Time to Go to the Mountain by Lori Nij Director of Morning Glory Christian Academy
The story is told of the rebirth of the eagle. The eagle is the longest living member of the species. But around age forty the eagle has to make a hard decision. It’s beak becomes curved and hard, the claws grow and no longer can hold it’s prey, the feathers become heavy and cumbersome, and the eagle has to choose: either to remain the same and die or to retreat to the mountain for a time of rebirth. Once isolated on the mountain top the eagle beats it’s hard beak against the rocks until it falls out and a new beak grows in it’s place, using the new beak the eagle then plucks out it’s useless claws and feathers and thus begins the long process of new birth. After about six months the new feathers grow, the claws regain their form and the eagle has to make the choice to throw itself off the cliff and relearn to fly. Without the painful rebirth the eagle will weaken and surely die.
For the last year my health steadily grew worse and worse. Deep inside I knew something was terribly wrong. In my deepest heart, I feared my days were numbered even though I trusted with my whole being that my creator had my life in His hands and it was His decision. Every day it got harder and harder to make my legs work. I grew weary and my pain worsened. I knew I was putting on weight but no matter what I did I just grew heavier and heavier. I went into the hospital and the doctors told me I was fine; just that the lymphedema was worsening and very soon I would be in a wheelchair, totally unable to walk. We began to make the preparations, it seemed that the future doctors had told me about for years was finally inevitable. It has been getting harder and harder, until one afternoon I literally could not lift my leg high enough to get it into my car. I tried for three hours, becoming totally exhausted. Finally Mynor and Queno lifted my leg in a sling moving it into the car and thus I was able to pull the rest of my body in. The next day I stayed home trying to figure out what was next, over the weekend I felt like I got worse and worse.
That weekend a random television program about a woman with severe lymphedema who needed help to pay for her treatment at a center in Guatemala City caught my attention. When I was originally diagnosed, I had searched fruitlessly for treatment in Guatemala. To my frustration there were no specialists or centers. After seeing the program on TV, I did a websearch and sure enough the foundation had a Facebook page. I called the reference number on the page and they assured me that there was treatment and made an appointment for me the following Monday.
“Every day it got harder and harder to make my legs work. I grew weary and my pain worsened.”
Monday morning I woke up feeling terrible and if Tabi and Herbert had not insisted I would have cancelled my appointment. Again I could not lift my leg and we had to resort to the sheet trick to get my leg into the car. I was miserable the entire way and it seemed like everything was against me getting to the appointment. Long story short: after two severe falls and a three hour battle to get me on my feet, I was totally exhausted, in shock and my body was shutting down. The therapists encouraged Tabi and Queno to check me into the hospital for at least two weeks to start treatment. Honestly, I just wanted to go home and crawl into my bed. The pain was unbearable and every step was a battle. My strength was gone, I was humiliated, exhausted and beaten. For fifteen years, giving up has never been an option in my life but that Monday I was through.
My family took the decision out of my hands and put me in the hospital. I spent the most miserable night of my life, sleepless, in terrible pain, and totally defeated. The next morning began with the same round of tests again, with the same answers. I was incredibly healthy on the inside. My heart and organs were strong and healthy. My blood-cholesterol levels were amazing, I had no visceral fat, and yet my body was exploding with accumulated lymphatic fluid. The therapists came in the afternoon, and for the first time in fifteen years, brought hope with them. There was no cure but there was treatment and with the right treatment and diet I could get much better. I discovered that the treatment I had been receiving for years, the diet I followed, and many other things that well intentioned doctors had recommended were completely wrong for lympedema patients. In fact, the treatment recommended in April had accelerated the degenerative progress and had worsened my condition basically shutting my entire lymphatic system down.
