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Have you ever asked the universe for a sign to help you make a decision, to know your life is moving in the right direction, or to let someone, who has passed over, know how much you miss them? I wanted a sign sooooo badly to let me know bringing my family to NeuroCytonix was the right thing to do, but I didn’t know what the sign should look like. With much on mind as I was preparing for the trip I couldn’t conjure up a sign so I decided to sleep on it. The next morning just as I was waking and in a lucid dream state, I saw the face of a horse, nose to nose with me. I could smell it, hear it and feel it. Then, there was a flash of green. As soon as my eyes opened, I thought “Okay, my sign is a green horse.” I told no one about this except Julius because he is a good secret keeper. When I checked my phone, I saw a message from a friend that said, “I don’t know what this means but here it is,” He sent me an emoji of a rider on a bucking horse with a plate of spaghetti on the rider’s head. It was funny and well timed, but it wasn’t green. From that point on, as I went about my tasks, I began looking for my green horse. A couple of months ago I didn’t know who Laura Lynne Jackson was, but then a podcast interview with her popped into my feed during a long ride home from deinstalling an art piece from a show. The kids were with me and my daughter is a big believer in angels, magic and lucky possibilities. Laura Lynne is a Certified Medium who went through rigorous testing so she could volunteer for the Forever Family Foundation to help families through the grieving process of losing their children. Of most interest to me was Laura Lynne’s conviction that every one of us has this special ability to pick up on the signs around us from those we love and other guides on “the-other-side.” But our busy lives and pre-occupations make us blind to seeing or feeling such things. Laurel Lynne suggests remaining open to the multitude of ways that your sign could appear. So, my green horse may not be a horse at all, but a tattoo of a horse on someone’s arm, or a cloud formation. Could it be a green horse shoe? What about an old Ford Pinto, painted green? Possibly. At the very least, it would be a fun game in the midst of too much seriousness. A few days went by, a panic attack ran through, but no green horses crossed my path. Finally, when we were settled into our hotel in Monterrey, MexicoI told my daughter about the green horse so she could be on the lookout too. The “game” was officially on. Surely, it wouldn’t be that hard to find a green horse…….I couldn’t have been more wrong. There were no green sea horses at the aquarium, but there were a lot of neon green coral with the sea horses. Did that count? My daughter said, “yes.” I said “no.” There were no green horseflies in the Children’s Museum even with the many bug references including a green print of a common house fly. In the multicoloured animal clings on the side of an elevator, my daughter found a yellow horse and a green fox (Is a green fox a young, naive fox?) There were no horse formations within the green foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountainsides. No green horse painted on any of the coil pots and retablos from La Milarca Museum in the park, where we walked Lilac. No green horses in any of the artisan’s booths at the Sunday street festival, and not one green horse reference during the multitude of rides we took in various routes back and forth from the Research Center, not a gift shop, salon or bar called The Green Horse. Nothing. I even asked our support staff from the NeuroCytonix Center if there happened to be a Mexican legend of a green horse somewhere in the area? She knew of none. So, I turned to the internet and found an old Mexican tale of a witch and a green horse, but it was much too obscure for me to accept as my sign. When I googled “Green Horse” it said the term is used to describe young, untamed horses so I took out my scope and checked the foothills from our window looking for wild horses. Nothing. The days kept passing and there were no green horses anywhere to be found. Julius’ sessions were going well. To my surprise, he was already showing positive changes. I was prepared to see no changes until after we completed the protocol. That should have been enough of a sign, that he was improving. But, I couldn’t help myself. Every drive and walk had me looking. Every meal with verde sauce had me checking for “Cabrillo” (horse) in the name (not the ingredients) and there wasn’t one restaurant called Cabrillo de Verde. Even on the TV in our room I looked for green horses. Surely there would be one in Oz, The Great and Powerful, a spin off of The Wizard of Oz. Remember the horse-of-many-colours? We enjoyed the movie, but there were no green horses- even in Emerald City. EMERALD City!! We watched the Avatar movies. They are filled with creatures of blues and greens. Some of them kinda looked like horses. Neytiri, the main Avatar character, actually has a line in the first movie where she says about the horse-like creatures, “They are not horses.” Our time passed quickly and with only a week left of Julius’ sessions I accepted that a green horse was just too unique of a sign to have chosen. I considered how well Julius was doing. His eyes were working together. He had no painful, spastic episodes. I could rotate both of his shoulders. He could lift and turn his head. He had no acid reflex or his other typical gastric issues. He started swallowing and he was working hard to roll over in bed. Above all, he was alert and happy. We all were. My daughter turned 10 and everyone celebrated her day. (That’s a story in and of itself!) Now, she likes to say, “I am a decade!” My attention began shifting back to our transition home and I started feeling anxious again. The work. The responsibilities. The chores. The medical. The finances. The management of it all stretching myself to unhealthy levels of stress. It is a practice in life-balance. We all do it in one way or another. I’m in awe of the families that we’ve met. Every one of us has figured out how to be here, for our children. Most, like us, have gotten help. Our backgrounds and languages differ, but we share a truly special culture through our children and they are beautiful in all their differences. I felt grateful and started working out ways within my head to make changes at home that could ease the demands. So, we stopped looking for green horses. Maybe the real sign I was searching for wasn’t a physical sign at all, but something else. Maybe it had to do with validations about the thing you are doing and whether or not that thing makes organic connections for a good you couldn’t even picture; Like the “white car guy” (That’s what my daughter calls him), the guy who saw us in the median of the road while we were waiting for an clearing so we could cross. He jumped out of his parked white sedan, stoically walked into the middle of the road with arms out and stopped the traffic for us!! And I think about the four cross walks that lead to the park near our hotel. It was so hard to get across them due to gaps that were open on each edge for water drainage. But one night it was all different. We were well practiced by then at getting Julius’ chair across the four gaps carefully so we wouldn’t break a wheel, but one day we just stopped and stood in the median across from the park strategising how to get the rest of the way across because construction workers had blocked the other side. I was agitated. What could be so important that the workers would block a cross walk? They saw us and both our groups just stared at each other. For a few seconds, no one moved. The foreman shouted something and the workers in orange vests came back to life, ran over and lifted us the rest of the way across, like we weighed nothing more than a helium balloon. We laughed and thanked them, and took a couple of photos, still unaware of what they were doing. The next time we returned, the crew was gone and, we saw what they had done. They installed drainage grates over the gaps, levelling the mounded crosswalk, a detail that made crossing the street to the park wheelchair (and stroller) accessible. How I wish they could have seen our faces to know how much their work meant to us. And what perfect timing that we had the opportunity to see each other during the process of the work they were doing. They saw, first hand how important there work was to others and we got to see the faces behind the work that helped us tremendously. These are the kinds of things we experienced throughout our time in Monterrey. It’s like you are trying to avoid a tide, or trying to get out of one that feels entrapping, but the tide is exactly where you need to be for movement to happen. And, there are all of you, who have chosen to support us, whether you know us directly or not, with no guarantee this would help Julius. Like me, maybe you wanted to see if it was possible? Maybe the best of signs are in actions and shifts that happen through people. With only a few days left of our time and the last day of a textile show at the Mexican History Museum we