Today, I went and saw Dr. C who will be supervising my treatment with helminths.
If you, Dear Reader, are like most people, then you must be wondering what kind of freaky weirdo I am that I would consider voluntarily becoming infested with a parasite. It's such an extreme and horrible idea, especially for Americans who are engaged on the path of trying to live in an abiotic world.
If having parasites seems extreme and horrible, then consider the idea of never eating food ever again. This is where we are at with my eight year old daughter. She has a supposedly rare disease called eosinophilic esophagitis. It's an autoimmune disease where the cells of her esophagus are attacked by her own blood cells, called eosinophils. It's extremely painful and debilitating and the treatment is not eating foods to which the body reacts. For my daughter, that is most foods. She is down to eating next to nothing, only soymilk pancakes with soymilk to drink. She is extremely thin and barely growing, weighing 46 pounds now at eight years and three months of age. She has tested positive for about 18 common foods, but beyond that, she is reactive to many, many more and simply will not eat them. The lives of everyone in our family are profoundly affected by her disease. We have explored the research on helminths and are pursing treatment for her. I was thrilled to find out I could be treated too on the same trip.
My husband and I are both people with severe allergies. I am very allergic to trees and grasses and to a lesser extent dust and mold. He is extremely allergic to dust and mold primarily and also trees and grasses. I get severe reactive asthma and non-stop sinus infections from my allergies. I have been on prednisone for months at a time. I am now at the point of being sick pretty much all the time. I have no energy from my body fighting off dust, mold, and pollen. I take medication 365 days a year and I am not well, despite it. I have gotten worse and worse for over 30 years now. I cannot cut grass or garden in the spring, I cannot have windows open, the tissues of my nasal passages are swollen shut permanently. I now have horrendous migraine headaches.
