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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