Christians Pool

This is the story about 8 year old Christian Cacciaguerra of Flanders NJ.
In July 2005, Christian was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It is the most debilitating type, affecting mostly boys. Swimming happens to be the best form of therapy for this disorder. Read on.

About a year and a half ago, I was contacted by Christian's uncle, Jerry Lobozzo. We know each other through the music business, as we are both professional musicians. Myself a guitar player, and Jerry a drummer and singer.
Jerry knew that I was in the swimming pool business and he told me the situation concerning Christian's health. He told me swimming provides the best therapy for Christian's condition as it provides stretching of the muscles with out resistance. Water therapy has always been commonly known for rehabilitation from sports injuries, arthritis and other ailments as a no impact treatment.
He also told me of Christian's parents, Michael and Kathleen, and the sacrifices they have made to accommodate for Christian's condition.
Jerry flat out said, "Christian needs to swim". He asked if there was some way I could help. I said yes.
Since that time, I have been able to assemble my subcontractors, material suppliers and equipment manufacturers to commit to this project- are you ready? FREE OF CHARGE! YES FREE!!

We have also collected monetary donations (see information below on how to donate) to offset any additional costs encountered. We certainly would welcome more.
I personally want to thank all of my subcontractors, material suppliers and equipment manufacturers for their help. I will be compiling and posting a list of ALL contributors to this project as I cannot take all the credit. I rely on these companies for our routine projects as well. It would not be fair if I did not include them.

In the past month I have been interviewed by 3 newspapers covering this story. They all asked what made me commit?
I stated a number of reasons. First, I think we should be concentrating on helping people in our backyard. People that are local to our area/community. We have citizens in this country that need help right now. Secondly, I am hoping this will bring awareness to Muscular Dystrophy especially Duchenne. Thirdly, I think the swimming pool industry will benefit as people will see that a backyard pool is not only fun, but therapeutic.

Kevin Misley
President

What will Christian's Pool look like?
It will be a custom gunite pool 18' x 36'. A constant depth of 4' will allow Christian and a therapist and or mom and dad to utilize the entire pool during use.

In Christian's Pool, it begins at a zero depth and slowly descend to the final depth of 4' on a special ramp designed for easy access. There will also be a set of steps adjacent to this special ramp as another point of entry.
A slightly raised hot tub approx 7' x 7' will allow for warm water therapy for Christian to loosen his muscles prior to and after therapy. A dedicated pump to activate therapeutic jets will be an added bonus.

The sanitizing system will be a specially designed type where they will have have reduced maintenance and never need to store traditional chlorine. An special type filter, energy efficient pumps, heater, automatic cleaner and a computerized control system round out the entire system.
The surrounding patio will be composed of smooth concrete for ease of travel.

There will also be a 10' x 20' pool house complete with a full bathroom set up for easy access for Christian and for friends and family.
A drawing of the the plan will be posted shortly for all to view.

So where are we now?
Well, Thursday September 2, 2010 we broke ground! A ceremonial "dig" by Christian began the festivities.
It included family, friends, workers and members of the press including 2 TV stations!
It was a gorgeous sunny day-rain free!

Read the latest article in the Mount Olive Chronicle

What are the next steps?
Bookmark this page. We will be documenting the progress of this project through video and still photos. Scroll Down and see

Where to send donations:
Christians Strength PO Box 98 Flanders, NJ 07836
Any contribution will be greatly appreciated

See how this job all comes together-and yes there will be a BIG party when we are complete.

BIOTECH - PROSENSA developing drug called Exon Skipping. Christian has a deletion of 48 through 52 so he would need exon 53 to be skipped. Prosensa's site the most advanced pre-clinical programs focus on exon 45, exon 53 and exon 52. It is anticipated that the company will be able to progress these programs into the clinic in the coming years.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is caused by mutations in the DMD gene, mostly deletions of 1 or more exons (~72%) that disrupt the open reading frame of the transcript and prematurely abort the synthesis of the dystrophin protein. Patients with Becker Muscular Dystrophy (BMD) show intermediate to milder phenotypes with mostly longer to normal life expectancies when compared with DMD patients. Here, the mutations in the DMD gene maintain the open reading frame and result in an internally truncated but semi-functional dystrophin. The specific skipping of 1 or more exons flanking the specific deletion in DMD patients allows restoration of the mutated open reading frame, introduction of novel, BMD-like dystrophin, and conversion of a severe DMD into a typically milder BMD phenotype.

http://www.prosensa.eu/

ADVOCACY GROUP - Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) is the largest nonprofit organization in the United States focused entirely on Duchenne. This is their link to the home page - http://www.parentprojectmd.org/site/PageServer?pagename=nws_index