After two expensive weeks in the hospital I had lost forty five pounds, was much better, and my savings were depleted. I went home for the weekend and to evaluate our next step. Daily therapy was essential and the thought of daily travel was exhausting and expensive with out even considering that there was no way that my legs wrapped were going to allow me to get into a car. I couldn’t walk three steps with the heavy wraps, much less lift my legs an inch. Through God’s grace and a generous gift from a friend we decided to rent a hotel room in the city for the next phase. A hotel was much less expensive than a hospital. But after two weeks my funds ran out and it was time in the therapy process to learn to walk with the wraps. In the hotel room that was impossible and I was loosing muscle strength laying in a bed with my legs wrapped. My size was reduced but my legs were so weak I could barely walk five steps and I couldn’t stand more that ten seconds. It was our busiest time of the year. We had groups coming to visit and work at the school and I felt guilty with being so absent from everything.
“After two expensive weeks in the hospital I had lost forty five pounds, was much better, and my savings were depleted. I went home for the weekend and to evaluate our next step.”
I had the brilliant idea that we could do therapy every week or so, I would watch my diet and we could make it work. Once home, I realized that was not possible, I was too weak to walk let alone try to travel back and forth from the city. It was too far for the therapist to come every day to my house and the wrapping process was very complicated and needed to be done by a professional. Consulting with Dean, my dad, and my family, we began the long process of looking for a place to live in Guatemala city. The foundation is in an exclusive area and any apartment or house for rent near there was terribly expensive. Then, my physical limitations made the search even more difficult. No steps and accessibility were practically impossible to find. Finally, after three weeks we found the perfect space; A small apartment on the fifth floor. But the car could park three feet from the elevator and the elevator was ten steps from the front door of the apartment. Equipped with enormous window, the apartment gave the illusion of light and space making for a very pleasant place to live. We moved my office couch, two beds and the small fridge from my office into the apartment. The only thing I had to buy was a two burner convection stove top, a toaster and coffee pot.
These last three and a half months have been a period of resting, trusting, and learning to lean on others. For most of my life I have taken care of others. As a young girl I took care of my brothers and sisters. In college I took care of those around me and married, I cared for my husband, children, and innumerable others who needed me. All of the sudden the roles were reversed and I could not do the simplest tasks for myself. I couldn’t stand up alone, get in the shower, get on the bed, or pick my legs up without help. I have fought battles and confronted incredible difficulties and yet letting others care for me was harder than anything I have ever done.
“These last three and a half months have been a period of resting, trusting, and learning to lean on others… It was my turn to go to the mountain.”
It was my turn to go to the mountain. It’s time to renew my strength and heal. I have made incredible improvement even though the road ahead is long. Although I have lost an incredible amount of weight, we are not focusing on numbers but improvement. By three weeks of treatment here in the apartment, I was ready to add physical therapy to my routine. We hired a physical therapist who we laughingly refer to as PT training: pain and torture. Emilio works me hard but I have made incredible progress since we began.
I have a long road ahead. The years of accumulated lymphatic fluid have added many pounds to my already big body. There are no short cuts. The road to wellness must be established on the foundation of lymphatic drainage, (massage therapy) compression wrappings and later compression garments, diet, and physical therapy to rebuild muscles destroyed my the fluid accumulation. I am trying to use the time to write and spend time in the Word and prayer. It is incredibly difficult to turn loose and trust others to do the work. My team is doing an amazing job. Tabi and Heyson (Morning Glory’s academic dean) along with all the staff are maintaining the school and controlling all the daily problems and activities. The hardest part for me is battling the loneliness of being so far from my family and loved ones. I miss the smiles and laughter of the students and the organized chaos of my life of activity.
I am so grateful for all those who have given to enable me to walk this road. This therapy is very expensive and the supplies even more so. There is no way that I can ever return your generosity but I know without a doubt that God will multiply what you have given a hundred fold.
Prayers! Pray for Lori and all the teachers as we near the end of the school year. Pray that God will lead us further into his will for 2015. Pray for safety and protection for the students during the break as well. Pray that God will continue to provide all the needs the school has.
Praises! We thank God for Lori’s outstanding progress. We praise Him for the team He assembled to take over when Lori is in need of rest. Congratulations to our Academic Dean, Heyson Manzo, for the achievement of his “Masters” degree.
Morning Glory Christian Academy is a division of NIMA.
