It all started December of 2010. Charlie was just shy of turning 1. I was so excited between the holidays, family coming to visit and of course the BIG 1! I remember Charlie starting to try to walk. This particular evening he was moving along our living room. My father was there and I said, “Do you hear Charlie panting?” Dad didn’t seem too worried but of course the nervous mom that I have always been got a little worried. I remember even saying that it was a good thing he had a cardiologist appointment coming . (Doctors thought Charlie might have a bit of a heart hiccup as I call it. Turns out it was nothing but had to be monitored the first year. We even cut a cake to celebrate his last Cardiologist appointment.)
Back to the story (this is kind of a long one.) So we went to the yearly appointment and as I mentioned just before he was discharged indefinitely since Charlie was as healthy as any normal little boy. A week later Charlie was diagnosed with pneumonia and an ear infection. Right away like any good mother I bashed myself. How could this be? What did I do? What didn’t I do? Of course I even was unfair to compare him to my daughter. I asked how come she never got sick yet he kept going through these hurdles. Granted then and now I realize it wasn’t that bad and there are and were kids who are severely ill but no mom wants their child sick whether it is as silly as a runny nose or not.
We left the doctor’s office with a nebulizer, medicine for the nebulizer AND steroids! Ugh just me remembering that I put him on steroids makes me so mad! Thankfully that helped out and let us get through the month of January.
February came and by the second week Charlie was crawling around happy go lucky but would have to stop and catch his breath plus he was noticeably pale. The wheezing started and the tugging of the ear. I called the doctor right away and told me to start the nebulizer. The doctor asked me to call him in an hour and let him know how Charlie was doing. I called the doctor back this time with tears in my eyes telling him there was no change. With that off I went to the office to have Charlie examined. Unfortunately they could not stabilize him and had me go straight to the hospital.
Thank goodness the hospital is 1 block away from the office and they were already expecting us. We went straight in. The ER pediatrician examined Charlie and found that his oxygen level was at 84%. Well that doesn’t sound so bad right? WRONG!!! Anything less than 92% the cells and your body is considered to be starving of oxygen. Of course at the time I had no idea but I soon came to realize this was not good. The doctor was going to admit Charlie and there were talks about him going to the PICU floor.
At Hospital
Once admitted Charlie had to have an IV put in him. Just remembering now tears are streaming down my face because my little 13 month old fought so hard to prevent the nurses from poking him. He even pulled the IV 2x. IT was definitely as a mother one of the worst 48 hours I’ve had to experience. He was able to go home the next day with yet again more steroids and nebulizer treatments every 3 hours.
That weekend was filled with me watching his every moment while looking up natural and holistic remedies as well as trying to make sense of all this nonsense. I remember checking into air filters, changing his diet and even getting rid of our poor Cavalier King Charles dog. She was even taken in by my sister for a week to try to rule our potential external allergies.
Nebulizer at home.
We survived the weekend and quite successfully. By Saturday Charlie was playing and back to his normal self. Aside from being a little pale you wouldn’t have known what he had been through. On Monday we went in for a followup and our wonderful pediatrician referred us to a well known pediatric Pulmonologist.
I went to see the Pulmonologist. It was not the best experience. I didn’t have that connection and I wanted answers and a resolution. Looking back it wasn’t so much the doctor and me being rightfully so freaking out! I know conventional M.D.’s don’t like to be questioned let alone mention a holistic approach. Regardless, I asked about changing his diet by eliminating or even adding specific foods or supplements. He right away said no and that I hadn’t caused this. The doctor’s suggestion was to put Charlie on a daily inhaler to prevent asthma attacks. And keeping a script of steroids and nebulizer on hand “just in case”.
At pulmonologist.
I went home and looked up all the side effect of all three medications. I was so upset. What to do? Worry about the side effects ie: worsening of eczema, insomnia, Cushings disease, etc or take the risk of Charlie’s attacks getting worse? At that moment I had to go with the drugs. I am NOT anti medical drugs. I do believe there are time we all need them but lets be honest, no one wants to take drugs themselves, let alone give to their children.
It slowly became a new norm for us. Every morning Charlie would get 2 puffs and then 2 puffs at night. Days and weeks passed and seemed as though things were looking up. We had a couple of times where the wheezing came back but there was no need to have Charlie take any of the steroids. I did on occasion have to pull out the nebulizer but it never got the the point where an ER visit came into play. Phew we can get through this right? NOPE!!!
June was a particularly humid month in 2011. We went to a neighbor’s party and there were a lot of kids. Charlie was so happy playing and running around. He was playing so much I had to leave to go home because the panting and wheezing started. I gave him a treatment and put him to bed. The next day Charlie was better but not 100%. I took him the to doctor just to be on the safe side especially since we were due to travel outside of the U.S. that same week. The doctor gave us the green light to go ahead with our vacation and gave us medication to have on hand.
A couple of days passed by and we went on vacation. We were settling in and on day 2 we were driving from the city of Guatemala to Antigua when I noticed Charlie was very pale and wheezing again. We wound up in the hospital. Even though I was extremely nervous I have to compliment the hospital, doctors and staff. The wait was hardly 15 minutes (absolutely unheard of in the U.S.) and once we were in the room the nurses and doctors tended to Charlie immediately. Charlie’s oxygen level had dropped again and there was an air pocket in his diaphragm. the doctor believed that his pre-asthma attack was set off by the change in altitude. He prescribed me some medication and suggested to start him on steroid I had on hand as well as nebulizer treatments.
My family suggested for me to return back to the states. even though I was there for my parent’s 30th year vow renewal ceremony. I wanted to be there with all my heart I was starting to get nervous that the travel was too much for Charlie. My husband was supposed to meet me the following day and I decided to wait it out. Thankfully, Charlie responded really well to the medication as was like new the next day and for the rest of our vacation.
When we got back I had absolutely had it with Charlie not feeling well, all the medication and the endless worrying. It seemed as though every attack only got worse. As much as I hated giving my 1.5 year old medication on a daily basis I knew it was the only thing that would keep him stabilized. Or was it?
I started yet again researching and looking to see if there was anything I can do to make him better. I came across several findings that juicing helped. My family always juiced but not on a regular basis. It would be here and there and mostly in the summers when it was easier or on days off when I had “time”.
I believe by August I was making everyone in my house have 8-12 ounces of green juice a day. Of course I kept him on his medication. By November Charlie had his pulmonologist checkup. Thankfully, he hadn’t had any attacks since July. The doctor suggested keeping him on the medication and following up in April.
Having some green juice for breakfast.
We were lucky to have a relatively mild winter. By April Charlie was completely taken off of all his medication. It has been a year since his last attack. He no longer wheezes after exerting himself and is healthier than ever. It is common to have children outgrow their asthma and perhaps that is what happened. I do strongly believe though since we always had a healthy diet at home and hardly ate any processed foods the only variable in our lives has been adding green juice on a daily basis. Of course it is not the cure to all but we all know the significant benefits of juicing and having a high alkaline and organic life free of processed foods.
My children have been lucky to have been exposed to healthy foods from the very beginning. but if you would like to start no matter what age it is never too late. Small changes and steps towards a healthier lifestyle will make huge and life changing results. Charlie asks for his juice and even when I’m not making juice if he sees the Vitamix he asks me for some green juice.
Happy & Healthy!!!
Instead of “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory”, I have Charlie and the Green Juice Factory. It is work but it is work that is necessary and instead of making juice when I have time I make it a priority to make the time. I am human and not the perfect mother. there are days here and there that I do miss but believe me the following day the juice intake is doubled.
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