Here are some of the photos, way too many more can be found on SmugMug

A few others.

Well, I give it my best shot. I’m 12 hours away from the trip, and 11 lbs from my goal. But I did lose a full 15 lbs. Maybe I’ll be the first person to ever lose weight on the cruise and come back even closer.

I did however come at just the proper weight to show off my new bathing suit on the cruise. So at least I’ve got that going for me.

We had a great family day complete with a field trip to see holiday trains and cake and gifts. I wonder what this day will be like for them when they turn 21 in 2028.

A few more photos are on SmugMug.

The kids first official trip to see Santa. I’m not sure they really knew what to make of it, but Andrew managed to ask for “a car”. I’m not sure if he was talking about a matchbox car or one that he can drive around the block.

I’m just so thankful everyday for having our loving daughter Sydney. She lights up my heart whenever she smiles at me. While she was a unexpected surprise, it’s impossible to imagine how life would be without her. She is truly a gift from god.

This Sunday she turned 2 years old and it’s just hard to believe how fast the time has gone by. She’s already saying words and phrases and I’m sure soon will be talking our ears off with her stories. You can tell how much she loves her brothers when you see her chasing them around, laughing and trying to do everything that they do. And while she’s full of sweetness, she’s also a little terror. It’s not unusual for her to just go at it with the boys until they can’t take it anymore. The more upset they get, the harder she laughs. I’ll admit, she probably gets that from me, and I think my sisters would agree.

So while it is tough having all three kids under 4 years old and makes for some very interesting early mornings, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Having children make you realize just how deep and unwavering your love can be.

Happy birthday Princess Sydney. I love you more than I love myself.

Your loving Dad.

You can find a few more photos on SmugMug. I had to take over 100 photos just to get the very few that I did because she would not cooperate with me (but thought it was funny that she wasn’t).

For awhile I was taking more photos than I had time to process, and I’m still getting caught up.

These photos are from back in June when I spent the day with Andrew in Chicago at Navy Pier. It was part of the new “one-on-one” program we’ve been trying to institute with each child.

So here are some of those photos, and the rest are on SmugMug.

See them all on SmugMug

Normally I have a much higher good to bad ration when shooting, but because there was a lot of experimenting going on, and some of the photos were taken without a tripod to hold it steady, I only ended up with just over 20 that were any good after shooting about 80 different locations. But after all, it was a first attempt.

All processing was done in Aperture using the HDR Efex Pro plug-in (which also works with Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom).

It hit me in a unexpected moment. While watching Max and Andrew interact at the eye doctors office this past weekend (we were there to get new glasses for Max), it became clear as day the distance Max still needs to go just to catch up to his own age. For a long time the boys were the same in so many ways, or at least close when it came to development, but now Andrew has sprinted far ahead. Or maybe it’s more that Max slowed down to a walk. Either way, it was a moment of clarity, because for the first time the difference seemed so tangible. I found myself just taking a moment to think about it. While Max is making progress and we like to celebrate the little victories, it suddenly became clear to me just how long the road ahead of him still is.

So even more reason to be excited that we are seeing Dr. Goldberg. Max has made noticeable  progress since our visit to CA. The two biggest changes we see are that he is becoming more verbal by not only saying more words, but starting to put together sentences better. We’re getting more eye contact. But not just more eye contact, eye contact that really shows a sparkle in his eyes. This past week I when I picked him up to school he looked at me in a way I’ve never seen before, with a bright sparkle in his eyes and a smile, and said “Hello Daddy. Mommy at work?” He then gave me a big warm hug and walked with me to get the other kids. To most parents this sounds like no big deal. But what is more typical is for him to get mad  when he sees me there for him (instead of mom) because he doesn’t like changes in routine, he throws a tantrum right there on the floor in front of everybody, and then starts in with his OCD tendencies. He loves to run into any room he can and flip the light switches on and off, or go for the bathroom and either use the sink or flush the toilet. That doesn’t happen every time, but you never knew for sure what to expect.

Another big changes has been the way he wakes up in the morning. In the weeks leading up to our trip to CA he would wake up at his usual time (between 5 and 6am) and before he was awake 30 seconds he would be mad about something and yelling. Let me tell you, when you yourself are just jumping out of bed from a dead sleep, it’s no way to be greeted in the morning. But now he wakes up smiling, he says hello and if you’re lucky will even sit with you on the couch and just snuggle.

