If I had to guess, some of you may have wondered after reading my last CaringBridge post regarding Charlotte’s surgery to have her baclofen pump removed…… “Does this mean they can go to Mexico now?”

In short, the answer is YES! The medication pump she had was the major factor in holding Charlotte back from being able to safely go to Neurocytonix for treatment. Let’s go back a bit for those that need caught up. In all fairness it’s been a year since we shared about this treatment and our excitement as we truly felt the Lord calling us to step outside our comfort zone and pursue this treatment for Charlotte. It was the first “treatment” we’ve felt was worth trying with her. A huge community of people all around the world stepped up to support our efforts financially and through prayer as this treatment is not covered by insurance and is very expensive, as well as the need for us to spend an entire month in Monterrey, Mexico. 

Click here to read our post from last April: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/charlottedanals2/journal/view/id/64457a8d2a3bdf0ab6989d0e

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year already and while the year didn’t go the least bit how we expected we’ve put our faith in God that we needed to wait. We’ve been tested multiple times this past year and have questioned why we had to wait when we felt so strongly that God was calling us to this treatment. Many of you know that Charlotte also had major hip surgery in January of this year. It’s been a long recovery and she’s just now getting back into therapy. Part of why we decided to do the surgery when we did was because regardless of the outcome of treatment in Mexico, her orthopedic surgeon and PT truly believed that she would need this surgery to help her long term. We thought, why go to Mexico before doing hip surgery if all we would have to do is come back home and have her be unable to do physical therapy for 2-3 months and not be able to put those new neural pathways/neurons to work. Seemed counterproductive. The team in Mexico has indicated the best thing we can do post treatment is hit therapy hard after returning home so we decided to do the surgery and wait a little longer to go to Mexico. 

A little over a week ago we had the opportunity to touch base with the staff at Neurocytonix. We wanted to begin discussions again regarding getting Charlotte to Mexico for treatment. We wanted to update them on how she was doing and all that’s transpired in the past year. They were happy to see her and gave us the all clear to come to Mexico for treatment whenever we wanted. After a few discussions we’ve made the decision to take her for treatment in July of 2024. We still have additional things to iron out but we can again begin planning for this epic trip for a treatment we are hopeful will bring more healing to Charlotte’s brain/body.

More details will follow as they become available. We hope to host a little fundraiser event like we had planned last year to help with the incredible expenses that lie ahead. We appreciate the continued support in every way provided. You all have no idea how grateful we are.

*Couple pictures I have attached: Easter 2024. Charlotte and her brother hanging out together. And just this past Monday Charlotte was able to partially experience the solar eclipse. She thought it was cool that it got dark but I don’t think she loved the temperature drop. We all were insanely surprised at how incredible that experience was and truly understand now why people travel far to see something like this. Very cool and very lucky we were able to see it from our backyard.