Diagnosed as quadriplegic CP with dystonia, Kartik had hyperdensity of the left-sided vitreous; left-sided complete fixed closed funnel retinal detachment with cystic degeneration. He could not see with this eye. He always used right eye to see by turning head neck. The only movement he could manage to do was rolling over. He had severe feet ankle plantar flexion. His toes touched floor in supine. He started with Vasa Therapy at age of 5 years.
Kartik Desai
Kartik Desai before Vasa Concept
Kartik’s physiotherapy started as early as 3-4 months for his delayed developmental milestones. At age 7 months, he couldn’t hold his neck and turn over. By the age of 5, Kartik had undergone almost all the therapies that his parents could provide him. Yet when he came to Dr. Vasa, he had a left lazy eye (due to retinal detachment) and calcium deposit on retina, he could not see with his left eye therefore he used to tilt his neck to the left in order to see with right eye. He was very hyper, kicking both his legs constantly. He was moving in circular path in the same orbit. He had severe scissoring of his legs, hip knee flexion contracture with toes touching the floor in supine position. He was unable to sit cross-legged.
Following is an account of observation made by Kartik’s parents over the years while being treated with VASA CONCEPT
Videos
Before - After Video
Videos - After Vasa Concept (playlist)
Photos
Progress Timeline
2008 Jan - Dec
Visible Progress
- He is very happy and playful, and he can express himself more clearly than before.
- His sleep also has improved; he is sleeping more calmly and relaxed.
- He has started pointing his toys or something that he wants with his INDEX FINGER, before he used to point his hand or all five fingers together.
- Now it is easy to carry him on my side of the body and he clings on me very easily and does not slide down any more.
- He is more happy and confident.
- He can open his leg so wide that we can carry him on our side of back, and it is not painful for him.
- His appetite has improved and he is no more constipated and passes stools daily.
- He is becoming more clear in order to pointing things what he wants. He is happy overall and less hyperactive.
- When we started Vasa Concept, it was difficult for him to sit in namaaz position/vajraasanaa for more than 2 minutes which has improved to 15 minutes now and that too with ease.
- He can take good weight on his hand while walking on his hand or doing exercises on ball.
- He can lift his trunk very nicely.
- He is using his hands more as compared to before. The control & co-ordination of hands is also improved. Appearance of the hands and fingers has changed in terms of size and shape and feel. There was some kind of hollowness in his palms which has greatly improved now.
- Shape and size of the feet has also changed. The length of foot has increased little and foot has become broad at fingers like an adult. Earlier he always used to spread the small toes; this does not happen now and great toe which he used to keep extended, the tendency has reduced but still it is there.
- The dystonia of his hands has almost disappeared. Now, whenever he is excited for something only at that time dystonia is seen, otherwise most of the times he is using his hand for good purposes.
- Earlier he used to keep his feet rotated outwards and tip-toed, but now this happens only when he gets excited.
- Earlier because of not so good head control, he used to see the objects by moving more of eyeball than his neck but now he is also turning his head towards the object he wants to see.
- He is making more babbling sounds from mouth. He produces louder sounds than before. He actually shouts now.
- He can now have variety of foods and he enjoys now. He is happy with different kinds of taste.
- He is no more as floppy as he was before.
- He used to keep his thumb folded inside his palm before, now I notice he keeps it normally, only sometime he fists.
- His eye control and way of looking at object has improved.
- He can eat himself much better than before. He puts food directly in his mouth in less time.
He is using his hands more as compared to before. The control & co-ordination of hands is also improved. Appearance of the hands and fingers has changed in terms of size and shape and feel. There was some kind of hollowness in his palms which has greatly improved now.
Kartik - clapping
2009 Jan - Dec
Visible Progress
- His height and weight has increased a bit and his head circumference has also increased a bit.
- His legs look stronger as well as his hands and palms.
- His legs and heels are changed into like a boy’s legs and heels; before it used to look like infants leg.
- Color of feet also changed from baby pink to skin color as it should look like.
- His left eyeball is now more under control as his way of looking object is much more improved.
