last lazy day at home

Happy Thursday! Enjoying the last sleep late day of the summer. Will and I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before getting our day started. Owen is at his last day of BFS for the summer. He is growing bigger, faster, and stronger as we speak.

Sam called this morning, and she will soon be a grandmother once again...little Jackson will be here any minute. Lori will manage The Bus Station, and the boys & I will help...a little. We have a lot going on at TBS. It is turned upside down...get ready for a new store! We have a great time at the shop.

I have had a great summer with the boys! It has been a lazy time, which every kid deserves. After a trip to Colquitt, we will head to Bainbridge, then a vist to Granny who will be 88 in a few weeks. She has so much to teach us...she is the best teacher in the world. Life lessons, you know.

Hard to believe my baby will be 10 next Saturday. Where does the time go? Seems like only yesterday he was sucking on a pacifier with back up pacifiers in every pocket...including his diaper! I love my baby boy!!!

Until later,
Janna

Emily and I at St. Joe Beach, FL. We were blown away!

Owen & Will at Mayan ruins on vacation 2010.

new blog name

Hello, everyone. I renamed my blog today for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I wanted to protect my son's privacy. He may not like for everyone to know everything that I post. Right now he may not care, but the teen years are approaching fast, and if a girlfriend or buddy found out something about him through my posts, he would be devestated! Also, since I have had a diagnosis of adrenal fatigue, I feel it should be a part of the post. Both conditions affect our entire family from the foods we eat to vacations we take decided around food menus and doctor appointments. I chose "growingupincolquitt" because we own Grow Drug Co. in Colquitt, and we have all lived here our entire lives. We know a lot about growing up in Colquitt, believe you me!

I love the history of our area, and sit with my grandmother, Lucy Lane Hornsby, for hours at a time getting her stories. She is one incredible lady. My sister, Lissa, and I visited with her this afternoon. Granny will be 88 in August. She is awesome!

Before that visit, my sister and mother helped me "rearrange" The Bus Station. We moved furniture in, we moved furniture out. Our corner is having a yard sale next Sat, July 31. Come by and see our stuff. We are making room for all of our new things we found at market. I especially excited about the new purse line that my friend, Emily, and I are putting in together. It is called Spartina 449, and it is awesome!!!!! It will be here soon so come by.

After I got home, I cleaned off the carport. The boys helped of course because they are great!!!!!! Much more to do though.

Have a great evening,
Janna

Boys are back

Yeahhhh!!! The boys are back from camp. They went to Student Life church camp in Shocco Springs in Alabama. Anthony was a chaperone. They had a great time, but I am sure they are glad to be home with their queen.

After 2 days of hard shopping, being stuck in traffic for hours, a sleepless night, I had to get up and go to work. At least I got to go in later this morning. Thanks to my Grow Drug crew for making that possible. They are the greatest guys in all the world, and I appreciate them more than they will ever know.

Please pray for the Justice family tragedy as they all prepare to go on with their lives without their loved ones. God is the only one who knows why this tragedy happened, and it is to Him that we have to turn to.

Kendall at work has been diagnosed with Hoshimoto disease, a thyroid disease. We have started her on the thyroid capsules and hope she will be feeling better soon. I feel so much better since starting my adrenal complex and other supplements. I have changed my eating habits too and that has helped as well. Hope it continues!!!!!

Have a great evening!

July in Georgia

Gnats, gnats, gnats. I think God invented gnats to give us patience. But, that is the price we have to pay to live in south GA. Other parts of the country have bugs and critters of some sort. At least gnats are quiet. I was watching House Hunters International the other day, and this one are had a bug that was so loud. It was a resort area for relaxing, but who could relax with that noise?

I just got back from Atlanta. My business partners and I went to the Mart. It is tiring, tiring, tiring work, but also very rewarding. It did not start off too great because the hotel was short on rooms. We had reservations, but some adults destroyed some of the rooms. The first room they sent us to as a king had a miniature bed in it. It was somewhere between a twin and double. The second room was smoking. So they put us in their last room - right beside the lobby. And when I say right beside the lobby, I mean it. Well, when I went to check out and I asked for a receipt, the man said he couldn't print me one because the rooms were complimentary! WOW! Then my friend went to pay for her airport parking at the hotel, and that was complimentary also! The Lord was really looking out for us! And, for the first time ever at Mart, we had FREE parking for 2 days, so basically we had a free trip to Atl except for ALL the $$ we spent on merchandise.