ventured out again, back through the tunnel, to Monterrey City Center where a textile exhibit was on its last day at the Museum of Mexican History. I’m crazy about textiles and didn’t want to miss the show. The intricacy of designs in hand woven Mexican fabrics is extremely varied in colour, textures and themes. They are breathtaking to see in person. Downtown Monterey is more crowded and congested than our side of the tunnel. Our driver dropped us at the curb and pointed to the angular building. He helped unfold the wheelchair stroller at the top of a wide, steep stairwell that descended down to the museum. I gestured to him asking where the wheelchair access entrance was. He didn’t know, but walked on up ahead and around, asking others. Then gestured to us where we needed to go. Bridged walkways and benched concrete that zigzagged down to the river below met ferry boats that took turns picking up tourists. The driver assured me that was our way to the museum so we trusted and pushed forward, moving over the water to the opposite side. We followed a section of the river, as we rolled further away from the history museum, paralleling the large plaza in front of it. At the bend in the river we could see a strip of local vendors set up with their wares, mostly trinkets imported from China camouflaged as locally made by stickers with the Monterrey name taped on them. “Do you see a way across?” I asked my girl. “I think we have to go all the way over there,” she said pointing to the other side of the marketplace. I had to be really cautious about Julius’ chair because many of the stamped tiles that decorated the path beneath his wheels were broken and sharp. The water was to our right and to our left was a retaining wall that braced the patios of more buildings above our eye level. I was still manoeuvring Jules’ wheelchair around shards of tiles as we neared the end of the walkway, where the view widened, and I heard my daughter casually say, “That’s a stubby horse.” I looked up from the wheels, in the direction she was facing. On an upper tier of the plaza extending to the left of us, high on a chunky platform was a robust sculpture by Fernando Botero, a Columbian artists whose unmistakable paintings and sculptures are installed world wide. I was stunned, I hadn’t thought about my sign for days. “It’s green,” I said, almost in disbelief. “Oh yeah,” my girl chimed, “It is green!” She also hadn’t been thinking about our quest to find the green horse. The bronze metal of the sculpture had been through patination, a chemical process that gave the surface a distinctive green lustre. When I approached the piece, It towered over me. It’s colossal head framed by a cotton sky was majestic. Its face pointed downward and, like a noble guardian, it looked right into me, our noses pointing towards each other. The iconic figure could not have been a more fitting sign: me being an artist and my sign coming in this way- through a massive, rotund Botero sculpture that represented strength and nobility. Had Julius not been with us, we would have missed it. “Look, Jules!” I said, “It’s our green horse!” Both of my son’s eyes looked up with perfect coordination. “Are you crying, mom?” asked his sis. How could I not be? Note: Julius was on the lower level in his wheelchair, watching from below. Construction workers making the crosswalk wheelchair accessible, carried Julius across
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FLASH UPDATE: JULIUS is SWALLOWING and KISSING
I want to take a few minutes to write about the criticisms I reviewed on various platforms before I decided to submit a request on Julius’ behalf to participate in Cytotron treatments. One in particular went something like this. “It doesn’t work. That kid cannot put his feet down flat when he walks.” My internal reaction was very contrary, “Wow! That kid is walking now!!” RFQMR treatment has never claimed to be a cure for cerebral palsy. This was discussed during our initial interview. We have never been mislead. There is no magic wand that can be waved in the air and shift one body into being a completely different body. The gifts that come are in steps: small improvements that lead to improved function. How that unfolds is unique to each participant. Our new friend, Ezra, can now use both her hands functionally, her first step towards better coordination. And her mom, PJ, is able to remove Ezra’s headrest from her wheelchair, meaning Ezra can hold her head up. Of course, Ezra fatigues. Her muscles have not done this before. They need strengthening through practice. Ezra’s new therapeutic window presents this possibility that was not there prior. (You can read more about therapeutic windows in my previous update.) Now, for Julius (and I want to be sensitive about how I share this), his unique improvements continue. How you judge them and how I judge them may differ because my lens and yours may not share similar backgrounds. Here goes… 1) JULIUS IS SWALLOWING. He is not going to eat tacos any time soon. But, he is swallowing. (For the record, Julius had been tube fed since his birth.) So what changed? Julius has recently been preferring to sleep on his back. This is not like him because he chokes on his saliva. His normal bedtime sleeping position is on his side, toggling him off his hip and back again to prevent bedsores. If he does flip to his back, I am awakened by his oximeter that alarms when his oxygen drops as his saliva blocks his airway. Suctioning is required to clear the blockage. I do this often in the night when he is on his back. It’s exhausting for both of us. Yet, Julius has been insisting to sleep on his back. (Maybe the hotel mattress is uncomfortable for him?) After fighting with him to stay on his side, I finally gave up, knowing my sleep would be less than optimal. But that didn’t happen. No alarm woke me. Just before sunrise, Jules needed a shift in his position, but no suctioning.The next night was similar and I found myself staring at his throat while he was sleeping, counting the swallows as I fell asleep.It happened again the next night. He wanted to sleep on his back, and needed no suction. So yes, Julius is swallowing. He is protecting his own airway. He is comfortable. And the bonus is that I’m having better sleep, too. Who knows, maybe there is a taco in his future? 2) JULIUS IS KISSING ME. This is something he did when he was little, but after his adult jaw developed abnormally he hasn’t been able to “pucker.” Perhaps his kissing is a reflex. When I lean in to kiss him, he rounds his lips. With my recent facial paralysation, my pucker is far from symmetrical so we are both learning how to kiss each other again. You might not think Julius is kissing me, but his eyes look intensely into mine, differently than when he blinks good morning or says he wants something. It is a specific look that means, “I love you” and that’s validation enough for me to say, “Julius is kissing me.” Wednesday August 6, 2025
Connections and A Therapeutic Window There is a tunnel that runs through the Sierra Madre mountain ridge joining San Pedro Garza García to the rest of Monterrey Mexico. Wikipedia’s photographs of the tunnel are out-of date. The entrance to the long curving passageway is painted with a large black and white mural depicting figures that appear to be influenced by the rock paintings of indigenes people. Rain-bowing the entire lining of the tunnel is a geometric pattern of circles and semi-circles of colour artificially lit. In a snapshot they streak into blurred ribbons. Immediately on the other side of the ridge, the flavour changes. The pristine qualities of San Pedro with its polished sky scrapers, and shiny plazas are replaced with smaller concrete homes and local businesses painted in hues softened by the sun and worn on their edges. Fundidora Parque was our destination. After two days in our hotel following treatment and exercises we were ready to go out and explore further. Uber offers larger vehicles that can manage us despite having no wheelchair ramps. It is physically demanding to transfer Julius into a car. The drivers are apprehensive watching us. With the help of Jules’ sister I am able to slide him into the back seat and hold him upright while she buckles the belt across him, snaps herself in and supports his body with hers. Although the chair collapses, it is still quite bulky. The equipment underneath and the seat cushion have to be removed for the chair to fit inside the hatchbacks. Julius has been clunked in the head a couple of times, but we have gotten better at the task. Fundidora is massive and demonstrates what Mexican people value above all else- Family. In Parque Fundidora, capitalism takes a back seat. There is no fee to enter the park and all people with disabilities are free to visit the museums within. On the grounds, are very few places to purchase food and drink. Outside vendors are not permitted inside the park. Families can bring picnics and have family parties without a rental fee. We crossed no souvenir kiosks dotting the paths or gift shops within the museums. Families here are large and multigenerational. Grand-parents are at the top of the family hierarchy with regard to