- Before while he was standing on his own he use to stand on his toe and he use to scissor both of his legs, even while he was lying on floor or bed and playing his both legs use to be scissored, now his pelvis is much more loose and he is not doing his legs stiff and scissor. Thanks to Dr. Vasa.
- His understanding level gone much more higher.
- He is become more clear towards thing he wants and he can express his feelings much clearly than before.
- He is behaving like mature and understanding boy than before.
- His attitude towards family members and other people as he is more clear about what he want and what behavior people r doing with him, as he will give his response according to that.
- He is more happy than before as he feels he is capable enough to do few things than before, he is giggling and making so much different kind of noises.
- Earlier of all his treatments some them were painful, some of them he use to enjoy, but there wasn’t so much difference; he use to accept it and let it go. Now his reactions are more clear if he doesn’t like something he will show it and if he is happy with something or enjoying something he will ask to do that again.
Even his exercises he is enjoying now so he doesn’t complain so much what he use to do before.
His left eyeball is now more under control as his way of looking object is much more improved.

Kartik - good loading on hands
2010 Jan - Dec
Visible Progress
- Now he is more independent as he can sit on his own and play with all his toys what he couldn’t do before so he is so happy and confident, he wants to show all that he can do such things and expect compliments from them.
- Now if he loses his balance or so he cries and wants to come up again and play alone.
- He was a healthy boy overall with no repeated episodes of illness. For last few months with therapy he is throwing lot of sticky mucus and vomiting episodes, diarrhea, etc. But Dr. Vasa had warned us this will happen as the therapy is also going to detoxify his body.
- Overall he has become really stronger as he can do few of his exercise which was difficult for him before he is doing it so easily, even pull ups on the rod is becoming easy for him.
- His food intake is becoming good than before. Earlier, we had to feed him forcefully time to time; now when it is time for his meals he asks for food and he is eating well also. Now he has his own choice also. The food he doesn’t like he refuses to eat. He started liking big range of variety of food and he takes his own time to eat his meal.
- He will sit on dining chair and eat his meal nicely like a big boy.
- He has retinal detachment in his left eye and according to eye specialist he has no vision in his left eye. Because of this condition his left eyeball is lazy and it was not moving as normal. He use to see the object with one eye by bending his neck one side all the time, now with all the exercises his way of looking is changed as he see quite normally towards his toys, books or person around him.
- With all these year we use to do different kind of treatments and never use to get real results as we wanted and as the therapist use to promise, with Dr. Vasa’s exercises we got a very good result in short period of time and we still getting more and more improvement as days are passing.
- Now all family members are so much happy with his progress and they really enjoying to play with him and they want to pass time with him as everyone got hope for him and they trust he will be right soon.
- His father is really happy and he is exited for him. He is fully committed towards Kartik and wants to follow as Dr. Vasa guides us. He made me free from all other responsibilities as I can concentrate on Kartik more than anything else. Even other members of the family, as we are staying in joint family are supporting me so much as I am not bounded much with other responsibilities.
- We are seeing see very good result as Kartik could stand on his own for some time few months back (he was on his toe) and we are hoping for him to walk.
Now all family members are so much happy with his progress and they really enjoying to play with him and they want to pass time with him as everyone got hope for him and they trust he will be right soon.
Kartik - playing in water
Kartik Desai History
Kartik was born on 12<sup>th</sup>November 2003after normal,healthy,full term pregnancy. He was born through c-section because of meconium discharge.He didn’t cry normally immediately after birth as other child does,he cried after few seconds and pediatrician never suggested to put him in incubator as he said everything was okay and normal.
