Back in February of 2000, our daughter developed type 1 diabetes. A virus swept through town that year and while most kids who got the virus fought it off with no aftereffects, she wound up in the ICU at Egleston’s Children’s Hospital with a damaged pancreas and type 1 diabetes. Today she is 11 years old and as a result of her diabetes we have watched her diet very closely.

But when she turned 8 other problems started occurring. In the third grade she developed the first signs of arthritis and at 9 she began having trouble breathing. By age 10 she was using Albuterol every day to support her breathing and daily doses of Motrin to manage her joint pain. And in the fall of her tenth year she developed hypothyroid disease. The poor kid was just falling apart in front of our eyes.

I remember during Christmas break of 2008 she was in such pain that she couldn’t even comfortably sit through a family movie. She limped and rarely ran anymore. She was always wringing her hands because they always hurt. I think because we had been dealing with a chronic illness – diabetes – I was not as aware of her steady decline as I might otherwise have been. But then there was this moment when I looked at her and I thought to myself, oh my goodness SHE IS REALLY IN TROUBLE.

The next day I began searching frantically for new answers. She already had nine doctors, but none of the medications were making her better. Instead she was rapidly deteriorating.

To make a very long story short, through a network of health professionals we were directed to Dr. Susan Tanner, who took one look at our child and knew that she was in serious trouble. She recommended a complete battery of tests to try and uncover some root causes behind the physiological breakdown. First among her findings were severe environmental and food allergies. She immediately put us on a program of allergy-free foods and also sent us to mold specialist, Dr. Donald Dennis.

With the guidance of these two doctors we took drastic steps to heal our daughter.
First we created a completely safe environment for her and then we put together an allergy-free food plan. We eliminated all the foods that she was allergic to and we planned all of her foods according to a 4-day rotation plan.

It has been just over a year since beginning this journey and now she is so much brighter and happier and healthier. She still has diabetes, but very little signs of arthritis or asthma. It has been months since she need pain medication or Albuterol for her breathing. It is so wonderful to see her just being happy again.

Terri Teague, Atlanta, Georgia