The collection of almost lost smiles

Activist, dreamer, and engaged, Mariana Prolo Benk is the mirror of so many mothers dealing with diversity. She is dealing with the discovery of a totally different universe, in relation to her child’s unique needs. Seeing the evolution and growth of her son Henrique, at one time. Mariana could not have imagined that she could have access to such sincere smiles and such meaningful connections nowadays.

Seeing the evolution and growth of her son Henrique, at one time. Mariana could not have imagined that she could have access to such sincere smiles and such meaningful connections nowadays

The story of mother and son started in Mariana's pregnancy. Performing some routine exams in the prenatal period, in the eighth month of pregnancy, the cardiologist ended up finding some tumors. The tumors, called rhabdomyoma, gave evidence of a possible genetic disease which was soon identified as tuberous sclerosis.

Because of the early diagnosis, pregnancy and childbirth went as smoothly as possible. When Henrique was born, he already had a medical team waiting for him to do specific exams, and he had to stay 08 days in the ICU.

“Despite the early diagnosis, it is always a concern. Henrique was our first child, and the whole process was quite different. We were adapting to a new universe with him” said Mariana

Diagnoses showed that despite having tuberous sclerosis, benign tumorsin the heart would certainly be absorbed by the body during its growth, causing relief for the family

With that, Henrique's development was happening rather uneventfully, at least during the first months of his life. Until, at six months, on September 11th, the first convulsive seizure appeared.

“It was a seizure absolutely out of nowhere. One day he was fine, while the next he was having a huge seizure. We took him to the hospital immediately and after several tests, it was identified that my son would also have to livewith epilepsy”.

From this moment on, the seizures started to happen frequently and did not stop, impacting the life of the young newborn and the whole family as well.

In view of the entire clinical picture, baby Henrique underwent several treatments all without the success expected by doctors. Consequently leading to the child's development ending up being extremely compromised.

“My son had no more reaction. His development over his lifetime was gradually lost. Unfortunately, we started to observe all the small conquests that he had managed to have, were lost over time.” recalled Mariana.

....Between comings and goings from hospitals, pneumonia, and extremely complicated conditions, Henrique managed to find a balance that was sufficient to continue living as best he could in the face of his conditions, using the strongest and most modern anticonvulsants for his diagnosis. ..E entre idas e vindas de hospitais, pneumonias e quadros extremamente complicados, Henrique conseguiu encontrar um equilíbrio suficiente para seguir vivendo da melhor maneira que poderia diante das suas condições, utilizando os anticonvulsivantes mais fortes e modernos para o seu diagnóstico. ....

As if the whole situation was not difficult enough, at the age of two, Henrique ended up being diagnosed with autism. "In the beginning, it was very difficult. We couldn't say what he felt, and we didn't even know if those symptoms were related to autism or intellectual disability as a result of epilepsy."

...In the face of such a troubled period, where the challenges became increasingly greater concerning the child's development, Mariana and her family never stopped looking for alternatives that would be able to recover the child's quality of life. According to Mariana, the main challenge over the years was to make Henrique communicate and open up to the world. ..Diante desse período tão conturbado, onde os desafios se tornavam cada vez maiores com o desenvolvimento da criança, Mariana e a família nunca deixaram de buscar alternativas que fossem capazes de recuperar a qualidade de vida do filho, já que, segundo ela, o principal desafio ao longo dos anos, foi fazer o menino se comunicar e se abrir, literalmente, para o mundo. ....

As Henrique grew the seizures started to become more and more frequent, even with the use of the medications. At the age of four he started to have to live with them in the school environment also.

It was at that time that Mariana and the medical team started looking for other treatment alternatives to control Henrique's symptoms and epilepsy. In doing so, They discovered cannabidiol.

What was previously seen as an unknown treatment, cannabidiol has become a major turning point in the lives of Mariana, Henrique and all the family members involved.

“Practically, I saw CBD as my last alternative to make my son live in a dignified way. And, you know what parents are like. If there is at least a 1% chance that he will live better, we cling to the opportunity tooth and nail.” Said Mariana.

Mariana's first experience was with cannabidiol sold in Paraguay, but the results were less than anticipated.

"In the beginning, it even helped control seizures, but soon after, it seemed like nothing was happening."

After reading testimonials of other parents in similar situations Mariana would start testing 1Pure's cannabidiol and had a totally different experience with the medication.

“First, that absorption was a decisive factor for the change.Now Henrique takes the medicine in a much simpler way, he even asks for it. And the change was really impressive. I usually say that after changing the medication, I started to really know who my real son was ”.

Mariana started to find traces of reactions and desires that she had never seen her son have. “My son's attention has completely changed. He never answered when he was called. He started to regain skills that we no longer believed were possible”.

In just one year of using 1Pure's cannabidiol, Mariana and her family started to see a much more active child, who likes to express his desires and loves his school friendships.

Mariana is delighted to have managed to provide Henrique with everything she has ever wanted.

“I really started collecting my son's smiles, which I thought I could never have. This, for a father and mother, is definitely priceless. All I ever wanted was to have something that helped in some way that would give him at least one chance to live the life he really deserves. And to be able to do that after so many years, to find something that really makes him have this joy is really immeasurable and inexplicable.”