Worry about what really matters to you…nothing else. It’s been over a year now since my daughter’s diagnosis and every day I try to remind myself of that first line. I’m not the type of person to sit back and let things happen. I’ve always had to go out and get things done. That applies to work, sports and the bands that I’ve been in. Sitting around will get you nowhere fast. My wife came across a book titled “Reaching For Answers To Crohn’s Disease“ by Martha Kalichman. It was one of 4 or 5 books she picked up on the subject of Crohn’s disease but it was the one book that was a little different from the others. It’s a story about a girl who was diagnosed with Crohn’s but decided to take the advice of a doctor and treat her condition differently than the norm.
With Crohn’s, most doctors prescribe what my daughter has gone through. Attack it with steroids to get it to manageable levels, then maintain it with other prescribed meds. This book takes another approach…a more natural approach. We decided that it couldn’t hurt to give this a try. It basically involves taking probiotics and lessening your sugar intake. The thought is that sugar feeds off your intestinal bacteria, which in Crohn’s patients, are already really week. The probiotics (we buy Culterelle) replace that “bad” bacteria with “good” bacteria. You should also eat plain (no sugar) yogurt once a day. I’m not a doctor so I won’t get into it any further…check out the book if this interests you.
My daughter had a flare up in January of this year…almost to the day we started this new approach. She was hospitalized for a few days because of it. Her blood levels were very elevated and it seems that when she had caught the nasty stomach virus that was going around, it kind of jump started this flare up. Her weight had dropped at least 5 or 6 pounds during the past month or so. While in the hospital, we started her on the probiotics and hoped for the best.
Over the next few weeks, we started to notice a change in her. She had much more energy than in the entire past year. She was going to the bathroom less frequently and her weight was coming up little by little. When she had her next blood work done, we were told that her blood levels were just about normal…the best since she was diagnosed. My wife and I didn’t think it was a coincidence. We are lucky this book is out there and I’ve thanked the author through email personally. Whatever else is going on in my life that used to make me upset or angry, I think of that first line now. Nothing else really matters.
With Crohn’s, most doctors prescribe what my daughter has gone through. Attack it with steroids to get it to manageable levels, then maintain it with other prescribed meds. This book takes another approach…a more natural approach. We decided that it couldn’t hurt to give this a try. It basically involves taking probiotics and lessening your sugar intake. The thought is that sugar feeds off your intestinal bacteria, which in Crohn’s patients, are already really week. The probiotics (we buy Culterelle) replace that “bad” bacteria with “good” bacteria. You should also eat plain (no sugar) yogurt once a day. I’m not a doctor so I won’t get into it any further…check out the book if this interests you.
My daughter had a flare up in January of this year…almost to the day we started this new approach. She was hospitalized for a few days because of it. Her blood levels were very elevated and it seems that when she had caught the nasty stomach virus that was going around, it kind of jump started this flare up. Her weight had dropped at least 5 or 6 pounds during the past month or so. While in the hospital, we started her on the probiotics and hoped for the best.
Over the next few weeks, we started to notice a change in her. She had much more energy than in the entire past year. She was going to the bathroom less frequently and her weight was coming up little by little. When she had her next blood work done, we were told that her blood levels were just about normal…the best since she was diagnosed. My wife and I didn’t think it was a coincidence. We are lucky this book is out there and I’ve thanked the author through email personally. Whatever else is going on in my life that used to make me upset or angry, I think of that first line now. Nothing else really matters.