Hello my name is Elisa. I am a stay-at-home mom of twin toddler girls, Isla & Scarlett and one-month-old girls, Hope & Grace. I love to make things from crafts to all kinds of baking treats and home-cooked meals so that I know what's going into my family’s bellies.
My inspiration for this blog is my daughters Isla, Hope, and Grace. When Isla was born we noticed there was something different about her. Her feet were incredibly swollen to the point that they were almost white. She was tested for Turners Syndrome as well as many other things, but everything came back negative. However, I knew there was
something that was being missed. My husband and I took her to specialists, and we were basically told that I was just a "first time mom" and there was nothing wrong with my child. The swelling in her lower extremities only seemed to get worse, and it was very obvious she was in pain. I refused to give up; my husband and I were determined to find out why our baby girl was in so much pain so we could help her. With the help of my mom, sister, and cousin we continued to do our own research. After months of looking, we stumbled across the same article about a little boy in Britain with Milroy’s disease. I read the article, and it was like reading our stories of research to find out what was wrong, and I had to even do a double take on some of the pictures because they looked like my Isla. What a relief; I finally felt like we were starting to get somewhere! I was able to do some research, and then emailed the links to my daughter’s pediatrician. She immediately had us proceed as if we had the official diagnosis and began to help us get appointments with the right doctors.
Once we started seeing the right doctors it seemed like we were heading in the right direction. First, we got her in with a physical therapist at Northern Arizona Rehabilitation & Fitness center. She began seeing her therapist Sheryl, twice a week. She started off with aquatic therapy then went to massage therapy. Next we got her into see a pediatric dermatologist, and it was there that we got her diagnosis!!! What an answer to prayer! We still needed to get her into see a genecist. We are still waiting for that appointment but are hopeful that we will get it soon.
I came across a Facebook page for people with lymphedema (a side affect of Milroys) and joined the group. Through that group called lymphedema I was able to get some more information and talk to people about what my daughter was going through. Since she was old enough to talk and verbalize her pain, it was a blessing to be able to talk to people on this site. It was through talking to people on this site that I learned about the RAD diet. I was able to come up with lists of foods that she could and couldn't have. These were foods that helped with inflammation. However, in my research I wasn't able to come cross recipes to go along with the diet.
Because of this, I would like to share the recipes I come up with for other people struggling with lymphedema. As a stay-at-home mom of twins and with just my husband’s income, things can get tight, not everything we need to help the girls is covered by insurance, and let's be honest a little extra income couldn't help with four kids! I decided that I would make a blog and write in it the recipes I make for the girls. Along with those recipes, I will share how she responded to the things I made as well as updates as to how they are progressing. That was how I made the decision to charge for people to get the recipes. I came up with $2 a month and you will get my recipes and from time-to-time pictures of my beautiful girls.
