GENEVIEVE MILITO

We are often amazed at how our customers are using True Lemon®, but we were truly moved when we heard from Marina Milito who wrote to us about her daughter, Genevieve. Once we read Marina and Genevieve’s story, we knew we had our next Super Fan. The following is Genevieve’s and Marina’s story, as told by Marina.

"True Lemon® is a gift for children with feeding disabilities. My beautiful 6-year-old daughter Genevieve has profound Cerebral Palsy (C.P.). In addition to having C.P., my wonderful daughter is also cortically blind as well as legally blind. While that sounds horrific on paper, spending time with Genevieve and accepting her for the little person that she is, can bring you into a world of peace and unconditional love – she is truly one of Heaven’s angels.

As a consequence of having C.P., Genevieve has oral feeding issues. I will explore any avenue to keep her from a feeding tube.  Speech and oral motor therapists have recommended lemon use to facilitate swallowing. Regular lemon juice is quite bitter and unmanageable; lemon swabs have to go to the back of the throat, which is difficult, and lemon ice can be too cold for these children because their teeth are sensitive.  Genevieve’s eating ability is that of a six month old. She doesn’t have the cognitive ability to chew and swallow at the same time, so any product that we can sprinkle to enhance flavor is a gift.

I subscribe to Sassy Sue newsletter and when I saw they had an offer to try a free sample of True Lemon®, I thought, “What an interesting product”. I’m always on the lookout for any product that may be instrumental in my daughter’s feeding. Now for the accolades for your product: True Lemon® can be put on the finger tips and gently inserted in the child's mouth, and it can be spread out on a dish and when the child puts its fingers to the dish, they will inevitably put their fingers in their mouth and start the sucking process.

True Lemon® gives me the ability to use as much as I want without over-powering her. It’s so portable and I love the little packets. Genevieve really takes to the flavor and enjoys it. Since she loves to put her fingers in her mouth, I will dip her finger into a packet and watch her enjoy the True Lemon® crystals. The lemon makes her suck and swallow, and feeding her becomes an easier task.

I gave some packets to her oral motor therapist. She loves it and thinks it’s a neat product. The therapist put some on an electric toothbrush and brushed Genevieve’s teeth with it. It was brilliant. Genevieve tolerated it and it facilitated the sucking and swallowing process. We will continue to experiment with your product and fill you in.

I think that sharing Genevieve’s love for True Lemon® is a way to give other moms with children like mine an alternative to facilitate the feeding process. Children with disabilities are a fast growing group and the more information we can get out to make the parents and caregivers an easier path, is so important so that we can enjoy more quality time with our precious little ones.

I am married and I have another beautiful daughter, an 11 year old, who is a wonderful help to me. Because of Genevieve’s conditions, I am a stay-at-home mom and I have become a great advocate to handicapped children. I also give a few hours a week to Give Kids the World Village, here in Florida. It’s a once in a lifetime vacation to families with children with life-threatening illnesses, all inclusive to the families. They rely on donations, both private and corporate. It is another amazing experience in my life.”

We hope this amazing story has moved you as much as it has moved us. To learn more about Cerebral Palsy, please visit www.ucp.org.

To learn more about Give Kids the World or to make a donation, please visit www.gktw.org.