We found some great things at mart. I cannot wait to get everything in.

Owen, Will, and Anthony are at church camp. They have had a great time. I miss them sooo much especially since I was with them last year. They will be home tomorrow with big eyes and bigger stories. I cannot wait to see them.

Owen is off his Vyvanse(ADHD med). My sister who tutors him thinks we can leave it off when school starts back! That is wonderful!! He is in such a great mood now. He hugs me all the time. I think it is th GABA and Taurine supplements he has been on. He takes many supplements and vitamins a day, but I had rather have that than Owen being so moody and unhappy all the time.

Guess what? Barry is back from vacation!! We had to let him go for awhile, but he came home on Friday, hopefully for awhile. Our new doctor, Julie Buckley, said he needs at least 300 hours; a far cry from the 36 hours we have logged. So, Owen will be seeing a lot more of Barry. He may even sleep in it some nights, which is pretty normal from what they tell us.

Well, I hope to be blogging more now that my laptop is fixed. Hope you continue to follow our journey.

God Bless,
Janna

Hello, everyone!! What a hot day in Georgia! You can fry an egg on the sidewalk; well, a friend tried and it did not exactly fry. But, you get the picture.

I think Owen & Will have reached summer boredom, and we have a long time to go. Owen is becoming a "teenager". Now, that can be a good and bad thing. Good in that he is getting closer to doing things other kids his age are doing. Bad in that those things are not always good. For instance, Owen has never cared about using the regular phone. He loves his cell phone, but could care less about the home phone. He has now decided to use both.

Both boys are doing their summer chores. They are mainly responsible for watering the pots on the deck, so they will live. You see, I have a black thumb; it is not green! I can grow plants in the ground, but put them in a planter, and they will die. We will buy a plant, and Will says "Well, how long before that one dies, Mama?"

Owen's diet seems to be going well. We are all adjusting. We found some sandwich bread that is actually edible. It is called Udi bread. They also make delicious muffins. Also found some vegan cheese that actually melts!!! We will finally get to have pizza for the first time in 6 months.
We thought we could eventually get off of the diet, but the doctor wants us to even go stricter, removing carbs and going organic. Baby steps, please. Please don't take away our potatoes and rice....we will die!

The supplements we are giving him are working well. He is actually so much happier and more himself. It finally hit me yesterday that here I have been reading everything I can on nutrition and counting out about 30 differenct supplements for Owen to get better, and he is. It is amazing! I need to do the same thing. I know the things that make my IBS go crazy! Why do I continue to eat them? I know the supplements will make me better, but I am so busy with his, the store, the house, etc. that I do not take time for me. I vow to do for me and Will what I do for Owen. Anthony has the perfect GI system and needs no help. He could eat nails and be fine. So I pledge to the cyberworld that I will juice for me, take my supplements, and Will's supplements. You all must make sure I do this. My health is depending on it!

Until later,
Janna the juicer

Hello, everyone. My laptop is under the weather, so I haven't been posting. We saw Dr Buckley 2 weeks ago, and had a great appt. I learned more in those few hours than I could have learned in a lifetime in books. Talk about a light being turned on! It all makes so much sense now- why certain things happen. She added some supplements, increasedrothers. I felt pretty good about our 30 hours with Barry; that is until she told us we needed 300 hours!!!! Not to mention we had to return Barry the same day. Well, Barry will be returning to the Cobb house asap.

Owen went to football camp at Auburn and loved it. Just a few more trips to Auburn,and he will be a true Tiger. Dr Buckley impressed Owen with her NFL friends, but he did not want to talk about poop! He would just say "this is making me uncomfortable". It was very interesting.

Owen takes so many supplements that it is a good thing I count pills for a living. How he does it I don't know. He is truly amazing! He is so loving, hugging me and being so sweet. I wondered where my little boy was; he was there all along, waiting for us to find him.