Not only do we see the positive changes, but others do as well. Both at school and in his therapy class teachers have commented that they have noticed he’s calmer, talking more and participating more in group activities. All of these are things that have been a  challenge for Max.

He still has his moments where he can’t keep it together, and we had one of those this weekend too while out at the park. He wanted to walk instead of riding in the wagon, but at one point we just needed him to sit in the wagon but he kicked and screamed as we put him in, and then screamed almost all the way back to the van (a nice 10 minute walk through what is otherwise a nice quite park). Yea! Fun at the park! 

About a week ago we had our first conference call with the Dr to discuss test results and the weekly reports that we send to the doctor. He was also able to answer questions that we had and start us down the next phase of the treatment.

Max started a new medication this week (in addition to his current one) and once again we’re seeing small improvements. We are also getting more blood tests done (this will be a regular occurrence to keep him closely monitors) because the last round of tests that we did while in CA showed that he may have a thyroid problem. It will take another test to tell for sure. It’s also possible that the stress of the trip and the fact that he was sick for part of the trip to CA had thrown the test a bit. But that too is something that will need to be addressed if it is in fact a problem.

This Wednesday it will be 7 weeks since our trip to California to see Dr. Goldberg. What’s important to me is not just that we’re seeing improvements, but that he’s being treated in a very thoughtful and measured way. Dr. Goldberg is following a protocol that he’s been refining for over 20 years, but at the same time he’s taking into account that Max is a unique child and needs any treatments customized for his needs. Max will not be recovered overnight – it’s a long journey . But I do feel like we’re onto something good with Dr. Goldberg’s treatment.

Max started going back in January as I previously posted and was accepted early because of his Autism diagnosis. It’s generally a very hard school to get into because they are a integrated school with a mix of kids that are on target developmentally and others that are challenged.

Now Andrew has qualified to get in and was super excited today to ride the bus with Max. It’s all he would talk about yesterday and this morning he as all too excited to talk your ear off about his new back pack and his Lightning Mqueen binder. It was a really fun morning with them all.

A few photos are here, the rest are on SmugMug.

It’s been just over a week since we returned from CA, and I finally have time to take a breath and add more details about our trip to California. As I mentioned previously, we feel it went very well.

Preamble

Skip this if you just want to know about Dr. Goldberg

It ended up being a long week for many reasons. Not bad, just LONG.

First, we’ve had a small leak in the bathroom for the last 5 years (seriously). A few days before we left I finally had a plumber come out to fix it, only to find out it was not the plumbing, but the tiles on the splash wall of the bathroom were falling off and has been running behind the tiles all this time. Not so good. So not the quick fix I was hoping for, but the bathtub needs to be re-tiled, which involves removing the shower walls and being without a shower for at least a few days.

I was able to quickly find a trusted home repair service to take the job on, and they even came in with a reasonable bid. But then the more we talked it through, I realized that our crappy bathroom floor also needed to be replaced, and it just made sense to do it all at the same time. Fine – now it’s WAY more money than what a simple leak would cost to fix, but at least it’s being done while we’re gone (in both CA and MI), and will minimize the time we have to go without a shower and toilet.

The only problem ended up being that they had to start on the bathroom the day before we left for CA if it was all going to be done by the time we returned.  So, a day before we were supposed to leave for CA we had to get a hotel room near the airport so that we had a working toilet and shower. It ended up being a very nice night/morning and it was fun to stay with Max in a hotel room. He didn’t know what to make of it, but he seemed to enjoy it. Seeing things that area old experiences to you through the eyes of a child that’s doing it for the first time is always so fascinating and enjoyable. It’s one of the most enjoyable parts of having kids.

The next morning (Tuesday August 2nd) we went to the airport for our direct flight to CA. It was very interesting watching Max. You could tell he was just taking it all in. We took a train from the long term economy parking lot, waited in a long security line, and then still had 2 hours to wait for our flight at the gate. During that entire time he was very good. Amazing actually.

