Introducing: The Felix Foundation
The Felix Foundation In February 2022, Felix Gomez was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs Disease. His parents, Kate and Alan, are overcome with emotion from the news but are hoping to make every lasting moment in their son’s life extraordinary. Donate to The Felix Foundation Help support The Felix Foundation by donating or sharing with your friends.... READ MORE In April 2022 we interviewed the Gomez Family to learn more about their story and what their daily lives look like with a child diagnosed with Tay-Sachs. THE GOMEZ FAMILY We heard you guys just got back from a trip. Where did you go and are there other places you would like to take Felix? We just got back from Big Sur and Monterey. Felix loves the Aquarium of the Pacific here in Long Beach, so we brought him to Monterey Bay Aquarium. In the near future, we mainly want to take him to Paris, France. We spent our honeymoon there, and want to have a chance to show him around the city we love. We have a friend who lives there and is a photographer. We thought it would be nice to spend some time with him and have him take photos of our family around the city to capture the memories. Can you tell us about the moments leading up to finding out Felix has Tay-Sachs? We noticed he wasn't hitting milestones that he should have. For example, he wasn't crawling. And we started to get frustrated. Not with Felix, but with the situation. We felt that there might be something wrong because we could look around and see kids younger than him full-on crawling. When we told the doctor, she ignored us. Worse than that, she told us everything was fine. But we’re his parents, and we were noticing that something significant was going on. We ended up having to go to a different doctor, who confirmed that something was in fact wrong. The new doctor told us that Felix should be crawling or at least trying to, but he wasn’t. We finally got him into physical therapy and doctor’s kept testing everything all the time. We spent more time in doctor's offices and in the car driving to appointments than we ever care to do again. But they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. His brain functioning was normal. His nervous system was normal. His muscle function was normal. How did you find out Felix has Tay-Sachs? Fast forward a little, and we noticed that he was kind of losing the ability to do certain things. We didn't know at the time, but he had a bad seizure one day, so we took him to the Emergency Room and they confirmed it was a seizure. Then he was admitted to Miller Children’s. The day before they told us, they brought in an ophthalmologist, and he found a cherry-red spot in his eye, which I guess is one of the telltale signs of the disease. So they narrowed it down and we're able to kind of expedite the genetic testing that we had at the lab already before his hospital stay. That night, before we found out, we researched what the cherry-red spot meant. We saw Tay-Sachs on the list, read about it, and prayed it wasn’t that. When the doctors confirmed it was Tay-Sachs, we were devastated. What is Felix’s current prognosis? Since the diagnosis, we have to keep him on seizure meds, which are good for seizures, but suck because they make him super drowsy. We don’t really get to see his personality anymore. He's just so sleepy all the time. We almost wish we could stop giving him the medication because we miss his big personality. But the risks outweigh the benefits — if we take him off, it’s possible he could have a bad enough seizure that he would go brain dead. What are your goals as a family moving forward after learning about this disease? What do you need right now? We want to create beautiful memories with Felix. We want to give him the best quality of life that we can with the time that he has. Our biggest focus is to keep him as healthy as possible. Felix is going to regress from everything he’s able to do. He's gotten a lot weaker since being on the seizure medications and so as he gets sicker we need more specialty equipment. One of the things we're working on getting him is a medical stroller that doubles as a high chair. It will keep his head where it needs to be and posture supported. We have to get a specialty bath chair from him because he can't sit in the bath anymore and what we were doing to support him isn’t working as well. So these accessibility items would be really helpful. DONATE We want to create beautiful memories with Felix. We want to give him the best quality of life that we can with the time that he has. Our biggest focus is to keep him as healthy as possible.
First Annual Snow Day!
