Vision for Lyca

Is within ten years too long from now?   It is not after ten years, it is within ten years so it is not too long, do you agree?

Well,  within ten years, a retina implant can be available.  From a reliable source, it is now under extensive study.  I assume it wouldn’t take long when the actual implants will be available for testing.  That will be another couple of years before the final version will be released to the consumers.  But all of that within ten years. 

What does that mean?  That there is a big chance our dear special needs child Lyca and the rest of the children who are visually impaired can have vision soon!  But there was a condition that the eyes shouldn’t have undergone any surgery yet.  For those who have undergone surgery, I’m sure they will also find ways to have another version for such cases.

It will be traumatic for a blind person since birth to suddenly have vision, so it is not that easy to just implant and expect sudden joy from the change.  If that person has light perception now like Lyca, that should already be enhanced with the use of an eye gadget. 

I had so many dreams for Lyca, then I realized they are impossible dreams that can never be achieved so I just picked the possible ones one at a time, whatever she needs most.  But now I realize they are not impossible dreams, thanks to technology,  good doctors, and people  with golden heart,  all of them instruments of God because He will never stop proving how much He loves each man on earth.

A Giant Green Snake In My Dream

Sometimes dreams in one’s sleep are mainly scenes that are not related but when they forecast what is about to happen, that is the time we are able to relate each scene to the others and complete a story. 

On August 30, 2014,  I had one of the most vivid dreams in my sleep.  Instead of telling a boring story about the whole dream which came true,  I’d like to tell the outcome in real life of each scene in my dream as they happened after August 30.

Scene 1:   In front of me was a scenery of ships rushing on wavy waters.  I looked at my back and what I saw were antique ships that were not moving at the horizon of a very calm sea. I turned to the front again and was amazed with the swift ships braving the wavy waters.

I was to make a choice between a project that was not moving and a new career where events were happening too fast. I chose the latter since it could be a start of a big opportunity leading to a better future, though it could be on “wavy waters” or maybe stormy weathers.  Anyway,  I thought, perhaps I could still handle the old unfinished project when needed or let it go if I can’t.  After a week, I received a message that this old project will no longer be continued.

Scene 2:  I was inside a plain white building with an office of a company and I was looking for a job.  I was wondering why the building looked like a hospital.

The main site of the new project that I chose was at San Lazaro Hospital, supporting the “Hospitals as Centers for Wellness Program” of the government, which was initiated through GLCAM (Green Life Center for Alternative Medicine).

Scene 3:  The plain building has a garden and on this garden were two glass displays, each with a coiled snake inside, but one has Chinese buddhas with the snake.

The wellness program for the hospital consists of the basic naturopath principles and methods, and TCM which was used for thousands of years by the Chinese. Integrating the two is what will make the program more effective and different and that is a challenge to educational institutions offering the Doctor of Naturopath degree. They couldn’t just remain in “separate glass displays”.

Scene 4:  While in the garden with the two glass displays with snake inside,  I could see another garden at a distance, and it has a coiled giant green snake lying freely on its ground.  They said it is off limits to visitors so I can’t go there.

It was indeed a stormy weather that we all went through, sad to say, my group representing TCM implementing green acupuncture (needleless or electro-acupuncture), and the other group.  But I have high hopes that there will be a reconciliation and successful integration, that I will not remain a visitor in that hospital and will be able to go near or even be a part of the “coiled big green snake lying freely on the garden” of the hospital, using my state-of-the-art Tiens health gadgets that helped my family for years.

A new dream product !

Last week, the classmate of my special child was so restless and irritable until I had the chance to put our Tiens Multifunctional Head Care Apparatus at the back of her head near the nape. It seemed it instantly relaxed her and after 5 minutes, she was back to a cheerful though blind kid as if nothing happened to her.

Three of the best features of this Tiens Multifunctional Head Care Apparatus is its ergonomic design enabling a person to hold it easily, touch it to several acupoints at a time, and allowing its bio-energies to work in synergy on the acupoints. At the center of 35 bio-electric acupuncture points is a low intensity laser light and optional vibration, all together shortens the therapy time.

