside but no longer has a cough at night nor in the morning. No longer coughs after running around the house a bunch chasing his sister. No longer chokes on food. It's normal for kids to choke on foods when they have a lot of phlegm. We saw the allergist recently, and he said that the inside of Dane's nose looks better!

I just started all of these things, so we'll see how he does!

Maybe 1 or 2 of these tips will help you as well!

Ashley