respect and are an integral part of daily activities and all celebrations. Julius was well accepted without reservation or fear. One woman in the Children’s Museum was so excited when she learned that Julius could see the scarfs printed with different bugs, as they were sucked up into a transparent piping system that spit them out over our heads so they could waft down. You would have thought she was his grandmother! The kids squealed with delight trying to catch the cloths before their soft landings. Julius and his wheelchair right in there with them, never triggered a stall or stare, even when the bug-prints landed on him. We were surrounded with acceptance and belonging as we have been most of the time. In a nearby circular sandpit, we watched my daughter excavate “dinosaur bones” with a family of local children. None of the kids, the parents or the program guides were bilingual. Most locals do not speak any English, but it simply didn’t matter. Bones are bones. The doctor at the Center told us Fundidora also has a river with boat rides, a hotel, a convention center a theatre, a design center and much more. We only managed one button-hole corner that included a wax museum where I had the chance to ask Diego Rivera why he couldn’t be a better husband to Frida Kahlo. It would take multiple visits to Fundidora to experience everything it has to offer. Jove says “It’s okay. We can come back.” But she says that about everything we’ve loved here. Just after sunset, we were working our way out of park, past the huge Museum of Steel (a converted foundry). Its monumental outdoor sculptures infused with their utilitarian past were crusted in rust and patina. Crowds of families were just entering Fundidora and the wide paved areas that were barren when we arrived, had become active with bicycles and roller-bladers unbound from the heat of the day. We were exhausted when we returned to our hotel, quickly crashing after showers and up again at 6:30 am preparing for another treatment at the Center where we meet new faces as families rotate out and others come in. Soon, we will be saying goodbye as well and I already miss the connections we’ve made. I am reading another book. It’s long title is Melting Bone, Healing Tide; How to Reanimate Inertial Bone Tissue Through Therapeutic Touch; An Introduction to Biodynamic Skeletal Therapy. (Yeah, a mouthful) Now, that Julius is able to release his joints, I have the opportunity to use the techniques Dr. Scott Sternthal describes in depth. The book is a class in osteopathy and cranial sacral techniques that one of Julius’ physical therapist used to calm Jules’ severe neurological agitation, when he was about a week old. I remember it well, because nothing would stop Jules from wailing after he woke from his coma. His entire body turned beet red, his nose bled and the blood vessels in his face broke. We tried everything to calm him. Only this therapy given in the hospital by a young therapist named, Kevin, could settled Jules into a restful sleep when nothing else worked. Now, Julius’ treatments at NeuroCytonix has opened a therapeutic window that closed long ago. And it is imperative that I use this chance to continue supporting the improvements we’ve witnessed. One, I haven’t mentioned yet, are the painful muscle spasms we were dealing with often. They have disappeared since starting treatment with Cytonix and I have decreased Julius’ medication to manage them. As for Melting Bone, Healing Tide, I was drawn to the book by its title and only learned it is the same therapy Kevin used after I began reading its pages. I wonder if he is still a practitioner after all these years. A therapeutic window is the optimal time for intervention following an injury or traumatic event. We are told the benefits Julius is experiencing now will continue for 6-8 months, possibly up to a year, and that we should use these upcoming months to continue stimulating Julius' brain and help with his neuro connection to his physical body. The exercises inspired by Sternthal’s book are very different from what I was doing previously. The physio manipulation is more about a collaborative practice between myself and Julius’ body rather than a forceful stretching of his limbs which always initiates a counter-action. Julius is now able to “give-in’ and he’ll even smile, laugh or fall asleep during the exercises, when I do them correctly. There is still so much to learn and I know managing our schedules at home with on-going disruptions is going to continue testing me without end. Here, we have experienced less obstacles even with a wheelchair, the luggage left at the airport, and the lost formula and medical supplies the airline still hasn’t recovered. At home, our typical month of responsibilities, demands and distractions comes from all sides and never lets up. It’s been a remarkable gift to have uninterrupted and concentrated time with both of my kids. It is something we have never had before. I need to solve this as I fall back into multiple roles. My fear has shifted from coming here, to returning home. Wednesday July 30, 2025
No Wheelchairs (or Dogs) Allowed We are half way through Julius’ Cytotron protocol. This science absolutely deserves attention. We were given letters from the doctor so that Julius will be excused from x-ray scans at the airport. Apparently, it will interfere with the treatment, which is meant to continue having positive impact over the next six months to eight months. The more I learn, the more fascinated I am and the more I believe that humanity should be delving deeper into the power of RFQMR and electromagnetic fields for a plethora of applications. Treatment centers utilising RFQMR therapy, for neurological disorders, and specifically for cerebral palsy, should be available throughout the USA. There are a lot of hurdles, a lot of expense and a lot for insurance companies to take on. Maybe those discussions are taking place. But obstacles should not stop us from advancing forward. I still cannot believe we are here and able to experience this. The families we have met have come from Mexico City, Hungary, Uruguay, Columbia, and the USA. NeuroCytronix does not have a platform for families to connect. As a matter of fact, Julius’ name has been replaced with a number for privacy. Imagine reading a research paper that included names of the participants. I consider us et al. and feel like we are involved in something far bigger than us. Still, it would be nice to have more connection with the other families so we can help each other with obstacles. We are only able to meet the handful that overlap with our scheduled time at the Center and those staying at the same hotel. As for obstacles, we certainly experience them on a daily basis. Even with a nice pool, this hotel closes in on us. As contemporary and beautiful as the architecture in the area is, the environmental design falls way short of inclusive. Not only is mobility for a person using a wheelchair restricted, but even those of us who are ambulatory had better watch every step. I saw a large family walking along the bending road by the park. They were right in a blind spot of the curve with a stroller out in front! OMG! Crosswalks are scarce, if at all. Sidewalks are narrow, spotty, incredibly irregular, and end nonsensically. On the greater than 100 degree temperatures, It is brutal going anywhere on foot and especially when pushing a heavily loaded wheelchair. I cannot understand why the hospital right across the street is so difficult to access. Even people without disabilities will find themselves using crutches and wheelchairs. On our twelfth floor of the hotel there are large single-light windows at the west and east ends of the long hall that is perpendicular to the elevators. My daughter, and I contemplated the traffic below the eastern facing glass, after our efforts to walk to the Walmart for some staples, only a few blocks to the south, proved to be near impossible. We dropped the back right wheel of Julius’ chair from the rugged, broken pavement and tall uncut curbs we had to navigate. I kept “fixing” the wheel each time it spun out to the end of its axel. “We have to turn around, mom,” Jove repeated too many times. “We are not turning around. We are too close to turn around, now.” “But, mom!” “No! We got this, so please stop saying that! Walmart will have an auto shop. Someone there will know how we can to fix this.” Walmart wasn’t much farther beyond the Costco parking lot that we crossed through. Most people paid no attention to us, until one man came running towards us and bent down to assist with the wobbling wheel. In English he said, “You are in Mexico now! (As if I didn’t know. We just navigated a left hand turn with a lame wheel on a hill of two way traffic with no cross-walk in a Spanish speaking country.) “No one here is going to help you!” He shouted, “No one here likes Americans.” “I am very sorry about that,” I said while he pushed the wheel back in and spun the locking clip that refused to latch.”Where are you going?” He asked. “We are going to Walmart. We will get something there to help with the wheel.” He pointed. “Oh It’s far. (It wasn’t) No one will help you. My own family