If you recall, the past several weeks we have been conducting Gluten Free Experiment to see if taking gluten out of his diet would help our six year old, Malachi, get his chronic eczema under control. And if you also recall, I had quite a variety of emotions that went along with this experiment. It is so much fun to be an emotional basket-case.  Bleh.

Here’s a quick recap of Malachi’s history:

• Malachi has a chronic case of eczema and has suffered with this since he was 2 months old.
• Malachi is now six years old and while the problem seemed to have been a little more under control (as in, he’s not covered from head to toe anymore), the past few months have been more difficult for him. (You can read this post to learn what we’ve experimented with and changed at our house as we’ve tried to let his body heal with and without drugs.)
• In March of this year, I felt convicted to try a Gluten Free Diet for him to see if perhaps he was having a hard time digesting gluten. It didn’t sound fun, but we decided to go for it. Thus began the Gluten Free Experiment. 

Here are a few things we learned during the Gluten Free Experiment:

• Malachi is a trooper.  We knew this already, but we were so proud of how he handled not being able to eat gluten for several weeks.
• Eating Gluten Free isn’t the end of the world.  Several of you suggested that it’s best to focus on what you can eat, not on what you can’t. I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. There are SO MANY foods you can eat that are naturally gluten free.
• For  years I’d been wanting to expand the variety of grains we consume, but had either been too lazy or too intimidated to go for it.  This experiment forced me out of my whole wheat comfort zone. I am now having a lovely time playing with brown rice flour, millet and buckwheat, and hope to continue learning more. In addition, I think we all know that I am now addicted to coconut flour, which isn’t a grain at all, but a wonderful, healthy flour with great potential in baking.
• It really doesn’t have to be expensive to eat gluten free. We simply changed some of the foods we were eating to conduct this experiment, and I did not notice an increase in our grocery budget. Now, if I were going to buy gluten free bread (for $6.50/loaf) and gluten free baking mixes (for $3.50/box), then it would be expensive. But by cooking and baking from scratch, our gluten free grocery budget did not increase.

But the main thing we learned during our Gluten Free Experiment is that:  Eating Gluten Free did not help Malachi even a little bit.

Am I relieved? No, but yes, but no not really. Some answers would really be nice.

In the meantime, we took him back to our trusted chiropractor who has been helping us since Malachi began this trial as a baby. He’s helping to cleanse and strengthen Malachi’s liver, which seems to be showing signs of weakness again (this is something that seems to be the root cause of his eczema). As always, there is no quick fix, but we’re thankful to have a loving doctor closeby that cares for our children.

HOPE

Also in the meantime, we learned of a Bio-Chemist in Wisconsin who has helped treat people with this, and other kinds of illnesses. While we’ve known for many years that eczema truly isn’t a skin issue, but the result of something going wrong inside the body, particularly with digestion…we’ve not really known where exactly to turn. This is one reason we tried the Gluten Free Experiment, to see if that would help his digestion.

We’ve been in touch with the Bio-Chemist and soon we will be going through her program, which is designed, by the grace of God, to heal Malachi’s digestive system so that all parts of his body can work properly and so that toxins can be eliminated the way they are supposed to be eliminated, instead of through his skin.

After six years, and a particularly trying few months, I can’t tell you how good it feels to have hope. This program won’t be easy, it won’t be cheap, but we don’t care. (Well, we do care, but you know what I mean.)  We just want Malachi’s body to heal.

And so, with that, I’ll say thank you to all of you who have emailed and left comments of encouragement. I’ll try to keep you posted as we go along with this and as I learn more. I’ll also ask you to continue to pray for healing for Malachi, and to praise God with us that we have hope and that He always provides the help that we need!