A mother called our office in tears, explaining that her 7-year old daughter, Melanie, was so sick after having her tonsils out that she feared for her life! She didn’t know what to do so she was calling us. We set up an appointment for her as soon as possible and the morning of her appointment the mother called again and said she couldn’t bring her daughter into the office because she was so sick so she was cancelling her appointment. I encouraged the mother to come in without her daughter because I was convinced that naturopathic medicine would do something for her daughter.

Without seeing the child, based on the history provided to me by the mother, I prescribed a few simple naturopathic remedies including a very strong professional probiotic called HMF forte containing over 14 billion organisms of four strains of acidophilus and bifidus. Within days the child was feeling better after being so sick for many weeks, and one week later Melanie came in with her mother as she was well enough then. The child was still ill, but eating better and the pain in her throat was gone. In another two weeks the child was totally well and back to school and very glad to be feeling well after so many months of illness.

I explained to the mother that the antibiotics that had been prescribed to Melanie for years before and after her tonsillectomy were what had really compromised the health of her daughter. I asked if she had breast fed Melanie for any length of time and she said for 3 months. This was not an adequate time to instill the proper bacteria into Melanie’s intestinal tract. Breast milk is the perfect food to promote the growth of bifidus bacteria in the intestinal tract of babies along with having a vaginal birth. If either of these does not happen then the immune system in the intestinal tract is compromised and these children go on to have recurrent ear infections and upper respiratory infections that are repeatedly treated with antibiotics. This further reduces the healthy flora in the intestinal tract and the vicious cycle repeats. Removing the tonsils does not treat the cause of the problem, it only temporarily treats the symptoms. These children may then go on to suffer from digestive disorders or other allergic disorders such as asthma.

I had Melanie stop drinking cows milk and switched her to almond milk which she really enjoyed. She was also keen to drink the Greens First powder mixed with a little juice. This provided for her the equivalent daily intake of the antioxidants of 5 fruits and vegetables, because her diet was not always adequate. I also emphasized daily protein intake to increase her weight and stamina and to train her taste buds away from sweets. Food allergy testing was done to determine other foods that might be undermining Melanie’s immune system.

Naturopathic medicine is really very simple. Boost the immune system by improving the intestinal tract, remove obstacles to cure, in this case food allergies and antibiotics, and replace deficient nutrients such as antioxidants and protein. This approach no doubt saved Melanie years of suffering. Melanie was so happy she was back to school that she made me a beautiful “thank you” card!