has been separated. I cannot see them!” He was speaking very quickly. I could not make out everything he was saying, but I felt his anxiety and told him, “I understand’ without spilling fuel on his angst. I thanked him and continued on. “Watch the wheel” I told my daughter, “So I can watch for cars.” “Be careful!” the man shouted. Both CostCo and Walmart overlook a hillside community of multicoloured concrete dwellings that Mayte told us about when she graciously took us to CostCo on our first day. This is where poor people live,” she said. I couldn’t help but compare the view from our hotel window onto the wealthier hillside benches where pristine, white houses striped my view, while the less fortunate houses were adorned in a spectrum of ragged colour. I considered how I painted murals on the back and side of our house before I could afford to landscape the property. Everything was sandy dirt that plugged up the screens and trailed into the house. I needed the color. I suppose the families on the painted hillside feel the same. Walmart did not have an auto shop and no one there spoke a word of English. The presence of our Golden Doodle, Julius’ service dog, was less than welcoming. A short, stocky woman kept pointing at our Lilac, glaring into my eyes and ranting. Knowing the words she was saying wasn’t necessary to understand her content. The best we could do was to walk away from her, but she found us again and continued. Luckily, someone kind was willing to help us with the wheel. He didn’t really do anything more than push it on, just as we had been doing, but for some reason he managed to lock it into place and the wheel has stayed since. But, we chose not to make that walk again. So, there we stood at the window of the twelfth floor strategising how we could cross the street to the side where the hospital grounds and plaza were. “You know,” I said, “If we time it right, and take two lanes at a time, we could make it across.” “No” Jove shook her head without question, “uh uh.” “Just watch for a minute,” I urged. There were three main thorough-ways comprised of two lanes each and a fourth lane on the other side that veered off from the rest. Between each section of blacktop were grassy plantings traced in curbs. From our view above, the curbs looked flat, but I knew that down below they were 8-10 inches high. We could surely get across the two outer sections where the traffic moved slower with gaps between clusters of cars. But those center double lanes moving in opposite directions were for non-stopping traffic, heading straight through this area. Those cars traveled much faster and had little distance between. “Right there!” I said, pointing to a gap in the slower lane on our side. “There’s an opening, see!” Jove watched “Yeah, but what about the middle lanes?” We kept looking, studying. “Maybe there? After that black car?” I said, but in a second the opening was gone. “MOM!! NO!! WE’LL DIE!” She’s very dramatic. I scoffed, still analyzing. But she was probably right. Even if we made it across the pavement, we’d ram the curb. There was no shoulder. No breathing room. And the grassy area was mounded high. If we got that far, we could fall backwards lifting the front of the chair. Making it across would be a Hail Mary at best and then we’d need the same odd luck to get back. “Hmmm…We’ll figure it out” I finally said and we turned around to go back to our room where Jules and Lilac waited. Two days later, we successfully made it across the street. Victor, the bellman and shuttle driver told PJ, another parent here with her daughter for treatment, texted me that there was a way across through the underground parking garage. “An underground sidewalk? There is an underground sidewalk!” We searched for it. The security guard insisted there was no walkway across. Then, I got a little more information from PJ who texted, “ Go toward the park and around the police station.” Huh? The police station is a curved building with a circular flange at the bottom that, I suppose, is considered a sidewalk, but it is way to narrow for Julius’ wheelchair and there are three high curbs to hurdle and curving, blind traffic to consider. “We aren’t doing it mom!” Jove, would not even consider trying. “This makes no sense,” I said, “Stay here and I’ll go over myself to check it out. I turned to the right and found nothing but obstacles. I crossed back to the kids and Lilac and we returned to our room. Hmpf. The following day, we tried again, reading PJ’s text very carefully, following exactly. ‘Take the parking garage elevator down to S2, go left, head towards the park, and around the police station.’ “Okay, so instead of going to the right around the station, let’s try going to the left around,” I said, “but from here, we’ll stay on this side of the street, just the same as when we go to the park.” Jove was listening carefully, but was clearly doubtful. I continued with the first part of the plan. “Then, when we get there to the road that runs along the park, we will look around the police station and see what’s there.” My daughter was very reluctant. We had been up that street in the opposite direction when we walked to the HEB grocery store where they were holding my rolling suitcase full of food. I accidentally left my credit card back at the hotel so I had to walk back and get it. The kids were watching TV and I insisted the walk wasn’t so bad and that they could come with me, Lilac, too. Lesson: No dogs, even service dogs, are allowed in grocery stores in Mexico. I did not know this. That must be why the woman at the SuperWalmart was so mad at me. But, I brought the kids because I was worried about leaving them again and the route really didn’t seem that bad when I was by myself. I was wrong. “Mom, you said this was gonna be easy!” Jove complained as the heavily packed wheeled luggage toppled from one side to the other. Somewhere along the way, two of the raw eggs smashed inside. “You should have told me there were eggs in there, mom. I wouldn’t have been kicking it.” Although, we did our best in the heat, it would have been better to leave the kids in front of the TV for that mission. On our way back, another narrow chunk of sidewalk, just over a curb, refused to let us on and we found ourselves jammed with Julius’ toes caught in a chain link fence with a large area of thicket growing on the inside of it. He started to cry and my daughter yelled in distress. I knew, if I were to let go of the chair’s push handle we would fall backwards because the back wheels weren't fully on the skinny sidewalk. I froze in place for a split second, concerned about losing that back wheel again. Before I could adjust, a young guy appeared from around the curve of the wire fence and nearly collided with us. He was as surprised to see us as we were to see him. He immediately grabbed the front of the wheelchair, dislodging Julius' toes and allowing me to back the chair up just enough without falling off the curb. In one coordinated movement, the three of us turned the chair in the direction from which he came and he continued on past us. "Gracias!" we called out all sweaty. "De nada," he said as if it weren't a big deal. I leaned in toward my daughter and said, “He came out of nowhere, right when we needed him! You know, that's how the angles work." Her stressed face softened and she mustered a flush smile. Back by the police station, I realised that PJ must have not yet attempted to get her daughter in her wheelchair across the street, when she sent me that text. It became clear that the directions she was passing onto us from Victor, she hadn’t actually tried. And Victor, who speaks English fluently wasn’t great about directions. When he shuttled us to the Aquarium, not far beyond the Walmart, he failed to tell us that the aquarium was located inside the shopping mall, an important detail. None-the-less, I was determined. The four of us were going to get across the street without harm. The road that would get us there dipped beneath an overpass. There was a sidewalk wide enough and even enough, except for a traffic sign cemented right into the middle of it. An oversight that happens often, even in the US. With that barrier, we’d surely fall off into the street. “Ok, one step at a time,” I said, “The traffic on this street is not bad and moving slower. We are going to walk in the street, tucking close to the curb, pushing in the same direction as the traffic. There is enough room for the cars to go around us.” Down we went, under the overpass and when we came up we saw it- a round-about with traffic lights!. No sidewalks, but we could move with the traffic and get to the other side on a green light. Starbucks, here we come! I flagged it in my google maps. But, we didn’t exactly make it that easily. We, unknowingly, took the back road behind the sky scrapers, expecting to come out the other side. Instead we found a sanctuary for dogs with lots of shaded trees and land where they could roam. The dogs were as curious to see us as we were to see them. They were gorgeous, well cared for and very happy. When we found ourselves behind the hospital, with no way into the grounds we turned back, said hi to Lilac’s friends again and worked our way over from the front side. “But mom, how are we going to cross over to the plaza?” By then my hands were slipping on the handlebar from my sweat. “One step at a time Adajove. Otherwise, it’s all too much. Lets get Starbucks first and cool down.” Inside the hospital Starbucks, we ran into Mayte, who was about to get another family from Columbia ready for their intake. The kids and I found a reasonably easy opening to the plaza and spent the rest of the afternoon there, where Jules and Lilac napped, I read, and Jove played in the fountains. “I love it here, mom! It’s my favourite place!! Can we come back?” (She really did say that.) Later, a text came through from PJ, who had a gift card for Starbucks and was also trying to get over there. It read “These sidewalks are awful. (Mad emoji face) Holy Crap. How the heck did you do that w Julius? Lord have mercy!” The photos are of us in the medical plaza across the street from our hotel. I absolutely LOVE those rockers!! I want to bring one home, but traveling with one chair is already enough. They are called Huey Rocking Chairs designed by artist Anthony Allan. Allan should extend his design skills to encourage the city to make some curved, wheelchair accessible walkways don’t ya think? Saturday July 26, 2025
