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Thursday, January 16, 2014

When Harry Met Andrew

When Harry Met Andrew

11/01/2014

Inclined Bed Therapy for children with Brachytelephalangic Chondrodysplasia Punctata
I was invited to meet Harry age 14 by his father to hear from his son how sleeping on an inclined bed raised six inches at the head end has transformed his life in a year.

Our meeting took place at a local pub. Dad was waiting for me outside and immediately phoned his wife to bring Harry along. I had heard that this lad was articulate and very intelligent, despite his very rare and debilitating medical condition. I had already spoken with his dad on several occasions, before and during IBT.
Harry's first positive gain from using Inclined Bed therapy (IBT) reported by his Father was that he had stopped wetting the bed and that he was very proud of this achievement which gave him a huge confidence boost.

Harry walked into the bar and walked towards us. Dad said this is Andrew, the man who asked us to tilt your bed. Harry shook my hand and said thank you for helping me and we sat down for what turned out to be a conversation I will remember for the rest of my life.

Harry stunned me with his articulation and depth of knowledge in a wide range of subjects. His positive attitude, sense of doing the right things in life are a credit to his family, friends and teachers. They have helped Harry enormously and he has helped himself and everyone around him by being Harry.

We learned a lot from a lad who had been put through the mill with numerous operations on his spine, including having a Harrington Rod fixed to keep his spine straight, which had to be removed after it was protruding through his skin. He later had a bone graft to fuse his spine but despite this, according to his dad, he was still suffering from scoliosis bending forward due to poor cartilage growth.

This condition affects the nasal passage, making it difficult to breath through the nose, restricts air flow to the lungs, which results in poor oxygenation with causes fatigue, breathlessness and regular infections. It also affects skeletal and cartilage growth and causes spinal column compression.

Harry is very light in frame and muscle. We discussed how this had changed over the last year. He told me that his legs and arms are much stronger and his muscles are developing better now. He added pointing to the corner of the bar and then to the door, stating that if at age 13 he had walked that distance he would have been fatigued and needed to rest. Now he adds, he can walk a mile and possibly more.

He had never been able to swim because of his buoyancy, poor posture and lack of muscle, saying he sank each time he tried. He now enjoys swimming.

I asked if he has a better immunity to infections such as colds and flu. We learned than that this was the first time since birth that he had avoided winter bugs, despite his father mother and brother all having flu he had somehow dodged it. We have known for a long time that using IBT helps to protect us against coughs colds and flu. I for example get initial symptoms, go to bed and find that symptoms have vanished. Not to say this happens every-time, as we did manage to get a particularly nasty virus last year that took a few days to shake off.

Everyone around Harry has noticed his pyjamas which always fit are now flying at half mast. In other words he is experiencing an accelerated growth spurt-when for years he has barely grown at all. Of course we would need to test this on a larger group of children with the same condition but there is an inherent lack of funding, will and expertise. But most of all this is a very rare condition, so I doubt it will ever happen in the realms of the medical and pharmaceutical studies because there is zero chance of recouping their investment. And there lies the main problem with bringing forth to mainstream medicine a FREE therapy. He said you should be a very rich man from this discovery. Dad jumped in and said; Son some people do things for the money. Andrew does not do this for money, he does it because he cares and wants to help people because he is a kind person.

Harry and I spent a long time discussing how IBT was discovered? why it is not accepted? Why don't people listen? why don't people just do it? I replied as best as I could to such an expert interrogator,. Believe me he is one tough and astute young lad. In fact his range of knowledge puts a lot of adults on their backfoot. I told him that if a thousand people read my research and advice, perhaps 5 people would try it. Most would shrug their shoulders thinking what's this got to do with me or who are you, or what qualifications do you have or you are no doctor. He replied; “but my Dad listened to you”. He added “I can make them listen to you”! Will you come to my Special needs school and talk to the parents and teachers. I will tell them what you have done for me and you can tell them why it works! I said they won't let me come to your school to talk about health issues because I am not a doctor. He said; “Believe me when I have spoken with them they will listen”! He said; “I want to tell everyone and I will come with you to any part of the World to let them know about your discovery.” My eyes were welling up, still are as I write this. His dad's and Granddad's eyes were also welling. What a kid you have there, I said, he is amazing and I am overwhelmed with having this opportunity to talk with young Harry.

Harry said he wants to be a good politician, to do things right and to avoid all of the mistakes that politicians make. He would make a fantastic politician! He told me about how he spoke to some man who was shouting at kids in wheelchairs telling them to shut up. He went up to the guy and spoke calmly saying; There is no need to be rude and harsh to these children. You are lucky, you have a normal life in a normal body. Try saying shush calmly instead. That guy has been silenced forever.






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