Rock Star

Do you know our Rock Star? I had an incredibly privileged chance to meet her at the WAPF Conference a few months back. Getting a picture with her was an amazing feat, as she was followed everywhere she went by crowds of people wanting to ask her a medical question about themselves or a loved one. And true to her nature, she would take the time to answer each one. I just wanted to say thank you without erupting into a puddle of tears and snap a picture for the baby book, which I barely managed to do. This is me with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who we most fondly refer to as the doctor who saved Ellie's life. And mine, daddy's, and big sisters. She is the author of GAPS, which combines current science, with been-around-forever science, to create healing science. It is what got Ellie eating - GAPS. And what the entire family is now on. Contrary to what several of my friends keep saying, we are not on a 'diet'. We are on a 'lifestyle change', that is focused on healing us from the inside-out. Each of us will be moving at our own pace through these healing stages, and eventually we hope to be eating just plain 'ole real food.

Here are a couple of other Rock Stars I had the chance to meet.



Sally Fallon is the author of Nourishing Traditions, President of the WAPF, and owner of New Trends Publishing. I had the opportunity to work as a full time volunteer at her New Trends booth at the conference.













This is the booth where I volunteered and assisted another WAPF Rock Star named Agnes Bunagan. She was awarded the 2011 WAPF Activist Award.


Here is a picture of me with Rock Star Sarah Pope, The Healthy Home Economist. This is one kick butt nutrition mama, who also serves on the WAPF board. She is so incredibly petite, that even though I have lost 25 pounds on what I love to refer to as my "Bacon Diet", I still look like a truck standing next to her.

This is as close as I was able to get to Rock Star Dr. Mercola.

Another major Rock Star at the conference was Dr. Thomas Cowan. He was a founding board member of the WAPF, is the author of The Fourfold Path to Healing, and is a well-known anthroposophical doctor who practices holistic family medicine in the San Francisco area. This brilliant MD was followed around the conference in large groups, much like Dr. Natasha. I knew little of him before the conference and did not track him down for a photo. Now a picture seems a little silly, since he is Ellie's new doctor.

hold on.

Did you catch that??? Ellie's new doctor. That's right. Unfortunately Dr. Natasha insists that her practice in Cambridge is full and that I should not fly Ellie there (you know I would). I am just worn out from trying to manage the learning curve we are on, and in need of someone to explain and remind me on those days that my brain is mush (oh wait, that is everyday). So yesterday we had our first appointment with him, and it was amazing.

What made it amazing? Here are some brief highlights:

-During our appointment we spent at least half of our 1-hour appointment with him taking her entire medical history. At no time did he tell me I was crazy, nor did he tell me anything I said was impossible. He understood her severity, and her extreme sensitivity.

-He said she is doing fantastic, especially considering the severity of her damaged little intestines.

-He knows and understands GAPS. In fact, he knows Dr. Natasha very well. Hello!

-He answered our questions thoroughly. (This mama needs things explained, and re-explained sometimes, which I am certain Dr. Natasha can attest to with all of my most obnoxious emails to her with the same question worded fifty different ways.)

-He was not afraid to say that she may not ever eat more foods, and that he couldn't tell me which ones to try next. He reaffirmed that she will continue to heal, and that we would have to just keep trying GAPS legal foods as she progressed.

- He said she will need more time to heal. Perhaps a lot of it.

-He offered ideas to help her progress. Not magic cures, but things to try to see if they will speed up the healing process.

It was a brain-filling day, and I still have a lot to process.

Last night I looked at Ellie's daddy and I said:

We have a doctor for Ellie. A BRILLIANT doctor. Someone I can call, or email, or take her to see when I am doubting and confused. Someone who knows GAPS, understands the hurdles for her healing, and who came along side us. Someone who has examined her, and confirmed that she is nourished on her current diet. I feel like a million bricks have been lifted right off my shoulders.

And I cried.