- By Milla Ezman
- December 13, 2017
- Edited by Jisselle Regis
“When The Why is clear,
The How is Easy!”
Our STORY...
Our family of five – mom, dad, and three amazing, happy, healthy little kids, live in North Eastern Pennsylvania in a cozy house that is situated on 7 acres of beautiful land! But It didn’t start out that way…
I was born and raised far… far… far… far away in the South-East of Russia. in a sustainable, down to Earth, rustic and self-reliant way of living. We had a big garden and grew ALL of our own berries, fruits, veggies and even potatoes, to last us all the winter months without having to buy produce in a store.
My Mom would be mortified to feed us with store-bought carrots or beets, because that would mean she didn’t do a good job in her garden during the summer. She canned sauces, pickled tomatoes and cucumbers, dried herbs and made at least 3 barrels of sauerkraut. My father would hunt and fish and we always had freshly frozen and salt-cured salmon, red caviar, and game meat (rabbits, elk, bear…). We didn’t raise cows or pigs, but our neighbors did, and we could buy fresh milk, beef, pork, goat meat from them. Grass fed only, of course, for there was no other kind. We wept chickens.
My after-school snack was often something from the garden or a freshly chicken egg or we would raid a neighbor’s orchard with friends, or find a patch of wild roses and eat the rose-hips… depending on the season. My grandparents, had first hand experience of the shortages of food and life necessities during World War II, so they taught us to be grateful for everything we have because it Can. Always. Get. Worse. They taught me to love the nature, for it provides everything we need, you only need to bend and pick it up. And connect.
…an unexpected turn in my life tossed me over to the other side of the planet years later where I started my own family, and adopted the Standard American Diet (SAD).
My 1st son was born in 2006, in the Bay Area, CA. He was a “late talker”, had asthma and mild sensory processing disorder (of which I knew nothing about back then) but otherwise healthy. Later on, he was diagnosed with Lyme which caused joint pain, tummy issues, underweight, would break out in hives for no apparent reason. Was very sensitive, cry often, got sad or angry, would shut down… and he was a very picky eater!
Then 5 years later our 2nd boy, Daniel was born in El Paso, TX, premature, due to a doctor’s mistake, – and had more health issues… Allergies, developmental/speech/motor delays, severe eczema, ADHD, ODD, sleep issues, eye condition – Amblyopia or “lazy eye”, low muscle tone, Indigestion, food allergies…
Our daughter, Melania was born 15 months after her brother. It was a stressful pregnancy on every turn, an emergency C-section delivery, hospital problems which then followed by our move from Texas to Pennsylvania when she was only a month old…. She started having some minor health problems right at the beginning – she was sick all the time with bacterial and viral infections.
yet she was still a pretty good baby, slept well, ate well, smiled, played, imitated, met her main milestones and started to say little baby words…
in 2014 when Melania turned 2.5yo she was diagnosed with the terrifying, lifelong condition ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) of which I never heard before, or I ever met anyone that was affected by it.
When I was growing up, no one even had any allergies! My friends and I were hardly ever sick, other than occasional colds or scraped knees! I’m looking around now and ALL kids are sick with something! And this is being presented to us as the “new normal”!
I began noticing that something was really wrong after her 21 month immunizations, followed by courses of antibiotics for her frequent ear infections… She was sick all the time, but the clinic kept calling me because we were behind on the shots, and they stated that it is worse not to immunize at all than to immunize while the child is sick, so I gave in and she received 6 vaccines at once on that day…
Now, looking back, I think this was the tipping point, when her body couldn’t handle any more incoming toxins.
She developed an antibiotic allergy and broke out in hives.
From that point she gradually changed. She stopped sleeping through the night, she was crying ALL.THE. TIME. She would scream so bad when we gave her a bath, we had to reduce it to 1-2 times a week. She didn’t want to be touched, hugged, brushed, changed… She didn’t react to her name anymore, or anything really, didn’t have eye contact, joint attention, no imitation. She would line up toys, play repetitively with her hands and feet… walked on her toes, flapped her hands and rocked, rocked, rocked…
She would have grand meltdowns and nothing could console or redirect her.
Our life was very stressful then...
we didn't go out much, we didn't visit our family as often as we wanted to, or go see places and do things as a family.