When we got on the plane he sat between both me and Brenda and was clearly very nervous. First by the noise of the plane, and then by the movement as we taxied to the runway. We each had a hand on his legs and he stayed calm as we took off, and enjoyed a snack and short nap during the flight. For it being such a long day for all of us, he really did great and was in a good mood up until we got to the hotel and had to wake him up in the back seat of the rental car.

The next day (Wednesday the 3rd of August) was the big day. We took a short side-trip to Santa Monica Beech and then headed to our appointment with plenty of time to spare.

Meeting Dr. Goldberg

We were both nervous and excited about meeting Dr. Goldberg. We had already read his book and felt that we knew a lot about him, but we just didn’t want to expect too much from our first meeting.

Dr. Goldberg runs a regular pediatric practice out of his LA office, but on certain days sees only parents of autistic children, like us. Most come to him because they too have read his book and are curious. Many are from the LA area, but people travel from around the world to meet with him.

Our time with Dr. Goldberg consisted of a very relaxed, informal meeting in the lobby of his practice. This seemed a bit odd at first, but the benefits were clear pretty fast. Max had plenty of room to run around and play, and there was a separate room attached that had plenty of toys to keep him busy. While the 3 of us talked, Max played and occasionally ran up to us to get attention for one thing or another. Brenda and I took turns keeping him out of trouble and dealing with his OCD with light switches.

It was clear right away that Dr. Goldberg had personally reviewed the entire pile of information we had sent him in advance. He had made notes of things he wanted to discuss with us and had mostly wanted to clarify or expand on some of the information we had provided. This spoke volumes to me personally. I have switched doctors several times over the years, and the vast majority of the time my records were never reviewed before my first meeting. It’s always obvious by the questions they ask. One doctor didn’t even know I was Diabetic until I mentioned it to him. RED FLAG! I didn’t have him for very long before I switched again.

Over the course of 90 minutes we talked at length about how Dr. Goldberg has spent years refining his treatment protocol, and how Max may fit into his course of treatment. At almost every turn, Max fit into what Dr. Goldberg calls NIDS (Neuro Immune Distress Syndrome). This condition is based largely around the idea that after a child was born, their immune system was compromised. The causes can be anything or everything from environmental to viral. For a normal healthy child with a well developed immune system, many of these things would not be a big deal. But for a child that has a compromised immune system, it stresses out the body. At some point, the child is actually considered “sick” because the body can no longer carry the stress. When this happens, many of the symptoms that I child presents with are very similar to Autism. In part this is because in recent years something that is otherwise unexplained and has some symptoms similar to Autism, it’s just all lumped together. And as we know first hand, once your child is labeled as autistic, pretty much anything that goes wrong after that is just attributed to your child having autism, and little interest is taken in it. But if Dr. Goldberg is right, a great number of children that are labeled as autistic are not suffering from a congenital neurological problem, but are actually sick. Sick in a way that can be treated. But nobody in the medical community seems to be interested in hearing that.

The other important thing to note is that there is no definitive test to diagnosis your child as autistic. It’s very subjective and based on one or more people’s opinion after spending a hour or so with your child. When Max was diagnosed, there were about 6 people in the room with us that evaluated Max at the time, and they had to have a private meeting for 20 minutes after evaluating Max to decide as a group what to tell us about him. The point is, it’s not black and white in most cases.

So after answering all of the questions, Dr. Goldberg was confident that Max fit his definition for NIDS, so we are now following his treatment protocol, which we started on Monday the 8th.

There are two major components of the protocol. First, the diet is very restricted. He can have meat, most vegetables and a few fruits (no tropical fruits). The major things to avoid are gluten, dairy, sugar and grains. Color dies are a big one as well. In fact, we have to actually remove the blue diet that’s on his medicine before he takes it because many children have negative reactions to food coloring (it’s considered an allergen). All of this may sound like a pain in the butt, but the fact is we’ve been doing 95% of this for a year now (all thanks to Brenda and all the research she’s done on nutrition). So we only had a few small adjustments to make.

The second part is the medicine. Working on the theory that he has a virus in his system, he is now taking valtrex. While this on the surface seems like a radical treatment, it’s easy to find many examples of families talking about how their child was greatly improved by this part of the treatment alone. However, in many cases the child gets worse initially before they get better. I mean this in the sense that they become even more irritable than before, and we have already seen this with Max. He’s much more hot and cold with his moods, and when he’s having a melt down it’s more intense and lasts longer. But on the flip side of that, he has been showing more eye contact this last week and has been more verbal. He’s talking more, and saying new words almost daily right now. Se we are seeing some real positives.

