Thanks for visiting and welcome to my Blog about Healthy Living for Parents, kids & babies… and yes, your babies of every age!

Its important to share how everything brought me to this very moment…

Although the majority of my life I have been involved in sports, working out, eating right and overall healthy living, at the age of 3 years old, my son was diagnosed with Cancer (Leukemia).

After two casts on each of his unbroken but severely swollen arms, after bruising all over his body, after his legs went almost completely paralyzed, after drinking and urinating excessively 30 times a day, several different emergency rooms doctors and pediatricians continued to tell me that he was just a little boy growing and was very accident prone and most likely exagerrating his severe pain.

On the final day that permanently changed our lives, we were at a very special birthday party for a 4 year old friend, when suddenly, my son collasped and could no longer walk.

I rushed him to the ER once again. In addition to not being able to walk, his face was covered in red splotches, his hand was swollen, especially his pinky finger… They kept us there for 3 days, they had 8 doctors and specialist examine him from every department, but none of them had a definitive diagnoses… they said it was probably a rare disease that had not been discovered… and tried to send us home with a, “We will call you”.

I had just finished receiving my Doctoral training and Childhood Leukemia was a big subject matter that stood out for me… I told them he had all of the symptoms of leukemia. They said leukemia was an impossible diagnoses and they refused to do a lumbar puncture because his blood work continued to be in the “normal range” and the insurance company would not approve it.

Needless to say, I learned there is no “Normal”, we are all unique, we don’t all fit in a nice little box of Statistics!
I LITERALLY REFUSED TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL with my baby who looked like he was on his death bed. Again, the doctors said without a solid diagnoses the insurance would not pay for our hospital stay. I felt as if I was in some kind of Twi-light Zone. How was this happening, I had top of the line insurance?!?

I put up the fight of my life and what turned out to be the fight that saved my son’s life. After I agreed to sign a hundred documents of liability and promised to pay for all of the costs involved, I was able to finally convince them to reluctantly perform the lumbar puncture.

The Hematologist who performed the lumbar puncture was supposed to be the best pediatric hematologist in the West Coast. As she tried to insert the long device in his spine, it would not go in…

Austin was only semi-sedated so he was whaling and aching with pain as he arched his back with every poke. His eyes rolled behind his head and he kept gasping for mercy…

They assured me he would not remember a thing, but this brought no comfort to a frightened mommy watching her baby being jabbed by a doctor who said the procedure would be an easy in and out.

I will never forget the look of terror on that physician’s face… Later I learned they were all waiting for the official laboratory results to come in to confirm what she believed was leukemia. The Hematologist knew he had A.L.L. when the device would not go in his spine…

My son was so completely impacted with leukemia , the doctors had no idea how he was still alive. His poor little spine and bones were so brittle and his condition was so fragile that they immediately began emergency surgery.

They said if I had not brought him in, he probably would not have survived much longer…

Remember this is after several rounds of Emergency Room visits and about 20 doctors office visits who all said for about a year that he was a PERFECTLY HEALTHY boy… They kept saying boys who truly feel ill don’t smile and continually would send me home on my merry way as an “over concerned mommy”…

Before I could blink… my son was rushed into heart surgery to have have a Port attached to an artery.

I asked the doctors what caused this, what could I do to help him heal, what could I do???

I was repeatedly told thete was nothing I could do to help him, I was told that he had Cancer for so long that the only thing I could do is make sure he receives his chemotherapy and radiation and to never miss an appointment if I wanted him to survive.

I was also told he probably would never write, draw or learn appropriately…

I refused to believe there was nothing I could do for my baby… I started to read and read and read… research research research!

In addition, I started to read TO HIM even more, we started practicing drawing, counting… I was not giving up on him!

While he slept, I read, studied and learned about Natural Remedies.

I learned so much about how other countries were using Nature, such as fresh juicing, organic eating and healthy living to help cure Diseases of all types.

I immediately started juicing for my baby boy. I immediately removed all toxins from his environment… When we were not at the hospital, he was getting tons of Sunshine and fresh Beach Air.

We went completely Organic and removed all pesticides, hormones and antibiotics from our diet. Our life style dramatically changed. Although they convinced me that I had to give him chemotherapy for the next three years, I elected to not give him radiation so he could have a chance at having children.

They warned me that it would take forever to get the cancer out of his system, that he would test positive many times before he would be clear… but instead of more bad news, I was told that something INCREDIBLE happened. He went from having a poor prognosis for survival to having no sign of Cancer at all!

Was it the chemotherapy, was the intense juicing and healthy smoothies, was it the Organic eating, natural remedies, was it the positive affirmations and his positive attitude or was it the millions of prayers he was receiving? Honestly, I think it was all of the above.

We lived in the hospital for the next three years… For the first year, at least 5 to 7 days of the week we lived at the hospital or the Ronald McDonald House. Austin’s struggle touched so many people, he received hundreds of food casseroles, cards, drawings, prayers and love from so many people. I am so thankful for my incredible boss who gave me the time off, who never complained… and my mom who would come when she could…

It was a dark time in our lives, but also an inspiring time that motivated me to search for cures and treatments all over the world. .

All the parents in the Cancer ward lived in a state of anxiety and fear… Kids silently disappeared in the wee hours of the night- some were his roommates, some were the kids he played with a couple of days before… Code Blue Code Blue, Nurses running, Doctors running… a sudden silence, but nobody said a word! Everybody praying for the code blue baby, everybody praying that their baby was not next.

Austin never complained about the chemo, about throwing up, about the large shots, about the lumbar punctures… he just wanted yummy food and wanted to know why his hospital friends kept disappearing? 😔

I was determined from that moment forward to learn how to help these kids and their parents… How are Food, Nature and Healthy Living Skills capable of helping kids? Why are we not applying these natural remedies in this country?

I learned how genetics play a role in diseases, how genes combined with our spouses genes play a role. I learned so much about Food and what a gamble it is to just buy food off the shelf with out knowing or understanding what is in the ingredient list…

Pharmaceuticals do have a place in our world, but not always the big role they have created!

Fast forward, my son is now 21 years old and has never tested positive for leukemia again. His treatment protocol lasted about 5 years instead of three years, he can read, write, count and is very articulate and an extremely intelligent young man.

I cried the first time he drew a picture, the first time he did a math problem and when he learned how to read.

It turns out that the original hematologist who diagnosed my son was a wonderful and compassionate woman. She and all of the other Oncologists, Nurses and Volunteers have one of the toughest jobs in the world.

The only problem was, none of them knew Food, supplements, plants, herbs, Alkaline Water, all have a role in Cancer survival.

I have since continued my educational training and I became a Trained Holistic Nutritionist. I have another baby boy who is now approaching 6 years old.

So what are the Genetics involved with leukemia and other diseases? What is the real Prenatal care you can do that doctors are too busy to tell you about? Why are some healthy Foods a Medicine for you but a Poison to others? How are Allergies related to Disease, and are Eczema and Psoriasis just no big deal?

Most of all, I have learned to trust myself as a mommy… to tell every parent I know to trust those natural parental instincts!

Parental instincts are powerful and they were given to us to protect our young! Every child is different, if you feel something is wrong… Check it out! Do the research! Get a 2nd and 3rd opinion until you feel at total peace!

Im looking forward to sharing my reflections, recipes and remedies I have learned.

Thank you to all the parents who have confided their painful and happy baby stories and pregnancy experiences. I can tell you that hearing your voice transform from fear and confusion to peace and understanding has made this long journey worth while!

Thanks again, see you soon and please feel free to request a topic of interest!

Dr. D 🌞