The Lord is good. He led us through the darkest hours. No….I should say, He carried us through……we hardly managed to walk.

Our little lovely Melody is now 18 months. When I was pregnant with her, my body condition was very weak because of Candida yeast. Therefore, as expected, Melody’s health was affected. It did not show at first, not until she was almost 3 months old.

At that time, little red spots started to show on her cheeks. As it got worse and spread to her forehead, I started thinking maybe it’s allergic reaction. I first tried to eliminate common allergens like diary from my diet and thought she would be fine again soon once I figured out what she’s allergic to. However, it’s not as easy as I thought. Her condition grew worse, and on some days she flared up really bad. She seems to be allergic to everything. It was face eczema and then there were some patches on her tummy and legs as well, though not as severe as her face. The photos you see below are already not the worst days of Melody. Taking the camera out would be the last thing that we would think of doing during those days….

Since Melody started to know how to scratch around 4 months old, things got more complicated and we got more miserable. As we would find her face all bloody even if we failed to keep her from scratching for just a few minutes. Since then, we had to struggle between chores, cooking, school work and 24 hrs surveillance on her. The other children had to take turns as well guarding her hands from scratching. At night, me and Derek have to take turns staying up to make sure she did not scratch, thus we only got half the sleep. Derek gets a little more sleep as he has to go to work. But his “extra” sleep had to be on the couch with Melody in his arm. During those worst times, she had to be tied up by receiving blankets because her hands were just faster than we could response.

People’s hearts ached when they saw Melody. We were even asked if her face was burnt.

We are so thankful that Melody’s condition is so much better after her first birthday. We do not need to bundle her up that much as a few scratches would not make her bloody anymore. And as she’s more curious about her surroundings now that she does not scratch as much. Thus, she finally develop her mobile skills by moving around on her bum! Yes, she did not start by rolling over or crawling or sitting up by herself. =)

She’s still reacting to lots of food, therefore, there are still good days and bad days. However, the days are much more enjoyable now!

We can only offer our thanks to God, for His grace and mercy, and to others who pray earnestly for Melody. We are amazed how God connects us with other Christians through this difficult time.

So why didn’t God heal Melody completely in a blink? We have no answers to that. But we trust that, in God, everything has a purpose. Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” And before Melody was born, I was almost thinking she will be just another baby, we will handle her okay, we will just do this and that and everything will be fine. Well, Melody has her way telling me she’s not just another baby. She’s special from day 1. She is the baby I pushed for the longest time during labor. And she’s the baby who stay in my arms for the longest time, even more than our first baby. I do appreciate the special bonding between Melody and I today, though it’s been really tough….really tough….

Melody is now very sweet and fun and adorable, we all enjoy her so much every day wih laughters. Thanks so much again for praying for her. I do not know how to express my appreciation for all your caring hearts. Please keep praying for her complete healing, as she is still on a very restrictive diet and still flares up from time to time though on a much lower degree.

We did try a lot of remedies and supplements, but honestly, we do not exactly know what is working and what is not.

However, I do want to share what we did here, as some of the information might be helpful to someone. Besides relieving her itchiness, building up her immune system is our goal. We did not do all these things together at the same time, but different combinations at a certain time period.

Food Intolerance Blood Test

First, we need to figure out what she’s sensitive to. It can be anything, like chemicals and material in clothing, furniture, and particles in air, and anything in any household cleaning and laundry products and skin care products. For these things, we can only do our best to go for all natural products. There’r blood tests that can be done like ALCAT, besides expensive, it just cannot cover all. Last but not least, is the food. In the beginning, I thought it would just be wheat or dairy, some easy to detect thing. However, I spent months and just couldn’t figure out. Then we finally decided to spend $500 dollars to pay for a blood test called Hemocode. We were really desperate. And Derek was out of job at that moment thus we were not covered for this cost. Well, at least we found out she’s even sensitive to garlic, rice, lemon among many other things that we wouldn’t think of. However, to be honest, it was just a basic list to start with. There were still other things that I needed to add to that list to keep her well like sugar, too starchy things…etc.

There are other kinds of tests that can detect food intolerances as well. However, we found blood test the most netural as in not contraditing our believes and convictions.

Apply on Skin

Coconut oil with Garlic & Tea Tree oil – It is very nourishing for the skin as well as killing bacteria and promote healing. It worked beautifully for me, but Melody was reacting to it so I had to stop applying it on her. Later, we did find out that she is allergic to Garlic through blood test.