One amazing thing about our visit with the doctor is that we were allowed to both video tape and record audio of our visit, with no restrictions at all. I wasn’t even allowed to have a camera in the delivery room when the kids were born because of hospital policy! If I had to guess as to why he’s so relaxed about this, it’s that Dr. Goldberg wants to get his message out to people. He’s interested in helping as many people as possible, and the only way to do that is to make the larger medical community and parents aware. It’s only through parents putting pressure on the medical community that things will ever change. I have since had our entire meeting transcribed into a text document so that we can review information that was discussed just by doing a word search on the document.

You may be wondering how we can be seeing a doctor and doing such a radical treatment when we’re over 1,000 miles away. There are several ways that it’s possible.

First, Brenda sends weekly reports as requested by the office. They provided a form with specific questions about all aspects of how he’s doing. After they receive the report, the doctor reviews it and the nurse calls Brenda back with any new instructions or changes for the upcoming week.

Second, every 4 weeks we will have a conference call with the doctor, just as if we were there in person and discuss all of the particulars. We also have the option of doing a video call over Skype, which we plan to do.

The next course of treatment after the Valtrex will be decided later after we see how he responds to this part of the process. It can take up to 3 weeks to see significant changes, so we have some time yet.

After our 90 minute meeting with the doctor we were taken into one of the exam rooms where they withdrew about 23 gallons of blood from Max for a variety of tests (ok, maybe only 8 gallons but it seemed like a lot for such a small kid – but he was fine).

After screaming through the entire thing, Max was pretty tired and exhausted. Think about what a pain that would be for a 3 year old. First you have to play by yourself for 90 minuets while your parents more or less ignore you, and then you’re rewarded by being held down and having your body drained of all of it’s blood.

We ended the day by getting max to bed and letting him relax. I think he really enjoyed having a big bed all to himself. He liked when we would tuck him in under the covers every night.

Time to Head Home

We all had a good night of sleep and headed out the next morning with plenty of time to get to the airport. We had about 3 extra hours (by design), so decided to head down to the Hollywood Walk of Fame for a little sight seeing and lunch. We had a great time and we were both reminded how nice it was to just have a single child to focus on and shower with attention, instead of feeling so split with our attention.

After taking in the sights and having lunch at Mel’s Diner (which was awesome) we started our leisurely trip back to the rental car place by the airport. And that’s where the low point of the trip took place.

Sorry About Your Car

I’ll get into the details in a future post (it has gotten very interesting in the last several days) but i had a accident with the rental car. Nobody was hurt and I’m very thankful for that. Especially since I caused the accident. The rental car got the worst of it but was for the most part drivable. We were only a mile and a half way from the drop off location when it happened (another good thing because the freeway would have been out of the question).

So we ended our trip to LA with a big BANG. Like I said, more on that later. This post is already way longer than I expected.

NO SHOWER FOR YOU!

While we were waiting for our flight I called to check in and see what the stays of our shower was. Things were moving along great, however due to a few small problems that had to be fixed along the way, it was not going to be ready when we got home. So, as much as we didn’t want to spend even more money on hotels, we decided to get one close to the house for one more night. We checked in at 2am on Friday, and were up and on the road heading to MI for the weekend by 10am the next morning.

We had a great (albeit very short) visit to MI and collected our other two children from their week long visit with Grandma and Grandpa Tomchak. They both did great in our absence and it was nice to know they had such good bonding time with their cousins as well.

On Sunday afternoon we returned to our semi-remodeled bathroom, and it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E. What we had was so bad for so long that it was hard not to really appreciate the new one. I say semi-remodeled because we didn’t do anything with the crappy walls, crappy bathroom door, or crappy fixtures. We just didn’t have the money, and after all this was a LEAK that had to be fixed. We were already way over budget.

