I've been talking myself out of this for three years now, but it's become clear that Landon needs help that we just can't provide for him alone. This is our precious little Landon and here's his story:

Landon was born a healthy kiddo on June 6th, 2012. Not long after birth, his cradle cap spread and he began to claw at his forehead all the time. He had little baby scratch marks all over his head, but we didn't think much of it. As time went on, it got progressively worse, and by the time he was six months old, his poor little face looked chapped and raw and red. We did all we could to manage it, along with his amazing doctor. We put him in special eczema clothing and scratch sleeves, tried the detergent elimination process, altered my diet, slathered on every lotion under the sun and eventually, used steroids.

Sometime around 8 to 10 months, he developed eczema herpeticum, which is a scary, dangerous skin infection. At that point, my two year old daughter was also at her worst (she had the same severe eczema that Landon had, but it started for her at 2 and was only really severe for about six months). We got serious about diet changes and undertook the GAPS diet. It's very challenging and limiting, but we did it!

During this time, we also moved from Kansas City to Greenville, SC, both to be close to family for support and because the winter climate is much milder, and those with severe eczema need that. Their skin improved drastically and we thought we had conquered the eczema beast! They were on a grain-free diet and thriving. We discovered that Landon had a huge number of very severe food allergies during these months on the GAPS diet, but we'd settled into a comfortable meal plan and his limited diet was manageable.

When spring hit, though, our world was rocked as his eczema went from mild to worse than it ever had been before and spread all over his body. That spring and summer (last year) our lives revolved around his care. Scratch sleeves were a necessity, he couldn't have access to his skin without ripping it to shreds. He had to be wet wrapped constantly for relief. He barely slept at all. His mood swings got challenging and, at times, scary. When September came along, his skin improved by leaps and bounds and we had a really pleasant five months with manageable eczema. When spring hit again this year, his skin deteriorated rapidly, as did his mood swings and meltdowns. We went back to life as we had done every spring and summer of his life, praying for relief for our sweet boy.

We now know that March to September is the worst time for him (and our daughter, whose eczema gets much worse during these times too, but in comparison to Landon, it's manageable). We're weighing our options as far as moving to a better part of the country, but our main goal is to get Landon to the Avene Hydrotherapy Spa in France. Over the years, we have made some awesome online buddies who battle the same kind of eczema that Landon does, and one-by-one, we have watched each one raise funds to get to Avene and get miraculously healed by spending three weeks in the Avene spa, soaking in its mineral-rich waters. I was beyond skeptical. As any mom of a kid like Landon will tell you, you no longer have hope in any product or treatment after you spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on tubes of cream, diet changes, essential oils and so on. But watching friend after friend go and improve so dramatically and STAY improved? We know it's the last shot left for Landon to lead a normal life. We just can't do it on our own, as we've been told to plan to spend $10,000 each trip (and it's advised to go once a year for three years, but two at a minimum). After much reservation, we've finally decided that it's time to fight this nasty eczema beast! It's not our proudest moment, but we love our little guy so much and desperately want to get him to France!

We've set up this Gofundme page and from the very bottom of our hearts, please know how thankful we are for any support any can offer us. If financial support is not possible, we simply ask for your prayers and that you would help raise awareness for a severe form of a disease that is growing and spreading rapidly among the littlest generation. I know too many kiddos who suffer like Landon does, and we NEED a cure! We NEED to find the root cause and stop putting band-aids on this awful disease. Thank you SO much for taking the time to read! ❤️