There are many families here overflowing with hope, silently spilling our prayers. We speak different languages, but our bodies share the same culture. We smile, nod politely. We have grown tired, but our children amaze us with their vibrancy. Everything is run on a tight and meticulous schedule. One wheelchair accessible van drops us off while another is leaving. Then our van takes one of the other families back to their hotel and another arrives. We have two drivers assigned to us, that switch on and off. David and Carlos. In Spanish, we have learned how to say Thank you, how are you, good morning, good afternoon, good night, see you tomorrow, I’m sorry, Mother, please, eggs, pancakes, bathroom, dog, water… and a few other phrases and words. Julius is calm, and comfortable. He sleeps during his treatments. There are three treatment rooms at the research Center. They call them studios. Each studio has a Cytotron machine. They are behind sliding doors of frosted glass and wired to a central control station behind another milk glass slider. Each child is unique to the others. A girl with long brown hair named Laud, points and smiles at everyone. She has bonded with Julius’ sister and squeals in delight each day she sees her. Lauda goes into the studio that Julius utilises. She follows behind us. She is here with her mother. I don’t know where they are from, but they speak Spanish so I am guessing they are from the area. Michelle and her parents are from Mexico City. Michelle is a smart teenager, with long red hair. She speaks English skilfully and with no accent. She interprets for her parents. Her mother, provides physical support to prevent Michelle from falling when she walks. Michelle is proud to say that she used to have therapy with the actor who plays the role of Lucca in the Netflix movie, Lucca’s Word, which is a story of a Mexican boy whose parents advocate to get him Cytotron treatments. They travel all the way to India, where the technology was invented. I was happy to know that Lucca’s actor had cerebral palsy. I wondered when we watched Lucca’s World if the casting director happened to find someone excellent at portraying a body with cerebral palsy or if AI was used to manipulate the actor’s body. The authenticity of actually casting an actor living with cerebral palsy, felt good. At the end of Julius’ treatment all three of us have to be de-electrofied. A metal clamp is placed on each of our wrists before we can exit the studio. It reminds me of rubbing a balloon back and forth on my head as a kid and my hair would stand straight up, or sliding my socked feet through the green shag carpet and then touching the rod iron banister to purposely elicit a shock. No metal is allowed in the machine because it will interfere with the electromagnetic field. The entire earth is one huge electromagnetic field. Author Laura Lynne Jackson describes it as a massive jumble of charged particles that stretch all the way from the earth’s interior to the farthest depths of space. She goes on to say scientific studies have shown that many animals use the earth’s magnetic field to orient themselves and to navigate their way through the world…and that all living beings generate electromagnetic energy. Every connection we have with another, be it direct or indirect, is an electromagnetic exchange. It is happening right now as you read this page. This led me to consider the relationship between electromagnetic fields (EMF) and Rotational Field Quantum Magnetic Resonance (RFQMR), the invisible energy source within the Cytotron. I found this from Google AI: EMF is a broad term for the physical field produced by electric charges, encompassing both electric and magnetic fields. RFQMR is a specific technology that utilizes a controlled, rotating electromagnetic field to deliver targeted energy to tissues, often in the context of medical applications. Every day, I sit at the head of the tube Julius lies within. One of the techs puts a template over his face while I cover his eyes. An infra-red diagram is cast onto his face and adjustments are made to the bed until it is positioned just right for the treatment to begin. I move my hands away and sit by him. His sister sits on the other side of the room lost in her own technology. I am allowed to reach in a touch Jules. He drifts into sleep. Nothing moves. The tube is dark. I cannot see electromagnetic waves. None-of us can. During our intake, when I asked how to a single beam could reach all areas of Julius’ brain, I was told there are several beams. Seven align with the spine and one with multiple fingers goes into the brain fully reaching all hemispheres. My thoughts go deep into Julius’ head and I imagine what is happening and why this form of science is not researched more extensively since it is our earths most powerful energy source. Sometimes, I doze off with my head against the wall before we are both awakened when the lights are turned back up. In the moments that we are there, I don’t want to be any other place in the world. Thank you for continuing to follow along, and for donating to this monumental task of faith and science. https://gofund.me/4fe43272 Pics- Julius and our driver, Carlos; Michelle and her parents; My daughter and Lauda. July 22, 2025 “MOM! WAKE UP!!” I startled into an upright position in the hotel bed I am sharing with Julius. Both kids were asleep. I checked the clock. The time was 6:35am. Five minutes later than my alarm setting. ‘Why didn’t the alarm go off?’ ‘Who woke me?’ I remembered Cyrus, Julius’ younger sibling who died at birth, long before my daughter was born or could it have been Julius telepathically communicating with me through his dreams. Sounds woo-woo, I know. But, Julius and I have a non-verbal bond that is difficult to translate into words. I let the question go and immediately started getting ready for Julius’ second Cytotron treatment. Later, I realised, it’s Saturday and my alarm was set only for weekdays. The treatment takes commitment with no days off. The NeuroCytonix Research Center runs seven days a week 8:00a to 8:00p with families coming from all over the world. For those unfamiliar with the Cytotron, in the USA the therapy is referred to as RFQMR, the acronym for Rotational Field Quantum Magnetic Resonance. The treatment is non-invasive, painless and has no reported side effects. Julius usually falls asleep. The way I understand RFQMR is that the cells in our bodies give off radio frequencies and the Cytotron machine detects abnormal cells by their difference in frequency from healthy cells. It looks very similar to a tubular MRI machine, except that it induces apoptosis, a programmed cell death that happens in abnormal, rapidly dividing cells, such as cancer cells. It also does the opposite, stimulating cell growth and repair in degenerative conditions. While treatments like FDA approved radiation therapy in cancer destroys both unhealthy cells and the surrounding healthy cells, RFQMR does not harm the surrounding healthy cells because of this ability to differentiate between cells. Cerebral Palsy is more complicated than cancer, in that it varies from one person to the next. CP is actually an umbrella term for categorising brain injuries that occur in infants in utero, during birth and in early childhood. Most cases of CP are preventable, but healthcare continues to fall short of excellence in this area of preventative care. In the USA alone there is an estimated 1 million cases of CP in varying degrees, that is about 1 in every 345 children. Yesterday, we met another family from the US that have come for treatment. Ezra and her mom. PJ have given me permission to share their story with ours. At days end we sat by the pool exchanging our anxieties about getting here. Ezra is a pre-teen who uses a wheelchair and is able to speak. Unlike Julius, she has no feeding tube or tracheostomy. Her brother, who is her twin is more