Surviving Lead Contamination

Lead poisoning is still with us.

I just took Pom in for a repeat test and his numbers are still elevated. His initial number was 13.5 (5 or below is acceptable) and then second test had him at 12 and now we are down to the third test and he's at 11. You might remember this short post back in August when I leaked that our old house, rehab project had brought lead into our life. We have old paint and that's our source, mainly through dust. I had a freak out phase but after a while of grappling I am feeling more confident and steady about the whole topic. I thought it was time to share a little more about it since its become one of the big things that I care about in the last year and I think what I found out might help some other parent out there.

The good thing is, that his contamination is steadily dropping, its so scary and annoying to have this crazy thing hanging over you. I had a short stage this past fall when I was having trouble sleeping at night because of all the terrifying stuff I had read about lead and its effects on the body. I am so relieved to tell you that I quickly realized that approach was helping nobody and focused on reading what helps, what heals and sometimes just on distraction. Not sleeping does not help the body heal from lead. That I can tell you.

I am sharing a list of stuff we have tried any or all of which may have helped. I am one of those, Try All The Things!!!! types of people.  

Here's what we've done:

• Clove oil on the skin
• Vitamin D oil on the skin
• Lots of calcium and iron in the diet
• Iron drops by mouth
• Re-painting as many of the walls as possible
• Chewable Vitamin C by mouth
• Healing prayer (no, really!)
• Added more garlic and cilantro to our diet
• Did Epsom Salt baths (meant to try clay baths but never got around to it)

There is also a hopeful study published a few years ago, about new research showing lead poisoning is not quite as irreversible as once thought. I was really excited to see that kind of information coming out. 

I want to encourage scared parents out there that you can remove lead from the body, there are things you can try, its not a death sentence for the brain, nutrition helps, you're not bad, your kid isn't doomed and nobody hates you. Having lead poisoning is kind of a closet issue, like having bed bugs or something. People think certain things about "the type of person" who deals  with lead poisoning.

Truth: People from all walks of life can have lead toxicity.
Truth: It means nothing about your parenting or your ultimate health as a family.
Truth: You can heal your child.
Truth: Lead can be in your kid and not cause brain damage.

Remember that there was a whole generation before us who used lead paints with impunity and they did not all end up brain damaged and stunted. Doctors who are well meaning can scare the living daylights out of parents. Not everyone has the money or the need to completely rip the house apart for lead remediation, we don't. Covering up the lead paint is helpful and its worth doing.

The big take-away is, hang in there! 

Fruit and Scrub Brushes

Meet one of my new favorite fruits. It looks like an orange (until you see them next to each other) but its not orange...its a minneola! Also known as a tangelo, also known as a Honeybell, also known as a cross between the Duncan grapefruit and the Dancy tangerine.

I'm not a big fan of tangerines...they have this strong, tangeriney flavor that I don't really dig and I dunno, they always have a lot of seeds. I do like grapefruit although I wouldn't imagine it to be the genetic remedy for what I dislike in the tangerine. Seems like you'd get an off flavored, giant, slightly bitter fruit with a hearty tang. Instead...you get a really juicy, sweet, sweet fruit with a thin peel and delicate membranes separating the slices which makes them really tender and yes, again, extra juicy.

I love how rich red the orange is, I love how easily they slice, how briskly they disappear off the serving plate. And seriously, how could you not find that outie bump on the end appealingly cute? They are my new favorite fruit...right up there with the leaf and stem satsumas.

 

Here's a minneola and a regular naval orange, side by side.

And here's a shot of my rubber cleaning gloves and my new scrub brush, my little motivating gift to myself to spur on my cleaning. As I told a friend on facebook yesterday, I feel like quitting the scrub about four times a day BUT...I'm not to be defeated. I've done it all before so I know I can do it now. I'm halfway through! Today the actual scrubbing starts...I dusted high places this morning and have just begun vacuuming all the light fixtures, lampshades and blinds. Whew! See you all on the other side of sneezy!