Wednesday, April 17, 2013

A health update

I just got back from the naturopath. I love this guy. He told me that Violet has such a unique beauty that he can't even put it into words. :-) 

Oh. I like him for his medical advice as well haha.

So, my hair analysis came back and its like 20 pages long so I won't bore you with all the little details. 

There is definitely a good amount of aluminum and smaller amounts of mercury. He said there could be more mercury that is secreting from my tissues that might not show up in the hair analysis. I didn't see anything about the arsenic which is good but I didn't read through it all yet, truthfully. 

He isn't all that concerned about the metals because he is putting me on the GAPS diet which will most likely detox the metals naturally anyway. So, the GAPS diet... basically I will begin only eating meat/veg broth and slowly adding in raw eggs, avacado, then some nut breads.. He said since I already eat something similar to the GAPS diet I should wiz through the introduction stage. I found it interesting that the night before you introduce a new food you put a little bit of that food on your wrist and if you wake up and it is red and irritated it means that you aren't ready to add that food yet. 

Our bodies are so cool.

This article is FILLED with so much good info. Here is the link to the full article - I just read through it and wow this diet claims to heal many many conditions. I think it is definitely worth the read. 


Here are some points I found that are particularly interesting:

About the GAPS diet and mercury and yeast and there is an interesting correlation:

QUESTION: I now understand that bloating can be related to heavy metal toxicity, e.g. amalgam fillings which I have. However, I do not understand why my bloating has got worse since being on GAPS, GAPS is supposed to help with detox. Surely there would be less mercury available to feed the yeast/fungus? Also what would you recommend to those who for some reason cannot remove the fillings (pregnancy or lactation)? Would it be helpful to take chlorella to bind the mercury? Would this reduce the bloating?

ANSWER: Excessive gas production in the gut is due to an overgrowth of yeast/candida. Yeast is employed by the body to absorb and neutralize mercury and other toxic metals and chemicals. As long as you have mercury coming into your system you will never get rid of yeast. And we need to be grateful for that, because yeast is protecting you from the damaging effects of mercury. So, it is important to remove amalgam fillings and other sources of toxic metals.

As you started GAPS, your detoxification system has activated and started removing mercury out of your amalgams and other storage places, which can lead to more yeast overgrowth. If you are eating nuts and fruit they will make the whole situation worse. Try to go back to the Introduction Diet and stay on the 2nd stage for as long as it takes to get rid of bloating. This measure removes all foods that feed yeast, and will help the body to remove both mercury and yeast quicker. Taking charcoal tablets will help with bloating.
It is not a good idea to be removing amalgam fillings during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Stick to the diet strictly, take probiotics and fermented foods. Blue green algae and chlorella can help; you can also try natural seaweed and HumetR supplement. Fat content of your meals should be very high (fresh animal fats) – this will boost your detoxification system and immunity and allow you and your baby deal with toxicity better.

about breastfeeding: 

You need to be on the 2nd-3rd stages of the GAPS Introduction Diet while you breastfeed. This will ‘clean-up’ your milk and help you to heal your own gut lining.

The N.P. told me I am deficient in magnesium and that is what is causing my high blood pressure/high pulse. So, I have to do these magnesium oil foot baths. I found it intersting this article recommends a GAPS milkshake - whisk 2 raw eggs and some sour cream (or coconut oil) into your juice. This will help my absorption of magnesium

about insulin resistance:

GAPS diet is very beneficial for people with type-two diabetes, obesity, and other forms of insulin resistance, as it cuts out complex carbohydrates. People with this problem need to limit their carbohydrate consumption; so don’t go heavy on honey or SCD desserts. It is essential to have plenty of animal fats for these people in order to keep their blood sugar at the right level. In order to do that I recommend having a few tablespoons of coconut oil, raw butter or homemade sour cream every half an hour throughout the day. Freshly pressed juices have many sugars in them: in order to balance these sugars with fat and protein, blend into the juice 1-2 raw eggs and 1-2 tablespoons of homemade sour cream or raw butter or coconut oil (per person). Once your juice is mixed with eggs and fat, you do not need to worry about how sweet the juice may be: you can juice carrots, beetroot, apples and pineapples. For people with sugar cravings and other difficulties in blood sugar control, it is a good idea to mix raw butter or coconut oil with a little raw honey to taste; make the mixture in advance and keep eating it throughout the day. This mixture will help you to come through the initial stages of treatment. When sugar cravings are gone, you will be able to maintain your blood sugar normal between meals without having to eat anything.

There are two forms of diabetes: type one and type two. Type one is an auto immune disorder, where the body attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. All auto immunity is born in the gut. Following the GAPS Programme will heal the gut and re-structure the immune system. In my experience, as the patient progresses through the treatment, he or she is able to slowly reduce the dose of insulin and in many cases to stop the injections altogether. Type two diabetes is caused by the body becoming insulin resistant because of continuous consumption of processed carbohydrates. GAPS diet removes all processed carbohydrates, so the body can heal the damage and remove diabetes. Once better, as long as the person continues to stick to low-carbohydrate nourishing diet for the rest of his or her life, the diabetes should never return.

