Maximus Charles Manciu
Our first child, Maximus, was born at home on March 2, 2003, after a normal pregnancy and uncomplicated birth. He seemed very healthy and weighed 7 lbs 5 oz. Nothing was our of the ordinary except that he screamed inconsolably that first week of life.
Being that he was born at home and did not receive a vitamin K shot at birth, our midwife advised us to wait for the circumcision until he was at least 8 days old. The circumcision was done at a local hospital and after the operation, Max started hemorrhaging. He was immediately transferred to a bigger hospital 45 min. away. The hospital did blood tests on Max all day and gave him a dose of vitamin K. We were worried about the blood loss, but they said he wasn’t bleeding enough to worry. They could find nothing wrong from the tests except for an apparent vitamin K deficiency. At around 10:30PM Maximus went into reparatory arrest and shock from the blood loss. He received blood transfusions and was in the hospital for 10 days recovering.
After bringing Maximus home, he refused to breastfeed and was losing weight. I decided to pump breast milk and give a bottle. He finally gained weight and became chubby and happy. Other than an uneventful hernia surgery, Maximus seemed to be very healthy and everything was going well. We started noticing things were not quite right when Max was about 7 months old. He started getting little red dots all over his body and bruises for no reason. At the same time, his eyes were not focusing on us anymore and he was not reaching for toys like he used to. He was also refusing all solids.
A “few” doctor visits and 5 months later they called us with his diagnosis (IRD) the day before his first birthday. We were told there was no treatment or cure other than taking fats out of the diet. We were crushed, but determined to find something on this earth that might help our son. That’s when we found Dra. Martinez in Barcelona, Spain. Our first trip was in July 2004. Maximus was then 15 months old. He was drinking raw goat milk at this time; I was pregnant again and my milk had dried up. He would only eat 1 or 2 jars of baby food everyday. He was not scooting or crawling yet and was not sleeping well at night.
After a month and a half we left Spain and Maximus was a different baby. He was eating 5-6 jars of food a day, he was reaching for toys and began scooting across the floor. Overall Max was just much more content, even at night. The treatment from Dra. Martinez consists of 2ml/200mg of DHA-EE oil taken orally once a day. It is natural with no side-effects. Since this first trip we have been back to Spain twice and plan to go again in May. Maximus continues to grow and pass his milestones. February of 2006 he began to walk! Max’s eyesight has improved tremendously and he now sees us from across the room and plays with his little sister. His liver enzymes are now normal, although his liver remains slightly enlarged. He must be on a mega dose of vitamin K to help his blood to clot.
He has, since March 2006, suffered two status epilepticus seizures. We decided not to use seizure drugs and instead use a magnetic mattress pad at night and give him a dose of 400iu of vitamin E daily. He has not had anymore seizures since, although we still remain vigilant.
Max still eats pureed foods, but has recently started chewing small bits of bread and other soft foods. We know that DHA treatment is not a cure and we cherish every moment that God lets him stay with us. We do believe that his quality of life is much better while he is taking the DHA, and we are grateful for Dra. Martinez's hard work and dedication. Maximus will be 4 years old on March 2, 2007.
