When my youngest son was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, I did what any mother would do — I went back to school for my
Master’s degree in nutrition (ok, so maybe it’s a wee bit over the top)!
His journey to health became mine, as I realized so much of what I’d been suppressing for years as normal was in fact far from
it. From IBS, migraines, eczema and chronic sinus infections to anemia, hypoglycemia and a closet filled with jeans in three
different sizes because of my yo-yo dieting, I was miserable.
It was a big wake up call!
When the doctor first put my son on medication, she told us my son would start to feel relief from his condition. Instead, he
started complaining that he was feeling worse. He insisted that it was the medication.
The doctor said it was the disease. At first, I listened to the doctor, the healthcare professional, and my son’s symptoms only
got worse.
What does a parent do? What would you do?
Thankfully, I listened to my son. I took him off the medicine, we waited for his intestines to calm down and tried a different one
that worked. This was one instance where I started to take notice of how important it was to listen to our bodies.
What if I hadn’t listened to him?
The next instance was asking the doctor about changing his diet. Her response was that food is not going to do much, it’s the
medicine he needs. That just didn’t sit well in my gut (no pun intended). I had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to it
than that and I was determined to figure it out. I was also determined to find another doctor…
After watching my son miss a month of school because he was suffering so much (and almost ending up in the emergency
room), I made him a promise. I promised him that, by the time he went to college, he’d be off most (if not all) of his meds.
And then I got to work—reading everything I could lay my hands on and taking nutrition classes to learn how I could heal him
with food.
All of this led me to grad school for a masters in clinical nutrition and a certification as a functional nutritionist.
The result?
He went from being unable to wake up in the morning or stay up at night, to becoming an honors student who was co-captain
of the high school track team and ran cross country.
He went from hating vegetables to craving green drinks.
His allergies disappeared and his eczema went away.
And he managed to reduce his medication from 6-8 pills a day to just one, along with a few supplements.
He is now a young adult and on his own journey of discovery of what life has to offer and what his purpose is.