involved, similar to Julius. He remains in the US with his other mom and PJ is hoping that he will also get a chance to come for treatment. But what we are both hoping for mostly is that the USA will open the gates to allow our families and others to receive this treatment in our own country. Maryland, USA is where the Center’s mother research centre is located and PJ tells me that a representative from the FDA visits NeuroCytotonix here in Monterrey, Mexico monthly evaluating what is happening here. The powers that be have been coming for two years. Our intake worker said they keep asking for more data. So, of course, I gave permission for NeuroCytotonix to include Julius in the data they are collecting in a determined attempt to get USA FDA approval to treat patients with cerebral palsy using the Cytotron machines that are being utilised in the USA for other approved diagnoses. Here in Mexico their equivalent to our FDA already has granted approval and families that can managed the costs of the treatment are sharing their positive feedback. Many, like us, have gotten donations from Go-Fund-Me platforms and other financing avenues. I came into this with a realistic hope, meaning that I understood this is not a cure for cerebral palsy, but a possibility at reducing the fight Julius’ body gives us both every single day. Julius weighs less than 100 pounds, but lifting him and moving his limbs feels like double the weight. The fight is real and hard on both our bodies. His joints become more atrophied as he ages and his tonal patterns are more difficult to release. When he is in a spastic attack I am unable to bend his iron stiff body. Imagine how tight your neck would be if you held your head to the left all the time waiting for someone to help you move it back to centre. Don’t get me wrong in my vulnerability here. Julius is not an unhappy person. On the contrary, he is the most loving, trusting human I know. His very life depends on the kindness of others and the willingness of another to approach him and say “hello, I see you.” I love him exactly the way he is. Making his body more comfortable will not make me love him any more than I already do. It simply would make our daily life, less difficult. Getting us here was extremely stressful. In the end, some things were left behind, like Julius’ eye glasses. I was so disappointed with myself when I realised this detail. It seemed minor compared to the other mishaps that happened during our travels. (I will save that for another time.) When we arrived at our hotel, Julius’ eyes were all over the place. What I mean is that his glasses play a significant role in keeping his irises in better alignment. I new without those glasses, his eyes would not work together. And in his attempt to try looking at me with both eyes synchronised, the left iris shook uncontrollably. Of course, even when I did get his glasses on him, his dominant tone that twists his head to the left would just knock them off. It is a game of cat and mouse keeping those glasses on. Sill, I felt deflated for forgetting them. How much worse would his eyes become before we returned home? Ugh To my surprise, after the first treatment, Julius’ eyes were better. Huh? Maybe the good night sleep he got made it appear so. They are worse when he’s tired. Then, the next day, they were even better. By the third day, there was no denying something had changed. Honestly, I hoped for improvement, mostly a release from the high tone, known as spasticity, and also some coordination in his swallow so that he wouldn’t require so much suctioning. Those were my two wishes in coming here. That’s not too much to ask for, is it? Still, I am not expecting jumping jacks. But wow, I never considered June’s eyes and absolutely did not think we’d notice any improvement until after we returned to the US. Building new neuronal pathways takes time after-all, right? We would have to follow up with supportive PT and OT for sure? I thought it was presumptuous of the doctor to ask, after the first treatment, if we noticed any changes. Well, we are now on day five. Julius’ eyes are working together and I can rotate his shoulders. Sockets that were nearly frozen are in motion. PJ and Ezra are experiencing their improvements as well and they are only a couple of days ahead of us. Ezra kept her left hand in a tight fist and she could not sit without full support from a wheelchair. She is now able to open her left hand, stretching her fingers and she is able to sit on the plastic shower bench that accompanies an “accessible” hotel room, so PJ can shampoo her daughter’s hair without having their fully supported shower chair left at home. We both have before and after photos of these improvements. Since I have already shared Julius’ beautiful eyes, I will share Ezras very proud ability to open her left hand, and the before picture her mom shared with me. I know there is a lot of skepticism out there. I’ve read much of it before coming. I even considered cancelling and returning the donations, mostly because of the stress I went through in preparing. PJ said she went through the same thing. In her words, “I was gonna bail.” Well, thank goodness neither of us took the easy way out. Getting here was hard, but here we are and neither of us want to be any other place in the world at this moment. Thank you all again for your belief in us and for helping us get here! Please spread the word! Julius Before and After Ezra Before and After
I hit a wall, doubted everything, broke down and then reached out asking for strength, protection and the ability to get us where we belong with everything we need to make this experience as successful as possible. After a challenging transition that I will write about later, we are now in a beautiful place where kindness surrounds us.
Julius’ initial testing was done the day after we arrived. The Hospital Angeles is just a few cartwheels away from our hotel here in the San Pedro area of Monterrey, Mexico. At night, we can see the reflection of the lighted hospital sign on the mirrored facade of the tower outside the windows of our apartment. We have more space than I expected and the floor plan accommodates our wheelchair well. The private hospital is breathtaking, a word I have never used to describe any medical facility, until now. In comparison, the building makes our hospitals look like auto-mechanic garages. It feels as if we have been transported into the future by a few decades. I am attaching a photo of the stunning main exterior entrance. The image speaks for itself. Inside, natural light bounces off the polished marble slab floors. Shadows from the late afternoon sun followed us through a long curved corridor skipped with tall sheets of glass that overlooked a courtyard. To operate the elevators there are tablets cantilevered near their doors at the ground floor. Our hospital escort, Mayte, took us to a small interior room that was equipped with the Electroencephalogram machine where Julius was prepared for is pre-EEG. The tech fitted him with a yellow cap pierced with rows of riveted holes and then filled each hole with a clear gel for thorough conduction of the electrodes. When she finished, she input some information into a computer screen and then sat on the other side of Julius and busied herself on her cell phone. After several minutes I asked her if she was going to attach the wires. She did not speak English and I do not speak Spanish, but we understood each other just fine. She peeled an edge of the yellow cap back and showed me that the holes were actually sensors reading Julius’ brain waves. No additional wires were necessary and no gummy mess in Julius’ hair from the former method of capturing an EEG. After the test was done, we moved to an upper floor where several doctors and assistants met us for the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) of Julius’ brain and spine. I transferred my guy to the gourney that waited for him. The lead doctor was dressed in bright red scrubs. He asked me a few questions about Julius and then brought the gas-anaesthesia closer. “Now? Here?” I asked. “Si,” he said. I did not anticipate that I’d be able to be with Julius when they put him to sleep. It’s one of the most tense moments of having to leave him and it has not gotten easier after all these years. In the U.S. I have to barter with the anaesthesiologist for approval to escort Jules into the OR where the gas is administered. Most of the time they let me through. I bent down to my son’s beautiful face distorted by cerebral palsy and sang our anaesthesia song to him while the gas was gently released. I rubbed his eyelids, singing softly until he fell gently into sleep. The process went significantly slower than I was used to. The pace reduced anxiety for me. Mayte walked my daughter and I around the area- a Starbucks on the ground floor, small shops and restaurants of various ethnicities in the plaza. We ate in a small cafe across from a grid of bubbling fountains, the kind children can run through. The grounds were spotless. People greeted us with nods and smiles. Mayte stayed in communication with the medical staff via texts. After we finished our lunches, and were browsing