My baby couldn't say "i love you" anymore

Raphael, my first baby, was born a healthy beautiful boy with an Apgar score of 9/10 then 10/10. He was perfect in every way.

Then came time for the routine vaccinations. 

Being a new mum, I blindly trusted the doctors who assured me everything would be fine. And it (kinda) was, up until he turned four years old. Between the ages of one and four, he developed severe reflux, often vomiting as we put him down in bed for the night. He also would succumb to virus after virus - a never ending cycle.

Looking back now it’s crystal clear that he had poor gut health. I had absolutely no idea what that meant and the impact that had on his overall health ten years ago. 

The year he started kinder I noticed his left eye moving inwards, then the behavioural changes began, and not too long after that the loss of speech too. This was extremely difficult to witness. My baby couldn't say "mummy I love you" anymore... he couldn't speak. He would hold my head with his two little hands and look me in my eyes and squeeze my head, the frustration and torment in his eyes still pains me to this day. In those moments, the best I could manage was locking myself in my room and crying. 

Not long after, the absent seizures began. Our paediatrician confirmed Epilepsy via an ECG and claimed it was the worst he had seen in 22 years. I felt my legs give way and my breathing stop, I fell to the floor and cried for what felt like days. Epilepsy didn't run in my family or my husbands, and the eventual diagnosis from a neurologist was a complex form of Epilepsy called Epileptic Encephalopathy. 

I went straight into mad-woman mode and spent hundreds of hours trying to find ways to bring my baby back to me. 

The Neurologist put him on a drug called Epilem and in conjunction with pharmaceuticals he went strict paleo, I eliminated preservatives and introduced brain food and good fats. Pete Evans was an immense help in this arena and I credit his knowledge, attending one of his conventions, to helping me restore my son to good health. 

In my heart of hearts I know it was Raphael's body reacting to all the toxins injected into him, coupled with his poor gut health his little body struggled to eliminate what it needed to. 

Fast forward, he is now in grade three and absolutely thriving with no seizures and no pharma meds! We have been able to restore some health and wellness to our son. The road has been (and still is) challenging, but we will be right there by his side every step of the way forward.

I’ll never stop fighting for those that have gone, those that are here and those yet to come.” 💛

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