Twenty-two years ago my son Drew was born prematurely at 25 weeks. He weighed 810 grams and although he was very tiny he was stable and had been given a 10 percent chance of survival. Every day that he survived his odds of living went up by 10 percent. As parents, Justin and I were in a terrible way with worry.

 

He did end up having a severe complication at about 3 weeks old. He got a condition called Necrotising Enterocolitis which resulted in all his large intestine and some of his small being removed. Drew ended up with an ileostomy bag.

This was a huge shock to my husband and I as the surgery, of course, was dangerous to him being so small and compromised already. He survived and ended up with an ileostomy bag.

 

This was the beginning of many surgeries due to his symptoms of pain and extensive bloating. With this came confusion, and we started to search the end of the world for answers. Drew was blessed to be rejoined at the age of 6 months old and although it's been a long journey we have managed to keep him off an ileostomy bag; which was the only medical answer to help with his symptoms of massive pain and bloating.

 

Because doctors had begun to run out of answers, it became clear to myself and Drew's surgeon that many of his symptoms were being caused by his diet. Drew's surgeon confided in my husband Justin and myself that he was not trained in the area of nutrition and that it was going to be up to us to improve his gut health.

I decided to take on Nutrition in order to help my son have the best future possible.  My journey led me to the fact that all health begins in the gut. After years of study, I finally discovered that applying good nutrition and truly understanding what a healthy diet looks like is key to long-lasting health. Nutrition works and Drew is proof of that, he is a very healthy 22-year-old and has never been back to the hospital for his gut health.