Thank you for pinging me metmom. I’m so sorry for the situation that you both find yourselves in. Having allergies to the ‘standard’ things is bad enough but cannot imagine being allergic to the very food we eat.
I wanted to make a couple of suggestions although both of you may have already checked these out:
Finances: In march my brother had an episode with his heart. He has a life long/birth condition. His heart is actually on the right side of his chest and it goes into A-fib without the proper medication. Anyway, he stopped taking those years ago but in March it caught up to him. Well you know the expense involved with heart conditions but what we found out during this process, and what I want to convey to you both, is that there are different catagories of hospitals and physician care.
My brother had no insurance as he had been layed off last year but, our community hospital treated him and they informed us that they are a “not-for-profit” facility and in order to ‘receive’ the grants that they do, they must extend treatment to those that cannot afford it (uninsured). Every year they allocate monies specifically for those of us that do not have insurance. Their grant money depends on this.
So...if you have to go to the hospital, be sure to find the ‘not-for-profit’ in your community. As a side note, they are not allowed and do not even consider whether or not someone has insurance once you are admitted. In other words, they treat you equally as well as their insured patients. In fact, the nursing staff has no clue.
Second: As far as the food. My brother (again-he’s really an example) has been going to the local health food store here in our town. This store is owned and operated by a registered nurse and what is recommended can be counted on as factual. There are “natural” foods that do not cause reactions, they can cure or alleviate conditions. My recommendation (for what it’s worth because I am in no way a medical professional) would be to seek out someone in your community that is knowledgeable about “natural” remedies/foods. It’s not a hoax. These things DO work. My brother (pain in the butt that he is) had severe chest congestion a couple of years ago and through their treatment at the health food store, came through it perfectly. Also, let me add that they have a specific machine in the store; computerized; that detects imperfections in the body. Now this may sound like voodo science but I am here to tell you, he was in very bad shape with his lungs and what they detected and how they treated him (naturally) worked.
I hope this is informational and gives you both food for thought. Metmom, I’ve been following your condition for some months. If you would like for me to have my brother’s nurse/source to contact you, freepmail me with your phone number. She is aweseome (and a Christian) and I’m sure she will guide you in the right direction regarding your allergies.
I will keep you both in my prayers and will also make mention on the thread I post.
Take care and please keep us posted.
I have heard this before from others who know how the medical community works. We are fortunate that mr. mm's job has a good insurance plan and that he's been at this job long enough that my condition does not fall under the *pre-existent* condition category. Matter of fact, much of the medical community doesn't even know about it.
Also, let me add that they have a specific machine in the store; computerized; that detects imperfections in the body. Now this may sound like voodo science but I am here to tell you, he was in very bad shape with his lungs and what they detected and how they treated him (naturally) worked.
I've been seeing a chiropractor, who many people have told me will help. No progress on that front so far, although, I have been very impressed with his evaluation of my physical condition because while it also seems very weird all the muscle weakness testing, he has very accurately detected my inner state based on my physical responses. IOW, when I've been having an unusually good or bad day, he notices it physically and I don't tell him beforehand. I wanted to see what he had to say without any input from me.
And it is weird, like voo-doo medicine, but I am impressed with his evaluations of my physical state.
So whether it works or not is still up in the air.
With foods, the problem I have is that I cannot eat almost all plant material except for oats and cherries in moderation without a reaction. Doesn't matter how *natural* or *organic* or whatever they are. And believe me, I have tried. You don't live like this without exhausting every possibility first.
This condition which I have been diagnosed with is not really an allergy. It's an immune response of some kind, that is true, but all the natural fixes for allergic responses don't work because the reactions are not taking the typical IgE pathway. I do not test allergic to very many foods at all and the ones I do test allergic to indicate only a slight allergy. Neither have I ever had hives or swelling or anaphylactic shock from foods.
I am on a lot of anti-histamines just in case and because sometimes they do seem to help. Other times they don't.
But so far, nobody has been able to figure out the mechanism that is causing the reaction.
It's pretty tough when the very food that God gave us to nourish us makes you sicker than sick.
It provides much material for spiritual attack and that has been one of the biggest struggles with this whole thing.