I would like to say that a journey like this is always moving and flowing. That would be a lie, though. There are times when things are seemingly standing still and you’re walking toward a goal without seeing things change or improve. I’ve spoken before about how sometimes healing will just sneak up on you and you realize you haven’t been standing in stagnant waters after all. This has happened to us many times in the past. I look back and can see that we’ve never been stagnant because Raleigh’s asthma is gone, his edema is gone, and his eczema is no longer severe. Some of these changes seemed to disappear over night; they didn’t, but when you’re on a healing journey the days bleed into each other and one day you take notice of the wonderful progress you’ve made. There is beauty in these ashes.
We’ve been on a hunt since the last time I’ve updated — a hunt to find a parasite protocol that will work for Raleigh’s needs. Along with the ailments listed above Raleigh also has food allergies. When he was 2 he had an anaphylactic reaction to walnuts. If you aren’t familiar with parasite protocols out there on the market, the majority, if not all, contain black walnut hull. So we’ve been on the hunt for a tincture that does not contain this, and, to be honest, we haven’t found anything promising yet, and we may not. We may have to a-la-cart our way into a parasite protocol, isolating certain herbs like wormwood and clove. This is another example of how a healing journey sometimes can feel stagnant or like you’ve hit a wall. This is where we have been since I last wrote.
But that is okay. It’s all a part of the journey.
The food allergy and sensitivity side of this journey is one I haven’t always touched on as much, but it has been a large part of the journey for us. Raleigh has many food sensitivities and just a couple of allergies. There is a difference. I have always held the belief that all of these will resolve in time as he continues to heal. I have heard many stories from other people who have confirmed my theory. I have hope.
The black walnut hull found in these parasite protocols do not sit well with me. I’m a big believer in listening to your gut instinct — your mother’s intuition — and I see big, fat red flags waving in front of me regarding the black walnut hull.
So we find ourselves at a bit of a stand-still or cross roads. We are still actively searching for a protocol that will work otherwise we plan to pick certain herbs that are “anti-parasitic” in nature and approach it that way. I wish this were more straight forward, but it became very complicated at the realization that black walnut hull is in every protocol out there.
We have a second option that we are considering starting soon, too. My daughter, Evelyn, and I have been using TRS for the past 3 months. TRS, if you aren’t familiar, is a safe and gentle heavy metal detox. I have seen some interesting and encouraging things from using it these past almost 4 months. I feel like it would be a great option for Raleigh, as well, but have been hesitant. My main hesitation comes from how sensitive Raleigh is to detox and how sensitive he is in general. My detox, and Evelyn’s, has been light and breezy, but Raleigh’s may not be that way. Because of this stalled-out search for a parasite protocol, we are planning to begin TRS with Raleigh. I feel as though I have to work up the courage, in a sense, ready-ing myself for a bad die-off response. Often times things get worse before they get better.
I have seen a large handful of testimonies with TRS and eczema specifically — I’ve seen some amazing pictures and that encourages me greatly. However, I’m a skeptic. Truly and to a fault, I am a skeptic. There have been a few times in this journey where I felt like I found a “silver bullet,” the “magic pill” and had to rein myself back in when those “things” were not those things. I don’t want to be viewing TRS as another “silver bullet” to round out this lingering eczema. To be honest, I believe I’ve held off this long on starting him on TRS to be sure I’m not viewing it as such. At this point in our journey to healing him, I do believe we must pursue these two areas of lingering concern: parasites and heavy metals. As I wrote in my previous blog post, the two often go hand-in-hand. Parasites can burrow and hook into the gut wall and keep the gut from fully healing, and I wonder if this is our lingering problem.
I believe everything happens for a reason. There is purpose in pain. There is purpose in this stonewall. This journey is like putting together a puzzle in the dark and the only way to get the lights to turn on is by finding the pieces, putting them together and you’ve got to do it all without knowing what the puzzle even looks like to begin with. How impossible does that sound? It sounds impossible but it’s not. We started in the dark — in complete, utter darkness — but we have light now. We can see. The puzzle still isn’t complete but we’re beginning to get a really good idea of what the finished picture is going to look like.
Hope.
Hope.
Hope.
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul ~ “
~Emily Dickinson
Thank you for following our journey.
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Blessings,
Danielle Forrester
