The Secret

I don’t really like sharing this because as a mom, I feel I have failed. But perhaps it is the right time to share…it might even help someone???

We have been mightily blessed with Nathan…complete with one too many challenges, from not being able to reach physical milestones due to the brain injury at birth which limits his ability to move his legs (cerebral palsy) to his autism, short attention span, not being able to follow simple instructions, etc.

“Mightily blessed” because I believe whatever the enemy tries to take away from us, God will restore. And when He restores, He gives back so much more!

From the long list of what to help Nathan with, I picked my battles. That is, to help Nathan speak and simply connect with us. And to keep my sanity intact, I threw a lot from my “help Nathan with…list” out the window…

The last thing I wanted was to be stressed about the fact that Nathan could not cognitively, physically, and independently use the toilet. I am thankful that our loving Yaya has been around to handle this task so that we could focus on other priorities. I remember talking to Yaya about this last year. She said she was doing everything she could to help Nathan use the toilet independently because it did not feel right to be assisting a teenage boy with this task, more so as he grows to be a young man. But despite all her efforts, she couldn’t imagine Nathan choosing to go to the toilet independently.

Waking up with wet diapers and bedsheets was just another part of “living with autism and cerebral palsy” and so was mopping up after accidents and cleaning up poop smears from floors and walls if we were just a minute late from catching Nathan.

Now you know why this is so difficult to write about this. Hopefully, Nathan will look back at this post and not only forgive me but laugh about all the things that happened during his teen years!

Fast forward to this year…still with no changes in toilet training efforts…Nathan now goes to the toilet on his own! He manages to balance and stand while pulling down his pants and shoots his pee or poop in the toilet!!!

He has this handicap toilet seat in his room. We bought it a few years ago but used it as a display because no amount of teaching could encourage him to use it. However, for the past 3 nights he has been shooting his pee and poop into the toilet seat ! Our wiping-up efforts have been confined to the poop smear path from his toilet seat 🚽  💩 to 💩 his 💩 bed 🛌 . Life is not perfect, but I’ll take it! In fact, I’ll celebrate it! I just know that this is just the beginning and more good things are to come!!!

What did we do differently? Nothing. A child learns to pee and poop into the toilet almost naturally. I guess the brain fog of autism just inhibits natural learning and Nathan’s physical handicap was double jeopardy. Since Nathan’s brain fog has been lifting and his muscle coordination has been improving (thanks to redox molecules) learning is coming naturally!

The secret is out, at age 15, we were still experiencing cleaning-up poop smears but by God’s grace that is about to change!

Fighting the good fight of Faith

We have been listening to Randy Clark’s audiobook, “Power To Heal: Keys To Activating God’s Healing Power In Your Life.”

A couple of weeks ago, Amor told me she had a vision. She said that Jesus told her that He has healed her seizures.

I believe her!

This month, her period came and went, unaccompanied by a usual hormone-related seizure.

We have been doing everything we can to try to understand what is triggering her seizures and what can be done to control her seizures. The intensity and frequency of her seizures have been downgrading in general, but not yet eliminated.

Now is the time to surrender to God! I am so blessed that Amor enjoys listening to God’s words and understands His desires for her so that she knows how to fight the good fight of faith!

In the photo: Amor captured my reaction as she shared her vision with me! I call her healed girl to keep reminding myself of God’s mighty plan for her. 

What are Miracles?

I was almost dreading that Nathan was approaching teenage years. This time amplifies his special needs and the thought that we will have to live with all his challenges for the rest of our lives. Like, his dependence on a wheelchair even for short trips, that he wouldn’t speak up, that he couldn’t follow complex commands, that he couldn’t eat meals independently without making a mess or he could not do so many things independently.

Depression took over for some time. Thankfully God keeps opening doors.

Finally, a fellow special needs mom asked me to look into and try ASEA.

No, ASEA is not the miracle…

When Nathan started taking ASEA, he started to detox…some would call it peetox. As his body got rid of wastes, evidently through super stinky pee, his brain fog started to lift. In time he became better at following instructions. His speech became clearer. He started to sing songs again…

Nathan regressed into autism after age 2 and lost all his words, ability to sing nursery rhymes, eye contact, etc. He was unable to sing for the decade that followed. But today, at age 14, Nathan surprises us by singing complete songs. It is like his tongue got untied!

Nathan also became stronger and better in controlling his limbs. He no longer needs a wheelchair for outings. When he eats, he has better control of his utensils and we have less trouble cleaning up after.

How can something so simply cause so much speech, cognitive and physical gains?

It can’t.