We were so thankful to have Avalon Home Services take this job on. Not only did they make great suggestions and do things to save us money along the way, but they went above and beyond by fixing a few things in the bathroom and not charging us, bringing in the mail every day, and even taking out the trash on trash day. Seriously, they were awesome. So a big thanks to Cathy and Steve for all of their hard work while we were gone. They worked hard to make sure everything was done by the time we got home on Sunday and after the week we had it was not under appreciated! If you’re in the Chicagoland area I can not recommend them highly enough.

What’s Next?

In 2-3 more weeks we will have decided, along with Dr. Goldberg, what our next step with Max is. We are still cautiously optimistic and know that we’re doing the best we can to help Max. The funny thing is, I got the feeling during this trip that Max knew that as well. I really felt like I bonded with him on this trip and got choked up a few times while playing with him on the bed. While he’s very tough when he’s “in a mood”, he’s just so sweet, loving and funny when he’s well. We just love him so much.

More in coming weeks. Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to get it all down before too much time passed.

]]> http://tomchak.com/blog/2011/08/17/the-goldberg-visit/feed/ 0 http://tomchak.com/blog/2011/08/01/max-meet-dr-goldberg/ http://tomchak.com/blog/2011/08/01/max-meet-dr-goldberg/#comments Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:12:01 +0000 Thomas Tomchak http://tomchak.com/blog/?p=3663

Since Max and Andrew entered early intervention just after their first birthday,  Brenda has always looked for any and all solutions that might help the boys. As time moved forward the focus would change, and of course now the focus is on his diagnoses of being on the spectrum of Autism.

Brenda has read more books than I could have imaged, and frankly I don’t know how or where she finds the time. Some are better than others, and some of the better ones she’s asked me to read, which I have done. More recently, she read a book by Dr. Goldberg titled “The Myth of Autism”. It was the reading of this book that changed the course or our lives this week.

The underlying theme of Dr. Goldberg’s book is that while many more children are diagnosed with Autism these days than 20 years ago, a high percentage of them do not fit the original definition of what Autism is. That in fact, many of these children actually suffer from sickness that in many cases can be cured through his treatment protocol.

Through very careful screening, only children that meet certain criteria are accepted to see him in his LA office. You need to submit complete medical records and a recorded history of events, as well as some specialized blood tests. If you child seems like a good candidate, you’re accepted to make an appointment with the Doctor. We were lucky enough to be accepted and took the first appointment we could get (which was 3 or 4 months later). That time is finally here, and Max sees the good doctor on Wednesday of this week.

While we are not expecting any miracles here, we are cautiously optimistic. We have always believed that while Max did seem to fit some of the definition of Autism,  at times he does not. There are some very specific things that he does (like make good eye contact and initiate play with his siblings) that fly in the face of being Autistic. So while we don’t see this as a cure-all, we feel that from the research that Brenda has done, and from reading the book (we have both read it now) we would be foolish to at least not try this and see where it goes. Max is still very young and we want to use all of his time to our advantage to make him better.

So today Andrew and Sydney are being delivered to their Dearborn Michigan family so they can spend some quality time with the people there that don’t get much time with them, and tomorrow we head off to Los Angeles CA with Max for his very first plane ride. Funny, I didn’t take my first ride until I was 22 years old, and he’s not even 4 years old yet.

If you’re interested in knowing more about Dr. Goldberg and his book, follow the link below. For a very touching look at some parents that have seen their children recovered, watch the video below. It’s this video that first got my attention.

NIDS Website and more about Dr. Goldberg

Now that we have a little down time, some long overdue maintenance and cleaning started today. It’s amazing how much dust had built up in the rack, and especially in the RAID drive systems. It was so bad we had to roll the RAID systems outside to blow them out one drive module at a time.

I was also able to rework much of the first rack and remove things that we no longer use. We also had a battery backup unit that needed new batteries.

I have not taken as many photos as usual, and most of them are from my iPhone because that’s what I have when I’m out walking in the morning. The rest are on Flickr.

It’s just so gratifying when the plan you had for your life is executed on so perfectly. I finally know what they mean by “living the dream”. It’s all exactly as I dreamed it would be some day.

Location:67th St,Hodgkins,United States

I had the great privilege of being the official photographer (as in “hey sister, want me to take some photos today?”) of my niece and goddaughter Madison.

I’m used to taking photos of our kids all the time, but it was nice to have somebody that takes direction and can actually hold a pose if you ask her too!  She was a great little model and looked so beautiful. I couldn’t help but think she looked like a little bride.

