When Mums Know Best, Daily Express, Tuesday April 1st 2008
Toasters Don’t Roast Chickens is mentioned in
The SGV Tribune, San Gabriel Valley, California, USA and
Pasadena Star-News, Pasadena, California, USA and
Whittier Daily News, Whittier California, USA
'Diet Wise' encourages customized eating
By Anissa Rivera, Correspondent
Article Launched: 03/29/2008 10:38:03 AM PDT
Allergy sufferers also are fluent in gluten-free, no-dairy, yeast, hydrogenated fats, preservatives, lactose and wheat.
For both food groups, Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby adds one new vocabulary word: stop.
The term "allergy" is better understood as food incompatibilities or food overloads, he said. People may not understand why, despite pills and other medical interventions, they remain plagued by physical and mental fatigue and mysterious symptoms.
"The rewards for figuring it out are considerable," Scott-Mumby said. "It just takes a little determination."
Dr. Doris Rapp, a pediatrician and founder of the Environmental Research Foundation in Arizona, praised Scott-Mumby for writing a practical book that helps people figure out for themselves what is making them sick. ...
Another Scott-Mumby fan is Melanie Gow, a mother of two who wrote about her battle with her child's health in "Toasters Don't Roast Chickens: A Mum's Story," and credits Scott-Mumby's diet approach to helping her son become well. The book is subtitled "the story of an ordinary mum who challenged conventional medical thinking and transformed the health of her chronically-ill child."
Saturday 29th
March ‘08
By Anissa Riviera
For the full article click
SGV Tribune, San Gabriel Valley, California, Saturday March 29th 2008
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Toasters Don’t Roast Chickens is in
Are you an OAP?
(over-anxious parent!)
Your daughter has an ongoing ear infection that hasn't cleared after three consecutive courses of antibiotics. Your doctor says she will grow out of it, and is just prone to ear infections, but you're not happy with this diagnosis. What do you do? We look at ways of challenging the medical profession when their reassurance just doesn't seem enough.
"I'm sure we were filed under OAPs (over-anxious parents). The very worst fate."
•Does mum always know best?
•The German pioneer of spinal anaesthesia (or, to you and me, epidurals) August Bier said: 'A smart mother often makes a better diagnosis than a poor doctor'. This is a lovely endorsement of a mother's ability, as is the popular expression 'Mum always knows best' but is it true in reality? Are we always the best judges of our child's health? It would appear that the medical profession often believes not, according to author and mum Melanie Gow, who's just published Toasters Don't Roast Chickens. This is an account of her struggle to get her voice heard amongst a vast array of different medical opinions on how to manage her son's severe allergies, eczema, asthma and glue ear. 'We heard platitudes, reiterated explanations and tired judgments to the background noise of sighing. I'm sure we were filed under OAPs (over-anxious parents). The very worst fate.' And how many new parents have rushed to the doctor's terrified about their child's fever to be greeted with a sympathetic but seen-it-all-before smile, with the gentle query: 'Is this your first child?'.
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• How can parents trust their instincts if their instincts are always assumed to be incorrect and over dramatic? As Melanie Gow discovered, there are ways in which you can get your voice heard. We look at how you can get the best from your relationship with your medical professionals. ...
FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE PLEASE CLICK THE HYPERLINK IN THE BOX ...
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Jeni Barnett click to listen
I had the enourmous fun of being interviewed by the smart, funny, warm Jeni Barnett on
Babyworld, on-line
Jeni Barnett show, LBC97.3fm, Wednesday 23rd April 2008
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The Mary Harboe Show
The Mary Harboe Show, Monday – Friday from 1pm – 3pm with Mary Harboe. A magazine program with a variety of guests covering many subjects including Food & Wine, Health & Beauty, and Spanish legal, property & financial issues.
