Fecal Transplant

DISCLAIMER:  Read at your own risk.  I also ask that you read this with an open heart and mind.  As you read, remember that we did and continue to do what we're led to for Landon's highest good.  We take no decisions lightly and approach every aspect of Landon's care from a place of love and respect for his body.  We want him happy, healthy and well!    

I've kept very quiet about some of the methods we've used in Landon's journey to wellness.  I am finally ready to share a little bit about what we've done along the way. 

There has been some stuff in the news the last couple of days regarding Fecal Transplant.  It got me thinking and I decided I was finally ready to put it out there....

We used Fecal Transplant with Landon and I fully believe it's what has helped him more than any other single thing.  It is not fun.  It is gross.  It's a long process of stirring poop for hours.  It requires a lot of expense and time and dry ice and coolers and special equipment and mostly, dedication and determination to get our kid well.  That last part is a given. 

Check out this article about FMT on Huffington Post today.

Many of you knew Landon and I went to Portland, OR at the end of February to see a specialist.  What you may not have known is that the doctor we met with is an ND who specializes in Fecal Transplant.  That trip is a whole other post in it self and will happen at a later time.  I'm still not quite ready to dig up all of that just yet.   

I fully believe Landon would not have achieved the level of healing he has thus far if not for the many fecal enemas he was given.  Can I just say, that boy of ours is freaking amazing! 

SO, there it is.  I have been hesitant about whether or not to share this because I was concerned about what people might think.  I have come to a place now and I honestly feel so damn good about our decision to use FMT.  We read the literature, we asked questions, we prayed, we asked for guidance.  We were brave, we went with our gut (pun intended) and it worked.  Rather, it's working.  There were only a small number of people who knew what we were going to Portland for.  Some thought we were taking a huge risk and I know they weren't on board with our decision.  Some were 110% supportive and encouraged us moment by moment.  Scott and I knew we were making the exact right decision for our child.  That's what mattered most.

Landon still has a long road ahead but little by little, he's making progress.  More than making progress, he's paving a new road for others.  My two year is changing this world and he doesn't even realize it.  Actually, on a sub-conscious level, he knows exactly what he's doing.  He definitely knows a lot more than his Mama! 

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped us travel this path.  I would list names but this would just end up way too long!  You all know who you are. If it weren't for your encouragement and support I'm not sure we would have been able to keep moving along.

My reason for writing this post is to bring awareness.  Fecal Transplant is a real thing and it heals the gut.  It is definitely an avenue I would encourage you to explore if you or anyone you know is suffering from ulcerative colitis. 

 
 

This Kid

My child.

He makes me smile.

A lot.

We were at the store earlier and passed some Diet Mt. Dew. He hollered out, "Yooook! It's Dranma's doh juice!" Followed by, "Dranma yikes doh juice. And chips. Landon will yeave Dranma awyone (alone) when she is eating chips." Cracked me up! Then after we got home he wanted my help with something and I was finishing something else up. He was being very patient then got tired of waiting I guess and said, "Get with the program, Mommy!"

It's been one of those This Day Rocks and I Want It To Last Forever kind of days. I love having my happy boy back.

Teeth

Landon got really silly last night while brushing his teeth. 

Check it out, it's funny stuff!

He wants you all to see his full mouth of healthy teeth!  :-)

Happy Tuesday!

Shaving Cream Paint Party

Here's a look in to our afternoon after all of us got in a nice nap!

We had a shaving cream paint party! Landon is really in to painting and he was so excited to get to play with shaving cream.

All you need is an inexpensive can of shaving cream, a paint brush and water. Bazinga!

Do this with your kids. They will love it and the clean up is super easy!

The Flower Park

He had a play date today at our local garden, Botanica, which Landon calls the Flower Park. What fun!

Landon and his friend Charlie sure do like each other. They fed fish, played in water, watered plants, played in the kitchen area and explored the Butterfly House.  By the end they were holding hands and it was just darling. At one point they went different ways then Charlie walked back to Landon and said "hand" because he wanted to hold hands to walk. So sweet and cute!!

Big thanks to Anne and Amber for inviting us to join your fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Landon-ese

Here's a bit of Landon-ese to start your Wednesday.  Enjoy!

"Mommy!  Say how 'bout your day." {sitting at the kitchen table after I arrived home from work, he wanted me to ask about his day}

ME:  "How was your day today, Buddy?"
LANDON:  {in a very matter of fact tone}  "Better."
[side note:  The previous day had been a rough one]

ME:  "I gotta go to work, Baby.  Will you please give Mama a kiss?"
LANDON:  {speaking very slowly}  "Um, no thank you."

LANDON:  {as I'm cleaning the kitchen, which was a disaster}  "This kitchen is a HOT MESS!  Go find a new house, kitchen mess!"
ME: *laughter*

LANDON:  {just after letting out a loud toot}  "Well hello, Tooter McGavin!"
ME:  *more laughter*

This kid keeps us entertained!

Bedtime

Routines.

We have 'em. 

Songs.

We sing 'em.

One of Landon's favorite bedtime songs right now is If You're Sleepy and You Know It, which I made up and we sing to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It.  He LOVES this song!  Here are the lyrics we sing:

If You're Sleepy and You Know It give a yawn (then we give a very dramatic yawn)

If You're Sleepy and You Know It say your prayers (then we say AMEN!)

