Superheros Don’t Always Wear Capes…
I met this extraordinary mother-father duo when they tracked me down, desperate for answers about their little boy’s developmental regression. Their son had been hitting his milestones until around 19 months when something shifted.
Mom wracked her brain trying to remember if there had been water damage in their home when she was pregnant—but what she did recall vividly was taking a BUTT load of fish oil to build the best brain possible for her baby. The delivery, however, was anything but smooth. A grueling labor, endless pushing, and a last-minute emergency C-section left both mom and baby exhausted. When their son finally emerged, he needed assistance just to start breathing.
Despite the rough start, he seemed to be progressing until the changes became undeniable. He had some vaccinations until the age of five, but then his parents made the tough decision to pause anything that could trigger further immune system inflammation. As a first-time mom, she had no point of comparison, but her intuition screamed that something was wrong. She wasted no time enrolling him in speech therapy and occupational therapy, hoping to bridge the gaps.
They left no stone unturned. They traveled to Panama for stem cell therapy, seeing promising improvements each time they went. But what they didn’t realize was that stem cells are only as good as the environment they are placed in. If the body remains burdened by toxins and inflammation, true healing is like trying to fill a bucket with holes—it simply won’t hold.
The heartbreak came when they noticed a devastating regression. Their son, once capable of expressing his needs, was now struggling. His speech deteriorated. He could repeat what they said, but he couldn’t ask for help or communicate his own thoughts. It was as if he was slipping away before their eyes.
And then they found it.
The source of the mold.
His play area in the basement—his sanctuary, his world—was poisoning him. The realization hit like a ton of bricks. The very space where he laughed, played, and explored was silently stealing his words, his health, and his joy. As if that wasn’t enough, his food tolerances were vanishing one by one. The once adventurous eater was now clinging to just a handful of safe foods, and even those were unpredictable from day to day.
But here’s where this story turns into a true superhero saga.
Mom and Dad refused to accept defeat. They became warriors, relentless in their pursuit of healing. They gutted the basement, addressed every source of mold, and overhauled his environment. They didn’t just fight for their son; they became his voice when he couldn’t speak. They learned, researched, and pieced together the puzzle that no one else could.
Their journey isn’t over, but their son is still here—because of them.
And while the world may not hand out capes to parents like these, they wear theirs invisibly, stitched together with love, determination, and an unbreakable will to bring their little boy back.