We took a short trip to Atlanta to the Braves game and the GA aquarium. They were both amazing. Anthony got us great seats at the game. Will wants to go back for his birthday in August. One day we will have a family sleepover at the aquarium. Will's fav part was the penguins. They are precious!

Until later,
Janna

Hello, everyone. "Barry" is still at the Cobb house and doing very well. Owen did have an ear infection, so he could not get in for a few days. Thankfully, he has been in several times and thanks to some of our friends' advice. Is it helping? Well, we thought so, but then he started acting like a teenager with attitude and all. I talked to the guy we gave it to, and he said what can be happening is that it is working, he is becoming more aware of himself, & he is acting like a typical teenager. He got in last night, slept really well, and got up at 6am to exercise! Yes, I said exercise at 6am on a school morning. I think it is time for the parent to emulate the child!!

Well, now to talk about the gfcf diet. Casein is the protein found in milk and gluten is the protein found in wheat; it is the "glue" that holds flour together. Now, take a minute and think of ALL the things that contain milk and flour...okay go! Ding ding ding ding ding ding, ding ding ding ding di di di ding. Yes, almost everything a child eats!!!!!!! Casein and gluten in a messed up GI tract go to the brain and act as as opiate. Yes, these kids are on street drugs! That is why many of them are in a haze and have a high tolerance for pain.

I looked at this diet several years ago but knew we could not do this. But, after reading some books, I decided to give it a try. First, we took all milk products away. The change was amazing! After just a few days, he was in a great mood and absolutely no melt downs. After a few weeks, we went with the church to bowl. I knew they would have pizza. I asked Owen if he would like to take something he could eat, but we decided to let this be a test. He ate one piece of pizza and went nuts!!!! When we got home he was so upset and crazy. It lasted into the next morning. After 5 years of school, for the first time he asked if he could stay home. I told him and Anthony, "See what happens when we have mild?" He has been good since then, but if he gets "ill", I ask him when he had a milk product. One day at school, they were out of water and he drank milk. I told him to drink from the bathroom faucet next time. We now keep bottled water in his book bag. We drink almond milk which is great!

Then the fated day came when we had to take away the gluten. It was a black day at the Cobb household, just let me tell you. I removed all of the "bad" stuff from our cabinets. After reading some books(including gluten free cooking for dummies) and having special shopping lists, I went to Dothan shopping. It took 7 hours and 3 stores. I read every label because I had to make sure it was gluten and casein free. Dothan has a health food store called Health Concepts, which has a lot of products. After trying some of the products, Anthony said that he didn't know what gluten was, but he was sure it was the stuff that made food taste good! We found some brownies that are really good by Betty Crocker. Basically, he can eat meat, rice, potatoes, fruit, vegetables. We found a decent tasting bread - you can pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up. Going on vacation is really hard. Also, no candy bars! He can have Starbursts, Skittles, suckers, but no chocolate bars. Cocoa is gfcf free, and we have recipes. We are learing. We really haven't seen a big difference with the gluten free, but it can take several months to see a change.

We were going to a biomedical doctor in Macon but haven't been that happy. They do not have after hour services, so it has been a nightmare to get answers when we really needed them. The doctor that co-wrote Jenny McCartney's book used to live in Ponte Vedra, FL. He was in practice with a well known doctor, Julie Buckley. After the 5 hurricanes a few years back in FL, Dr. Jerry's wife decided it was time for them to leave FL. They moved to California. Let's see; hurricane or fall into the ocean. I called Dr. Buckley's office to see how long the waiting list was. It is a 3 year wait!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mashed enough buttons on their phone that I finally got a wonderful girl on the horn. I told her our story and how we really wanted to see another doctor and who would they suggest keeping in mind we are in south GA, but are willing to travel in the southeast. She told me that Dr. Buckley occasionally goes to Atlanta to see patients, but that she could not promise a spot - they would be in Atlanta the second week of June. She told me to fill out all of the info online. As families that are on the waiting list opted out or cancelled appointments, we would move up; probably would be 9 mos to 1 year to get an appointment. She also told me she would tell the office manager about us since we have already had all the preliminary tests performed and were already in treatment. Glory to God, 2 hours later my cell phone rang, and it was the office manager saying they had an appt. in Atlanta June 9th! My normal day off is June 9th, that morning I had cancelled a vacation with some family for that exact time frame. The Lord works in mysterious ways. So, we will be in atl June 9th! Hopefully will get to see some friends too. The office even gave me some advice on this puberty thing until the appt. so we won't all kill each other!

