to walk

to talk

to eat…

these have been my big 3 goals for Veronika….well for a long, long time….

we are starting to get on top of ‘to eat’, but we still have such a long way to go, Veronika needs to eat, not only for nutrition, but also to develop the muscles in her mouth that are used for communication….Veronika is on the RPAH elimination diet, because Veronika has reacted in the past to wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, gluten, and rice milk….and her dietitian at the hospital is working with us to figure out what are Veronika’s triggers, and tollerance/intollerance levels…..

http://failsafediet.wordpress.com/the-rpah-elimination-diet-failsafe/

and we are figuring out Veronika’s triggers for her intollerances, it’s a slow process, but what we are finding out along the way is so helpful…..we are currently doing the salicylates challenge, and yes Veronika has been reacting, her skin has developed a rash, she is ‘hitting’ her head, and she isn’t sleeping well at night…

we did the wheat challenge 2 weeks ago, and it was disasterous….Veronika had 6 water crackers in the morning and again in the afternoon on day one, and she hit her head all day long, on day 2 she had 6 water crackers in the morning and she hit her head all day with a closed fist(almost like she was punching herself), day 3 I took her to a Dr for a follow-up visit from earlier in the year, who practices harmonic medicine

This is the results of our visit in April….https://www.veronikawillwalk.org/2012/04/harmonic-medicine/

Immediately the Dr asked why Veronika was hitting her head, and I said we were doing the wheat challenge, she told me to stop it immediately as it wheat wasnt any good for Veronika. I agreed with her, and told her Veronika had a low-grade temperature since she had the wheat, and could it just be coincidence? The Dr said, no, it was more than likely her body’s way of rejecting the wheat….and her system didn’t like the wheat and had given her a temperature to fight it in her body….the other thing I have been noticing while Veronika has been on the elimination diet, is each time we do a food challenge, Veronika is exhausted by the afternoon, and has been having a nap in the car on the way home in the afternoons….coincidence….I’m not sure.

Nutrition is such an important part of everyone’s life, eating as i mentioned above develops the muscles that you need for speech…..

…to talk…

oh how I long for the day that Veronika has a clear word other than ‘Mum’….dont get me wrong, I am super stoked that Mum is the one word that Veronika has mastered….and one day I pray she will ‘verbally’ string a sentence together…

…to walk…

well you all know my passion for Veronika to be an independent competent walker….

its been a journey…

a roller coaster of emotions…

and ONE day Veronika WILL Walk…

independently…

competently…

but until that day I pray that Veronika will

walk…

talk…

eat…

but at the end of the day…

we are Blessed…

we are blessed Veronika survived…

we are Blessed Veronika has started to eat(yes it took over 4 years but we are getting there)

we are Blessed Veronika can use a walking frame…

we are Blessed Veronika has taken her 1st independent step…

after 4 years, 3 months and 2 weeks of therapy…

we are Blessed, because we have met people on this journey who are praying their child will be able to hold their head up….to roll over…to sit…to crawl….all things we are Blessed Veronika CAN do….

but a part of me prays Veronika can walk, talk and eat, because then we will have more time to focus on ALL the other areas of Veronika’s development that really need help….