This is a good link to get a quick overview of what duchenne is and how it effects the boys: http://community.parentprojectmd.org/video/1187424:Video:24

Christian's Doctor - Dr. Brenda Wong is Christians doctor. She handles all aspects of Christians care from the complexities of Duchenne (heart problems, breathing issue,etc...) to the day to day care issues. Christian has a primary doctor in Chester NJ named Dr. Gerald Casale but he guided by Dr. Wong on almost all aspects of care. This is Dr. Wongs Profile link: http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/svc/find-professional/w/brenda-wong.htm

Since the excavation a lot of things have transpired. A bed of crushed stone was put down on the floor, our hot tub form and ramp form were constructed, we installed our surface skimmers, bottom drains in the pool and the hot tub. Piping was installed in preparation for the hot tubs jets, drains and returns. We will be putting more crushed stone in the hot tub area now that our piping is complete.
We began installing our reinforcement bar in the pool and will continue into the hot tub.
The next step will be 2 inspections and then we can "shoot" concrete to form the structure. You won't want to miss those photos-perhaps the most interesting aspect of the project.

The day finally arrived after about 5 days of on off rainy, crummy, miserable weather. We managed to complete the rebar and get the pool prepped for gunite. Today was an absolutely beautiful day perfect for shooting concrete! Check out the photos below to how this amazing process brings this whole structure together.

With the pool structure complete, we were able to begin the pool coping. The material for the pool is a large paver stone with an aesthetically pleasing and yet a non-skid finish. We plan to install bluestone for the spa coping made up of large pieces.
The next step will be to install the perimeter water line tile just below the coping stone.

Quick update:

We began the excavation for the pool house. When complete, it will finish off at 10' x 20' complete with an ADA bathroom and room for storage.
The pool filtration system will sit directly behind the structure out of sight.

The foundation and block work for the pool house is complete! The next step is to run the water and sewer pipes, our gas and electric. Once that's complete, we can begin backfilling and start on the main structure.
The snowy conditions, with more to come, has stalled our progress for now. Have no fear we will move on!
Photos will be posted as soon as we find some snow shoes!

Lots of things happening and major accomplishments in the past 2 weeks! Trenches were dug for the gas, electric, water and sewer lines. All piping has been installed and inspected. The concrete slab for the pool house was formed and poured. The additional concrete pad for the pool equipment was poured at the same time. All necessary plumbing lines were stubbed in the pool house slab for the bathroom. All this work by donation!
All the trenches for the utilities were backfilled and trenching for the pool piping was completed. We will now be able set up the pool equipment on the new slab!
Check out the photos below

Quick Update:

Tile work was started around the pool's perimeter. 6"x6" gray tile matches well with the pool coping. The limestone coping was installed. This material is perfect for this setting as the color coordinates with most anything. Because of the stone's natural properties, it's cool to the touch even in the hottest locations. We will be installing glass tile on the face portion of the hot tub just beneath the spillway to give it a great accent. This will make the tub really "pop".

See the photos below


Quick shot with mom and dad, Michael and Kathleen	Christian at the controls for the BIG DIG!


Uncle Jerry lends a hand	Uncle Jerry trying to trade a t shirt for a ride on the ATV. Christian thinking it over. Sorry Uncle J, your too big!


Uncle Jerry, Kevin, Christian, Michael and Kathleen during BIG DIG	T-Shirts to mark the event


We have our form boards installed and leveled and we have prepped for our pool and hot tub piping and put down a layer of crushed stone.	A closer look at the piping for the hot tub. It will features 8 therapeutic jets which are the the pipes at the top portion of the form. We oversize our piping for maximum water delivery resulting in fantastic jet action. Lots of water will be moving through these jest!


The beginning of the installation of the reinforcement bar (rebar). This reinforces the concrete structure when its shot. The form to the left is for the ramp that also will be reinforced with the rebar.	A different view of the rebar. Notice the surface skimmers prepped.


Here the rebar is complete and ready for concrete.	Another look from the ramp entry


The gunite being shot in the corner of the pool	Working on the hot tub


The men working on leveling and shaping the hot tub	Entry steps are slowly shaping up


The gunite for the ramp being applied as steps are shaped	Another view of the ramp and entry steps


Gunite complete! We have a structure	Look at those beautiful steps and ramp!


Christian enjoying a slice	Buddies for life


Working hard on filling joints on the stones	All stones set!


Hugo digging out for footer prep	Nearly completing a perfect dig


Tori and Rudy of M&M Masons prepping for the concrete slab	Little more prepping prior to pouring


Gas pipe, sewer and electrical conduit in place	Another shot of the gas pipe and sewer line


Completed concrete slab from the front	Looking at the back of the pool house slab

Cure Duchenne and Cadillac PSA