A letter by mother of a child with Cerebral Palsy

Maria and I are going to see Daddy (this is how we call Dr. Gonzalez) on Decmber 1 - 8. Those are our arrival and departure dates.

Maria had surpassed a year now. This is going to be her 3rd treatment and we are planning a treatment in the future every 4 months(rather than every 6 months).

My daughter is 19 years old and from lying flat on her back and not initiating movements in a desired direction, now she is creeping where and when she decides, whithout my motivating her. The latest we do is she walks pushing with her palms on my hands(I am behind her and making the steps with her helping with the transfer of balance from one leg to the other and shifting of her weight properly while we walk).

One thing in addition to the treatments with Dr. gonzalez, I have done is: I stopped her from school, therapies and I keep her under my eyes so I can monitor all progress and further establish structure in her brain and daily life. No school not herapist can do that, only you as Mom.

Thinking of the money paid for the treatment and it (the treatment) being the saviour of our lives (giving her mobility and improving her and my life quality), I decided that I cannot afford to have someone decide where her progress stops and create a mess of our lives and destroy all our best effort and progress.

I am not aware what is the level of injury of your child but you are to decide what to do after the treatment. My daughter has a serious brain injury at birth, born in asphyxia athetoid CP, quadriplegia.

Since the first treatment Maria has received she has grown, increased mobility and improved on all aspects of brain development.

I will have one big problem to overcome, but this I will discuss with dr. Gonzalez again in December: some asymetrical movements on the level of basal ganglia (primitive) that are hard to overcome when the highest level (cortical) is the controling one(like in the case of my daughter.

Anyway for my daughter Dr. Gonzalez' treatment has been the greatest contribution to the steady improvement in the mobilty of my child. Mobility brings all the rest we parents dream for to have our children being able to acquire.

Answering to your question to go or not for the treatment?, my answer is to go. Miracles happen only if you have the right people to help you make the miracle happen.

I hope this helps. I know it is hard to make a decision when the well being of your treasure (your child) is involved. Then comes the financial decision because we are used to having some gov. benefits for our disabled children.

I personally have gone through a lot before we met Dr Gonzalez (child abuse at the child care facility Maria was attending in 2005. Those were people I was supposed to trust because they sold me a bag of goods backed by DSHS. Then finding my child in respiratory distress at school. Loosing her on the way to the ER stopping at the fire-station to rescucitate and intubate her. Seeing her vanishing from 100 to 72 lbs. This all  happening after wasting a lot of time and energy to establish a special  medical protocol which should have been followed (part of her IEP-simple call 911 if ........, . What if I did not go there that day????

Having being defyed in so many cruel ways by the people that were supposed to care, well for me it just clicked my child was crossed out as being never able to function on the "proper" level and those people were paid "to pretend they cared". In fact I fugured out that the school system is thinking I should be greatful to them for they are giving me a break during the hours Maria was at school.

I have realized that no one loves my child more than I do and having said that noone will take better care of my child than me.

I myself look differently at my life.

If I had a child developmently perfect I would be buying cars and insurances, and things that once they are in the possession of my child i will live through the nightmare of worries for the consequences they could have using each object I purchased ( injuries,car accidents, etc).

Somehow God has decided for me that I should be blessed with a helpless brain injured child who will be relying only on my daily good judgement for its live needs. So rather than buying cars I buy treatments, and equipment, and staff that will facilitate and help the mobility progress. I, as you are now have gone through the same dilemas, to do it not to do it. It sounds a bit like hamelet- TO BE OR NOT TO BE.(Mobility has been my primary goal: yours may be something else).

One of my best judgements was taking her to Dr. Gonzalez for treatment.

I cannot give you an assurance what his treatment will do for your child.

IT GAVE MY CHILD AND ME OUR LIFE AND HOPES BACK!

I wish you good luck in resolving your dilema!

God bless you and your child!

Nadia

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