Today Lucy is 7 years old.  Lucy has her ups and downs…but through it all she’s come out of it an amazing, funny, affectionate, smart, musical wonder.

For her birthday she got a radio for the shower and her Mommy is taking her to the Dave Matthews Band concert at the BOK in Tulsa.   (pictures forthcoming.

I wrote this when Lucy was just 1 year old…we had no idea what the next seven years would be like for Lucy;

Since the birth of Lucy I have opened my mind to ideas and information that I never knew existed.  The meaning of the name Lucy is “light.”  This is so fitting, in all the different interpretations of the word light.  Though light is all she sees…she brings light to the lives of all who know her.

My pregnancy with Lucy was a time of bonding and preparation.  I listened, and hoped, and imagined what a wonderful birth I would have.  The day came and all went just as planned.  With that, Lucy taught me to trust my instincts, to listen to my soul, and follow my heart.  We knew from the moment she immerged from the water that she was amazing.  Shortly after her birth a number of “experts” told us to expect that Lucy would need numerous procedures throughout her life to maintain basic health.  We were told that she would be blind, handicapped, burdened with seizures, and mentally unstable.  Initially we believed these “experts”…after all - the retinas in her eyes were detached, she was missing the piece of the brain that transmits information between the hemispheres, the frontal lobe portion of her brain was malformed, and her head was abnormally small.  We believed those “experts” and hoped for the best…until we looked at Lucy.  We saw a baby who was functioning normally, who was happy, content, and healthy.  We saw hope, inspiration, and joy.  With that we dismissed the services of all the “experts” except her pediatrician (who was hopeful and supportive and happens to believe in alternative therapies).  Lucy has continued to impress us all since the day she was born.  She has reached every standard milestone either before she was due or right on time (except for visual skills), and is healthy, and thriving.  As I look to the future I see Lucy as a musician, a dancer, a radical activist.  I look forward to the future to see what Lucy will impress us with next.  

As a mother of three (going on four) you’d think that I’d feel this hopeful and positive about all my children – I don’t.  I fear for my other children’s future.  I fear that they will succumb to the mainstream influences and struggle through many hardships.  When I am in the presence of others, they tend to look at Lucy with despair and pitty.  They see her sunken eyes and her small head, and they can look no further.  They do not see her sense of humor, her coping skills, her physical strength, her affection, her intelligence.  They look to the other two children and they see hope, and promise, and beauty.  I do not hide Lucy’s differences and I do not accept their stares, I do not accept their pitty, and I do not allow them to lessen my pride.   When you see a child who is different…smile at them – but don’t be disappointed if they don’t smile back, tell their mother they are beautiful – and mean it, remember that despite that child’s differences their mother thinks they are wonderful and beautiful.  Acceptance is a priceless gift.

From the time Lucy was born, until she was two - she was pretty close to “normal.”  Then…we started giving her table foods.  As a family, we eat healthy…so the foods we fed her were also healthy - we thought.

Come to find out…she was not producing digestive enzymes and most likely had leaky gut syndrome.  As a result, we were basically poisoning her AND starving her.  Her development from age 2 to age 6 was stagnant.  She barely grew physically and didn’t grow intellectually or academically.  No one seemed to know what was going on and basically assumed this was just “how Lucy is”…with the exception of Phylis @ Rock Creek Herb & Vitamin Co.  She recommended cutting out the usual culprits (for people with autism or other brain related issues) , so we started with corn, wheat, and dairy.  There was a stark difference in Lucy’s behavior, bowel movements, sleeping patterns…it obviously made a huge impact on her and from there we began to know that Lucy wasn’t necessarily supposed to hit herself, bite herself, bang her head on walls and floors - this was not “how Lucy is”

When we eliminated nearly everything from her diet and began giving her supplements…she began steadily improving.  We eliminated everything but rice, green beans, oranges, apples, and coconut.   Even with just those five foods, she had to have a digestive enzyme with every meal for her to digest the food.  Doing this kept Lucy stable…it kept us for having to restrain her for 30+ minutes (to keep her from hurting herself)…it kept her comfortable.  Comfortable was a big accomplishment, but most certainly was just the beginning of Lucy’s progress.

Since then, we have found an herbal supplement that has begun healing Lucy’s body.  She no longer needs digestive enzymes or GABA, or any of the supplements we started her on.  She has begun walking around the house, telling us how she feels, feeling remorse and sadness, being affectionate, telling us what she wants (or doesn’t), feeding herself, meeting new people - she is doing all the things she should be doing (but has never done before).   She continues to amaze us, as she catches up - at lightning speed.

I have tried repeatedly to catch her doing all these amazing things BUT she is camera shy.  Somehow she always knows when I turn the camera on, and whatever amazing thing she was doing - she stops.  I managed to catch a few videos for you….however if you really want to see how much she’s changed - come visit!!!

(if you don’t quite remember what she was like, just scroll through the blog and watch some of the old videos - her diagnosis & other info is on the left side of the site)

:)  <--- one proud Mama!

Lucy breathing life into my Mother…with a hug
(Mom is battling cancer & common immune deficiency disease…Lucy used to not go to my Mom - now she absolutely adores her)

She’s sleeping it off (unlike the rest of the family)…6 hours and counting!

Lucy has managed to make it through the Winter with only two short sick spells….and she came through them without any major drama.  Lucy is eating mostly fresh green beans, rice, oranges, and apples.   Lucky for her…rice can be made into noodles, chips, soup, and a half dozen other tasty variation.  We do give her a few other things, but we have to give her only very small amounts (like half a teaspoon of almonds).  She’s atrooper though and will almost always eat whatever we make her. Sh hasn’t hadany “fits” where we weren’t able to calm her down.

Lucy has also started walking around the house without help.  A few days ago she actually knocked on my bedroom door…I thought it was one of her siblings and I said “WHAT” and she said “Lucy’s Here!”  I can’t tell you how excited I was

I read today that High Fructose Corn Syrup has tested high for mercury.  I wish I could say I’m surprised…but I’m not.  We already avoid HFCS …but now I will be be more diligent, like I am with MSG.  What’s wih the Goverment?  The FDA is suposed to be protecting us from poisonous food!

Many people who choose to eat vegan do so primarily because of their concern for animals…While we can totally understand that reason, that is not why Lucy is eating a vegan diet.

Initially, we discovered that MSG was one of the main reasons for most of Lucy’s health problems. Once we removed MSG and all the foods which have naturally occurring MSG, she then became sensitive to foods high in glutamate. We finally figured out MSG & glutamate and then discovered that she was also reacting to cysteine and salicylic acid. We now know that she has food allergy/sensitivities to these three chemicals, which are usually naturally occurring. This meant we had to eliminate most of the food that we eat every day. All animal products were eliminated and many fruits, vegetables, soy products, wheat, and beans. Although we are healthy eaters, only one of us is vegetarian…so going vegan (and then some) was not the easiest diet to get used to.

We are now seeing Lucy being calm, comprehending and participating in intellectual conversations, paying close attention to her surroundings, interacting with a variety of people, and generally behaving VERY well. The photos below show what eliminating foods that conflict with your body can do…

taking a nap on her own…is a big accomplishment