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Armando Vazquez.
By Armando Vazquez / Guest contributor
“Believe in Miracles, and then work with all the love and faith you can summons and make them happen!” …Santitos Aguila, La Curandera de Ahualulco
“Dad, I feel like I am cured!” Those were the words that my son, Aaron, said to me, this past Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 11:16 AM. In my wildest dreams and nightmares, I was not remotely prepared for this miraculous news. My mind, heart, my entire world froze temporarily. I was left speechless and breathless. I was catapulted to an unknown realm between ecstasy and terror. Then I saw the loving faces of my jefitos and our sacred elders and I was finally able to breathe. It took some eternally long seconds to finally wrap my head around what my son was telling me. Aaron repeated again, “Dad, I believe that I am cured!” I move the phone away from my month, and as quietly as I possibly could I tried to control myself, and I silently wailed thanks and praises to the spirits over these four little miraculous words that my family and close friends have been praying and waiting to hear from Aaron for these past 18 years.
“Dear Multiple Sclerosis, just so you know. I won’t give up. I won’t give in. I have endless hope and endless faith. You may be in my life now, but not forever, and you don’t own my life” … Anonymous
Aaron was struck down with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2005. Within a year of the MS diagnosis Aaron was bedridden and in horrific pain, completely disoriented, and in profound mental and physical anguish and so weak that he could no longer ambulate safely by himself around our home. He needed 24/7 attention and care from the family. Doctors would later comment to me that Aaron’s MS was the most aggressive case that they had ever witnessed.
MS is an insidious and complicated autoimmune inflammatory disorder; wherein normally protective white blood cells mysteriously begin to attack and destroy their own bodies central nervous system. The precise cause is unknown but doctors and scientist now believe that MS is brought about by a combination of environmental, immunologic and genetic factors. That is to say in plain English that the world-wide medical community currently has absolutely no idea about what they are dealing with and how to effectively treat Multiple Sclerosis. So, my son and the rest of the millions of MS sufferers throughout the world are currently left without efficacious medical interventions or treatments.
The Long, Painful, and Arduous Journey:
In the beginning of Aaron’s MS affliction, the family was in continuous full-blown panic as our son’s body deteriorated, it seemed daily, with acute paralysis, weakness and pain before our eyes. We had no idea as to what to do, what steps to take, who to turn to, what medications might help, what medical specialists to consult with. The entire family was in complete and total terrorized free fall, lost in dark suffocating pain and suffering of our son. All the while Aaron’s MS attacks increased in severity, month after month, year after year. In the first year of the illness Aaron went from a high school first chair Oboist, a national recognized academic scholar, a soccer and basketball player, a community activist to a ravaged young kid that could barely get out of bed and was losing control of his bodily functions at an astonishing pace. Incredibly, during this decade long decent into hell, where it seemed that every day something new in Aarons body was breaking down and creating tremendous pain and anguish, my son never lost his faith that he would get well.
Love is the Key:
Right about here in this human drama is where unfathomable love, faith and spirit come in. Aaron is the most disciplined and hard-working young man that I have ever known. The family knew that Aaron would fight with all his might to conquer the MS; and so, he has, with total dedication and the spirit of the warrior that he is. I promised myself that I would never let doubt, pessimism, and least of all defeat crawl into my head or heart, not for one second, not ever! In complete and total medical and scientific darkness, the entire family jumped into the abyss determined to find the MS cure for Aaron.
The MS cure was not to be found, is not currently available. It looks like we are still a decade or more away from any definitive MS cure. Nonetheless, Aaron and the family would not accept resignation, the medical status quo, or the countless fatalistic pronouncements by the army of medical specialists and Neurologists that cautioned us to be: “Prepared for the inevitable. Your son will not get better and he will probably be in a wheel chair in a couple of years. Your son will require medical supervision and assistance for the rest of his life. His MS condition will dramatically deteriorate his life and his health. He will eventually lose the capacity to ambulate and will be bed- ridden in the foreseeable future”
We heard these medical Armageddon admonitions every time we met with doctors as we researched and scoured the globe in futility for the past 18 years seeking medical and homeopathic MS cures or remedies. We refused to accept these medical pronouncements, and knew by now that we were on our own. We searched far and wide for the top MS doctors in the nation. With the help of some dear friends, we found two world- renowned Neurologists, Dr Schafer of UCLA, and eventually we would also find Dr Green of UCSF. These two doctors were heaven sent and over the years they have helped tremendously in stabilizing Aarons MS condition. These were the two doctors that started Aaron on experimental and exorbitantly expensive designer drugs that showed promises of efficacy in trial runs in Europe. The Tysabri and Ocrevus medications have helped control the frequency of MS attacks that Aaron had suffered through for over a decade. Miraculously these drugs also help stop and help heal the extensive network of brain lesions that Aaron had suffered through for years.
“Cure yourself with the light of the Sun and the rays of the Moon, With the sounds of the river and the waterfall. With the swaying of the sea and the fluttering of the birds” -Maria Sabina, Mexican Curandera
On the homeopathic front, Aaron and the family committed to a rigorous daily diet of grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables; occasionally we would introduce fish and white meat to the diet. Aaron and I also kept to a serious and daily exercise regimen that helped keep his body mobile, flexible and responsive. The exercise also helped keep Aaron’s mind and soul continue to stay hopeful and positive. One of Aaron’s constant MS battles was the onset of acute insomnia. Aaron would go days, weeks and sometimes months with very little sleep. This was another daily devastating condition that we could not resolve, and it of course, exacerbated all the other MS symptoms. In loving desperation, we prayed never losing our faith that Aaron would get better, and we literally held on, hug, cried and laughed together, until the next MS attack. The loving human touch, our faith and our laughter proved more than any other “medical intervention” in the long run to be by far the most effective MS “treatment” at our disposal.
Today, Aaron feels cured of his MS, the 18-year descent into hell is over for now. We have suffered, cried and learned much about this horrific chronic illness, and it did not break us. Aaron and the family will continue to fight the “the good fight”. God forbid that the MS attacks returns to again afflict and torture my courageous son. But, today, we wiser and stronger in our faith and are better prepared to fight the MS when it returns. We are, today, in the eye of the hurricane, a much need respite, preparing once again to clash head on with the MS monster. With the love and faith that our family has forged in the pain and anguish of a two-decade long battle against this diabolical illness we know that with pure unadulterated love Aaron and the family will vanquish the MS monster once again, again and again. Until the MS is defeated forever.
— Armando Vazquez, M.Ed., founding member of CORE and the Acuna Art Gallery and Community Collective.