Congratulations you made it through my very boring post about health stuff. Your reward is a very adorable picture of my babies....


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Lance sent me these pictures from his phone.

These kids make me melt

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

it was quite the long weekend...Friday was GORGEOUS so we had to take a trip to the park

 But, while we were there Lance called us and told us Lexi (or doggie) wasn't doing very well. Over the past few days/months she went from making the occasional poopy accident to not being able to control what comes out of her bottom. I'll spare you all the details just to say that it was time to put her down. She lived almost 13 years and she truly was the best dog I've ever had....

Okay, she was the only dog I've ever owned as my very own... but I'll telling you she was the BEST dog ever.  Javan misses her but we talked about how we can be happy for her because now she is healthy and happy in heaven - how in the WORLD do people who don't believe in Heaven do it?!?


Not long after we got home from the park... said our goodbyes to Lexi and get settled...
Javan lost a tooth!


The rest of the weekend was business as usual in the Ferris household

Babies kissing babies...


 Moving the slide outside along with the trampoline so Cosette had a "soft" landing...


Daddy hugs and snuggles....


Cosette head butting her sister....

Lots of love goes on around here :-)



Cute baby squishy cheeks....




Today we went on a field trip to a place called "Moon Marble"
They taught our homeschool group how to make a marble, how to play games with marbles and he came home with a whole bunch of marbles that he got to choose.  It was pretty cool watching him melt and manipulate the glass and all of the different designs the instructor made on them.

Mom just about lost her marbles carrying 2 babies at that place...






Friday, April 5, 2013

Cosette wanted to swing like her baby sister

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Javan has his homeschool lego club at the library every Tuesday and recently I learned there are baby storytime classes there too so I figured Cosette would  love it.

Well, she's pretty quiet during her "class" but she loves doing the rhymes with us at home. 

This one is her favorite....not sure why its so fuzzy. I think there is an option to make it clearer (but less time) but I haven't figured it out OR I might just have to clean the lens on my camera. 

Certain sticky slobbery fingers like to touch it. 


An afternoon tea party

Monday, April 1, 2013


Birthday blessings continued....

I had a 15 min "nap", chocolate cream flavored butter oil/fermented cod liver oil (it tastes as "delicious" as you would imagine - and no the chocolate flavor does not help cover the fish flavor), a trip to target ALL BY MYSELF, Chipotle, a nursing baby, I got to miss the biggest temper tantrum on the planet, Javan's giggles, a game of "which baby is crying" , and right now 3 sleeping kiddos and a quiet house. 

All in all a pretty great day. 

A little health update:

I have not heard back from Dr. Brooks about my thyroid levels. Its on the list of things to do (get on him) but the truth is... he is a very expensive doctor to see (he does not take insurance) and I am not quite ready to go back to see him yet. So, i'm kind of holding out.

I went on Monday to a Naturopathic doctor (and again on Friday for a follow up and to discuss results/ treatment plan). I know I said I would wait until after I hear back from the medical doctor but this guy was actually quite affordable and came highly recommended. 

So, I thought I'd give him a try.

On Monday he did two separate tests. One is the Zyto scan and I'm not quite sure exactly how it works but it basically tests what parts of your body are stressed. 

.... and I AM STRESSED... 

Who knew?! I don't feel stressed besides the usual stuff life throws at you but both my physical and mental stress levels are SO HIGH the doctor said he has NEVER seen a patient with levels this high as long as he has been in practice. Also, my bodies ability to handle stress (the bottom line "stress resistance") is so low he could hardly believe it. Lots of stress + not able to handle stress = no good 
 (sorry I can't figure out how to turn the pic so you will have to turn your head)


This goes along with and affirms everything that I had been saying... that the high glucose numbers have little to do with what I am eating or doing. That something else must be affecting them. I also know that the stress hormones Cortisol and Epinephrine can really do a number on your blood glucose levels. 

It all makes sense to me. Unfortunately, there isn't a quick fix for this.

The doctor also got my pulse rate and blood pressure. My resting pulse is between 80-100 - which is even high for someone who is exercising. It like my body is running a marathon all day long. My blood pressure was also very high 140/90. Ironically, the zyto scan showed that there was no blockage in my arteries and my heart health was good.

He did this really interesting test on my body. He had me lay down and he would put pressure on my arm (my arm held up in the air) while I pushed back. Then he put different minerals/vitamins (and who knows what else, they were in little vials) on my chest and put one finger in my belly button and put pressure on my arm. If I was deficient in something or have too much of something then  my arm would go weak as he pushed.  Then he would gently put pressure on different parts of my body and if there was an organ was weak, my arm would go weak. It is just so awesome how interconnected our bodies are. 