the window displays she received an alert and turned to me to say Julius was waking up. “Oh he’s done already then!” I said. “No” she said, “Julius moved during the MRI.” It isn’t uncommon for Julius to move during an MRI. In America, we are sent home and have to reschedule the test for another time. I felt the familiar knot in my throat before Mayte said she was sorry that they would have to repeat a section of the test because it was very important that every part of the images be sharply in focus. This meant it would take longer than planned. “Oh! They will repeat it right now?” I said both surprised and relieved. We used the additional time to shop for staples for our apartment. Many items I packed, had to be removed due to space. It was already 8:00 pm when we returned to the hotel where we met Zahra, a woman from Saudi Arabia. She and her huge smile squeezed into the elevator around Julius’ wheelchair when I gestured for her to get in before the doors closed. People often hesitate and say they will take the next one, but Zahra was happy to join us. It was her last night in Monterrey and before we separated to go to our different floors she invited us to dinner. (True!) Sahra was here on business, traveling alone, the only woman in her company of 10 employees. This was her first time in Monterrey, Mexico. She deals with tech as most business travellers from around the world do, here. I told her about Julius’ research treatments and she seemed genuinely fascinated. We compared healthcare practices in each of our countries. She asked me much about art saying it has been her love for a long time. We exchanged pictures of our work and stories of our families. She made suggestions of what we could do in the area and said the Museum of Mexican history is free on Sundays. She said how much she loves Mexico and wants to return. I asked if she’s been to other parts of Mexico. She said no and I told her “This is very different from other parts of Mexico.” There are no tourists in the area. No transients on the streets. Everything is clean and the modern architecture is gorgeous. San Pedro of Monterrey is the wealthiest Latin region of the world. Before we left California I asked for strength, support, love and kindness and it is happening. It is like a light switch has flipped on. Everything is brighter. There is much more to share with you, but I need to sleep now. Thank you for having my back and following along! July 15th, 2025
There is no room to walk in my small living room with all the baggage and boxes filled with medical supplies and equipment. I have been preparing for weeks. I have, yet, to pack our clothes and personal items. Last week, I woke from sleep at 3:00 am with a panic attack. Why did I think I could handle all this? Are we going to be safe? Is it even real? We’ve waited more than two decades for something REAL. What if it doesn’t even exist? I’ve been working over-time for several weeks so I’m sure the lack of sleep and high stress played a role in my anxiety. None-the-less, all communication with the Center has been through emails and WhatsApp. Our hotel reservation was made through the NeuroCytronics Center’s staff. What if it was all fake? I tried to confirm my reservation by making an international call to the hotel directly but couldn’t get through. I called my carrier and paid for a subscription for international calling. My call still failed to go through. My carrier tried to call the hotel for me and he, too, could not get through. I felt myself spiralling before their supervisor said it would take 1-2 days to work. I buried myself into the research again, reviewing everything I could find. I read the skepticism as well as the supportive information. The skepticism was weak. There wasn’t much to grab onto. I reminded myself that Shreis Scalene Sciences, is NeuroCytrotron’s sister research centre here in Maryland, USA, using the SAME therapy for FDA approved conditions. Although Cerebral Palsy is not on the USA approved list (at this time) Mexico’s FDA equivalent has approved the treatment specifically for Cerebral Palsy and have been treating kiddos like mine for years with no known adverse effects. I took deep breaths and centered myself. I pulled up posts from mothers, like me, and came to a mother on Facebook who shared daily updates during their sessions. She and her daughter finished the treatments last month that we are soon undergoing. They are now home. She was exhausted, but hopeful. She had support at home for her other children during her absence, but missed her babies at home terribly throughout the separation. Then, in the midst of her good intentions to share her story for people like me, a sad thing happened- When she opened herself up on social media, she let criticism in and found herself being attacked by people who simply could not understand why she would schlep her daughter out of the U.S for a treatment that had not yet been approved here. I understood. I know. I navigate medical and research fields daily with Julius. We experience delay after delay after delay for just about everything. I wrote to her. She wrote back providing love and support. I feel a fortunate kinship and relief in finding her, a validation from someone who knows what we feel as mothers when we want our children to be healthy and comfortable. From my experience, the Cerebral Palsy label has left many complacent. It’s been around a long time. “Love your child while you have him” is the vibe. Please understand, I love and accept Julius exactly the way he is. We never feel sorry for ourselves, on the contrary actually- my son has empowered me in ways I could have never imagined. True love and acceptance does not equal complacency. I will never be complacent about us. I want the same for him as you want for your children- happiness, good health, longevity, purpose…. So, we received our schedule from the Research Center. Julius will start with an EEG, followed by an MRI, then blood-work, then a neurological evaluation, before the daily protocol begins. When the protocol is finished, these initial tests will be repeated and any neurological and/or physiological changes will be documented. I have decided not to post daily updates on social media after seeing how this other mother was broken down by negativity. It is absolutely imperative that I stay strong, positive and above all, alert and focused on this process. I will still keep you all informed, but not as often as I initially intended. Tomorrow is my birthday. The gift I ask for is safety, healing and kindness. PLEASE send us your prayers, your positivity, your love. If you are able to soften the blow for these expenses we are very grateful. I am still afraid, but moving forward one step at a time, as we navigate obstacles with as much grace as I can muster. Thank you for being here. A side note- I mistakenly said the Research Center is in Mexico City. I’m unfamiliar with the region. It’s actually north of Mexico City, close to the Texas border in beautiful Monterrey. PICTURED: The kiddos working with me all weekend during the deinstall for the Annual Nomad Show sponsored by Torrance Art Museum. Monday, I needed to solve the problem of how Julius could sit in an airline seat when he has no balance or trunk-coordination. I called the airline. Could it be that after all these years, they have come up with an adapted seat insert of some sort for people unable to sit in an airline seat? Surely, the cost to design a portable adult "car" seat for the airline is pennies relative to building an entire plane. Sadly, no. Nothing has changed and it's up to me to dissolve this barrier. I remembered what I did when Julius was a child, walking the isles of an REI sports store looking for something that would work so we could travel without having to carry an additional large special needs car-seat. I found a yellow lifejacket for a small dog. I turned it around in my hands evaluating. If I cut this off here, and turned it in a different direction, then added straps……would it work? I took my idea to the wheelchair team at Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake City, where we lived at the time. They had an industrial sewing machine and regularly made adaptations for the wheelchairs of kiddos like my Julius. Ken, the founder of the wheelchair program, knew us well and had a soft spot for Julius (Well, he likely had a soft spot for all the kids, but had the talent of making each of us feel like his favorite.) I held up the small, doggie jacket and described my design idea to him. “Hmmmm…” he said, “so which way does it face?” I showed him again so he could form the new picture of it as a chest harness for an airline seat, in his mind. “Ahhh, YES! " he said with excitement, "That could just work!!” Ken cut, sewed, covered what was not to be used and I painted nail polish on the new clips to colour code how the vest would strap into the airline seat as quickly so we would not hold up other passengers. It worked perfectly, supporting Julius upright and safe in the airline seat. It was so good, we also used it in a canoe on calm waters with Julius strapped to ME, a favourite memory, before he got his tracheostomy. So, I