God has created our bodies magnificently. I believe our bodies have an amazing affinity to healing. All we have to do it support it. ASEA is only a tool which helps our magnificent body do it’s job more efficiently!

When I was sure about ASEA, I started to share this gift to other families with special needs.

And of course I get so excited asking them for updates.

What parents usually notice first is that their special needs child has more energy or generally better mood. Someone told me her child has better eye-contact, like her eyes glow! Teachers reported that child was better focusing in school. A child with cerebral palsy (like Nathan’s case – a brain injury affecting ability to move legs) started to kick his legs during physical therapy!

As these parents share initial gains of their children, I get excited knowing that in time they will experience so much more…just as how I still continue to see big gains for Nathan!

So what are miracles?

Perhaps it’s the moment right before science catches up and provides a “better” explanation.

I would say that it’s what happens when we align ourselves with God’s desires for us!
Mathew 15:30 “He healed them all.”

I like to use this photo to depict Nathan’s autism as a veil… to be removed as his personality, motivations and desires start to speak up and shine through.

LEARNING NUTRITION

Since I’ve spent so much time researching what to do to help my twins with special needs, I decided that I might as well get a degree in nutrition. I’ve been using what I’m learning to keep enhancing their health and overall gains. This is what Amor thinks about it…

Praise the Lord indeed! Amor had sensory issues as a child, a lot of which she has overcome.

Today, she has lingering irritability and digestive issues. But I am so thankful that she has been learning to “listen to her body” to know what helps her! She’s my best nutrition client so far 😉!

#nutritionstudent #ourASEAjourney

Restoration

By age 4 Nathan regressed deep into autism and lost all his words and ability to sing nursery rhymes. Today, at age 14, God is restoring Nathan’s voice!

We knew that Nathan had special needs soon after his premature birth. But #autismregression continued especially between the age of 2 and 4, when skills were emerging…to eventually be lost.

By the time Nathan turned 4-years-old he lost his ability to sing beautiful nursery rhymes. Instead, he did rhythmless chants while staring into space. He lost his ability to grip a pen and doodle. Instead, he would put everything into his mouth, even the toy guitar, which he was once able to strum and sing with.

Nathan regressed deep into autism. I felt like I “lost” my son.

By age 5, I though Nathan would never be able to call me “Mama” or to look at me for longer than a minute.

Each full year the Neurodevelopmental Paediatrician would assess him to have gained only 2 months of cognitive skills. If Nathan continued at that rate, by the time he reached 20-years-old, he would be behaving like a 4-year-old…severely autistic.

GOD’S PLAN (Nathan at 4-years-old)

I remember crying everyday after the doctor told us that Nathan had autism. Nathan was already 4-years-old and so much therapy and early intervention, did not seem to be making the future brighter any for us.

I cried and prayed and cried some more. One night, in my usual crying and praying moments, this song sang in my mind:

“in His time. God makes all things beautiful in His time.”

God was telling me to trust Him, even if I could not see anything at the moment.

GOD’S PLAN MANIFEST (Nathan at 5-years-old)

One year after that moment of peace, Nathan was 5 1/2-years-old, I found The Son-Rise Program®! Son-Rise taught me that I, the parent, could be the best therapist for my child. And that exciting games, rather than rigorous repetition, were the best ways to help my child with autism engage.

Nathan began to look at me, smile and laugh with me! Nathan began to speak and request things from me!

Nathan connected with me again! I got my son back!

MEETING GOD (Nathan at 9-years-old)

Son-Rise was the best and the easiest way to help Nathan make big gains despite his autism. But that does not mean life was easy for us. Life was hard and we gave up a lot of family outings simply because it was more stressful than relaxing. We even stopped going to church for the same reason.

But God must have wanted me to know that He has been calling me all this time.

Thankfully we were invited to New Creation Church (NCC), which has a special needs ministry while parents worship. It was at NCC were I learned about God’s mighty love for me.

In fact, before God speaks, He shows. He gave me Son-Rise first so that I could see that the power of a parent’s love can conquer anything! Imagine knowing what God’s love for us can conquer!

It was at NCC where I learned to rest in God and that He will restore what the enemy took away.

HEALING IN THE NATURAL (Nathan at 13-years-old)

“Pick-up your mat and walk.” That’s what Jesus said to the lame man.

What a fight of faith.

Those were the years when I would bring Nathan out for walks and no matter how tiring it was for both of us. Sometimes, I thought, not trying had the same results – zero muscle development.

Walking is challenging for Nathan because of his brain injury at birth (cerebral palsy) affecting his ability to control his legs. All his life we have been dependent on his wheelchair.