All in all, things are good. We can see small changes. I guess I am ready for that hyperbaric session when Owen gets out and there is a cataclysmic change. I am not asking for much, am I? Only a miracle, but He performs them every day!!!

Next time I think I will enlighten you guys on Will, who wants to learn Latin and Spanish this summer(don't ask) and Granny whose stories are great. She is so special to me and our family. I think I get my hardheadedness from her! I will not give up and I will not give in!

Later,
Janna

Good morning, everyone. We have a new toy at my house-a hyperbaric chamber. You know-it's the rage. Some people have botox parties; we can have a hyperbaric party.

So, I guess you are wondering what in the world is a hyperbaric chamber. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy(HBOT) is a treatment for all kinds of ailments. It was originally used to treat scuba divers that suffered from decompression sickness. It is used to treat areas in the body that suffer from low oxygen levels. HBOT sends oxygen to these areas, in many instances healing the patient. Athletes such as Terrell Owens and Lance Armstrong use them. It helps athletes heal quicker. It was rumored that even Michael Jackson had one. Some college and professional sports teams use them. HBOT is used when coal miners have been rescued after several days in collapsed mines. Studies show that where there was no live tissue in the brain, that afer so many "dives" the tissue comes back.

It treats autism, seizure disorders, wound healing, hearing loss, and the list goes on and on. Will is hoping it will make his bowed arm straight again. He had broken the same arm 3 times, and it is bowed. He gets in the chamber every chance he gets, and loves it. The first thing he does is look at his arm to check if it it straighter. His ankle was hit by a baseball at the game yesterday. He had to get in to cure his ankle. Anthony got in with Will last night, and he said he has not slept that well in years. He has some arthritis, and he also said his shoulder was not hurting any more.

Will nicknamed ours "Barry". What does Barry look like,you might ask? Well, Barry is about as long as a sofa. It looks like a capsule; kind of like a space capsule. It has one big window and 4 small ones. Our chamber is what they call a "soft" chamber. The "hard" chambers are only under strict supervision. They are pure oxygen(O2). Several people can get in some of these. The "soft" chambers use O2 concentrator which is about 28% oxygen. It is like going 10 feet below sea level. Much like diving to the bottom of the pool. Owen needs to go in 1 hour at a time for 80 treatments. We rent it from a family in Forsyth, GA who have a few chambers. This is an affordable way for families like us to use the treatment. It is impossible to drive an hour a day one way, several times a week for this therapy.

I researched hbot several years ago for the treatment of Owen's seizures. I filed it in the back of my mind because there were no chambers any where near us. Eventually, HBOT came to Dothan and even Colquitt! But, insurance won't pay, and the soft chambers cost about $20,000. But, thanks to the Harbin family, the Cobb family has its very own chamber, Barry.

Owen is not as crazy about Barry as Will and Anthony. He has been in one time with Will(of course) and made it through fine, but last night it really hurt his ears. If you stay in it until you reach pressure, it is fine - it's just getting there that is difficult. We are having his ears checked today to make sure there is no fluid build up. I have not been in yet because my ear is killing me. I am also having mine checked because I want to feel better too.

So, you may ask what you do in Barry. I am glad you asked that question. Since we do not have pure oxygen, you can light a match and not explode! Good thing, right? The boys can play their Nintendo DSi, ipods, watch dvd player, talk on then phone, read, etc. They can sit up in it or lay down. Will called me on Owen's cell phone to ask a question the other night. Anthony read and took a nap. Barry is in Owen's room right now, but we may move it because I may want to get in it late at night - my only free time!

I pray that this works for Owen. I was really hoping that after the first treatment, we could tell. Many people can, but not yet. Please pray that he will continue to get in. HBOT can cure his seizures and improve his brain function. A win-win for him.

