Hopeful!

The Darby crew headed to the Gonino Center for Healing today to get another opinion for Carson. I was referred by a good friend of mine that had success with her family and at this point I am open to trying anything I can to shed light on Carson's complications. I was cautiously optimistic heading out for our hour drive to this "healing clinic"-- but again, I've been trying not to get too excited because I've been disappointed by lack of answers thus far. That being said, I LOVE THIS PLACE!
I am excited and hopeful. It feels great to have confidence that my son is going to be okay.

By the way, my husband is amazing. Nathan took the afternoon off to go with me to the appointment. He said, "I am not here for Carson. I am here for you. I know it's been a long road, and I don't want you to do this alone." Amazing man. I don't deserve you.

First, Carson was tested via Microscopy. A tech pricked his finger and placed the blood under a microscope for all of us to see. It was awesome. She showed us an example of healthy RBC (red blood cells) and then she showed us what Carson's looked like. Many of his RBC were misshaped and clumped together. The most amazing visual was being able to see his toxins in the blood. The toxins looked like burrs or shards of glass. We were also able to see groups of fungus, mold and yeast. They were also able to show us strands that revealed protein linkage and liver congestion. What does all of this mean?
Well, a lot. The crazy part is that she didn't have our file and was able to tell us:
* Carson has a severe case of leaky gut (something we already knew, but fascinating she could tell us this by looking at a drop of blood.)
* He has a high level of toxins in his bloodstream
* He was a VERY high level of yeast, mold and fungus in his blood, aka "Candida."

Next, we were able to finally meet Dr. Gonino. I wish every MD could share his amazing bedside manner and confidence. Not arrogance; confidence rather, and his openness to talk about his faith. Gutsy, but very inspiring to us. One of my frustrations has been that all of the docs brush off the fact that Nathan is a type I diabetic. I just know it's linked somehow. Mother's intuition or plain common sense tells me that Carson's daddy has a major immune system disorder.... so how is that NOT linked to Carson's condition? The other doctors have all told me there is no correlation. When I casually mentioned it to Dr. Gonino, he abruptly stopped what he was saying and told us, "Well, that completely changes the game. I am so glad you guys came today. I think we can do some amazing things for your son. " He told us a story of a very young girl that had been diagnosed as a type I diabetic and was put on insulin daily. Her parents were not convinced that this was the proper diagnosis so they came to Dr. Gonino. He agreed with the other physicians that she was diabetic, and these parents pleaded with him to dig deeper and test for other possibilities. He did and found that she actually had Celiac disease (gluten or wheat intolerance). Within six weeks, she was off insulin completely. Long story long, he believes that gluten could be one of the major culprits with Carson's intolerance (which is what I was saying to the GI and he said he didn't think so). He also said that Carson is a "fungus ball" and the toxic levels of yeast and mold in his blood are tearing up his gut, causing the "leaky gut." This has all happened due to these chain of events: he has food intolerances that cause his immune system to react when he eats certain foods, he then gets sick because he lacks the proper immune support needed to stay well, then he is prescribed antibiotics, then the antibiotics kill the good and bad bacteria in the gut, and the yeast and bacteria take over. And that is what we call a series of unfortunate events! He gave us a prescription for the Candida (yeast/fungus) and told us to remove simple sugars from his diet until we get his levels under control. The other thing I loved about Dr. Gonino is that he validated our efforts. He praised the fact we are seeking help from a nutritionist and said 1/2 of what he tells his patients to do, we are already doing. He said we've done a great job being proactive and hitting this hard. It just felt good to hear a doc say we are doing the right things for Carson. He believes that by adding a few more supplements, killing off the colonies of yeast, and testing for food allergies, we will be able to narrow down exactly what is causing the leaky gut and heal him up. He actually said, "Yes, we can and will heal your son." Umm, okay. Sounds good to me!

I take him back on Thursday for the blood work. I want to do it all at once so we can keep the needle pricks minimal. It will take 4-6 weeks to get some of the results back, but he is doing a Hemoglobin A1C and pancreas screening to determine if he is indeed showing type I pre-diabetic symptoms. He is also conducting a test to determine if he has the gene that causes Celiac disease. He literally said he can possibly prevent our son from getting type I diabetes. I have to say that is a huge stretch for me. We've never heard any doctor say that or anything close to it. So, shame on me for thinking "I'll believe it when I see it" but I hope he proves us wrong. That's why I need to have faith.
In the meantime, it gives me something to celebrate...we are in good hands with this doctor. We will keep you posted with the results. We love you all and thank you for your prayers and support.
Finally, please don't judge my grammar or writing abilities (and please don't laugh at my medical explanations)...I am a tired mommy doing the best I can to explain this mess! :)