Day Six - Oregano Oil

We are one day past the "Dreaded Day Five" of Oregano Oil and all's well. Asher's dragon breath is gone, is congestion is improved (but not completely gone), and the allergic shiners under his eyes are gone. The kid has so much energy he doesn't know what to do with himself. He's getting into all sorts of trouble.

Asher had a soccer game on Saturday and did his best ever. And at today's soccer practise, he broke a sweat. He NEVER runs hard enough to break a sweat - so it's a VERY big deal!

Another milestone: On Saturday, Asher was able to sit down and put together a Lego Knight by himself (with a little guidance from me, but mainly by himself). He's never been able to focus that much before. I'm certain it's because his body feels SOOO much better.

It obviously seems like we're going down the right path. Even if this doesn't improve his EE, it certainly is helping his overall health. Raj made a comment yesterday that when we do the follow-up lab tests, he suspects we'll find a/some parasites (there seems to be some sort of relationship between parasites and bad bacteria). When the body has parasites, the eosinophils attack them, which causes eosinophilic esophagitis. Interestingly, even though parasites are one of the known causes of EE, Asher has never been tested for parasites before.

If the follow-up lab results show parasites, removing them will DEFINITELY help cure Asher's EE.

Oil of Oregano

Now that Asher has recovered from his allergic reaction to the Bactrim, it's time to stir things up again. His dragon breath and constant congestion returned once he stopped taking the Bactrim, which indicates that the MRSA has returned. Good golly, it feels sooo good to know what's been causing these two things!

So here's the deal: we have a pretty good clue that the MRSA has returned. We also know that Asher cannot tolerate Bactrim. Our only other antibiotic option is Vancomycin, which can cause permanent kidney damage and/or permanent deafness. Hmmmnnn...

When the lab identified the MRSA, they also did sensitivity tests. That's when they found it sensitive to Bactrim and Vancomycin. They also found it sensitive to some herbal options - about ten of them. I googled each option, read about it, and chose Oregano Oil. I read about some startling antibacterial qualities of oregano oil and decided it to be worth a try. And yes, it's true, I have officially crossed the line to "crazy mum". But perhaps we can find a safe way to get rid of the MRSA.

We're all taking it. And interestingly, after a mere day - one teeny tiny drop of oil - and our congestion is nearly gone. All three of the children were rather congested. Their congestion has diminished considerably. Go figure.

This stuff is tough to take. I'm glad I'm taking it along with the children, because it's incredibly mean to impose on someone. I think the children get a kick out of seeing me hate it just as much as they do. Heck, if it helps Asher, I'd do a whole lot worse than take some icky burning nasty oil.

Information on oregano oil can be found here and here. You can find a million more sites by simply typing in those two words into Google.

So, stay tuned to find out if Oregano Oil helps cure Asher of his MRSA....

Asher Update

It's time for a quite unusual Asher update:

I think someone flipped a switch on Asher or gave us a different kid who looks like Asher. This kid has more energy then he - and we - know what to do with. Physically, he's doing things with ease that he found impossible to do - ever. For example, Asher has physical therapy homework. Among the routine of things he is supposed to do, he is supposed to do ten sit-ups with knees bent and hands behind the head. We've been helping Asher do these sit-ups for nearly a year now. He needs a pillow for support and we have to use our hands to help him do the sit-up. Yet today he did those ten sit-ups by himself - no help at all - with ease. Huh???

The kid has SO MUCH energy - he's literally jumping all over the place. Poor kid is getting into quite a bit of trouble. I know what's going on, but it's still not OK to punch your brother in the stomach.

It's so nice to have this kind of problem.

Leila and the Leapster

Several years ago, Aunt Karen and Uncle Peter gave Simi a Leapster as a present. Simi loves his Leapster. Over the years, we have added game cartridges and the Leapster is still one of Simi's favorite things to play. Which is why Leila had to pick it up and give it a try.

Admittedly, I found it amusing watching Leila attempt the Leapster. It's for ages four to eight and she's two. She's a little young to master the Leapster. But it kept her amused even if she couldn't get the thing to work.

To my surprise, as I was listening to her playing the Leapster yesterday, she was answering all the questions correctly. She got her colors, shapes, and letters correct. She even logged on under her name and managed to collect 343 seeds - which means she's been doing some serious winning on the thing. She's two!

That'll teach me to under-estimate my girl...

Dragon Breath Returns

In other news, Asher's dragon breath, stuffy nose, puffy eyes, and dark circles under the eyes have returned.

Size Does Matter

Although Leila absolutely adores Simi, she chooses to play with Asher. The other day, we learned why. "Simi is a big kid", says Leila. "Asher is a little kid, like me", she continues. OK, then. Now we know.

For the record, although Asher is four years old and Simi is six years old, Asher is almost as tall as Simi.