Oscar and Harry's Journey : HAPPY HARRY

I'm so excited to let you all know that we are finally seeing visual signs of Harry healing! I know there has been a lot of healing from within that we can't see but just over the last week we have seen significant changes in Harry's skin and his overall well being. Harry's talking, laughing, playing. He's no longer snuggled upto me all day long. It feels like he's become independent over night wanting to walk rather than be carried into Kindy and school and doesn't feel the need to carry his Kane(snuggly blanket) with him everywhere. I cannot express how relieved both Andrew and I feel- we have our wee guy back! Harry's legs no longer look burning red and his stomach is beginning to look that way too. His arms are the worst with lots of broken skin. As soon as the sleeves are off Harry literally attacks his arms and we have to restrain him to get the sleeves back on! His overall appearance is less severe and over the last few days Harry doesn't seem to be smelling like what we refer to as 'rotten flesh' as much. I whole heartedly believe stopping moisturiser has been the key in his turning point towards healing. Strangely though Harry has gone back to not enjoying the bath. The last couple of days he only lasted a couple of minutes before wanting out and today he didn't want in the bath at all. He's gone from loving the bath to hating it to loving it and now back to not wanting to be in it! He still has awhile to go on this journey but we really are on the right road to healing and I no longer need to self doubt. I can let go of some of the guilt I hold- watching Harry completely miserable and in pain daily for close to five months has been torture for us all! Hopefully in the very near future the insomnia will start to subside too. I'm not expecting everything to change quickly. It will still take time but I believe Harrry has overcome the worst of his steroid withdrawal. I have tears in my eyes as I type this! It's such an emotional roller coaster. Mentally I have more strength than ever to see this through now.
Oscar is on day three of his meat, fruit and vege diet and is happily embracing it. He's having platters of food for breakfast rather than a traditional breakfast in a bowl. He informs me that his food looks fancy so I must be doing something right, especially as he has eaten everything out of his lunchbox this week too. Why does healthy eating have to be so dam expensive though? We did a similar diet last year in terms of gut healing in the hope of that helping Oscar. Obviously it wasn't our magic answer but we also had intolerance tests done so this time round we have a clearer picture of what we need to avoid. My fingers and toes are crossed that in a few weeks we might see some more healing with Oscar.. If not we will need to go through his food list and refine it further. We will get him eczema free. The photos below of the two pink balloons were made by Oscar this week. The happy balloon apparently has no eczema, the sad one has eczema. Very interesting seeing these emotions portrayed through play.
Oscar is nearly six months steroid free- what a milestone for him. Thinking about all those days- mornings and nights when we applied steroids all over his entire body plus emollients and concoctions of all kinds. We had no idea the damage we were causing and what we were in for! I'm so thankful that the boys are both healing and I can now for the first time in many months visualise a fun and happy future for our family. I'm so excited about this prospect!