Welcome to the Empowering Dr. Mom blog!  I am starting this blog… because I have to.  I just cannot keep what I have learned over the last 18 months to myself.  You simply must know! My experiences have been difficult, but now, perhaps, good will come from our suffering.  Along our journey we have learned that we simply cannot completely and blindly rely on what our doctors tell us…and I now know that I need to share this with others.  We have to investigate and advocate for ourselves and our children.   This revelation has changed our lives forever…and I hope that, by sharing it with you, it may change your lives too!

My journey into “natural medicine” began in January 2011 when my mind was opened to a different way of doing things.   I had planned to start my very underweight 7 year old daughter, M.K., on a gluten-free / casein-free diet to try to heal her digestive system. I had suspected it was damaged by 10 weeks on a feeding tube and many antibiotics in the N.I.C.U. after being born 9 weeks premature. I don’t recall how I came to this idea of diet changes that would lead to intestinal healing, but I suspect my friend Natalie led me down this road.  In preparation for this big dietary switch, my precious friend gave me a book called the G-Free diet by Elizabeth Hasselbeck. There was one brief chapter in this book that indicated gluten (the protein in wheat) & casein (the protein in diary) had been linked to autism and ADHD. My thoughts immediately went to my son, J, who was 2.5 at the time…because I couldn’t help but think he may be autistic.  In addition to his very wild behavior, he was unable to make eye contact (when did this happen??  As a baby he was able to make eye contact with me – future post) and he was not speaking.  I received this information as if it were a message straight from God, and took all of us off of gluten & casein.  I remember where I was sitting, approximately 2 weeks into this gluten-free / casein-free lifestyle, when my son made eye contact and rattled off some jibberish as if he were talking to me.  In his own broken way, he WAS speaking to me.  I absolutely will never forget the feeling of elation that I experienced that day.  My boy had the ability to make eye contact!!!  Please understand that I had taken J to be evaluated by numerous professionals.  Not one single doctor or therapist ever suggested dietary changes.  Why is that?  After the dramatic changes began in J, I talked to the therapists who had been coming weekly to our home to work with J in speech and motor development.  The therapists told me that they had heard that removing gluten & casein may benefit children with J’s issues, but that they did not mention it because most moms didn’t want to try something so difficult.  What?!?  Not give me the chance to try because it might be hard?  My J has gone from no speech in January of 2011 to testing at the 70th percentile for language in May 2012.  I contribute all of this progress to “natural” methods including: gluten/casein free eating, vetiver (an essential oil), vitamins, increasing good fats in his diet, fish oil, and his amazing teachers at the Early Childhood School in Frisco.  I’ll share all the details regarding these methods in a future post.

I have some dear friends who are as passionate about natural healing as I am, and they will join me on this blog.  We want to communicate to you that there very well may be a better way to live than what your doctor is telling you.  I have no medical degree and only my own experiences to share.  I pray that you will benefit.

Just last week, I saw a little boy (maybe 10 years old) rocking himself while making loud grunting sounds.  The Lord revealed to me that this could have very easily been my son, and it was only by His grace that I was given the information needed for my J to receive healing.  I believe that He wants me to share this information with you!  So, please check back to hear more of my experiences and lessons learned, to hear from other Moms and theirs, and to learn about how essential oils are changing our lives.

Thanks for coming along with us on this journey!