The day the third doctor shook his head at me in dismay because I would not fill the steroid prescription, I went home and did what I should have done the first time I ever heard the word eczema: I did some research. I read every eczema site I could find on the internet. I bought every book they referenced. That is how I first came across the Body Ecology Diet. I was reading a book about the use of probiotics. I went to the Body Ecology website and I liked what I saw. It just made sense to me and I liked the idea of addressing our son's issues from the inside as I always thought that creams were like putting a band aid on an open artery. I knew after many failed hopes that there was a big chance this diet was not going to work any better than anything else we had tried, but so many of the foods were foods our son could still eat that I figured it was actually a diet made for us....

 I read the book and subscribed to the newsletter. For a few months, we were on our own, and it was like reaching for cans in a dark pantry!!!! I got really good at the food combining, but our diet was extremely boring and limited.  I wasn't sure how to get young coconuts in a small town and the cultured veggies were making my son's face turn red. Then our life turned when an article in the Body Ecology newsletter featured CBE Jennifer Boddie and her yahoo group for a raw antiviral body ecology diet. I joined right away and she, in turn, lead me to Bedrok. It was an amazing turning point for us. Thanks to the other moms and CBEs on the site, I started to learn alternative ways of cooking and our food started to TASTE better. I learned about foods I didn't even know existed, foods that my son had never been exposed to and therefore was not allergic to. Meals were fun again and I realized that happiness is a big part of healing!!!!!!

We began to see results from the diet, and even experienced some weeks free of eczema, but flares were still dramatic and covered a huge area of his body. A loop came up about enemas. I did my usual research and learned that enemas and colonics had been used effectively in the treatment of food allergies and skin disorders. I was nervous, but I had this huge new circle of friends and they were there to talk me through it. I bought the equipment, and one night when the eczema flared, I just gave it a try, following all the steps I had learned from the moms who went before me. The next day, my son woke up without any flare and for the first time in a year, the dark circles were gone from his eyes. My husband had been concerned and skeptical about his young son going through such a procedure, but the results were so fast and so obvious, we were both quickly converted to the belief that this old fashioned remedy should never have gone out of use!!! It if had not been for Bedrok, I don't know if I ever would have become aware of this, and I don't think I would have had the guts to try it on a toddler!!!!

Our son is three now. Most days, you would never know he has eczema where this time last year, people were afraid to put their kids in the pool with him. In less than a year, he went from eczema that covered him almost entirely to a healthy, vibrant, shiny faced boy. We never filled the prescription for the steroids and we do not use them. The results on my son's skin are from careful, plodding work and the support of my new found friends from all over the world!! Women I may never meet reached out to me and kept me going and gave little suggestions that would change the whole course of things! Our allergist tells us that our son could not be better if we had him on the steroid and he is amazed at the results. I always say that a group of moms managed to heal my son when the doctors could not.

Our battle with allergies is not over. There are still some stubborn itchy spots and our son is still allergic to a huge list of things...but we have slowly started to bring foods back into his diet. Right now, we feel really hopeful that the sky is the limit!!!!!

I am pretty strong, but I could not have done this alone. This group is not just about a diet, it is a safety net that lifts you back into the air every time you fall, or tells you to hold on every time you want to fall. It is a very special and amazing place and we feel so blessed to have found it. 

Joe and Angie Flanagan