An update on Jed

Ok, I did say I would write up a post on Jed's appointment with his alternative health care person (AP). I really should be cleaning, but writing a post seems like so much more fun :-) Not to mention that I happen to have a few moments that Jonah is occupied, but it may not last long, so I better type quickly!

As many of you may already know, Jed has been off ALL tube feedings for about a month now!! Amazing, AMAZING! Seriously we were out and about this past weekend and it really hit me how wonderful it was not to have to pack up Jed's formula and pump. We can just get in the van and go. So away we had gone two weeks ago to see his AP. I told the AP that I was a bit concerned that Jed has been eating a lot of food, yet gaining very little weight. I told AP my theory, which was that he was lacking digestive enzymes. The AP told me their theory, that Jed was so depleted on a cellular level that his body was trying to get everything out of the food vitamin/mineral wise that all food stuff was going towards that. Come to find out we were both right! However both of those theories, turned fact, were not his main issue! His main issue is that his heart is very weak. Nothing like a "small" thing like that to be in Jed's way! That would explain his lack of weight in light of the fact that he is taking in enough calories. He eats the same amount that Jonah does, and I assure you, Jonah has no weight issues :-) Mr. Pudge Boy should be his name! Anyways a weak heart will not let the body outgrow it's ability to pump for a larger size. So until we can get his heart healthy he will continue to be slow to grow. I was much relieved to find this information out as now we have a course of action we can work on to get his heart healthy.

Jed will need to take cod liver oil. I had started that but we had backed off when he was having some issues with reactions to some of his supplements months ago. He also needs, *needs* magnesium, for his brain. However the magnesium we were giving him kept giving him diarrhea in even very small doses. Thankfully the AP has found magnesium in a spray on format. This way it will not go through his intestines and he will not have the diarrhea. So I got that right away and he has been on it since last week. The AP also told me that Jed is in DIRE need of probiotics. LOTS and LOTS of probiotics. I told the AP that we have a probiotic supplement that he had been taking....to which the AP said, if it will sit still long enough you need to ferment it...ferment everything you can! I was told to make it my goal in life to get as many robotics into Jedidiah, and that I could not possibly over do it. WOW! So that is what has been keeping me on my toes, trying to keep up with our friendly bacterias. I have kombucha, dairy kefir, a counter top yogurt, water kefir and a Greek yogurt. I of course did not waste any time killing the Greek yogurt. Live and learn. But I did get one batch of it before I killed it, and yum!

Well Jonah is back, off to go clean.