Anyway, he was baffled that I am showing high levels of mercury in my body. Most people have something like that if they have fillings or work done on their teeth but I haven't had any of that. You can also get mercury in you body from vaccines - and you all know how I feel about vaccines. None here (and adds to my list of why I won't be adding any of those poisons in my childrens body...)

The Zyto scan also shows high levels of mercury in my body along with aluminum and arsenic. 

So weird. And you can see below how stressed my adrenal glands are. 

Ironically, the pancreas isn't as stressed as you would think it was compared to the others. (of course, stressed still just not as much)


So, what's the treatment plan? Well, right now he is treating me as a person who was "malnourished" (not in a "not enough food" kind of way but a "not enough nutrients" kind of way.)  and then had 2 pregnancies back to back which caused too much stress on the body. 

I would say most of that is true. So, he prescribed me a whole bunch of different suppliments, etc.

He told me that the sun is very healing for the endocrine system. He wants me to try to have an hour of sunshine a day and not to wear sunglasses. He said that we absorb the most vitamin D (and whatever healing qualities the sun has) through our eyes. Also, suggested "grounding" as much as possible. This is kind of weird to me but then again... God made the sun and he made the ground... I think he had bigger intentions than we give him credit for. 

Anyway, grounding... basically spending time laying on the ground is quite healing to the body. I didn't read up on it entirely (like I have time to read through the pile of info he gave me). 

So sun, grounding, and the last things were sleep and raw milk. Our Adrenals "shut off" when we sleep and I need to be getting as much sleep as possible (heh). He said that if he didn't know my situation he would suggest I take 3 days to only sleep. THREE DAYS!?!? lol. Its crazy but he basically told me my body isn't going to heal unless it can rest (that part does make sense). 

He was big on the raw milk products. Raw milk, yogurt, kefir...basically anything you can make with raw milk. Well, I can't really drink milk because of the sugar in it but I got some kefir grains from him and started fermented my milk with kefir. Raw milk is SO healing. I actually know several people who were healed from migraines, allergies, even cavities from drinkin raw milk. 

I talked to him about how milk is linked directly to diabetes (why I stopped eating dairy for a while there) but he assured me that RAW milk is a completely different story. The virus that travels in milk and attacks your pancreas (yes, you can get a virus from pasteurized milk that will "kill" your pancreas - leading cause of type 1 diabetes) is not found in raw milk. 

He also took a hair sample for testing to see if I do have mercury and the others in my body. 

I will back to see him in a couple of weeks to get those results back and to see if there is any improvement.

It will take some work on my part but the way I see it is that I can take a pill and get the "quick fix" (along with a whole lot of other side effects and issues) OR I can get to the root of the problem... possibly still take medicine if necessary but working to heal the root issue 
(and allowing my body to do its job of healing as well). 


For my birthday I would like to sleep all day and eat Reese's peanut butter cups and snicker bars (with perfect blood glucose readings) and have a house that cleans itself... is that too much to ask??

Instead I got woken up to 3 snuggle monkey's in my bed.

So far I have had a day full of baby tears, banana smooshed into my jeans, baby smiles and big girl giggles, time spent brushing out Violet's cradle cap while the other one eats the coconut oil that I was using, coconut oil all over the couch, kisses all day long, a little boy showing off his "stunts" (imagine what can be done with a skateboard and a couch), the contents of my wallet dumped all over the floor, a "love" letter saying "your the best even though you can be mean sometimes" (I'll take that as a compliment), read the same board book 736538293756 times, 2 poopy diapers, a couple of kicks in the chest while trying to put coconut oil on Cosette's bottom, a sunny day even though it was supposed to snow, no more plastic over the windows, a rearranged living room, diapers hanging out in the sun, way too many pieces of sugar free cheesecake, a messy kitchen, homemade tomato soup, ready whip on my finger... and a little girl upstairs playing in her crib while I type this.

.... and as crazy as it is... it is such a beautiful blessing....

So I won't be getting a nap today or Reese's peanut butter cups for my birthday but I have a whole lot to be thankful for. I know someday I will look back and miss these days...

Easter

Easter morning we made it to the 9am service - ON TIME - well, pretty much on time, anyway. After service we stopped at the house, packed up, ate something quick and headed to Lance's grandmother's house for a family lunch. Afterwards, we went to Cracker Barrel with Lance's other side and then we made a quick stop at his sister's house to meet our newest nephew, Isaac.

This Easter was such a whirwind we hardly got any pictures but that's ok... it was fun and full of family and without all that craziness life would be boring.

This family picture was taken at the end of the day... Cosette's hair was a bit of a mess by then and everyone was tired but at least we got a picture in. Thank you, Monty, for remembering for us :-)



Monty and Marilyn had a little Easter egg hunt for the grandkiddos
 

Cosette liked to feed her daddy the eggs. 

Silly faces. haha. 

Javan loving on his sis. 
 
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