We hit another big milestone in the Redenius household this
past week. We made one of our last trips to Des Moines for Sam’s doctor
appointments, and we get to begin weening him off his medication! Throughout
the first six months of Sam’s life, we never thought we would see the day where
we would leave Dr. Young’s office in Des Moines with a good report. I probably
looked like a complete fool as we left Dr. Young’s that day because I was
crying happy tears as we danced our way out of that clinic.
As we were driving home from that doctor visit, I began to
reflect on how thankful I am for modern medicine. Here at Redenius Chiropractic
and Lake City 24 Hour Fitness, we believe in holistic health care. We
believe that the body will naturally heal itself in many ways. We fully believe
in the benefits of chiropractic care, therapeutic modalities, massage,
nutrition, preventative healthcare, etc. However, we are also so thankful for
modern medicine, and we believe that when healthcare providers from all backgrounds
work together, patients can receive the best care possible.
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Take, for example, when Sam was born. Yes, I delivered Sam
naturally without any pain medicine or intervention, but I was SO thankful that
I was at Stewart Memorial under the care of Dr. Duncan. I knew that if the
delivery did not go as planned, I was under good hands that would do whatever
they needed to do to keep Sam and I healthy. I wouldn't have made it through those 19 hours without the care and coaching from Dr. Duncan and Jenni Macke! I utilized chiropractic care in
addition to the care Dr. Duncan gave throughout my pregnancy, and as a result,
I had a very healthy pregnancy and natural delivery.
Then, when Sam was first born, I had it in my mind that
“breast-fed is best.” It is the natural thing to do. Supply and demand, right?
If I got nothing else right, I could surely feed Sam. Well, that didn’t happen. Despite constantly being attached to a pump, eating fatty foods, and feeding
Sam all the time, I could not produce enough for him. That combined with his
Laryngomalcia and GERD made feeding times a war zone. Both Sam and I would be in
tears. Even though I beat myself up about it, telling myself I was a “failure,” I decided to supplement. While I continued to provide Sam with as much
breastmilk as I could, once we found a formula he could tolerate with his
conditions, he began to gain weight and thrive again. I thank God every day
that science has given us formula that so closely mimics the benefits of
breastmilk. Is breastmilk the natural, holistic way to feed your baby?
Absolutely. However, for whatever reason, feeding your baby doesn’t always go
as planned, and mama’s need to give themselves some grace and realize that a
fed baby is a healthy baby.
Many people also do not know that the surgery Sam had was
“optional.” We were told that Sam would eventually grow out of his conditions, but
his case was so severe that Dr. Young highly recommended we consider it. We
went home from that first visit thinking that we would do the natural thing and
not put Sam through surgery if his body would eventually outgrow it. However,
for the next two weeks, neither Sam nor I ate or slept. He just got worse. We
decided to go through with the surgery, and again, I thank God for Dr. Young’s
steady hands for modern science because once we had the surgery, Sam was able
to breathe and eat easier. 
After the surgery we had quite a few setbacks. It seemed
like for the next four months, Sam would take one step back for every two steps
forward. For every step back Sam took, though, we used both chiropractic care
and modern medicine to fix it. If he had a relapse with his GERD, we would
adjust his medicine and Jeff would go to work on adjusting him every day to
make eating more comfortable. When he got an upper respiratory infection that landed us yet again in the ER, we
ended up putting him on steroids to keep the swelling down while using essential
oils, cool mist humidifiers, and “steaming” the bathroom to keep him healthy. All
hands were on deck to take care of him.
Each time Sam would have a setback, I would sink into a
deeper state of postpartum depression, feeling utterly sorry for myself, for
Sam, and for Jeff. Dr. Young assured us, though, that we all just needed a “tincture
of time.” We would have a rough couple of months, and then we would see him slowly improve. My fulltime job became feeding Sam and helping him to grow. We used a
combination of holistic health care and modern medicine to keep Sam as healthy
and as comfortable as we could. While I don’t think neither Jeff nor I slept or
ate for those few months, Dr. Young was right. Over time, Sam got better.
In retrospect, I don’t think we could have done it without
the combination of holistic health care and modern medicine. While Sam won’t
have any memories of these difficult times, I think Jeff and I will always
remember the long days we had, taking Sam’s health one day at a time. We are so
thankful for doctors like Dr. Duncan and Dr. Hornback with Stewart Memorial and
Dr. Young with Iowa ENT. When healthcare providers from all backgrounds work
together, patients receive the best care possible! Our story is just one of
probably many that attests to the positive outcomes associated with
preventative, natural healthcare in combination with modern medicine. We are so
thankful we have both!
Have a great week!
Dr. Jeff and Jenny Redenius
