BUT, we as a family have been slowly transitioning to a whole foods diet and we are trying to exclude as many processed foods from our diets as possible. You wouldn't believe some of the chemicals and toxins found in the food we eat each day.....it's scary. I'm not saying we won't enjoy a soft pretzel, meal out, or eat some processed foods at parties. We are choosing to reduce them ad switch our family to a healthier lifestyle. As many of you already know, Chloe is already on a gluten free diet. So, she is pretty much on this plan already since I cook most of her food from scratch.
Each week I have been trying to learn news ways to cook their favorite foods in a healthier/homemade way. I have spent countless hours researching recipes and meal plans. My kids have barely even noticed the changes we have already made. They do grumble at the idea of ditching some of their favorite snacks, but I assured them that we would find yummy snacks.
My husband (who us to be my junk food junkie) has already changed 90% of his diet and has not been sick in about 6 months (which is a record for him). So, if our diet change helps Bella feel better, awesome...if it doesn't than at least we are changing our diets to improve our overall health.
Bella is having a rough week. Normally when you ask Bella how she is feeling she will say, "Good". That is catch all response which to us means that she is not in horrible pain, just manageable pain/exhaustion. The past 2 days she has given us a different(unexpected response) of "Ehhh". This means that she is feeling really crappy. I have noticed that she is getting tired earlier and earlier each night and is 1 second away from a meltdown at all times. The doctor/nurse has told us that it is a side effect of the treatments and the auto immune disease itself. The past 2 mornings I have had to peel her out of bed, literally. It took a lot of persuading to get her to school today. I reminded her that she was leaving early for a doctor's appointment so it was important that she tries to go and at least take her tests and get her homework. One of Bella's biggest complaints is how much school she misses because she feels like she is falling behind. In all honesty, she is missing a lot. Eventually, there will be less appointments and hopefully we get her into remission sooner than later. I try to teach her as much at home as possible when she is too sick to go to school. But it does not replace the instruction she is missing at school. We hope to get this worked out when we have her 504 School disability meeting next month. Bella loves school and she strives for good grades (she is hard on herself), so this will be the most important time for me to be her advocate. I know my child, what she is capable of doing, and how her JA I affecting her school. To some her grades are acceptable if they are B's and C's (honestly they are to me when I know she is trying her best) but to Bella they are not. I am trying my best to help her achieve her goals but also teach her that it's okay to get grades other than an A. I do love her determination and high standards, it will make her dream of being a doctor one day easily achievable. But I really want her to focus on her health right now.
Tonight she takes her next injection and we will teach dad how to administer the shots (just incase I am not here at some point). With each dose we hope we are another day closer to remission. I would love to see my vivacious little Bella to come back full force, it is the one thing I wish for every day.
Have a wonderful day and try to stay warm.
Here is a picture of her at school yesterday with her friend Emilia's Dad....he came to update the class on Emilia FINALLY being home from the hospital after a long month post surgery. Bella was excited that Emilia got to video message the class.
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