Believing in miracles

As we journey through the beautiful and complex experiences of human life, we all take our turns at encountering difficult challenges, some of which shake us to our very core.  Whether it's a major health issue, a heartbreaking loss, a drastic and unexpected change, or an earth-shattering revelation, when we find ourselves facing such life-altering moments, it can feel like they might just swallow us whole. Sometimes in these situations, our overwhelmed hearts give into despair, and we curl into a ball and retreat from the world for awhile, lost and afraid. Sometimes, though, the human heart musters up remarkable courage and resilience, and finds deep within it an unending hope that wills things to somehow be different. Today I want to share a truly inspiring story of a beautiful woman and her family, who walked straight into one of life's most fearsome realizations with bravery and love, and emerged on the other side of a miracle.

This the story of Erica (Holmes) Harris, as told by Kara Hoffman in an article at SooToday.com:

Erica Harris is one of those gals you just don’t forget ...
Full of life, smart as a whip, gorgeous inside and out.
She’s married to the perfect guy, Harley, and has two of the cutest boys, ages 5 and 2.
She is amazingly passionate about health and wellness and previously served as a bustling chiropractor.
She is a dedicated Mama, living life on the North Shore to its fullest.

That is, until this spring when a routine blood test raised immediate panic.
Within days, she learned she had AML - acute myelogenous leukemia - a very serious, aggressive form of blood cancer.

Within an instant, Erica’s life had changed course, completely.

She was diagnosed on June 7 and was admitted to Vancouver General Hospital hours later.
As she left for the hospital, she explained to her older son that we all have these little fighter guys in our bodies that help keep us healthy by fighting bugs from colds but Mama's fighter guys just weren't working well right now.
As she walked out the door, her little guy shouted "go fighters go!" - and this became the mojo behind Team Harris.

Erica immediately started chemotherapy to kill all the "bad’"cells her bone marrow was producing.
Unfortunately, this first round of "chemo" didn’t do its job.
Erica had to undergo an even more aggressive round of chemotherapy, called “salvage chemo.”
Along the way, she endured many life threatening infections, had kidney failure, awoke unable to breathe as her lungs were swimming in fluid, had unexpected surgery, and required many blood transfusions.

She was told at the start of the salvage chemo that she would require a bone marrow transplant following remission as her leukemia was so aggressive.
At this time, Harley embarked on an amazing campaign to raise awareness for One Match in hopes of finding a stem cell/bone marrow donor match as Erica's only sibling was not a match.
Family and friends were desperately encouraging people to register with One Match as they knew that at some point Erica would need this transplant to survive.

Great news came on July 30 that a perfect bone marrow match (10/10!) had been found for her somewhere in the world.
This great enthusiasm, however, was short-lived.
The very next day, Erica and Harley learned the salvage chemo was not successful as Erica's marrow was still riddled with leukemic cells.
To be a candidate for transplant, she first had to be in remission.
She was offered no further treatment or testing aside from supportive care in the outpatient unit.
Her prognosis was estimated at a couple of months.

The Harris duo returned home to spend the next few weeks together with their boys as a family.
Never giving up hope, Erica and Harley vowed to stay strong and fight.
Erica was blessed with so many friends and family who spent tireless hours researching and contacting others on her behalf.
With this insight, they embarked on their path.
Erica started an intense regimen of supplements, high doses of IV vitamin C, she changed her diet, followed a juicing plan loaded with nutrients and found such comfort in the power of prayer, meditation and love.
Harley stayed by her side every step of the way since the minute she was diagnosed ... fighting for the best care, talking with specialists from all over the world, ensuring her nutrition/meds/supplements were perfectly adhered to, and holding her hand through all the ups and downs and for every pain staking poke.

Little did they know, deep down in that “never quit” bone marrow, there was a true miracle happening.
Erica’s body started to respond to every little bit of love, hope and faith it had received.

On September 7, 2012, Erica, Harley and her brother Matthew sat with mouths agape in the day care unit at VGH as they learned Erica was in full remission.

Full remission.

Erica is absolutely humbled by everyones' efforts on her path and no words can describe how she feels with this amazing gift of life and hope she was blessed with from above.

All this means that Erica went from having a diagnosis of “months, at best, to live” to “be ready for a bone marrow transplant in October of this year”.

Erica is ready for this.
Her husband, family and friends are ready for this.
As Erica prepares for yet another lengthy hospital stay, her whole ‘circle of love’ will be cheering her on, willing her body to its highest level of strength and supporting her entire family.
All is set for her transplant to start on October 19 at VGH.



