Guest guest Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Hi Joy, Welcome to the board, I am new here too. My name is Lynne and Im also a homeschooling mom of 6 with autoimmune diseases, the children have also. I have been sick for over 5 yrs and foundout 3 yrs ago it is Celiac which is a malabsorption disease,hereditary,autoimmune in which the protein Gluten destroys the intestines and causes many other problems. Gluten is in all forms of wheat,oats,rye,barley,spelt,triticale. Just about everything boxed,bagged,frozen,canned and prepared in restaurants. Once I went gluten free, I developed worsening allergies, Hashimotos Thyroiditis,Sjogrens,Restless Leg Syndrome, Rheumatoid Arthritis,enlarged liver/spleen,heart problems due to inability to absorb magnesium,skin sores from the celiac,Ive shrunk an inch from the bones breaking apart down my spine,and a few other things. I had the children genetically tested and they were positive for celiac. They also have a variety of serious food allergies,of course different from each other to make cooking a challenge! One has an Iga deficiency,another has speech difficulty,and the littlest was born with many challenges such as cerebral palsy,dysarthria,hypotonia,seizures,and lots of food allergies. Shes our miracle baby,shes walking,talking,running,jumping.You would never know anthing was ever wrong. The drs think she suffered neurologically since she was carried by me woh was so malnourished(though I dont look it, I had gained weight from the Hashimotos and steroids)now that shes been on the gluten,cassein,free diet for 3 years,shes almost 4, her brain has been able to develop properly. Shes also allergic to eggs,dariy,soy,citrus,beef,fish,berries,gluten,and latex. We are in the middle of trying to find a dr.for our 5 yr.old as his blood tests show something is wrong but the allergist doesnt know what. His name is Kaleb. I would love to exchange support and encouragement with you if you like. I couldnt imagine ever living without Him, ever facing these challenges alone,never mind 6 children,homeschooling and their and my special needs, but God knows and provides. Isnt He awesome, to give us exactly who needs us?! By all worldy standards,none of these kids should be here, most women lose their babies or have spina bifeda when the mom has untreated celiac. I did lose 2 and we even did everything to prevent them from coming, but if God wants you to have a baby,sometimes,you dont get a choice,and Im so glad He knew better than I. Because of these challenges, we are able to teach others to eat healthier and that they too can face anything, as long as they depend on God and not themselves. Time for me to start lessons and breakfast with them all. Take care and God Bless! Lynne " Josh, , Jamylyn, Jasmine " <joshjakejamyjazz@...> wrote: Hi, my name is Joy & I just joined the list. I was diagnosed with RA when I was 27, and that was 26 years ago. I'm doing pretty well on the meds I'm on but I feel over-medicated & would like to go off of some. Here's what I'm taking now: methotrexate, plaquenil, prednisone, celebrex, humira, elavil (for fibromyalgia), aciphex, fosamax (because of the prednisone, which I've been on since 1992) & synthroid. I'm also using restasis for dry eyes. I'm very fortunate that I don't pay a penny for meds & no insurance co. has any say in it. I'm a 60% disabled veteran & my husband is retired military so most of our medical is free. I don't know what I'd do otherwise, I also have 4 children, 3 of whom have special needs. The care we get in the military is awesome. Now a little about me. I became a mother of twin boys at the age of 41, through adoption. Four years later I (we) adopted a baby girl & 4 years after that another little girl. The kids are now 12, 12, 9 & 8. My 8 year old daughter has autism & is in a multi-handicap class. I homeschool the other 3. It's quite a challenge with all their therapy, counseling & Dr. appts. And it's going to get worse, because my daughter's developmental ped just put her in for 2 speech therapy appts & an OT appt. each week. I guess I should say we " car school " instead of homeschool. I rarely go to a Dr. myself because I'm always running the kids around. I get really stressed out sometime, but It's just awesome that I'm able to do all of this. While we waited (7 years) to adopt our first, people would ask me how I could take care of a baby with my arthritis. Now they're asking me how I take care of my 4 & I just have to tell them, " I couldn't do it without God. " There are times when I feel like I'm barely managing, but He gets me through. Don't mean to preach... Oh, yea, I also have a wonderful husband & I couldn't do it without him, either. I don't know if I'm going to be able to handle the volume of this list, but it looks like a very supportive list & I look forward to getting to know you. Joy (Ohio) http://www.joyofthelord.ourfamily.com --------------------------------- - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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