An example of its application is at the back of the head which can be placed at the middle, between the head and nape so it covers several acupoints. Putting the apparatus on this location can clear the sense organs and alleviate several conditions like the following:

• hypertension
• headache or migraine
• stiff neck
• dizziness
• flu-like symptoms
• seizures

Although the name of this apparatus implies that it is for the head, it can be used in other parts of the body, especially where there is pain.  What I also like about this apparatus is the smooth ends of the points because I can use it to stimulate the lung and large intestine meridians by scanning the skin of the arms which is very effective in fighting a fever without medicines or alleviating cough and colds.

Fund raising for Lyca's special chairs

In the past it entailed us to sell a property to make a dream come true. We were able to buy a high quality stroller for our special child, Lyca, when we sold our town house unit. I'm glad that there is now a site that helps people raise funds to achieve near to impossible if not really impossible dreams. It was my dream for Lyca to be able to talk, and now I have to accept that it is impossible. It was also my dream for her to be able to walk normally soon, but I am now enlightened that what matters is whatever can help her at present, thanks to the doctors who did not know each other but told me the same thing.

At first braces were suggested but everyone realized they couldn't be the best tools that Lyca would need, so my Part 1 post of  "Braces for Lyca" will no longer have a part 2 which should already show her actual braces. It was decided by the doctors that Lyca will need a special wheelchair that will correct the malformations her bones have started to develop. Lyca had always been a child poured with blessings perhaps because she pours people with blessings too  (not financial blessings and only God knows what kind of blessings an angel like Lyca would bring not only to the people around her but to the people who have read about her life).  She was granted for free the wheelchair that she will need to correct her bones, though it is not the kind that can be brought with her wherever she goes.

The fund raising therefore will now help Lyca's sister get another wheelchair portable enough to easily bring her to her school, Resources for the Blind, four times a week, and to her therapies two times a week.

Lyca's stroller doesn't fit her anymore.  A pillow has to be placed on the seat to lessen the "C curve" that causes her scoliosis. The strap of her bag hanging on the stroller serves as a head rest.

Lyca's wheelchair from Latter-Day Saint Charities and UCP Wheels for Humanity
through Dra. Maria Regina Cunanan-Espinosa

Dra. Maria Regina Cunanan-Espinosa did all the measuring to custom-fit the wheelchair for Lyca

I just can't stop dreaming for this angel that God lent me. If Lyca won't talk nor walk normally in the future, I wish I could at least bring her to a place like the United States and see how their therapies using advanced technologies could work on her for any possible improvement.

Please see the fund raising for Lyca's chairs by clicking this link: Give Lyca the Gift of Special Chairs!

You may read more about her story in this link:  Story of Lyca

Art Gallery

Included in my Dreams List in this blog in 2008 was to have an art gallery run by my own foundation which I named "A LEAF".  It stands for "A Life Every Artwork Foundation".  But when I learned that a million pesos is needed to put up a foundation, I forgot about that dream. It was indeed an impossible dream.

My projected serious participation in an art gallery this year starting with an art exhibit was unexpected. Even my improvement in painting was unexpected, nor the tour to the Underground River of Palawan last year that inspired me was unexpected. More unexpected situations like my special child's need for a tailor-fit wheelchair as she grows that will require me to have an income to afford those special needs.  What else would come unexpectedly to lead me to the realization of an impossible dream, only God knows.  

What is clear so far is I will not be alone and should not be alone to realize such dream.  It doesn't have to be my own "A LEAF", it could be something else with the same mission of helping a person live a life through an artwork.

The Underground River of Palawan

I think it was already five years ago when I posted in this blog about a dream travel to Palawan after finding a video about the Coron Island, one of the islands in Palawan.  I did not forget about that dream travel since then, until The Underground River of Palawan became one of the 7 Wonders of the World. I had the opportunity to realize my dream of going to Palawan last year but unexpectedly, I was even able to  go to the Underground River so I considered the experience a gift from God right on the day of my birthday.

The creations of God inside the Underground River were overwhelming, a bright light is just needed to see and appreciate them so bringing a camera with a flash is a must. Being able to paint some of my shots of the Underground River became another dream but I knew that could be almost impossible so I showed the photos to some artists, my brother included, but they just challenged me to paint them.