Reading the incredible update to Erica's story this week sent chills down my spine and flooded my eyes with tears.  It is a testament to the power of the human body to work at healing itself given the right physical nourishment, and a testament to the power of the human spirit to flourish when surrounded by love and hope.  In this season of Thanksgiving, I am so very happy for Erica and her family, who I'm sure must have a profound appreciation for what a precious gift time spent together is.  I'm grateful, too, for the reminder that we should walk through life with strength and peace, and with our hearts wide open, even if that leaves us vulnerable.  Anything is possible.

***

 

Friends of Erica in her childhood hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario have set up a trust fund to help her and her family as she continues on her journey to wellness.  If you are interested in making a donation to the fund, you can find more details here.  

Mini pumpkin pies (gluten, dairy, and egg-free)

Last Thursday the weather was so perfectly beautiful outside that I decided to make an impromptu stop at the farmers' market on my way home from yoga class.  I was drawn to the bins full of lovely orange pie pumpkins and couldn't leave without some (even though my arms were already full of other veggies and I ended up making a spectacle of myself trying to juggle multiple orange orbs back to my car through the crowds!).  When I got home, I decided to make my own pumpkin puree for fall baking, so I roasted all of the pumpkins and ran them through the food processor using this method from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. 

With four jars of homemade pumpkin puree on hand, I was excited to get working on my goal of creating a pumpkin dessert for Thanksgiving that does not contain eggs, dairy, or gluten.  When I found this recipe at Oh She Glows for a pumpkin pudding thickened with chia seeds rather than eggs, I knew I had found my starting point.  I created my own version of the pudding, poured it on top of a nut crust baked in mini mason jars, and topped the whole thing with whipped coconut cream, chopped pecans, and a sprinkling of cinnamon.  The end result was scrumptious (and so cute!), and I'm really looking forward to sharing more of this dessert with everyone around our Thanksgiving table this coming weekend.

Mini Pumpkin Pies in Mason Jars

For the crust:

3/4 cup ground pecans (I used a Magic Bullet to grind them)
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
a pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the pumpkin pudding:

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tbsp natural cashew butter
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp ground chia seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice

For the whipped coconut cream:

1 can full-fat coconut milk, chilled in the refrigerator overnight
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract for the crust.  Add the ground pecans, almond flour, and sea salt and stir until all ingredients are well combined.  Divide this nut mixture between eight 125ml mason jars, and press the mixture into the bottom of each jar.  Place the jars on a baking sheet and bake the crusts for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

To make the pumpkin pudding, whisk all of the ingredients (pumpkin puree, almond milk, cashew butter, maple syrup, chia seeds, vanilla extract, and spices) together in a large bowl until the mixture is smooth.  Spoon the pudding into the eight mason jars, on top of the cooled nut crust, and place the jars in the refrigerator for at least an hour to chill and set.

When you are ready to serve the mini pumpkin pies, whip the coconut cream for the topping.  Take the can of coconut milk out of the refrigerator and remove the lid. Gently scoop out the solid coconut cream and place it in a bowl. Pour any remaining liquid coconut water into a jar for another use. Whip the coconut cream with a handheld mixer for 1 minute, until it is light and fluffy. Whip in the maple syrup and vanilla.

Remove the mini pumpkin pies from the fridge.  Top each one with a dollop of the whipped coconut cream, and a sprinkling of chopped pecans and cinnamon.   Voila -- you have a delicious pumpkin dessert that is sure to put a smile on the faces around your Thanksgiving table!

***

Do you enjoy what you read here at Pocketfuls?  Please click here to vote for me in the Circle of Moms Top 25 Canadian Moms blogging contest.  Even if you have already voted, you may continue to vote once a day from now until October 11.  I am currently sitting somewhere near #29, so a spot in the top 25 is within reach, but I will need your help -- there are several other blogs who are very close to mine in the number of votes!  Thanks very much again for your support.  xo



Lessons in colour

 

 

I happened to glance at a calendar this week and was hit with the sudden and unbelievable realization that it is almost October already.  September seems to have disappeared in the blink of an eye. As fallen leaves have been swirling madly all around me on the sidewalk, propelled by gusts of wind that blow with determination this time of year, my mind, too has been spinning in a whirlwind of activity in recent weeks, making me hardly aware of the passage of time.  Everything is busy: family and home life, school and extra-curricular activities, and my own creative projects, the ideas for which seem to be coming to me fast and furiously these days.  The constant movement creates a humming that becomes very difficult to ignore. Even the nights have no longer been restful; in the dark hours I close my eyes, but behind them I am mulling over thoughts and solving problems in the form of crazy dreams while tossing and turning for hours on end. I love the energy and motivation that comes from all of this thinking and organizing and figuring out; sometimes it's a catalyst for making wonderful things happen in life and the source of deep satisfaction.  But I don't love when I start to feel as though my head might just explode....