decided I would just have to make another one like that, except it would be much larger. But, a lot of years have passed and the designs of doggie lifejackets have changed to a point where I could not alter any of them. So, I turned to e-bay, searching for the exact model in a large size and was able to find just one. I was also yellow. I ordered it immediately and purchased the strapping material and clips on Amazon. Then, I set my treasures aside while I worked on other pressing items for the trip…..until this past Monday. I took my precious sack of goods to an auto upholstery shop in Montclair that had four stars. I did not call first. They would not understand what was needed without being able to show them and would they even be willing to redirect their attention from their other high paying work for this simple mom’s project? Surely, being there in person and talking to them face to face would be better than a faceless voice over the phone. My daughter and I walked into the large workshop nervously. Julius was at home with his nurse. We were greeted with kind curiosity. I pulled out the little yellow harness I made twenty years ago and explained what it was and then I pulled out the large doggie lifejacket that matched the small jacket. “I need you to make this large one exactly like the small one so that my son, who is disabled, can sit in an airline seat so we can travel to Mexico City to get special medical treatment.” The co-owner, Lupillo did not hesitate in his willingness. It was a n assignment that would take just minutes. We agreed on $40. Lupillo passed the job onto his son asking him to copy the small harness exactly using the large vest as the model. Since they did not take credit cards I had to leave to get cash. My daughter and I thanked our angles and guides then returned quickly. Lupillo approached us with great concern, saying they had a problem. His son, misunderstood the instructions and sliced the large doggie life jacket down to match the size of the smaller one EXACTLY. Our treasure was in pieces and ruined. My whole body started shaking. “I’m so sorry,” said Jr. “We’ll get another one,” said Lupillo. “We’ll call pet shops.” “You don’t understand,” I quivered, “they don’t make them this way anymore. I’ve tried. I’ve looked. I found this one on ebay. It was the only one I could find.” Our sadness was shared. All four of us felt the same disappointment. I felt my stomach churn. “Okay” said Lupillo, “Then, we’ll just make you another one from scratch.” “But that will take so long,” I said. "Let’s check ebay again." Lupillo’s son pulled out his phone and started searching ebay. All he could find was a size medium- too small. “It will just take me half a day to make one,” he assured. Half a days work? I thought. I know what that means, a half a days work is not something to take lightly. Lupillo insisted. He and his gentle Great Dane guided me out through large garage doors to the back of the property and up three metal steps into a semi truck bed to where there were stacks of bolsters- woven fabrics and vinyls. ”Pick anything you want. Any color. We will make it. We will not charge you anything. We are sorry.” On Tuesday, Julius and I returned to see what Lupillo and his son stitched together for Julius. We tested it. It fits! In the pic: New Homies. Lupillo said we should come back to the shop any time, that he can help with other things, too. Jr. who did the work, didn't seem to mind the time he put into the new airline seat harness for Jules. I'll continue to keep you updated on our progress! My updates are also available on my website blog for those unable to donate, but still want to follow along with the strength of prayers. My website is at https://www.alicemarieperreault.com Jules wearing his new airline chest harness and new friends- Lupillo and his son. It takes a village! Over the last few months I've been researching a therapeutic intervention that was recently brought to my attention. The further I delved into this new treatment the more excited I became. I have waited the lifetime of my son for this remarkable breakthrough in science. Gratefully, the Pastors of Claremont United Church of Christ also saw the value that I saw in this scientific breakthough and set up a Go-Fund-Me account that provides more information and a place where those who are able, can help support us through the month long treatment at the NeuroCytonix Center. Below is more detailed information that has been posted on the Go-Fund-Me account. The URL is also pasted below for those interested in donating. With much thanks from the bottom of my heart! You can follow along here for updates on Julius' progress and this very hopeful journey.
Julius surprised the medical staff when he survived his birth after suffocating for 22 minutes. He is now a young adult living with severe cerebral palsy who continues to endure multiple obstacles. Among them is being grossly underestimated in his intelligence and awareness due to his physical appearance. Julius lives in a body that is outside the fluent connections from his brain, a system of neuro-physiology that most of us take for granted. His mother, Alice, is an artist, a researcher and an educator. She has been Julius’ primary caretaker throughout his life, giving up her own career as a professor in higher education to focus on his welfare. Julius’ little sister is in elementary school and came into the family when Julius was 15-years-old. She is creative in her thinking and talented in dance and song. Already, she has become an advocate for her brother and loves curling up with him in front of a movie. People often mistake Alice as medical staff, due to her in-depth knowledge for Julius’ complicated care. She reminds them, her medical training comes through her loving relationship with her son, not through medical school. Yet, it is not unusual for Alice to correct or guide medical personnel about her son’s care and is often treated as a partner in his treatments by doctors who admire her dedication and non-wavering belief in Julius. This year, Alice’s hope, was lifted when she learned about a breakthrough in tissue engineering technology that could improve Julius’ quality of life. “Is this legit?” she thought. So, she searched further. It’s called CYTOTRON/RFQMR a medical device utilising Rotational Field Quantum Magnetic Resonance (RFQMR) technology. In simple terms it is a brain magnetic stimulator (similar to an MRI) to promote cell regeneration through fast frequency radio bursts that break down old-dead cells, clearing out scar tissue and allowing room for new cells to grow. Alice’s eyes teared up. The time she invested in research, letter-writing, laboratory visits and seminars gave her an understanding that even with the best advancements of stem cell therapies, scar tissue interferes with cell regeneration. This treatment addresses that very specific problem. Next, she needed to know- Is it safe? Truth be told- YES! The CYTOTRON/RFQMR is in use in the United States for neoplastic disorders of cancer and diabetes. It is also being used to treat Cerebral Palsy and other neuronal disorders, that the technology was intentionally developed for by its inventor Dr. Kumar, Rajah Vija. In the shadow of a double blind study with 22 participants living with cerebral palsy, the treatment is yet to be approved in the USA for C.P. But this does not mean Julius is disqualified from receiving the treatment. NeuroCytonix is a state-of-the Art Treatment Center located in the Monterey area of Mexico City. The parents of a child who received the treatment in India are responsible for establishing the centre in Mexico. Thanks to their advocacy, NeuroCytonix is only a few hours away via air-travel. The application process requires a medical review and not all candidates are accepted due to their medical baselines. Julius’ relatively stable health and neurophysiology, have given him the baseline required to be an accepted candidate. The family and Julius’ medical specialists here in the U.S. have been working diligently over the past few months to prepare Julius. If you and anyone you know can help offset the costs for this breakthrough in medicine for Julius and his family, please do not hesitate. As Alice ages, it is becoming more difficult for her to lift her son, and yes, she still lifts him every day. The spastic stiffness in Julius’ body is taking a toll on both of them. Reducing spasticity is the most common improvement seen in other patients receiving Cytotron Therapy and there are several other benefits that are possible when blockages are removed so that cells can proliferate in the brain, a natural occurrence known as plasticity. Alice will keep supporters informed of Julius’ progress through a blog with information shared to those who are interested in following along. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-julius-access-lifechanging-treatment?attribution_id=sl:74857c97-d01c-4909-8d53-2fff98c7d03d&lang=en_US&ts=1750439530&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_content=amp13_t1-amp14_t2-amp15_t3&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&v=amp14_t2 |
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