Like many special needs moms, when doctors had nothing more to offer, I turned to nutrition and alternatives to look for anything else that could help my son. Besides, is something caused his #autismregression, there should be a way to undo it.

We made strides with diet and nutrition, removing excess sugar to help Nathan to balance his energy and hyperactivity. Removing gluten and casein, to help leaky gut and lessen staring-into-space moments.

Then we found ASEA. Not only did injuries stop, but Nathan began to gain. Nathan muscle coordination and strength began to improve. He started to walk longer and longer distances without any tantrums! His speech became so much more clearer! Nathan started singing nursery rhymes agains! There are even songs which I know he loved to listen to during his regression years but could not sing…Today, all of a sudden I am hearing Nathan sing songs that he has never sang before!

Here he is singing his favorite worship song. One that he could only dance to in the past. But today he’s singing the whole song! God is so good!

Synergistic Healing

I am amazed by how Nathan is gaining control of his legs, despite cerebral palsy (inability to fully control his legs due to a brain injury at birth).

BACK TO BASICS

Did you know that creeping and crawling is an important stage which helps baby’s brain to develop?

It is so helpful that going back to creeping and crawling can even help special needs kids. The Brainhighways program helped me understand this. Apparently, creeping helps integrate the “baby brain” allowing the baby/child to move from “fight or flight” mode to relax and ready for social interaction mode. Crawling helps develop the mid-brain, helping the child better filter sensory inputs, thus, respond better when dealing with people.

RESULTS OF CREEPING AND CRAWLING, SO FAR

A few years back, we started Brainhighways for our twins with special needs, Nathan and Amor. We saw initial gains and reason to keep going. For how long? Based on Brainhighways testimonies, it will take 100 to 300 hours of creeping and crawling to see results.

THE CHALLENGE

Unfortunately, we have not been as consistent as I initially desired. We haven’t even reached our 100th hour of creeping and crawling yet. Already, I know it will take so much more than 300 hours, especially for Nathan to actually learn to creep properly and thus see the gains that other kids experience.

Nathan’s legs used to “dangle” behind him as he attempted to creep. Creeping is supposed to look like military creeping with one arm working in tandem with the opposite leg to propel the body forward. Because of his cerebral palsy, Nathan didn’t seem capable of creeping and crawling properly regardless of how many hundred hours we were to try.

It is so easy to give up on interventions especially when I recall what doctors or experts have told me about cerebral palsy “nothing can be done about it” or even that “Nathan may never walk”.

HOPE ARISES

Fast forward a couple of years…we try a new intervention… Redox singling molecules (brand name ASEA). I love the simplicity, yet profound impact, of this new category-making intervention. It is not a drug, it is not a supplement. Its starting ingredients are simply purified water and salt. These are electronically processed and stabilised to hold reduction and oxidation molecules. These molecules allow us to have the plus (+) and minus (-) energy that our cells need to communicate with each other. Thus our cells get to work more effectively. Younger children inherently have redox signaling molecules at higher levels than their adult counterparts. This manifests in their fast ability to heal. As we age, our bodies produce less, thus our ability to heal is slower. People with chronic illness or who are immunocompromised also have lower levels of redox signaling molecules. So ASEA can benefit these folks. We have started taking ASEA redox singling molecules, seeing that it has benefited other kids with autism and similar issues.

I noticed that Nathan gained better control and coordination of his legs. I was excited to revisit Brainhighways and start creeping and crawling again. Despite a long period of not creeping, Nathan…I dare say “instantly”…gained control of his legs. Watch the video.

Furthermore, when doing a “lizard pattern” exercise, Nathan used to need 100% assistance. After ASEA, it’s amazing today that he can independently to lizards on his own! It’s exciting! I feel that we have advanced so much and have gotten a “cheat” push to the middle of the marathon instead of always being at the beginning. A cheat push that every person with a disability certainly deserves! There’s newfound excitement to keep creeping, crawling and keep developing brain and muscle. I’m thankful that the Lord keeps opening doors for us. When all the experts have told us that nothing can be done about cerebral palsy, He keeps telling me to TRUST IN HIM!

Miracle in the making

I created this video in March 2020, when I felt it was impossible for Nathan to ride a bike.

It wasn’t long after creating this video that I tested and found that Nathan could actually pedal a bike!

March 2020 Video:

Doctors said that there was nothing I could do to help fix the “hole” in my son’s brain. My twins Nathan and Amor were born prematurely. Nathan needed a respiratory during the first 3 days of his life. He was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy affecting his ability to control his legs. Doctors projected that he may never walk.