I think many people find the early fall an especially busy time.  We start running the day after Labour Day and the wheel we're on just seems to keep spinning faster and faster as the weeks go by and we always find more that needs to be done.  How quickly we forget what summer taught us about how good it feels to just relax sometimes.  But fall has her own lessons, if we care to listen to them; her trees are filled with leaves of breathtaking colour that call to our hearts to stop and notice, even when our minds want to tell us to keep our heads down and plow ahead.  

Today I listened to the leaves.  When a sunny Saturday morning lay before me with no scheduled activities, I chose not to fill it with items I could check off my to-do list; instead I gathered up my three guys and we headed to a favourite local trail that meanders through some woods by the river.  After the first ten minutes or so (during which Will, who was not sure he liked my plan, complained about being tired and itchy and unimpressed), everyone grew quiet.  We spent an hour and a half on that trail, soaking up the morning sun and the glorious reds and oranges and yellows that glowed happily from the trees.  We noticed birds of all kinds, sniffed cheerful yellow snapdragons, and watched dozens of large, fuzzy brown and black caterpillars inch across our path.  (We also learned, when Will let one of these caterpillars crawl across his finger, that they bite!)  Our lungs filled with fresh air, and the beautiful landscape filled our hearts with peace and joy. 

 

I wonder why we so often forget how simple it is to find this quiet happiness, even in the middle of our busiest seasons.  I'm grateful for the beautiful leaves and their reminder that in nurturing the parts of ourselves that crave calm and meaningful reflection, we reveal our own most vibrant and lovely colours.

Asking for your votes...

This is just a quick little Friday afternoon post to ask a favour of you!

I am participating in the Circle of Moms Top 25 Canadian Moms 2012 blogger contest.  If you enjoy what you read here in this space, I would love it if you could go to this link and vote for Pocketfuls.  (You will need to look for me in the "Pending Appoval" section for now, as I just entered the contest today.)  You may vote once every 24 hours from now until October 11, so please return and vote often if you can.

Thanks so very much for your support -- it means a lot to me.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Slow-cooker beef and vegetable stew

The boys' swim practice schedule this year calls for us to eat dinner early three nights a week (and by early, I mean eating by 4:30 pm at the absolute latest.)  It's a little challenging some days to deal with school agendas and notes, unpacking lunch bags, making sure the boys complete their homework, and getting a healthy, home-cooked meal on the table in the hour and fifteen minutes I have once the boys get home from school.  This is where the slow cooker becomes a good friend in the kitchen.  At least once a week, I plan a meal that I can prepare in the morning when I'm not so rushed.  Once the prep work is done, dinner simmers away all day, making the house smell wonderfully inviting and allowing me to simply dish out a bowl of goodness once it's time for everyone to eat.

This beef and vegetable stew recipe is one of our family's favourite slow-cooker creations.  The combination of tender morsels of beef and flavourful vegetables is hearty, nutritious, and satisfying, and it warms everyone up on a chilly fall day.

Slow-Cooker Beef and Vegetable Stew

 

 

1 pound stewing beef, cut into one-inch cubes (I use pasture-raised beef we order every fall from a local organic farm) 

1 tbsp olive oil

4 red potatoes (unpeeled), scrubbed and cut into one-inch pieces

3 carrots, peeled and cut into one-inch pieces

half a red onion, chopped

1 sweet red bell pepper, chopped

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1 cup red wine

1 cup water

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

sea salt and pepper, to taste

2 dried bay leaves

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

 

Early in the day, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the beef cubes and brown them all over. 

While the meat is browing, chop the potatoes, carrots, onion, and bell pepper and place them in the slow cooker.  Add the minced clove of garlic.  Once the meat is browned, add the beef to the slow cooker as well.

Pour in the red wine, water, and balsamic vinegar.  Add sea salt and pepper to taste, and stir the mixture carefully to combine all of the ingredients.  Toss the bay leaves into the slow cooker, put the lid on, and simmer the mixture for 7 to 8 hours on low.  In the last half hour of cooking time, add the chopped fresh parsley to the slow cooker and stir it in gently.  Place the lid back on and cook for the remaining time.

Serve the stew in shallow bowls.  We like to enjoy ours with some crusty rolls (Will loves the little gluten-free ones we get from Organic Works Bakery) and a mixed green salad.

 

Delicious!

