Energy Medicine Treatment For A Rare Genetic Condition

An unpublished excerpt from Sacred Medicine: A Doctor's Quest To Unravel The Mysteries Of Healing

At the age of 5, Ian Cali was diagnosed with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), one of medicine’s most rare, disabling, incurable, and untreatable genetic conditions. FOP quite literally imprisons human soft tissue with a second skeleton that converts muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissues into an intricate latticework of bone. Any bodily trauma, something as seemingly benign as childhood immunization or falls while playing can cause painful flare ups. Attempts to treat it surgically only exacerbate it.

When he was first introduced to Eden Energy Medicine in 2013, Ian was a thin, frail college student with a curved body who walked on the balls of his feet, something he could only do for moments at a time. Although the fingers of both hands still had free movement, his left arm was ossified in place against his thigh and his right arm was frozen across the chest, about two inches in front of his heart. His head was cocked to the left, his jaw immobilized. His legs were bent at the knee into bone and could not be moved, even passively. His back muscles had almost completely ossified, giving his torso no range of motion. His right hip had flared with pain and swelling, and he could no longer lie on his stomach.

His aunt Angela Cali was a student of Donna Eden’s Eden Energy Medicine program, and she figured it couldn’t hurt to work on him, something he was willing to try. Ian responded so well to initial treatment from an inexperienced student that Angela referred him to a more experienced practitioner- Gloria McCahill, one of the instructors of Eden Energy Medicine. Although it was awkward trying to maneuver around his body because of the extensive ossification, which made some of the techniques she would have used difficult to perform, she did her best to employ the healing methods she had been taught.

She sensed that before they could make much progress, “It was as if his energies first ‘needed to trust me,’ and I intuitively received information not to move in too aggressively.”

Because she felt in necessary to empower Ian and not foster dependency, she taught him the sounds corresponding with each of the Five Rhythms, encouraging him to practice them on his own. Over time, Gloria worked with his meridians, his auric field, and the electrics, as well as doing a lot of chakra work.  It was slow going at first, but by the end of his seventh session, he was releasing toxins from the bottom of his feet, which were often damp after sessions, his pale color has perked up, he started to sleep more soundly, and he experienced improved function in one of his legs. His stomach began to gurgle before his sessions, which Gloria explained as the “Stomach meridian now making itself known, at first almost sounding like a bear waking up…Other times the sounds would be lighter and, in Ian’s words, almost ‘sound like a dolphin.’”  The swelling continued to decrease, Ian was finally able to start moving his left foot closer to the floor, and his head began to straighten up.

To empower Ian even further, she gave him a stainless steel massage rings and taught him how to slide it from one finger to another to keep the meridians open in his fingers. After a few months, Gloria felt like they had made enough progress to begin to work with the neurolymphatic points, starting with a just a few at a time to assess how Ian tolerated the pressure.

Five months in, Gloria found a way to muscle test him using his pointer finger and thumb, and this allowed them to make some quick progress. She found that carrying the energy of his Heart Electric Point over to areas of hardened muscle helped him a lot. She also crossed energies by doing Figure 8’s around his eyes and third-eye chakra, then pulling energy from one side of the body to the other.

By their seventh month, working two or three times each week, Ian was able to put both feet flat on the ground and could get more extension with his leg while lying in bed. At first, the progress would only last a few days, but over time, the shifts started to last almost two weeks.

Ian is not “cured,” per se, but he now gets lasting relief seeing Gloria once or twice per week. Ian says he feels more alert, relaxed, and generally functional. “The energy work has undeniably improved muscle tightness and discomfort, stomach issues, stress levels.” He added, “I have worked with countless doctors, physical therapists, and other modalities to try and reduce the chronic pain and discomfort that comes with FOP, and none have worked as consistently as energy work.”

In 2019, Ian said, "The past 6 years of working with Gloria have been a wild ride. I mean that in the best way possible." In some areas, ossification has broken down, muscle mass has redeveloped, and range of motion has dramatically increased. His ability to walk has even improved.

Ian said, “In 2013, 'walking' was a generous word for how I moved.  It was more of a concentrated hobble…Fast forward to now, and I am walking consistently with a step-through where my gait is much more normal, my left foot now reaches the same distance as my right foot, my strides have gotten longer and my pace is faster and smoother. This is all pretty unbelievable progress considering in August of 2018, I broke C6 in my neck and 7 inches of my right femur."

Because surgery can retraumatize the body of FOP patients, causing additional flares, surgery is considered an absolute last resort, so Ian decided to try recovering with Gloria’s help, rather than surgery. While he had to stay in bed for three months with no weight-bearing, he stood up for the first time after 9.5 weeks.

Ian said, “That’s 9.5 weeks of no drugs, no surgery, and no casts—just energy medicine sessions with Gloria, and natural stress and pain management techniques.”

Over the years, both of Ian’s arms have fleshed out due to increased muscle mass. They’ve also gained increased mobility. His legs have grown in size and mass, and his back has straightened out a lot. Even his face has changed as ossification in his cheekbones and forehead has broken down.

“I feel lighter and much less constricted than I was 6 years ago," Ian said. He also has avoided the much dreaded flareups that plague almost all FOP patients. FOP is considered a progressive disease that only gets worse. To get better over time the way Ian has is so rare that Gloria and Ian have now been invited to present to first year medical students with FOP researcher Dr. Fred Kaplan, a medical school professor at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Energy medicine doesn’t work for everything, and it’s certainly not first line of treatment for genetic conditions. But Ian’s story illustrates how every patient is different and every treatment plan needs to be customized to help people who suffer from conditions like this experience the best possible outcome. We get so fixated on cure that sometimes we forget what a relative miracle it can be just to get some relief, however we might find it.

*There’s a whole chapter about Donna Eden’s work in Sacred Medicine, in case you’re curious to hear more stories like this.