I knew that physical therapy was going to be a big part of my life. But there is nothing easy about physical therapy. When Nathan was younger and smaller, you could say it was “easier” only because I could bear most of his weight. But his autism (later diagnosed at age 4) was not doing any help. It was as if he could take his mind out of his body, resulting to me do all the physical therapy for him. There was no muscle learning during these periods.

I thought perhaps the Doctors were right, nothing could help my child’s cerebral palsy….so why keep trying? But trying we did. No matter how little the results, we kept trying. But many times I would question if all that we were doing was worth it. It was easier to not do anything…and the results were the same…almost nil. To add to the challenges, Nathan is now in his puberty. He is much bigger, heavier and difficult to assist. Plus, his muscles have been pulling in all the wrong directions.

But can I just say…I know God’s hand is on our journey! #JesusHeals Three years before seeing any miracles related to Nathan’s walking, God let me know that he was going to do something for Nathan: https://www.facebook.com/977393535661…

Recently, Nathan has become more willing to walk longer and longer distances. Church was one first places he consistently went to without needing a wheelchair. Then the fast food/mall, then the movie, then dental appointments…now he does not ask his wheelchair when we go out.

In this healing journey, I have learned to tune in and listen to healing changes so I know we’re heading in the right direction. For example, I used to need to carry most of Nathan’s leg weight light when we did these bicycle play exercises. You can see that I have to fully grip his feet to move them around as if he was riding a bicycle. Without my support, his legs would just wobble and drop. He was unable to push his legs and I have refrained from dreaming that it would be possible for him to have enough force to pedal a bike…

Watch me test Nathan’s strength and coordination, by not offering much support and simply putting my flat palms for his feet to push! And he did! To demonstrate further, I used my thumb and he did almost all the work. If I was to put numbers on it. He used to need 90% of my help to get our bicycle game going. Now, he only needs 10% of my help. Who knows what Nathan will be capable of doing? Maybe one day he will be able to independently ride a bike 😉 Tomorrow is bright for us!

Singing again

When Nathan regressed deep into autism, he lost his ability to sing nursery rhymes. He lost all his words and became oblivious to everyone including me.

I thought I lost my boy.

Nathan grew up loving music but he never sang. We kept doing what we could and continue praying for healing.

More than a decade after he lost all his words, Nathan is finding his singing voice again! As he finds his voice, his first choice of songs is that of worship, which reflects how God has been so good to us!

“Tanging Yaman”

Sing your way to healing 

Amor had another seizure. Two days later she has a high grade fever. I have to admit that I was praying out of fear, even if I know that fear attracts more fear. 
How do you give up fear when your child is very sick?

I have listened to many healing sermons but it seemed like I needed to listen to more. So I downloaded another sermon of Joseph Prince called “Praise Opens Doors To Grace.” It was a very lively sermon. Many times Pastor Prince actually sang his messages. He even shared funny moments when his neighbours had to knock on their door telling his Mother to ask him to tone down because he was singing loud worship songs in the shower and the whole block could hear it.

The message that I got from the sermon was that even before you experience the manifestation of healing, experience it through praise and worship. In other words, sing your way to healing. That resonates with my beliefs and is the reason why I love listening to Amor sing. For a child who used to have so much sensory issues, particularly hearing sensitivity, I know singing constantly heals her! So I sang my praise and worship songs in confidence of her healing.

I also asked close friends to Amor to pray for her recovery knowing that when 2 or more pray, God a answers. 

True enough Amor was well the next day and singing again. See photo. That’s a sign that she feels better. Her fever was completely gone after the 3rd day. 

Today, Nathan caught the fever and just as I did for Amor, I will sing in confidence knowing that God will keep protecting him from harm because Nathan still have a God-given mission to fulfil.

Radically facing my fears

Amor had another seizure and fear tries to creep in again.
Instead of sending her to Sunday School we asked her to join us at Sunday service. It was a blessing that Dr. Marilyn Hicky was today’s guest speaker with the message of healing.

Amor sat attentively throughout the service. On the way home I asked her what was her favourite part. She said when “When Dr. Marilyn talked about the man who was healed and when she asked everyone to stand up (to claim personal healing).”

Tonight at bedtime Amor said, “When I grow up, I’m going to be a speaker like Dr. Marilyn Hicky and I will talk about Jesus!” 

I am claiming this as Amor’s first prophesy and revelation of her life’s purpose, in Jesus’ name! 

In the photo: Me, Amor and Lamy her lamb. Maybe in the future, Amor will have more to share about the greatest Lamb.