Concentrated Herbal tea – I made tea of burdock, comfrey, plantain and yarrow. Then I damped pieces of Bounty with the tea and put them on her face to relieve her and promote healing of her wounds.

Dead sea salt & grapefruit seed extract – dead sea salt is very rich in minerals that nourish the skin and ease pain. Magnesium, said to have amazing skin healing properties, is also known for accelerating cell metabolism. The salt also exfoliates dead skin cells, acts as a strong skin treatment as it rubs away the layer of dead skin cells that sits atop your skin. Besides, it cleans our skin by gently abrading the skin, picking up oils and dirt from skin pores. And the salt stimulates blood circulation and removes toxins as well. For this, I also damped pieces of Bounty to put on her face.

Salve – It is the Amazing Salve that I made myself, click here to know more.

Coconut oil – it softens the skin, protects it against damage and infection, promotes healing to wounds, blood blisters, rashes, etc. It helps to keep connective tissues strong by preventing destructive free-radical formation and provides protection against them, so that the skin doesn't sag and wrinkle, thus a more youthful and healthy appearance. It can also help to keep the skin from developing liver spots, and other blemishes caused by aging and over exposure to sunlight. Coconut oil will absorb easily, penetrate into the deeper layers of the skin, keep the skin soft, and yet without feeling greasy. It will help to reduce chronic skin inflammation within days.

Calendula salve – And I also specially put in calendula to our homemade salve. Calendula has wonderful healing properties on skin wounds and any other skin conditions. It soothes our skin as well.

Take Internally

Cod liver oil – Good source of DHA and EPA (Omega-3), vitamin A, and vitamin D, which leads to healthy skin, strong bones and teeth, healthy joints, healthy cardiovascular system, healthy nervous system, prevention of depression and other mood disorders, and a healthier digestive tract. I started giving this to Melody when she’s around 6 months old. However, since she seemed to react to it, it only lasted for around 2 weeks.

Coconut oil – It strengthens the immune system as it contains antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid which have antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties. It kills viruses that cause influenza, measles, hepatitis, herpes, etc. It kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, etc. And it is effective on fungi and yeast that cause candidiasis, ringworm, athlete's foot, thrush, diaper rash, etc. Moreover, it helps in improving the digestive system and thus prevents problems like irritable bowel syndrome. Coconut oil also helps in absorption of other nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

Evening Primrose Oil – includes linoleic acid (LA) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which both belong to the omega-6 family of fatty acids.  It can help relieve eczema symptoms including itching, crusting, edema (fluid, swelling), and redness.

Colostrum – It contains a lot of different types of anti-oxidants. It also contains antibodies against allergens, contains IgE binding factors which suppress IgE expression, so it can prevent or inhibit allergic reactions. Moreover, it is good for skin health. It helps maintain skin health from the inside, by healing leaky gut syndrome and through its antioxidant effect. And also externally, by healing skin inflammation and stimulating cell growth with its growth factors.

Probiotics – a lot of health issues start within our guts. Keeping good bacteria inside our guts is a very important step towards healing or maintaining our health.

Coconut Water Kefir – Coconut water is very rich in dietary fiber, potassium, calcium and Vitamin C. When it is added to kefir, a natural probiotic, it becomes highly beneficial to the digestive track. It aids digestion and cleanses the liver, thus good for the skin among many other benefits.

Vitamin D – – It is crucial for the absorption and metabolism of calcium and phosphorous, which have various functions, especially the maintenance of healthy bones. And It also strengthen the immune system.

Mangosteen juice – rich in vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, B1, B2, B6, potassium, iron, and calcium. It is also very rich in xanthones and antioxidants.

Sea Buckthorn oil and juice – it is very rich in vitamin C, good for healing. And it also contains flavonoids and other antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin E and beta-carotene that help the body fight free radicals. Contains omegas 3, 6, 7, 9 that promotes healthy skin, hair, and lots of other benefits as well. It is also rich in proteins and free amino acids, and other elements like nitrogen, phosphorous, iron, manganese, boron, calcium, aluminum, silicon and others.

Chia seed – Since Melody’s diet is very restrictive, I just need to find ways to boost her nutrition. For this seed, there’s more calcium than milk, more vitamin C than oranges, more antioxidants than blueberry, more omega-3 fatty acid than salmon, more iron than spinach, more magnesium than broccoli, and loads of protein and fiber.

Bath : Epson salt, baking soda, herbs (burdock, comfrey, plantain), dead sea salt