School field trip (and a dancing tractor video)

When you grow up in a more northern Ontario place like Sault Ste. Marie, school field trips of the outdoor variety involve going out into the woods and learning skills that will either help you to get around in six feet of snow, or to manage should you ever find yourself lost among the gazillion-and-three trees that surround your city.  As a middle-school aged child, I remember learning to snowshoe, to use a compass properly, and to identify the footprints and know the eating habits of various wild animals (so we would understand which ones to stay clear of if we didn't want to be eaten ourselves).  One year, we even completed an entire winter survival unit, in which we were taught how to build a quinzhee (basically a glorified snow fort), and then we actually went out into the forest as a class, built said quinzhees, and slept in them overnight.  (I am not making this up.)

Photo credit:  M. M. Felts

 

I have never heard of students in Noah and Will's school going on these kinds of field trips, probably because the outdoor educational opportunities in a more southern city surrounded by farms are quite different than those in a northern city surrounded by lakes and woods. (Or maybe because these days, it is frowned upon to send children out into the forest to sleep in a hollowed-out snow pile with the wolves.  I don't know.)  This past week, though, I had the opportunity to join Will and his class on a different (and equally exciting) field trip to the International Plowing Match in Roseville.

 

We never actually saw any of the plowing matches (they were off in another area from where we were), but we did spend several hours walking around the enormous collection of tents and displays about rural life, and everyone had a great time.   We were entertained by a dog show filled with exciting tricks, got up close to real live horses, cows, sheep, and cute little piglets, checked out rows and rows of antique farm equipment, and watched bees busy making honey.  There was mud (oh, the mud -- it had poured rain the day before and the entire site was like a real live pig wallow), and Will, who is not too fond of squishy things, kept making gagging noises as he tried to tiptoe through the muck with his most disgusted face on, and decided that most likely he will not be a farmer.  

 

 

 

He did reconsider once he got to sit on some tractors, though.

 

 

 

One of the highlights of the trip was the dancing tractor demonstration, and I thought I'd share a little video of it here to add a bit of lightheartedness to your Monday.  I dare you not to smile as you watch it.

 

 

It's interesting to me that my happy childhood memories of forest adventure field trips (yes, even the one involving quinzhee building!) are so different from the wonderful memories the boys are making as they visit pumpkin farms and apple cider mills and watch barn raising demonstrations.  I'm glad I have the opportunity to share some of these new experiences with Will and Noah; in some ways, it's like getting to be a kid all over again.

Food allergies in the classroom -- what is the answer?

 

I read an article in our local paper this morning about a highly emotionally charged issue, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.  Parents of some students at a school in our region are outraged after the school has banned all dairy and egg products from kindergarten classrooms to ensure the safety of a young child starting at the school next week who has anaphylactic reactions to both foods.  At a meeting this week, parents were given a list of allowable foods to pack in their children's lunch boxes, and because dairy and egg products are found in many kinds of packaged foods, there are restrictions on what brands of bread, lunchmeats, soups, crackers, cookies, pastas, and spreads are allowed as well.  The parents were also told that if they send unsafe foods to school, those foods would be confiscated.  The concept of banning foods in schools is not a new one; most schools I know of have been nut-free for years, but this particular food ban is more far-reaching and complex, and parents, while they say they understand the severity of the child's allergies, are frustrated and angry about the restrictions being placed on what their children can eat at school.  I feel uneasy thinking about this situation from either side of the fence.

My family's experiences with food sensitivities allow me to be sympathetic both to the allergic child and his or her family, and to the families whose children share a classroom with that child.  While my son Will's reactions to various foods he's sensitive to are thankfully mild compared to anaphylaxis, I think I can appreciate the feelings and concerns of the parents of that allergic child, and their desire to protect their child from harm.  It must be absolutely frightening for them to send their child to school every day, away from their watchful eyes and judgement, and to trust that others will do what they should to make sure that their child comes home safe and healthy at the end of the afternoon.  I imagine that having a dairy and egg ban in place in their child's classroom would give them enough peace of mind to let their child go and have the regular school experiences he or she deserves to have (though I can't imagine the worry ever completely goes away).  My heart breaks for that family when I think about how I would feel if it were my child who caused the school to ban several foods from the classroom.  Knowing how angry other parents were about the situation and worrying that my child would be singled out as the target for other children's frustration about not being able to eat cheese or yogourt at school anymore would make for a very anxious and unhappy feeling about my child's first years in the education system.  It's sad that this family (and I'm sure there are others in schools everywhere who are in a similar situation) is faced with such negativity when the fact that their child has allergies is completely beyond their control.