FIRST ANNUAL SNOW DAY HOW A LOCAL REAL ESTATE GROUP MADE IT SNOW IN LONG BEACH. By Lindsey Goodrow Families and friends put on their mittens, scarves, and ugly sweaters to join The Whipple Group in celebrating their first annual Snow Day, on Sunday, December 5th. The Whipple Group created a magical winter wonderland to spread joy and cheer to the community they proudly serve. Smiling faces walked carefully down a snowy path to find a festive gathering next to Santa’s Workshop. Hot chocolate was poured into cups for children waiting in line to see Santa and libations poured out for their parents. The cocktails not only warmed up adult guests, but paid homage to the neighborhoods that The Whipple Group serves, such as The Rancho-ho-ho Estates, Signal Hill Sour, Belmont Shore, Mez-Cal Heights, and the Rose Park. A DJ booth built ten feet in the air and wrapped like a giant present kept the spirit jolly as the speakers pumped out all the classic holiday tunes. There was an exciting variety of games and contests to get involved in, including sledding, an ugly sweater contest, and making your own snowman using toilet paper and bows. Alan Gomez of Commodity took home the gold for the ugly sweater contest in his bright red suit which was covered in fir trees, holly, and llamas. Snow Day’s main attraction was the thousands of pounds of fresh snow, which guests were invited to sled down and play in. As the Southern California climate is unlikely to see real snow, the Whipple Group ordered snow to be brought in, just for the event. Long Beach Ice transported giant blocks of ice on their freezer truck beds to the Snow Day site and then loaded the cubes into a giant ice crusher. This machine then shot the crushed snow through a tube, falling wherever the hose aimed. Children watched in fascination as ice cube after ice cube was crushed into powdery snow, piling up into a giant snow hill. They then grabbed their plastic sleds and took turns flying down it. To document the evening, Mario Orlando walked around capturing every magical candid moment. Guests could also take their own pictures in a photo booth that was set up right next to Santa. Beatrix Whipple, CEO and Realtor of The Whipple Group, enjoys putting on joyous events such as this because it allows families and friends to take a much-needed break from the stress of the holiday season and come together to enjoy each other’s company. The Whipple Group and the community they serve will be looking forward to the next Snow Day, set to take place next December. About The Whipple Group Beatrix Whipple and her caring team are in the business of making life-changing decisions easy and fun, which is why they have nearly 200 five-star client reviews on Zillow, earning them Premier Agent status. The Whipple Group is listed in the Top 5 of Long Beach Post’s “Best Of” in the Real Estate category as well as in the Top 10 Real Estate Groups on Yelp. These local professionals serve Long Beach, Lakewood, L.A. and Orange County from their offices at 2883 East Spring Street in Long Beach. From this central location, they offer area residents a full range of real estate services, including buy/sell representation, property valuation, comprehensive home marketing, and strategic negotiation between finance professionals, escrow companies, and all parties to a transaction. Beatrix Whipple Lic#01355505Keller Williams Pacific Estates Lic#01917184 " data-provider-name="Vimeo">
Fifth Annual Photo Picnic Party!
FIFTH ANNUALPHOTO PICNIC PARTY: FREE PHOTOGRAPHY AND FAMILY FUN By Lindsey Goodrow Friends, families, and beloved pets gathered for The Whipple Group’s highly anticipated Fifth Annual Photo Party in El Dorado Park West on Sunday, July 25th from the hours of 2-6 PM. This outdoor festivity attracted hundreds of local citizens with food, drink, and fun. Those who came to the picnic hungry left with bellies full as there was an abundance of food offered to them. From hamburgers to chicken sandwiches to shaved ice desserts, these sweet and savory treats were enjoyed by children and adults alike. To work off the picnic feast, guests were invited to participate in a variety of exciting games and activities including: an ultra-bounce house and obstacle course, an arts and crafts station, a raffle for gift cards from local businesses, competitive water-balloon tossing, cornhole, and a DJ set for everyone to dance to. The picnic’s main attraction was undoubtedly the free professional photography, in which families of all shapes and sizes could sit for a timeless portrait to be cherished for the years to come. Couples sat with their children, children sat with their grandparents, friends sat with their dogs, and all other combinations of humans and pets. Local photographer Veronica Guzman made sure to capture the perfect moment with your family, no matter what family looks like to you. Ryan Ford was the videographer running around but blending in, making sure to record every candid second of the day. Families promptly received a gallery of photos and video from the event via the email they provided to Whipple’s team. Beatrix Whipple, CEO and Realtor of The Whipple Group, enjoys putting on this joyous event year after year because it allows families to take a break from their busy schedules and enjoy each other’s company while also introducing community members to each other, forming new connections and friendships. The Whipple Group and the community they serve look forward to this Photo Picnic Party every year. A satisfied client waiting in line for a free burger with a toddler in tow remarked how easy The Whipple Team made the transition from living in Newport to moving into a Mid-Century home in San Pedro. “Beatrix Whipple is one of the friendliest people I have ever met but also a hardline negotiator. I continue to feel so taken care of and am in love with the home she found us. It’s a dream!”
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