As anybody who takes photos knows, it’s all about practice and just taking photos all the time. On average I probably take 500-700 a month all year around, and it helps me learn from my mistakes as I go. One thing I learned on this job is that I need to learn how to pose the subject. I was kind of at a loss as to what she should do, where she should put her hands and so on. I did my best, but it was a lot of guess work. So moving forward I plan to learn more in that area. With the kids this has never been a necessary skill since they don’t sit still for anything, let alone take posing direction.

Some are my favorites are below, and the rest are on Flickr.

I wanted to get a much wider tire, so I also had to get different wheels, and if you’re going to get new wheels why not make them nice and shiny!

This is a before photo with the stock wheels/tires.

So, enter the new “Tractor Wagon” (this is what Andrew calls it). It’s made to carry 1,000 lbs, so I’m pretty sure it will be up to the task of carrying the boys all the way through adulthood.

But this one is so big, we realized today that it easily carts the boys around, Sydney and a few bags of daily necessities while we’re out.

The down side? My legs are KILLING me from being the horse to this cart. But the kids loved it.

The rest of the photos are on Flickr

Location:Home

However, my Mom is ready for her first one and being the nerd son that I am, I told her I would take care of securing on for her. Because we’re actually taking a family trip to MI this weekend to visit, I wanted to be sure I had one with me! I never expected them to sell out as fast as they did on release day, so getting one has been more difficult than expected.

But in the end, diligence paid off and I was one of the few who got one on Tuesday morning at the Apple Store in Oakbrook. And once again, they were sold out by the time I was leaving the store.

I am actually more excited to be taking this to my mom, because I know how excited she is and I just know it’s going to quickly become one of those things she just can’t live without.

I know that I’ve been super busy too, because while I’ve had it since Tuesday morning, it’s still in the shrink wrapped box it came in, untouched.

From there we caught a bus to the brown line, and took the elevated L train back into the loop where we had parked.

Seeing life through the eyes of a 3 year old is so amazing and fun, I could have spent the entire day with him. And the one-on-one time is just such a treat for me as the parent. Being able to give 100% of your focus and attention to just one child, and not feel bad about it is really great. I could tell he really enjoyed it as well.

There are some of the photos I took here, and lots more on Flickr. I think he even makes my photography hobby more fun!

Thanks for a great day Andrew!

Location:Dwight D. Eisenhower Expy,Oak Park,United States

What’s that, your kids will not eat fruits or veggies? The trick is to turn them into something they like!

We blend strawberries, bananas, mangoes, broccoli, spinach, flax seed and pear into a tasty “shake” that the kids actually ask for. Healthy eating without the battle.

It helps to have a good blender like the Blendtec too.

The trick is to get just the right balance so that the sweet fruit overpowers the more bitter veggies.

Location:Home

Location: Adler Planetarium

It’s a week of on-site translations for a video we did a few weeks ago. It’s being translated into 11 different languages.

More on FLICKR

More on Flickr

What’s great about the school is that the teachers are well trained to work with children like Max, and they all have degrees in different areas of expertise. He goes there 4 days a week for the first half of the day, and they come by the house to pick him up. Around lunch time they bus him back to the other preschool where he and Max have been going for almost a year now.

Because the school gets funding from the State of IL, the cost to us is only $60 per year! That in itself is reason enough to stay in our current home for a few more years.

Max is still adjusting to some degree, but he’s getting used to it. He likes taking the bus and has no problem watching us as he drives away.

The problem is, most of us know very little about nutrition. We hear things here and there, new reports on what’s good for you or bad for you, and often this information will conflict with other information we were told in the past. So you end up not really understanding what’s good and what’s not and for many people they just give up and eat what they want.

It’s also unclear just how powerful an effect food has on the body. Even foods recommended and approved by our own government slowly degrade your body and cause all kids of health conditions, including cancer.

We’ve all heard that knowledge is power. For me that’s especially true when it comes to making big changes that are otherwise challenging. If I can understand the details of why I need to change, or what harm may come from not changing, I can usually change on a dime and stick with it. I predict such will be the case with the new diet that I’m on with Brenda, based on the books Eat for Health and Eat to Live.

