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I told myself if another post on this subject came up,
I would have to comment and lo and behold look what
shows up. I will try to keep it short.

I have 6 kids. Before my divorce we owned and
operated an organic farm. We have always had a
"healthy" lifestyle and my ex-husband has many issues
with food resulting in his being the biggest food Nazi
alive. Everything was "safe" and "healthy" right down
to the shampoo, toothpaste, cleaning products, etc.
So safe and healthy it was almost insane. Despite it
all, on May 25, 2005 my 8 year old daughter Jossilyn
was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML which
is more rare than ALL to which Hannah Jenner so
recently succombed.) In Aug. 2005, she received a
BMT (bone marrow transplant) courtesy of my 4 year old
daughter Kaylin. We have been very fortunate and she
is doing very well, though it has been a long road to
travel.

My point here is that life is just too damn short.
Despite all the precautions you may take, stuff
happens. I am not usually one to dwell on the
"why"--especially when our focus had to be on getting
her well. But all this discussion insinuates itself
into my brain and tries to make me feel guilty. (OMG
what did I do wrong that caused Jossil to get
cancer?!) That is pointless and unproductive.

If you make a big deal out of food it will become a
big deal. If you don't want your 2 year old
overloading on sugar, just don't have it in the house,
but don't make it "forbidden fruit." Everything in
moderation is fine. It is easy to instill a love of
"good" (read "healthy") food in most kids. After we
moved away from our farm and their father, my kids had
a couple of months of sugar overload. If they wanted
it, I bought it. If they wanted to eat ice cream for
breakfast, I let 'em. But I still have the same
"healthy" habits and buy the stuff we always have. It
soon became a non-issue. Even the 2 and 4 year olds
will turn down ice cream or candy in favor of sliced
tomatoes or cucumbers or grapes, etc.

My children are smart children. I trust them to make
their OWN choices with no qualifiers attached (as in
"good" meaning the choices I want them to make) It is
not always easy having 7 independent people in one
house but I will take it over the alternative.

The path my daughter's cancer took us down gave new
meaning to living in the moment. Things can take a
turn for the worse and in a heartbeat, you are
watching your child deteriorate right before your
eyes. And there really is no rhyme nor reason to it.


Reading about Hannah was tough for me. It could so
easily have been my child. I read the blog. It
brought everything back so clearly. Although protocol
differs for AML and ALL (AML protocol proceeds faster)
Jossilyn received many of the same chemo meds, had the
same reactions, etc. I was very much reminded, IT
COULD HAVE BEEN MY CHILD. And we are not out of the
woods yet. The threat of GVH haunts me, even at this
date. The thought that there could be a relapse never
leaves my mind. It STILL COULD be my child. I think
it is a good thing that I am not a control freak. One
would be a complete basket case.

I have meandered from the topic, I suppose. But I
hope my point has been made.

Marge
mother to Kelsey (14) Jacob (13) Kaleb (11) Jossilyn
(almost 9) Kaylin (4) and Josie (almost 2)




> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 08:31:52 EST
> From: barndogzzz@...
> Subject: Fwd: Food choices
>
> In a message dated 2/27/2006 3:10:18 PM Eastern
> Standard Time,
> starsuncloud@... writes:
>
>
> > Any oil you are eating that isn't IN the food is
> processed in some
> > manner. That's not a bad thing. It takes
> processing to get Olive oil
> > or butter or any other pure fat. That in itself
> does not make
> > something less healthy.
> >
> > ****Well there are exceptions to everything. Ya
> got me there! :o) I guess I
> > should have clarified that a bit more. Obviously,
> to eat butter and olive
> > oil, you have to eat something that has been
> "processed." You can also buy olive
> > oil & butter with pesticides and, etc., OR you can
> buy organic olive oil &
> > butter. I was meaning for example, say, farina,
> (and oatmeal too) you can buy
> > certain brands and they will say their ingredients
> are just plain 100% farina
> > or oatmeal but the way that it's "processed" can
> (maybe not always, but can)
> > leave little to nutrition along with the fact that
> it's "processed" with
> > pesticides as opposed to "processed" organically.
> > > just joined a local hs's food co-op recently
> and I was happy to see when
> > I ordered some farina the label said ".....Organic
> and is complete in every
> > respect. It contains all the wheat germ with it's
> precious oil, all the fiber
> > from the outer bran layer of the wheat and all the
> protein from the inner
> > endosperm." There are other brands that, with
> their processing, may end up
> > stripping the wheat germ of a lot of those
> nutrients.
>
> We are also lucky enough to live near an old mill
> (built back in the late
> 1800s, SO cool) that a local family bought a
> few yrs. back, got it up
> and running again and farms all organic, grinds and
> sells it's own flours,
> oatmeal, herbs, legumes, meat, etc. They also sell
> other local farmers organic
> goods too. Talking to them about what goes on with
> the way that our food source
> is so over processed can be depressing.<big sigh>
> How sad it is.
> Although we have never made the kids eat anything
> they don't like, food has
> been a bit of an issue in our home with this
> wonderful unschooling lifestyle
> and I'm trying to find some balance within it all,
> that is, without making too
> much of a big deal of it to my kids, which is not
> always easy! Kids catch on
> quick don't they! <G>
>
> Nancy
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
>


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mother_bhaer

Despite it all, on May 25, 2005 my 8 year old daughter Jossilyn
> was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML which
> is more rare than ALL to which Hannah Jenner so
> recently succombed.) In Aug. 2005, she received a
> BMT (bone marrow transplant) courtesy of my 4 year old
> daughter Kaylin. We have been very fortunate and she
> is doing very well, though it has been a long road to
> travel.
>
> My point here is that life is just too damn short.
> Despite all the precautions you may take, stuff
> happens.


I'm glad to hear that your daughter is alright now. I think you made
a great point! I believe we need to live a full and enjoyable life
with our children. We, for whatever reason, have been given life and
it should be lived to the fullest. I almost think we have some
responsibility to live life that way.

If we are always thinking of whether something is organic or natural
enough we might be (I did say might) wasting some of that precious
time we have.

Thank you for posting your personal experience.
Terri