Spring

Spring is in the air, can you feel it? It has actually felt like Spring for quite awhile already. Winter brought very mild temperatures this year. Spring is almost officially upon us, I never forget the first day of Spring as it always falls on my Birthday. Spring is such a beautiful time of year, the growth and new life springing up from the ground and trees. Spring also brings with it, at least in my house, itchy eyes, sneezing and runny noses. Jeff and our boys seem to get hit hard with allergies every Spring and Summer, with our early Spring, Jeff seems to be reacting already.  

Spring is described as the season of growth, to come to the light, to rise from the Earth, begin to appear. These past few months have brought me closer to my goal of health. I have been working with a Naturopath since December and slowly but surely my headaches are getting better. At times I have been very tempted to give up, as the program I am on, eating wise, has been hard. The upside is that I have finally lost weight, 17 pounds so far! Getting rid of the weight I gained during times of stress with Ethan, feels so good. I could not do this program if Ethan was not healthy, especially the eating part, I am so very thankful that Ethan continues to be well.

Kidney Month

Did you know that March is Kidney awareness month? A recent survey posted on the Kidney Foundation of Canada's website reveals, Canadians don’t fully understand the vital importance of their Kidney's. I have to admit that before Ethan was diagnosed, I rarely thought about my Kidney's and what they do. I have included below, the link for the Kidney survey results. Please make sure you take the time to review the Kidney disease risk factors, such as Diabetes and High Blood Pressure. Kidney disease often progresses rather quietly, as was the case with Ethan. It wasn't until his symptoms were quite severe that we noticed there was a problem. Take Care of those precious Organs and Happy Kidney Month!!!



http://www.kidney.ca/Page.aspx?pid=406

9 Months

Saturday is the official day that marks 9 months of Ethan being off prednisone. I must admit that the more time that goes by without a relapse. The more I am finding myself able to relax, gone are the days where I would test Ethan's urine, sometimes more than once a day. I am finally able to go a few days between testing. Although, I still breathe a sigh of relief every day that I see a yellow stick, instead of green. I don't know if I will ever get to the point that I can fully relax, maybe that will come after a few years. The relapse rate is 90% for Nephrotic Syndrome. So I know that even though Ethan is doing well at this point, he could still relapse. The longest Ethan has made it without a relapse is 14 months. 

One verse that has been coming to mind a lot lately is Lamentations 3:22-23 " Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness." I thought this was a perfect verse for how I am feeling. Even though many times I felt like I was being consumed by Ethan's illness, God was faithful and was always with me. 

Life

Well the dreaded stomach flu, hit our house this weekend. I was the lucky receiver with Adam following a few short hours later. So far Ethan and Jeff have managed to stay healthy. I have not been sick all winter so I guess it was my time to catch something.

Ethan has been doing great, he has improved his grades in School, he received the only perfect score on a Space test last week. He was very happy about that, and his stomach and anxiety issues have been improving as well. Ethan and his class enjoyed a wonderful day of snowshoeing at our local ski mountain on Friday. Ethan said the first hour was all uphill and many kids were complaining, he said he didn't complain though ☺.  I am so thankful that Ethan felt well enough to enjoy this outing with his class, if he was on prednisone, I know it would have been much harder.

 Adam's class is going snowboarding/skiing this Thursday, he is very excited about that too! Adam has been doing very well in Grade 5, he is certainly getting more independent, he loves Social Studies and Science. He also received a perfect score on his Science test, so very proud of my boys!

News Story

I came across a news article about a young boy who also suffers from Nephrotic Syndrome. I am always interested in reading about other children and families who are also dealing with Nephrotic Syndrome. This story brought tears to my eyes, I could relate to this Mother and child, the many ups and downs of N.S.

The feeling that you are never really out of the woods, always waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I came across a quote from Eugene Peterson in the New Testament, "The Message", that describes where I aspire to be and I wanted to share it with you too.  "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes". As a life long worrier, this has been very hard for me to do. As each day passes and Ethan continues to be well, it gives me great hope and encouragement. At the same time, if Ethan were to turn around and relapse tomorrow, I know that God will still be there to help us through. Even though I would give anything to never go through this again. To find a cure, not only for Ethan, but for all of the other children and families, who are also suffering. I know, and believe in my heart, that God is faithful, and he who has begun a good work in me (you) will carry it on to completion.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/N-Texas-Boy-Teaches-Mom-Greatest-Lesson-52643972.html

My Health

One can only last so long in a state of survival, before everything starts to fall apart. For many years this is where I have been living. My health was continually getting worse with my headaches/ migraines occurring almost daily. I have suffered with headaches since I was 10 years old. Over the years they have been getting worse, especially when things with Ethan's health were not good.  In December of 2009, I decided once again to try a Naturopath. I felt like I had to do something drastic as everything I had tried hadn't worked or did work, but had severe side effects. The medication I was on for a year, to help prevent the migraines, also made my hair fall out. Not a pleasant thing to have happen at the age of 33. 


I was very nervous to try another Naturopath as I had been unsuccessful in the past adhering to their strict programs. But I was desperate for relief and was willing to do anything to improve my life. During my first meeting, I discovered that the foods that I had been eating were indeed part of the problem. Migraine headaches have many triggers and for years I wasn't exactly sure what mine were. To start, I was to try an anti- inflammatory diet, which consisted of NO dairy, eggs, wheat, tomatoes, corn or citrus foods, beef or pork.  At first I was overwhelmed and wondered, what in the world I was going to eat? My Naturopath said to give it my all for 3 weeks. After which we would see how I was feeling and if I could add things back into my diet. The first 3 days were horrible, cravings, more headaches than I thought possible,  I began to wonder if this was worth it. I am thankful for the support of my Mom who carried me when I felt like giving up. My Naturopath also wanted to try Chinese Acupuncture on me, I am not a fan of needles, especially when she said it would hurt!  The needles she uses are bigger than I have had before, which is why it hurts. She told me the reason for the bigger needles, but I have forgotten now. Anyway, I have found the Acupuncture to be a great relief, walking in with a major headache only to leave with nothing. Through Acupuncture, we have found that food is not the only reason I am getting headaches. Slowly but surely, things are starting to improve. I have gone from having a migraine every other day to once a week. I am still getting daily headaches, although they are not as intense as they once were. I have also continued on with the diet changes, which as a bonus, has finally helped me shed some unwanted pounds. I feel so much better eating this way, although it is not always easy. When I have had a meal that is not on the plan, I have paid dearly for it, with nausea and headaches. I have finally gotten to the place where it is no longer worth it to eat those things, even though I do miss them!


This year is all about getting healthy, physically and emotionally. I decided to take full advantage of the time that Ethan is off his meds to focus on my health so I can be a better mother, wife, daughter and friend!  

8 Months

Hooray!!! We have reached the 8 month mark of Ethan being off all his medications. We went to the chiropractor today, normally the Dr. has to do many adjustments on Ethan, with his Kidney's being the main focus. Today he told us that he can tell Ethan is doing better, and he only made 3 adjustments to his body!  Even though there is sickness all around Ethan at school, he has managed to escape the coughs, colds and flus. Pushing on towards the one year goal, Can't wait!!!!!