If You're Sleepy and You Know It kiss your Mommy (Landon likes to grab my face for this one)

If You're Sleepy and You Know It close your eyes (he closes eyes...when he feels like it)

If You're Sleepy and You Know It go to sleep (I usually sing this part slowly and softly) 
 
He also likes Hush Little Baby and You Are My Sunshine (depressing song so I changed the words to make it happy and positive).
  
What were your favorite songs as a child? 

What songs do you love to sing to your own children?

Couple's Retreat

Husband and I got away over the weekend with one of our favorite couple's.  It went a little something like this.....

We arrived at our hotel, ventured up to the top floor to see the view, went down to the bar for a cocktail, took some photos in front of the fountains then went back up to our room to prepare for our night out! 

We had SO much fun at Power and Light!  We started off at Gordon Biersch for dinner.  Scott had some amazing (NOT!) German Chicken Parmesan.  Dude, don't order chicken parm at a German joint.  The FestBier was deeelish but Scott wouldn't know because he ordered his usual Bud Light.  He was given the appropriate amount of slack for that one.  Thanks Shopes!  It came time to pay and we realized we left our gift certificate back at the hotel.  Guess who had to walk back and get it?  Their names did not begin with M or L!  There was an incident with Wild Turkey but Scott and Fred survived.  Fred almost yakked over the balcony but somehow he pulled through.  I guess it pays to be young!  We danced, laughed, cried (mostly Misty! HA), sang, people watched and thoroughly enjoyed being grown ups without two year old kids for a night. 

Saturday we went to Blanc for lunch.  It's basically an upscale gourmet burger place and it was AH-mazing!  We shopped at Legends and I nearly died.  Ok, not really, but those vodka tonics from the night before did not make my body happy.  Misty is like the frickin' Energizer Bunny and was zipping around like she'd just came out of a winter hibernation or something.  I love that crazy girl!  After shopping and a bit of down time in the van, we headed to the baseball stadium.  We watched the Royals, laughed, cried, people watched and left during the 8th inning, just before they came back to with the game.  Go figure.  We got a quick bite at D'Bronx Deli and were back on the road home.  Fred and I had a "Check-In" war on Facebook, which I'm sure thoroughly annoyed our friends but the four of us got some good laughs out of it.

I want to give a shout out and GIGANTIC THANK YOU to my Mama, Mama-by-love and sister Shan for taking care of the kiddo's while we were away.  You all rock a lot! 

Scott and I really reconnected and got to remember why we're together.  I fell more in love with him over the short 36 hours we were away.  He's fun, loving, kind, considerate and an all around cool dude.  Sometimes we forget to see those things when we're caught up in the daily grind of work and parenting.

Misty and Fred, you two are rare gems and I feel so damn luck to have you in our lives.  You remind me to relax and have fun.  Trust me, I need that reminder.   

 

Bromance at it's finest.

Here we are on the 20th floor of our hotel.  Cool view!

Kettle One martini's for the girls!  Oh yeah!

This was hanging in a window on our walk to Power and Light.  It's paper airplanes suspended with fishing line.  Way cool!  Yes, I am easily entertained!

Misty was all like, "Go over there and I'll take your photo with that flower then you can take mine!  It will be fun!"  Then she didn't let me take hers!

Dinner at Gordon Biersch

FestBier.  YUM!

This is a view of Power and Light from the upper level.  Way cool place!

Self portrait.  What?



I think she's whispering... "It's ok honey, the Wild Turkey will only hurt for a minute".



Goofy guys!

The love of my life.  I'm one lucky girl.

We were GIVEN these tickets to go see Motley Crue, AC/DC and Poison!!!

However, it was only for the Mock bands.

The morning after a night out in Power and Light left us wanting sunglasses.  OH, and you see my necklace?  Yep, it totally says "I heart my bff".  Yes, I realize that it's totally high school.  I don't care.  I totally love it.  Like, totally.  Thank you, Misty!!

Those sunglasses...Misty needed them less than I did. 

The Shopes getting ready to throw down on some burgers!

Here we are at Blanc on the Plaza for lunch Saturday. 

We ordered the cheese curds and OMG...I was in heaven.  The batter was like a funnel cake.  Friggin' awesome!

We also got onion rings and sweet potato fries.  I'm a sucker for anything sweet potato and these did not disappoint.  The little shopping cards were adorable!  It's all in the presentation, Folks! 

We each ordered a beer and had a toast.  I did not want a beer.  Not at all.  But I got one anyway and it was mighty tasty.  Cheers!

It tasted like champagne.  YUM!

Kaufman stadium.  I became a Royals fan that night.  Have you seen their line up?  ;-)

As we arrived we were given these cool hats.  Score!

This was before all the videos that made Misty and I cry.  It was military appreciation night and there were a lot of stories and videos of homecomings and kids at funerals and stuff like that.  Yeah.  We totally cried at a baseball game.

A must have for a baseball game!  Thanks for always keeping it real, Misty!  You remind me to have fun and that's just one of the reasons you're my BFF!  :-)