Until I was again challenged to join an art exhibit titled "Dance of Faith" this June, which I find closely related to my experience inside the Underground River because it strengthened my faith in God.  I chose three views to paint, one with the tourists on the boat, one I consider an artwork of God and the last view showing the end of the tour. For me, this end of tour also depicts a new beginning because my faith in God is stronger and that will help me meet more challenges in life and fulfill more dreams from then on. 

Glorifying God

I’m glad that I have the chance to do something that will praise and glorify God this Easter. It is a task I thought will just remain a dream. Last Maundy Thursday, I have started to paint an amazing artwork of God found at the Underground River in Palawan.

Indeed it was the best time to have started this painting task because as it progressed, the more I was amazed at His creation, and my amazement was coupled with praises to God Almighty.

Of course I could not perfectly paint in canvass the work of God but I will do my best to remind people that so many times, He performed miracles to let people know that He exists. He even sent His Son, Jesus Christ to show how much He loves us.

I can feel that God wanted me to do this painting now because even the circumstances surrounding me pushed me to start it.  An art exhibit to be organized by a school for young artists gave me an opportunity to join the exhibit, followed by the Cherry Blossoms Festival in Washington DC where my brother did an on-the-spot painting that inspired me, and

the upcoming Holy Week.

Last year, I consider my opportunity to see the Underground River at Palawan a birthday gift from God because there was no available day for me to see it other than the day of my birthday.  I wish to pay forward God’s gift by showing just one of His wonderful gifts to the Filipino people. For this painting, I will give the title “Divine Gift Underground”. The photo shows just 20% completion of the painting.  

Braces for Lyca - Part 1

Parents always have big dreams for their children.  When a child has special needs however, those dreams tend to be diminished in number and greatness.  I can be wrong though, because a lot of blind children become accomplished or great persons when they grow up.  I now have different thoughts from the time I started writing this. I am now thinking, why should I think of limited dreams for Lyca? We planned to sell our piano but what if it will help Lyca become a great pianist someday even with a very weak left hand? She might be multi-handicapped due to her cerebral palsy and blindness, but only God knows what is in store for her. 

My main dream for Lyca used to be for her to be seizure-free.  Though we don’t notice her experiencing obvious seizures nowadays, that should still be verified with an EEG she has to undergo soon. I’ve dreamed she would also be able to walk and talk someday, but I knew those were really big dreams so maybe I should tackle the “hows” one at a time.

The rehab doctor confirmed that Lyca will need braces for her legs and another braces for her scoliosis. I will focus my time to accomplishing these two needs this coming month of April. She will also need a wheelchair. By the time I write the Part 2 of this post, Lyca should already be wearing braces. In the meantime, the video here will show Lyca supported by me (in green) throughout their presentation, unlike the other blind kids beside her who could walk on their own.

Another dream that will help support all our dreams for Lyca is for us to finally get the right bedspacers for us to have additional regular income. I'm hoping that can be very soon too.

New hopes for Lyca

We just came from a check-up with a rehab doctor that was referred by the neurologist looking after Lyca, our special child. Lyca might need braces for both her legs and lower torso. I hope this is still an early stage since she is still growing, and she's growing fast.

I can envision Lyca's legs straightened by the braces later, her steps normal. When that happens she'll be able to carry her upper body thus her scoliosis can be corrected. I know that can be very hard for me and my husband in the beginning, but that will make our lives easier later. Lyca and us, her family, will be happier when that time comes.

It's Harvest Time!

I used to dream of a garden full of orchids and I even blogged about it in 2008 in this same blog. A person's dreams change over the years and this is one of those dreams because my dream now is to have a garden with healthy vegetables.

I've started experimenting with a few vegetables more than a month ago, and this is now the time to harvest!

 The mustard leaves are ready but there was just one stalk I experimented on so its leaves alone won't be enough for one "sinigang" recipe, but the "alugbati", a local spinach is ready as well, so I've picked some of its leaves for my "mongo soup".

I've planted "pechay" in bulk (I didn't know how to plant it when I started) and it's almost ready to be harvested too.

My next target vegetables to be planted are tomato and lettuce. If I will be successful harvesting these two, then that will be enough for me to say that my "Vegetable Garden" dream was fulfilled!