What I Want You to Know is a series of reader submissions. It is an attempt to allow people to tell their personal stories, in the hopes of bringing greater compassion to the unique issues each of us face. If you would like to submit a story to this series, click here. This guest post is by Summer.
Note: Biomedical therapy is based upon extensive biomedical tests such as lab analysis of urine, blood, hair and stool. It evaluates nutritional status, heavy metal toxicity, allergies, methylation and leaky gut syndrome. The treatment is then determined based on this assessment and often includes diet medication to avoid allergens, supplements, antifungals, chelation and natural methods of detoxification. It is an approach that typically avoids the use of traditional pharmacology.
I want you to know that my family is not crazy because we choose to treat our son’s hyperactivity and behavioral problems with biomedical therapies. I want you to know that our physician who coordinates his care is not a quack. He is an MD who attended a medical school just like your pediatrician did. I want you to know that our family is not opposed to medications or medical care in the standard sense (my husband and I are both nurses, in fact). We are not anti vaccination. We choose to treat our child with biomedical treatments rather than the standard treatment of medications because it is what helps him. I know the risks of medications used for hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children. I chose to use biomedical treatment for my son because I know the risks of neurological side effects of medication, not to mention the risk of addiction and abuse of these meds. I want you to know how much more difficult it is to treat with these biomedical therapies than it would be to give him a pill everyday. I want you to know he has many food allergies. He can’t eat most foods other kids do. He has to take allergy shots. He has to take supplements. The food he can eat is very expensive. Our family has had to adjust our entire life to plan meals for him. We cannot leave the house without preparing a meal/snack ahead of time to take along. He cannot eat at restaurants. He cannot eat any pre packaged or prepared foods. Everything he eats has to be made from scratch. We cannot go on vacation without taking a ice chest full of food with us. He cannot have snacks or treats at school. He has to bring a sack lunch and his own treats to school everyday. He misses out on things other kids get to have. I want you to know it is much more difficult to treat him biomedically than with standard medication. I want you to know the therapy is working wonders for our son and we know the things he is putting into his body aren’t going to be harmful to him. I want people to listen and not dismiss the results we have seen from this therapy. I want people to trust that I know my own child and I am only doing what is best for him. I want people to know there are other resources and alternatives available to them and their families if anyone in their family is suffering from atypical neurological symptoms. I encourage people not to dismiss the idea of alternative medical therapies as crazy.