On the other hand, I can understand how parents of non-allergic children, suddenly faced with a short list of allowable (and sometimes unfamiliar) foods to pack in their children's lunch boxes, are shocked and angry (and in some cases, refusing to agree to the food ban).  I can tell you first hand, as the mom of a child who is intolerant to dairy, eggs, and gluten (as well as several other foods), that suddenly removing whole groups of foods from your child's diet and still ensuring that he is eating in a well-balanced, healthy way is no easy feat -- it requires research, lots of time (and a willingness) for experimenting and making foods from scratch at home, extra money spent on special ingredients, and creativity.  Not every family has these resources available to them, and, let's be honest, even if they did, not every family of a non-allergic child is going to want to put in the extra effort it takes to pack an allergy-friendly lunch and snacks.    When it is your own child with food issues, there is a huge motivation to do what is necessary to feed your child in a way that is both nutritious and safe, and you do it out of love.  It's a lot harder to devote that kind of time and energy to food when it's not your child's issue, and if you feel, as many of this local school's parents do, that by complying with the food bans, you're just "depriving" (their word) your kids of the foods they enjoy and need to grow.  It should also be mentioned that children with strong opinions about foods and which ones they're willing to eat (I know many of these kinds of children!) may not "like" the substitute foods that the school has suggested (such as soy yogourt and WOW butter), and some parents may not see these suggestions as suitable food choices for their family for a variety of reasons.  I can't even imagine the nightmare that will unfold in that kindergarten classroom at lunchtime in the coming weeks, where the teacher or lunch-supervisor will have to somehow patrol lunches and confiscate foods that don't comply (if they can even identify them), and small children might be hungry some days because they're not allowed to eat part of their lunch, or they don't like the unfamiliar foods that their parents who have complied with the ban have packed for them.  My head spins just thinking about it.

Gone are the days where going to school was as simple as walking out the door with your books and a sandwich and an apple for the lunch hour.  Today's schools see many, many children with severe allergies to a variety of different foods, and it's become a real challenge for those in charge to ensure the safety of all students while still respecting the rights of every family to feed their children as they see fit.  I don't envy school officials who have to make these difficult policy decisions, and honestly, I don't know what the "right" answer is in these kinds of situations.  Having spent many hours volunteering in kindergarten classrooms and seeing how hard it would be to ensure no food allergens get spread around the room when little hands touch everything, it seems clear to me that some kind of safety system needs to be put in place.  Should that be in the form of outright food bans?  If so, then how far are we willing to go in this direction?  Do we ban all foods that any child in the class has an anaphylactic reaction to?  What happens if that eliminates several whole food groups in one classroom?  How do we go about ensuring 100% compliance with these food bans, when foods like dairy and eggs are present in some form in a wide, wide variety of foods? (Without such compliance, the classroom is still not safe.) Should teachers and lunch supervisors be expected to be able to identify whether or not their students have brought allowable brands of breads and lunchmeats and other foods to school?  If we don't want to ban foods, is it possible to create separate eating areas in schools, away from educational areas (because in many schools I've been in, children eat at their desks or tables in their own classrooms), and do we try to create "allergen-free" eating zones within the rooms designated for eating?  And how do we do that without singling out allergic children and making them feel ostracized?  Do schools even have the money or space to allow for such a set up?

It's difficult when an issue as emotional and personal as food and eating weaves itself into the complex fabric of the public education system.  Sadly, I can't see any family from that local kindergarten class feeling especially positive about school next week.  What are your thoughts on this very sensitive subject?

Update:  September 22

This morning's paper published an article that shared the thoughts and feelings of the father of the little boy with the dairy and egg allergies.  According to the article, the banning of all foods containing dairy and eggs from the classroom was not the choice of the family.  The parents of the allergic boy do not want other families to have to change their eating habits; what they asked instead was that the kindergarten students eat in a different room than their classroom to reduce the risk of surfaces in the classroom being contaminated with foods that are dangerous to their child.  The mom of the little boy has also volunteered to make the food for special occasions at school, such as pancake days.  The boy's father points out that the school board's choice to implement a food ban puts the onus for a safe school environment on other parents, which he is not comfortable with, and he expresses concern that his son will now start school as the subject of a spectacle.  It's sad that a family has been placed in the centre of such controversy when a food ban was not what they even wanted. 

School boards have an extremely important responsibility to minimize risks and to ensure the safety of every child in their care, but if the policies they put into place are not ones that are accepted by the families they rely on to comply with them, then how safe are our schools for allergic children?  This is an issue that needs some more thought.