Taking all the kids shopping by myself was next to impossible.
She had horrible indigestion (dyspepsia) and didn’t gain any weight for over a year, she had dark circles under her eyes and ear infections every few weeks, for which she was prescribed antibiotics, time after time…
She would vomit within 10 min of a car ride (the doctor told me it was just car sickness, though very unusual for her age.. and to give her Benadryl before every ride… (later on we discovered it was a reaction to dairy and so were the ear infections, and all that disappeared after we removed it!)
Outside, she would pick up and eat dirt, rocks, snow… She would lick walls and windows, hug every telephone pole and mailbox, she never wanted to hold hands. And she would bolt. If we let her down, unaware of anything, to the opposite from us direction without looking to see if anyone following her…
I remember that day on the pumpkin patch when I was watching her walking in a straight line, and hoping she would turn around, come back to me...
She did not...she just kept on walking.
It was like the lights are on, but nobody's home.
In most of our family photos she had this vacant facial expression…
She didn’t have any personality, we didn’t know who she was…or what she liked or disliked…except…
She was fascinated by fire and big animals, which increased our safety concern for her.
She could literally walk into a bonfire if no one was holding her, or stick her whole hand into a horse’s mouth! (thank God we only met gentle Horses and Giraffes!) She turned 2 y.o in the pictures below… my husband pulled her hand out of the candlelight in time, and there was no harm, although she got really upset because she couldn’t touch the flame!
One day someone commented that the reason Melania behaved as she did was because we allowed her to watch TV too much, so I was searching effects of the television on child’s behavior/development and I came across this video about a family with 6 kids, that were all on the Autism spectrum (this was my very first encounter with the word “autism”), and my Melania was behaving similar to the 6 yo girl from the video, who was still in diapers and nonverbal.
This REALLY scared me! My girl was only 2, I did not want her to spend all her childhood in diapers being this way… and so I went to the doctors. GI, Neurologist, Genetics, Allergist, Developmental Pediatrician… I asked the doctors to do some testing to help to figure out what was causing this… A neurologist in the CHOP laughed condescendingly to my face and said to me: “Nothing is causing this! – she said, – she just autistic, is all”, – she said. The Developmental Pediatrician (Dr.Kruger) and Genetic doctors said that she more likely will never talk and will be wearing diapers for the rest of her life! Meaning…never ever have a typical life, will never have friends and fall in love, have her own family and change diapers of her own children… It was terrifying!!!
All we got from the doctors was the therapies. Occupational therapy, speech therapy, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and behavioral help. And the whole team of professionals couldn't get Melania to say or gesture one word – "open"
in 6 months time!!!
So I started digging on my own…
I bought “An Early Start for Your Child with Autism: Using Everyday Activities to Help Kids Connect, Communicate, and Learn” book (I still love and read it!) and started working with her myself in between the therapies. Meanwhile, I was also researching other methods parents in similar situations as myself used to help their child heal. I learned about Bio-med. We found a MAPS doctor, did some tests and started on Gluten/Dairy Free Diet, Epsom Salt baths and supplements.
Melania tested 124 in the ATEC, in Dec. 2014 and I had her retested every 3 months after, for my own records in order to track her progress. It really did help to see the numbers go down, especially on a bad day when I felt like this wasn’t working and was about to give up… And there WERE countless bad days over the past 3 years! Honestly, if I only knew in the beginning how hard it was going to be…
Results from removing Gluten and Dairy were noticeable! She went from 0 words to 20 in a month! She started to engage with us more, Imitate and be in general happier! And she let me do her hair!
We continued doing the diet and the bio-med for 5 months. With slow but steady progress until the MAPS doctor started to give us more and more supplements and the protocol became very very expensive with no real hope for a complete, true recovery.. We were getting very dependent on supplement based behavior. Through the tests, we discovered that our kids had multiple food allergies and sensitivities, mineral and vitamin deficiencies and a burden of heavy metals in their systems. I learned about the ACC protocol which would have taken 3-6 years of very hard and ridiculously consistent work. We went whole 3 rounds after which I was even more sleep deprived and exhausted!
On May 15, 2015 I came across a post of a Mom on a Bio-med FB group, to which I will be forever grateful!