Around his 6 months of age we started realizing that he is not strong and is unable to maintain his balance as he was supposed to hold himself at that age.When we showed him to the pediatrician he told us Kartik had low muscle tone and recommended physiotherapy. We started giving him occupational therapy while he was still 7-month-old and at that time he couldn’t hold his neck and couldn’t even roll himself.He was not able to sit or talk as well.With therapy he was improving at very slow rate,then we started other ayurvedic treatment and oil massage. We tried many treatments, therapies and saw various medical practitioners. As far as I remember, the list is as below:
<ul class=”visible-progress-list”>
<li>Paediatric Neurologist in Pretoria, South Africa (Unitas Hospital)</li>
<li>Paediatric Neurologist in Mumbai, India (Hinduja Hospital)</li>
<li>Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Johannesburg, South Africa</li>
<li>Ophthalmologist in Pretoria, South Africa (Pretoria Eye Institute)</li>
<li>Ophthalmologist in Mumbai, India (Shroff Eye Institute)</li>
<li>Pediatric Endocrinologist in Cape Town, South Africa (Red Cross Children’s Hospital)</li>
<li>Pediatric Metabolic Disorders Specialist in London, UK (Great Ormond Street Hospital)</li>
<li>Ayurvedic Practitioner in Mumbai, India</li>
<li>Acupressure Treatment in India</li>
<li>Pediatric Neuro-Physio Therapist in Mumbai, India</li>
<li>Swimming as a stimulant and for his enjoyment, Louis Trichardt, South Africa</li>
<li>Hippo therapy (Horse Therapy) as a stimulant and for his enjoyment, Louis Trichardt, South Africa</li>
<li>Occupational Therapy in Louis Trichardt, South Africa</li>
<li>Tomatis [Audio-Psycho-Phonology (APP)], Sound Therapy in Cape Town, South Africa</li>
</ul>
<h4> Various types of therapies given:</h4>
<ul class=”visible-progress-list”>
<li>Occupational therapy</li>
<li>Ayurvedic massage and medicine(+_20pills 3times a day)</li>
<li>Scottsen technique</li>
<li>Acupressure therapy</li>
<li>Hippo therapy</li>
<li>Aqua therapy</li>
<li>Music and speech therapy</li>
<li>Hyperbaric oxygen therapy</li>
</ul>
In the meantime my child also underwent many more painful tests as well.
All these different kind of treatments were helping him little for his stability and balance but did not make much difference.According to his MRI his mental growth was quite normal.Although he wasn’t speaking he was capable enough to show or direct us what he wanted with his finger.At the age of 3 he knew colors, different animals, birds, vehicles, vegetables,fruits,his body parts etc. and would answer us when he was asked about it.
We met quite a few doctors all around the World. They couldn’t find any specific problem with him. The only conclusion they could make was my child got few symptoms of CP and dystonia. They would tell me I must give him few physio treatments and leave the rest of things to time.
We came to Mumbai to see one of the physiotherapists and after checking him she suggested Botox treatment for both his scissorlegs for the spastic condition and wanted to put him on different kind of aids like special shoes,belts, wheelchairs etc.
Kartik was not able to sit on his own. There was no trunk control; he never used to take weight on his hands; there was no head control. He was hyperactive child and used to roll on the floor making circular movements. He used to stand on his toe when we made him stand. He could barely sit with his legs crossed and unsupported. His body was very stiff at most of the joints and a fairly high level of spasticity was present in his pelvic region. His only mode of movement was rolling around, which he enjoyed a great deal. His sleep was very sensitive and would be disturbed frequently.
After few days on recommendation of Kashmiraben from Mumbai we saw Dr.Vasa on 30th march 2008. She saw all his reports and then she checkedKartik’s movements when he was playing on floor.He was very much hyper that time, he was kicking with both his legs constantly and his toe fingers were stiff .His neck stability was also not good. He was scissoring both his legs.After checking him Dr. Vasa asked for our commitment and as we were ready to do as she said she started her treatment by giving one exercise to do for that week to see the effect and consistency.
For the next few weeks while I was in India every week Dr.Vasa used to see us and suggest necessary changes.In few days we started noticing few good changes which we never expected to get so soon may be.After Kartik’s therapy was started with Dr. Vasa, Kartik looks like an absolutely changed person. Besides the physical changes and the number of activities that he can do now, I would like to mention especially that he had retinal detachment; a lazy left eye and white calcified spot in his retina because of which he used to tilt his neck to left and see things with the right eye. Doctors said he is blind with his left eye. Now he can see normally with both his eyes. The scissoring of his legs has disappeared. He is moving around the room everywhere on his own now. His body has become very loose and he sits very well. His understanding has improved. He is socializing much better now. He can do additions with his fingers. He eats by self and is not dependent on us anymore. I had never thought that my son will do so well one day!!!!. Thanks to Dr. Vasa.
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