How did a working mum embark on the science of nutritional immunology?

As  a working mum, it's always a challenge to balance between family and work. Especially when my daughter is sick, there are tons of projects and deadlines to meet, posed to be both mentally and physically staining.

Throughout my daughter's first 4years of childhood, Sher had been hospitalised once and 3 cases of high fever.

If you were with me back in 2010, you would have felt the sense of helplessness i had. Sher was only 8months old, had a sudden fever, diarrhea and was crying non-stop in the middle of the night. She was not taking any feed for almost 2 days and show no signs of recovering after a visit to the GP. So we decided to bring her to see the PD and blood test shown she was diagnosed with salmonella infection. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. Immediate arrangement was made to be hospitalised as there were signs of dehydration and had to be put on drips. Thankfully, Sher was recovering well & was discharged on the 3rd day. During these 3days, i had to get my colleague to cover my work while i also brought work to the hospital & taking care of Sher at the same time.

So far Sher was in good hands until Feb 2013, she was having a high fever and i have to leave her under the care of my mother as i need to be away for a day trip for business.

As a mother, all i could do when my daughter was sick is to call home and asked my mom if my daughter is okay. I could not monitor her temperature every hourly and be there to take care of her personally. That evening when i reached Singapore and called home, i was told her fever had shot up very high and they are on the way to the A&E at KKH. I had to take a cab down to meet them at the hospital. We were at the A&E till almost 4am to ensure her fever had subsided before we could go home. I had to apply for urgent leave the next day as i was too exhausted to go to work.

Fast forward to Feb 2014, Sher was recovering from a bout of high fever, cough and runny nose when I had to travel for business trip again. On the day i was about to fly back, i had called home and was informed her condition had taken for the worst. I had to make several phone calls to arrange for my parents to bring my daughter to meet me at the clinic. Again, i have to take a cab and rush down the moment i touched down Singapore.

During these periods, I had made many trips shuttling between GPs, PD, A&E and even tried traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). I had to prepare the medications in syringes in the morning before going to work and keep them in the fridge as my mom couldn't read the fine print on the syringe and we were worried about overdose of medications. I even had to do up a chart to keep track of the medications Sher had to take in the morning, afternoon and evening. Sher was even tasked to help my mom to monitor and put a tick in the box. Imagine at 4year old, she is able to read the names of the medicines she is taking and its purposes.

To add on, from May to July 2014, Sher had a series of ulcers outbreak in her mouth and had to be sent home for observations almost every week as the school were worried about HFMD.

However, every time when I visited the doctor to get the clearance letter to state that she is fit to go back to school, I never had a clear answer to my queries, Does she has HFMD?

I spoke to a friend whom is a scientist, GPs, PD and even the pharmacist, I get mixed replies like Oh, its not HFMD as she do not complaint of any pain, discomforts, no blisters etc. Some replied its very mild HFMD as its not full blown with the blisters.

As a mother, I refused to believe that she has HFMD as its only ulcers (and nothing else!). While I understand there is no medications for this, I just wanted something that could prevent her from having this ulcers outbreak. Recommendations include taking Vitamins B, C with Zinc etc that could boost her immune system do not help at all.

What make it worst is that while caring for her, I also fall sick consecutively and I lost my voice twice in 6 months! I was so sick of falling sick. By May 2014, I have already used up all the medical claims for the entitlement in the whole year.

Any parents reading this can relate what i was going through during these period?

After her first high fever in 2013, her respiratory systems becomes very sensitive and we have to be careful with what she eats. A visit to the ENT specialist and a skin prick test shows negative and recommendations include taking anti allergy medications like Zytec and nasal sprays - Nasonex every day.

I read the labels that nasal spray contains corticosteroid and prolong period of usage will cause side effects such as slowed growth in children. 

I have expressed my concern to my PD and ENT specialist, but the answers were tantamount; "don't worry, its not harmful as the dosage were relatively low, the child will outgrow hopefully."

Feeling despair, I decided to stop the recommendations, follow ups with ENT specialists and follow my own instinct that medications is not helpful as it only a suppressant. Sensitive respiratory system is not life threatening and I choose to be more careful of her diet and lifestyle.

Fortunately through my friend, Anlinna from wholesome superfood introduced the science of nutritional immunology to me.

I truly agree that there is a wisdom in the science of Nutritional Immunology, that the only way to stay healthy is through nutritional immunology lifestyle, nourishing our immune system with the correct nutrients from wholesome plant food.

What saved my daughter's medical fees?

This is only part of the medications that I kept at my house, not forgetting I have another set to prepare at my mom's place.

My family and I have benefitted greatly from this wonderful science. My daughter is healthier now and ulcer outbreak has come down tremendously and stopped. Recovery period is also shorter and faster. We haven't seen a doctor since Jul'14. I'm very happy to say that her days of missing from school are a past. I have also learnt to be a wiser consumer, giving my family what is really good for them.

I hope through my sharing, more parents here would be able to learn about the science of nutritional immunology lifestyle and enable their child to grow up healthy and unlease their potential & capabilities.

To know more on the science of nutritional immunology & lifestyle, do contact me at 9843-4599 for a non-obligatory discussion / consultation.

Thanks,
Karen Lim
9843-4599