He is so brave being our guinea pig, but we can already tell some changes with the biomedical therapy. My next post will be about his casein free gluten free diet and how much Anthony and Will love it!!!!!!!!

Last Chance at "Normal"

This journey began over 12 years ago when Owen Augustus Cobb was born on December 19, 1997. Owen is our son; mine, Anthony's , and God's. God gave him to us, to guide and protect him until our job is through.

When Owen was 14 mos. old, he began having seizures. Words cannot describe the feeling of complete helplessness that a parent feels when their precious baby is convulsing. There is absolutely nothing you can do except wait. Those few moments or minutes seem like an eternity. The questions; Do we call 911 this time? How long will this one last? Do we use the Diastat? Will this one cause brain damage?

Owen's seizures were controlled on meds that totally changed his personality and made him a zombie. When those meds made the seizures worse, meds were changed with other side effects coming into play. As a pharmacist, I know all about meds; well, I thought I did. Medical professionals do not know anything until they have a loved one sick, then you research, & research, & research. You are up until the wee hours of the morning researching; trying to find someone just like you. Trying to find answers. Wishing that you were up at all hours facebooking or shopping online instead of trying to find some kind of a cure or healing for your child.

I pray every day for God to heal Owen. Every single day without fail. I also pray for my husband, Anthony, and my other precious son, Will, my mini-me. Do not think for 1 second that Will is slighted in any way. We try to make sure both boys have as normal a life as possible. Sometimes this is very difficult, but we try. Eventhough I prayed for healing, I often wondered why I was praying for it. Haven't we been told millions of times that nothing could be done? Haven't we spent thousands of dollars on doctors, schools, & therapists only to be told that there is nothing more we can do? But, I continued to pray every, single day.

I would hear of treatments for other conditions, but Owen didn't "fall" into those categories, so it would not work I feared. Plus, how can we, here in southwest GA, put Owen on a diet that would be impossible for us. Only people in big cities can find those kind of foods, right?

Well, I bought a book for a friend whose son was diagnosed with Aspergers. The book was called Mother Warriors by Jenny McCarthy, a well-known actress. After a few pages in to the book, I ran into the den & told Anthony, "This is us! This is our life!" Jenny researched & found doctors who could "recover" these children through biomedical treatment. No, we don't grow our own food, paint rocks, & chant, but we can help heal these children.

I am a normal, middle class mother finding my way on the trail of Owen's Walk. I own a pharmacy in my small, rural hometown of Colquitt, GA. The population of Colquitt/Miller Co. is about 6000. I will do what I can to improve Owen's life, his walk through this life. He may never recover; that is okay with me. I love that child no matter what. God gave him to me for a reason. God answers prayers in 4 ways. He either says "yes", "no", deal with it because my grace is sufficient, or "wait"-the time is coming. I truly believe He wanted me to wait; wait until the time was ripe; until Owen & I were ready for this journey. Maybe we are the guinea pigs. Whatever we are I say bring it on.

The title of this post if "Last Chance at Normal". I named it that because on one of our wild goose chases & testing of Owen at an elite, Atlanta school, Atlanta Speech School to be exact, after being told of all the things Owen would NEVER be able to do, and how he would NEVER succeed in anything(and we actually paid them for this info), my husband looked at me & said don't ever ask me to take Owen to people who tell us what he NEVER be able to do, but to people who tell us what he WILL do. Those people were the folks at Lindamood-Bell in Atlanta. They never gave up on us or Owen. When we left there after Owen's first evaluation, & they told us that Owen & Anthony would need to move to Atlanta for school, we were in shock to say the least. Anthony was just voted as deacon of our church; Owen was 8 years old; I had business to run; it could be a financial disaster. We had only owned our business one year at this point. How could I let me baby move away? He needs me. His dad doesn't know the foods he likes or his favorite clothes. I am his mama. Well, no, he is God's child, and God put this in motion. So, on the way home, Anthony looked at me & said, "This is our last chance at normal." So, that began Owen's walk with his parents & God on this journey to recovery or however God sees it. Will you join us? I can promise it won't be boring!