As you know, Dear Son was a very sick young man for many years. Over the past ten years, he's been transported by helicopter nearly ten times, had multiple hospital admissions, had two MRSA pneumonias, countless bacterial aspiration pneumonias and viral pneumonias, the H1N1 virus as well as a few surgeries: had a gtube implanted, a Vagus Nerve Stimulator implanted, a Vagus Nerve Stimulator replaced (battery depleted and they replace it with a new model) and a lot of other unfortunate medical issues. He was also diagnosed with a progressive neurological disease one top of everything else.
In 2009, several physicians at Big Academic Medical Center told me they didn't think they could save him anymore if he got pneumonia and that he would most likely die from it. He had multiple lung collapses and had been placed on a ventilator several times in the past few years with his bouts of pneumonia. They recommended palliative and hospice care during different admissions.
In 2009, several physicians at Big Academic Medical Center told me they didn't think they could save him anymore if he got pneumonia and that he would most likely die from it. He had multiple lung collapses and had been placed on a ventilator several times in the past few years with his bouts of pneumonia. They recommended palliative and hospice care during different admissions.
In 2010, I discovered Now Foods Organic Virgin Coconut Oil and I was able to stop all pneumonias from that point on. He has not had any admissions for pneumonia since September of 2010 and in a few days, it will be 18 months since he has had a hospitalization for pneumonia. On top of that, I started a blenderized diet for him on December 20th of 2011.
Last year, he had medical expenses that were much lower than previous years. In fact, his billed charges were well under six figures. I thought it might be fun to go back and check previous years. I keep spreadsheets by year and discovered that Dear Son's medical expenses were the lowest in ten years. Our highest year was 2009 with multiple admissions including the H1N1/viral pneumonia and the second was in 2006 with two MRSA pneumonias. These are billed charges of course which is prior to medical discounts. (And yes, these were covered by several insurance plans.) This year we hope for more of the same and hope our medical expenses will be even lower.
While I think most people know that nutrition is important for good health, I don't think most people understand how difficult it is to get a chronically ill person back to good health. It's certainly not easy. People are beginning to notice that Dear Son is really different now-he's more alert, engaging in more activities, not sleeping as much and just enjoying life more. At home, he's so much fun now that he feels better.
The other plus is that we need less formula which means our medical expenses will continue to decline. We are down from some 6-8 cases a month to two. I still haven't converted breakfast from formula to a blenderized diet but it will happen. Right now, I am still tweaking his diet and putting into action some items the nutritionist suggested.
On other news, this weekend I took some pictures of my desk/table that I painted. It turned out great and looks fabulous. I hope to post those in a few days.
