Jonas Hill
Jonas has had ongoing problems with eczema and allergies since birth. He has also experienced some transient asthma. At 13 years of age he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. He had an acute onset in March ‘04 in conjunction with a wicked 7-day stomach flu. Jonas lost 10 pounds and was weak and lethargic with little appetite. This continued through September 14, 2004 with accompanying pain in the abdomen associated with eating. Prior to his diagnosis the pediatrician recommended a calorie boost shake that was full of sugar (and a bunch of other crap, too!). This hurt his stomach even more. Bloodwork in August 2004 showed a high SED rate and a follow-up colonoscopy in September 2004 confirmed Crohn’s Disease. For one week after the colonoscopy (as we waited for biopsy results) Jonas was on Pentasa, Prevacid, and one other drug. The effect of these was neither good or bad–just seemed to be a lot to be throwing at his system. With biopsy results and the confirmation of Crohn’s Disease came a quick call from the doctor. He recommended an immediate regimen of Prednisone and other drugs. Fortunately, we found Ginny before we found the steroids. On September 14, 2004 we discontinued all meds and began a macrobiotic diet.
The macrobiotic diet has been responsible for Jonas’ healing. It’s hard to measure the associated benefits of the hope offered by this path as well as the sense of control and responsibility for one’s own health. As mentioned, we threw our hats fully in the ring, stopping all meds. The impact was immediate and resounding as Jonas’ stomach stopped hurting day one and his appetite returned with a vengeance. Today, and everyday since, Jonas is the picture of health and weighs 23 pounds more than he did 8 months ago. He has some issues with peer group socializing and his dietary constraints but this beats being on meds, sick, etc.
The conversion of our whole family’s eating to macrobiotics has been tough and may have been impossible without the advice, encouragement, training, and support of Ginny Harper and the Ki of Life Learning Center; but the benefits to Jonas and the whole family have made it more than worthwhile. Anyone who is suffering from Crohn’s, UC, or IBS owes it to themselves to first consider the role of food in causing/healing their disease.
