We Do This For Him

My Teen, 2011

Our son (we'll call him "Teen") just turned 16, is autistic with OCD, ADHD and has uncontrolled epilepsy. He is my world, and my heart aches for him.

We moved out to this rural area to provide him with fresh fruits and veggies, farm-fresh eggs with rich orange yolks, and fresh raw goat milk. He loves scrambled eggs with cheese, has goat milk with his cereal almost every day, and will eat a plate of baby spinach, broccoli "trees" and blueberries without a fuss. He could eat a lunch of apple slices, red seedless grapes and cheddar cheese every day, and homemade gluten-free mac and cheese with a salad or my homemade pork-n-beans for dinner!!  Soon we'll be adding and harvesting from almond & hazelnut & walnut trees, strawberries, pear & apple trees, sweet yellow cherries (his fav) and many others. His overall body health is good, with decent blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. It's just these developmental delays and this pesky epilepsy that is horrible.

His medical bills are very high; we only just yesterday found out that lesions, brain abnormality and possibly a tumor are causing his seizures, and could lead to SUDEP (death). More hospital stays, tests and possibly brain surgery are in our future. And back to homeschooling.

To pay for medical bills, we started selling goat milk cheese shares and eggs in 2012, and are increasing production for 2013, as well as adding lots of veggies and hopefully fruits. Our prices are competitive so we don't accept offers to pay less; I'm sure you understand.

I don't have a lot of spare time. Hubby works outside the home and helps with farm chores on the weekends.  I'm disabled, and watching Teen is a pretty full-time job (especially now that he's mentally regressed from 16 to 6). I try to do farm chores when he's napping or when someone else is with him. I also grow veggies inside the house in the winter, although it's not a LOT, and bake goodies and work on my writing while keeping an eye on him (without him really realizing it).

The rest of the house is total disarray; we never did unpack from when we moved out here, and I still need to gather lots of pillows to spread around his bed for when he falls out during a seizure. I also have some furniture I need to put together for him, like shelves and a desk.

Thank you for choosing us for your egg, cheese, produce and other needs. And thank you for helping us take care of my beautiful son.