The post mentioned:
- A connection between autism and MSG (MonoSodium Glutamate, Free Glutamate),
- “WHY HAVE YOU HEARD US SAY FREE GLUTAMATE AND NO VINEGAR?” – Talking with the Experts: Katherine Reid, PhD
- The link to the supporting FB group – The REID Program (Reduced Excitatory Inflammatory Diet)
- The list of Hidden sources of MSG – Glutamate Chart
- Dr.Reid’s website – unblindmymind.org
Andi Stowe is the Mom who wrote the post I made reference to previously. Andi continues to work toward helping other Parents to find a way to recover not only their children but themselves too. Andi does so by helping them to understand the underlying causes of various health issues and how it is possible to reverse it, through her beautiful Blog “Nourished Blessings”, the mentioned above Facebook Group, the Instagram and spreading the word anywhere she goes! So inspiring and amazing!
Thank you, Andi and thank you, Dr.Reid, if you’re reading this.
toxins
Every bite we take
is either fighting disease
or feeding it
They’re in the food we eat, the cleaning products we use, in the air we breathe, the clothes we wear in the objects we touch.
As consumers, we expect or perhaps assume that our everyday purchases were under every microscope in the lab so they are safe to use before they put on the shelves, right? I used to think so! Not anymore. A ton of independent research has shown that exposure to these toxic chemicals is linked to chronic disease, breast milk contamination, early onset-puberty, neurological disorders, cancer, diabetes and autoimmune diseases to name a few…
The great news is that you can reduce the risk to you, your family and the planet by shedding the nasties and choosing non-toxic organic products and services.
- packed away all my hobbies and projects
- joined the group and became an active member
- watched the videos
- printed the list – Free Glutamate Chart
- cleaned out my pantry
- went on a long shopping trip
- started the Program
- consulted with Dr. REID over the phone
- implemented all her advice
- kept on Learning and Implementing
- still learning!…still implementing…still evolving!
- because a diet, any diet…. just isn’t always enough.
Every Little Thing Counts!
My kids were on a lot of supplements (15-20 different ones a day!) which were prescribed by our MAPS doctor before we started on The Reid program. We then slowly weaned our kids off the supplements and instead:
– I added smoothies which were very concentrated and consisted of organic leafy greens, herbs(medicinal and culinary), wild edibles, fruits and vegetables.
– We went fully Organic.
– We removed ALL sources of Free Glutamate and other food toxins – Full list of Hidden sources of MSG
– We removed & limited foods that were potentially or definitely a problem (foods which we tested sensitive and/or allergic to, processed, canned and packaged, extra fats, animal protein, legumes, nuts, GF grains).
– We supported natural body Detox with Herbs and Protocols (such as Epsom salt baths; Detox Herbs and aromatherapy; Rebounding & Bare-footing; Sun exposure & Massages; Breathing exercises & Dry brushing…)
– We worked on repopulating the gut Microbiome by adding homemade ferments, close contact with nature and growing a lot of our own food.
– In 2016 we moved to the countryside where we still reside, in the beautiful North-East Pennsylvania, in a cozy little house and started our Back to Eden garden on clean, unpolluted land and water, which was the icing on the cake.
– We switched from bottled in plastic fluoridated water to a Well & Artesian Spring source and mineralize our water with Chrystals.
– from Lysol, Tide, Windex & Scrubbing Bubbles to naturally Infused Vinegar, Baking Soda & Essential Oils.
– from the Lightning McQueen bubble bath to Epsom Salt, Herbs, homemade soaps and lotions.
– from Pizza, Olive Garden and Happy meals to the REID program Whole Foods toxin-free Diet!
if you always do what you've always done you will always get what you've always got"
By the end of the year 2015 Melania's ATEC score was 35
By the end of the year 2016 it was 0!
I am still amazed at the difference it all made!
She was meeting all the therapy goals very fast and I was no longer scared for our future!
I knew we were on the right path!
I am Grateful EVERY day for all that we have been through and that I now know what I know!
I loved my kids with All My Heart and then some,
when they were sick.
Now that they are healthy I enjoy them & my Life with them,
all the more!
Because We earned it!
Would you like to receive my new posts, recipes, special offers and surprise giveaways
right in your email box?
Read more about how we use your info in the Privacy Policy.