1.00 Liane Kavanah-Davis, 1st Aid Spain - importance of first aid knowledge - 664 445 665
1.20 Melanie Gow "Toasters Don't Roast Chickens"
1.40 Dr Nick Lowe, "The Wrinkle Revolution"
2.00 Dr Christopher Liu, Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis, Brighton and Sussex University Hospital
2.20 Dr Donal O'Donoghue, national clinical director for kidney services
Mary Harboe show, REM.FM, Wednesday 23rd April 2008
Jamoke Fashola’s Late Night Show
I had the huge privilege of being interviewed by the fabulous
Jamoke Fashola on
BBC LONDON 94.9FM 27th of February 2008
Jamoke Fashola show, BBC London 94.9fm, Wednesday 27th Feb 2008
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The Andrew Peach Breakfast Show
The boys and I had the amazing pleasure of having the iconic Maggie Philbin for breakfast in our home
BBC RADIO BERKSHIRE 94.6fm 25th of March 2008
Maggie Philbin on The Andrew Peach Breakfast Show, BBC Radio Berkshire 94.6fm, Wednesday 27th Feb 2008
News Item for ITV
The boys and I had a blast being interviewed and filmed for an ITV Meridian news item, directed by Amy Lewis on
Meridian 26th of March 2008
ITV Meridian news,Wednesday 26th March 2008
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Berkshire Life
Editor Tessa Harris
Book Launch at
The Harte and Garter
Hotel and Spa, Windsor
26th April 2008
Feature in the Lifestyle section, 25th April 2008
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I had the wonderful opportunity to write for Chic Chat
in their Summer issue 2008
Click 'n flick @ Chic Chat Online
Click on the magazine icon to read the article
Singings and author Events at
Windsor 26th April 2008 12am -2pm
Slough 31st May 2008 11.30am - 2pm
Cookham library, October 2008 TBC
Melanie Gow Signing
Melanie Gow
Toasters Don't Roast Chickens: A Mum's Story
WATERSTONE'S SLOUGH
Saturday, 31 May 2008, 11:30AM - 2:00PM
Come and meet the ordinary mother who challenged conventional medicine and transformed the health of her chronically-ill child. "This book that will give parents the confidence they need to follow their instincts." The Daily Express
Further details: 01753 694144
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Toasters Don't Roast Chickens
This is the very interesting, although somewhat discursive, tale of Melanie Gow’s five-year battle to understand and finally ‘cure’ her two small boys’ respiratory problems.
At two Ben could scarcely breathe, had dreadful digestive problems, could not sleep, was deaf in one ear and was visibly failing to thrive. Diagnosed with asthma and heavily medicated, he only got worse; re-diagnosed with allergic rhinitis and offered different medication he improved, but only marginally.
Homeopathy, the discovery of a dairy sensitivity and neuro- linguistic programming have finally returned Ben to almost perfect health but it has been an uphill path during which Mel has learned to trust her own instincts rather than the endless doctors and specialists whose treatments only made her sons worse.
Just some of the discoveries she made on the way:
• diseases are the sign of a malfunctioning body, they do not occur in healthy bodies
• treat people, not diseases
• search for a cause before you seek a cure.
She also discovered that the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination was probably the trigger in Ben’s case; his father had a history of allergy and had had a long and difficult birth.
A very good read incorporating a great deal of useful and encouraging information for the parents of allergic and/or sick children.
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FOODS MATTER
THE BEST RESOURCE FOR ANYONE WITH AN ALLERGY,
A FOOD ALLERGY OR A FOOD INTOLERANCE
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If necessity is the mother of invention, then never has this been more
pertinent than in the case of inspirational mum Melanie Gow. When her
three-year-old son Ben developed chronic conditions including eczema,
asthma and allergic rhinitis, which left him partially deaf, he was prescribed
an alarmingly large concoction of drugs, including two types of steroids,
painkillers for his constant headaches and decongestants, whilst his
conditions got increasingly worse. After one particularly harrowing episode
when she was told her son would have to go under the surgeon’s knife to
ease some of his symptoms, Melanie turned in desperation to homeopathy,
in conjunction with conventional medicine.
Astonishingly, within two weeks, Ben was declared healthy by his GP, and
within three months weaned off all medication. Melanie’s honest intelligent
and witty account of her experiences have been recounted in her book
Toasters Don’t Roast Chickens, which charts her journey, from Ben’s initial
illness through to his recovery and Melanie’s subsequent investigation into
the role of alternative medicines to treat today’s childhood ailments. This
month we attended the glamorous launch for Melanie’s book and were
truly inspired by her continued dogged determination in the face of
apparent futility, which will no doubt be a heartening read for parents in
similar situations everywhere.
MUM’S THE WORD
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She who dared...
Above: Enjoying a normal life - Melanie with Ben, 10 (left) and Harry, now seven (right).
Above: Ben at the height of his suffering.
Like so many of us, Melanie Gow was always happy to accept what she was told by her GP. “I used to be the person who would assume, ‘I need to see a doctor’, and stop thinking from there on in.
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