Hashimoto's Diagnosis

I've been a little quiet for the past week because our family has been absorbing a new diagnosis for Samuel.  Last week he was officially diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis Disease (Hashi's for short).  It's another autoimmune disease, like Type 1 Diabetes, where your body attacks healthy cells, but in the thyroid instead of the pancreas.  It's fairly common for it to happen to T1 diabetics because their immune system's wires are already crossed, so to speak. Fortunately we caught this in it's early stages.

The good news is that there are some known foods and chemicals that can trigger the antibodies to form and attack, so we're adjusting our diet even more to help with his Hashi's. We already avoid most of the food triggers because they overlap/complement our low carb method of treating T1 diabetes, with the exception of dairy.  Dairy is the #2 biggest Hashi's food trigger, so this will be an adjustment for us.  At this point we're doing so cautiously as we learn because dairy, like for most people, is our main source for calcium.

We're in the beginning phases of research so I don't claim to be an expert by any means.  But we will take the same approach with Hashi's as we do with his T1 diabetes... and that is to provide the very best care based on science and common sense... not necessarily what mainstream medicine has taught for decades.  If we can avoid cell damage by avoiding certain foods/chemicals, we will.  If and when we have to switch to hormone medicines, we will.  Our goal will be to achieve thyroid levels within normal ranges, or preferably, optimal thyroid ranges.  We will adjust whatever necessary, as a family, to ensure he stays happy, healthy and thriving. 

Many future recipe posts will likely be dairy free (DF).  I've been in the process this past week of looking for new recipes (why reinvent the wheel!) as well as converting some of mine to DF.  As I learn more about this disease, along with how it affects our T1 diabetes care, I will be sure to post updates.

For those interesting in learning more about Hashimoto's here is a link to a doctor who came most recommended to me from trusted T1 diabetic / Hashimoto friends:

https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/hashimotos-and-thyroid-antibodies/ 

Test To Be Safe

Samuel had an Endo appointment last Monday and we ended up running errands all day. We stopped at Ruby Tuesday for dinner because its easy on his blood sugar and consistent.  He gets a plain chicken breast, grilled zucchini, and the garden bar where he mostly gets raw veggies, baked cheese crisps (like Moon cheese), and sunflower seeds. 

I had a Diastix out that I was using to test my Diet Coke (that he was also sipping on).  Midway through his meal he asked if he could use a Diastix to test his zucchini. I wasn't sure if he'd remember how I test food for glucose, but sure enough, he did it completely on his own.  {Proud Mama moment!}

From asking before, I know the zucchini is grilled with a butter sauce and I tell the wait staff no sugar (just to be safe), so I expected no glucose detection, but guess what?  There was some reaction to the Diastix - just a bit, but it was visible.  He didn't spike so I'm sure it was the same as always... I was just surprised because I had never tested it. 

I was so happy to see him take the initiative and see how important it is to know for sure and not assume something is safe.  And he was so excited that he thought to test something that Mommy hadn't!