I can say without a second thought, that these two books are the most important books I have ever read. They will have a direct effect on the number of years I spend on this earth and the amount time I can spend with my children.

As you read the book, very quickly you get an idea of just how bad the American diet is in general. Virtually everything we eat is killing us, and we don’t even realize it. The health problems that are so prevalent in the US are not in other parts of the world, where diets vary widely. Everything is problematic, from guidelines that the USDA and American Heart Association put out, to the information on the boxes of the food we buy. Food is made to taste good and satisfy us in the short term, with no attention paid to what the long term problems will be. I have to admit that the information presented in these two books has really made me suspicious of the entire food system in our country.

One of the main points in this book series is that you medicine should only be used to treat illnesses only after nutritional deficiencies have been addressed. Drugs are secondary, not primary. How many times have you heard a doctor tell you that? It’s just too easy to subscribe drugs, when really the problems are rooted in what we eat. Without changing our diet, we continue to hurt our body while the drugs just treat the symptoms.

I decided to make the change after way too much time being spent tired, mentally cloudy, achey, and having a general feeling of poor health more often than not. I shouldn’t need caffeine just to function and not have headaches. And the fact that I’m diabetic means that I need to really keep my health front and center if I want to live past the age of 50 without having a major cardiac event. I was almost done with the first of the two books, and Brenda had started reading the first book as well. I had tried a few weeks earlier to get on the diet, but after a few days I feel off the wagon. This time was different. I was more determined, more educated and also decided not to take baby steps, but to go from crappy eating to good eating overnight.

To help each other out, Brenda and I decided to do the diet together. Letting yourself down is sometimes too easy, but if you know somebody else has been struggling right along side of you there’s more of an obligation to that other person. You don’t want them to be disappointed in you. It’s a powerful motivator.

So based on what I had read in the book up to that point, we agreed on a diet. To avoid any confusion later, we put it in writing and both signed it. It will help keep the details of what we agreed to in focus but it’s also hanging on the fridge as a reminder of what we’re doing. We’ve agreed to stay on the diet for 60 days, with no exceptions. None.

First stop after checking into the hotel was the local grocery store.

For example, I’m traveling this weekend and that’s normally a difficult time to stay on any type of good eating plan, but I don’t have a choice. I’ve already thought through what I am going to do while traveling to make sure I’m eating right, and not tempted to cheat because I let myself get too hungry.

We started the diet on December 30th, so it’s been just over a week now. The first several days were difficult, and to be honest the first day I really started to feel good is yesterday, the first day of week 2. It can take a few weeks for your body to completely detoxify itself.

Some of the benefits I’ve seen after the first week are …

• Need less sleep
• For the first time in a long time, I dream and remember my dreams
• I have stopped taking my insulin shots with meals, and have better glucose control
• My vision is sharper
• I wake up very easy, instead of feeling very groggy
• I’m feel like I’m a sharper thinking, especially when working. My brain just feels supercharged
• I don’t get tired as early as I used to (it used to be around 7pm, it’s now closer to 10-11pm)

Some down sides of the first week while detoxing…

• VERY IRRITABLE. I’ve never been so trigger happy crabby in my life.
• Several days of headaches that just wouldn’t go away (but are now gone)
• Very, very, very tired. At times it seemed like I just couldn’t get enough sleep.
• Body aches. I actually felt like I was getting the flu (this is not uncommon).
• Breaking old eating habits are more difficult than the diet itself.

As the weeks go on I will post progress updates. But more than any other time in my life when making dietary changes, I feel like this is a change that I will keep for the rest of my life.

If you are tired of being tired, having aches and pains, managing a chronic condition or just want to feel younger and more energetic, I would strongly encourage you to read the books. I was hooked right from the beginning, and I think you will too.

What’s that? You don’t have time to read books? NO EXCUSE… because it’s available in audio form as well. Download it and play it on your computer, iPod, iPhone, Android phone, or any other MP3 player. Listen while you drive, grocery shop, clean house or work out. There are always times throughout the day that you can put on a pair of headphones and listen.

If you have read the books yourself, feel free to email me with your thoughts. I feel like this is a book I want to give to everybody in my life to help them live longer and better.

I’ll be working all day Saturday and Sunday, and flying home Monday morning.