To DAN Or Not To DAN

That is the question.  

Today we went to the DAN Dr. in the gorgeous hills overlooking the beautiful St. Helena wine country.  It was worth the trip for the drive and the view.  And the Dr. was nice.  She has 3 kids on the spectrum and only charges enough to cover her receptionist and insurance.  Compared to others, she has incredibly reasonable prices (but still quite a chunk of my budget by the time you add it all up).  It is quite clear she truly believes in what she does and practices what she preaches with her own family.  She doesn't do chelation, which I would not consider anyway. Oh, but what a commitment this all is!

Gluten Free?!?  That's all Kai eats!  I tried it...in the before time...and it was torturous.   He will starve himself to death.  Perhaps that's an exaggeration, perhaps not.  I'm serious.  I am so stressed out even thinking about it that my hair is falling out, I'm breaking out in hives and my eyes are bulging out of my head.  OK, maybe some hysteria there, but gheeze, what am I going to do?  I've already invested too much not to give this a serious attempt.  But you don't know how much gluten free food I have bought and cooked, only to throw it in the trash, or eat it myself (Yuck!  I agree, Kai).

Next come the labs.  Can't wait to hold my screaming child down while the suck his blood out, all too slowly.  Then the supplements, thankfully many are available in creams, but all are pricey.  And then the waiting and watching, trying to guard against seeing what I want to see, instead of what is actually happening.

Am I really doing this?  I guess I am.  I don't want to wonder forever if it would have made his life easier and his struggles milder.  I know he doesn't eat well, so in some sense, these supplements are bound to help.  If I haven't seen amazingly accelerated progress within 6 months, I can always stop.  

What do I have to lose...besides my money, my sanity, and the ease of feeding my family.  OK, that was ridiculous, it's already impossible to feed Kai, there has never been any easy way about it.  But, after all this, I may be happy to go back to our current level of difficulty. 

Or...maybe...just maybe, it will work.  And we will all live happily ever after.  That happens sometimes, right?