Today, 9 days after Will's first episode of sickness last weekend, I took him to see my chiropractor. Why, you ask? Well, first of all, Will did a LOT of vomiting. And if you've ever been sick like that, you know the havoc it causes for your body. So I wanted him to get his first adjustment (by the way - a child's adjustment is NOT quite the same as an adults. No worries. There was no cracka-lackin').
And now for the second reason I wanted Will to go.... I'm not sure what you know about chiropractic care today, but many of them, including this one, practice holistic care. In a short and not complete definition, this means a natural, "let your body heal itself", wholeness kind of care. I know this may sound quacky for most people. My husband is quite the skeptic and while I may not know it all, or practice each aspect of this belief, I DO believe that it can work. I can assure you that I would never take my child to a chiropractor if I didn't believe it could help him.... so let's move on....
For MONTHS - and yes I mean MONTHS, Will has complained about his tummy every.single.day. Several times per day sometimes. And just when you think he's going to go a day without complaining, bam - he complains as he's brushing his teeth before bed. Now at first it worried me to death. And we talked to his pediatrician who thought that his infant reflux may have relapsed. Then it became old. Will started complaining to get out of doing things he didn't want to do - eat lunch, ride in the car for long periods of time, or go to bed. He knew he was receiving special attention about it and he started abusing it. So I would simply reply "Your tummy will be better soon." and move on. Or maybe I would say "Mine hurts too - look at that airplane!" I made no attention out of the matter. I thought he was telling "stories". I've asked him if he's telling the truth or a story, and he constantly demands he's telling the truth. But make no mistake about it, I knew in my heart of hearts that something was off. It's simply NOT normal for a three year old to complain about his tummy every.single.freakin'.day. By this point, I knew when he was telling fibs and when he was truly not feeling well and it was about 50/50.
So along came last weekend - what we think is a stomach virus. No big deal. We dealt with it. Sunday was a dairy-free day (as I generally do for a couple of days after a stomach virus). Monday was a dairy-free day until about 4:00 (48 hours later) when my mom gave Will a glass of milk. Milk is his favorite thing in the whole world. We don't do soda. We do a very limited amount of diluted juice (not even once a day) and water. And milk. He will drink chocolate milk if it's offered (at Grandma's) but he just loves plain ol' whole milk. So you guys know the rest of the story - he was up at 1:30 that morning, screaming, vomiting, and doubled over in pain. Now at that time I didn't realize he had drank milk that day. My mother told me a couple of days later, as we were brainstorming his issues that he had drank milk. My mom suggested he was lactose intolerant, but that would be hard to believe considering just how much milk and dairy he drinks every single day without vomiting and/or diarrhea every day. The people I know with lactose intolerance say that it's VERY obvious (diarrhea or vomiting) after each consumption of dairy. So I started thinking that maybe he was just having a hard time digesting it, or maybe a mild allergy and I made him an appointment with the chiropractor.
An allergy test at a doctor's office requires LOTS of needles being stuck into your back for several minutes of what I can only imagine would be torture for a small child. An allergy test at a chiropractor's office is completely non-invasive and involves a muscle-reflex test. Yep. Sign me up for that any day over the allergy test at a doctor's office. So we went today, and sure enough, without much detail from me except that he just generally complains of feeling unwell each day, the chiro immediately told me that Will was having digestive issues, as well as allergies and a weakened immune system. She did the adjustment and then told me he was allergic (after the muscle test) to dairy (moderately), MSG (lunch meat which he won't eat anyway), tuna, halibut, pepper (strongly) and paprika (strongly). Will fell right in love with the chiropractor and talked his way through the entire exam and even told her "this don't hurt one bit."
So I'm on a new journey here with my little boy. I want him to feel better. And while I do know that a lot of his complaints are unwarranted, many of them are not. Many times he doubles over. Sometimes he cries, sometimes he just looks green. So here we go. I'm willing to try it, and I feel like you would too if it were your child. He looooovvvveeees milk and has already tasted vanilla and chocolate flavored almond milk and loves it too. We went with almond because it's easier to digest than soy and we need to give his digestive system a chance to get the kinks out. I've got to find soy cheese. Our ONE single grocery in town doesn't sell it, but I know one that does. I wish there were a Whole Foods or Trader's closer to home, because I know they offer lots of dairy-free options such as dairy-free yogurt (the kid loves yogurt) and ice cream (which our little grocery does not sell). I will probably end up making the drive out of desperation anyway. We're also staying away from the spicy peppers and paprikas, as well as supplementing with a digestive enzyme supplement (it's like a natural TUMS). At first I wasn't too concerned about the spices because he won't really eat spicy foods, but once you start looking, it's in a lot of his favorite foods like barbecue chips or cheese puffs. He also likes Lawry's season salt on his fries, which may have it. And most foods just list their nutrition facts as "spices and spice extracts". Well what the heck is that?? Pepper? Paprika?? Come on now!
So there you are. You may think I'm crazy, but I'm just a mom who had a gut-feeling about her kid and went with it. I'm sure we have a HUGE learning curve ahead of us and I'm sure there will be dairy items slip through the cracks and into his tummy. And I'm sure we won't blow up when that happens, but I think the almond milk alone will help. With him drinking 25-30oz of milk a day, that's bound to make a dent in his issues. So do any of you have any dairy-free stories or recipes to try?? We're all learning here :)
