For the Pleasure of her Company

March 13, 2005

For the pleasure of their company

British Medical Journal, August 2004

It was a normal day in the office, nothing exciting, the usual complaints. Patients came and went. On looking back, however, I find that three patients stand out.

One patient gave me a hug, another told me that I was the best doctor in the world, and the third played a song for me with great care and feeling. Such encounters are not common; in fact they are unique. The hug was given before I had time to anticipate it; the compliment was well meant without any hidden agenda; and the song—well, that was quite a treat on a gray winter morning.

It so happened that all three men had Down’s syndrome, and any concern about having a too familiar relationship with their doctor wouldn’t cross their minds. What they also had in common was their total dedication to and enjoyment of the moment, of an encounter with me. I know they will bring the same quality of human awareness and directness to the next person they meet, and the next doctor will be the best ever. These three men, with ages from 22 to 60, are all healthy, have a good lifestyle, don’t have many worries, and take pleasure in family and social life. In short, they are a delight to meet.

On reflection, I feel troubled. These are exactly the people whom we medics try with all our skills to prevent being born. What is so awful, so dreadful about their destiny that it is not worth living?

The likelihood that one of them will commit a crime or become a drug addict is quite slim. All three are in need of guidance, which will cost society less well spent than on the military or the new parliament building in Scotland? And I even refuse to believe they give their family so much heartache, after the initial shock at birth.

I am in the unusual situation of seeing patients with Down’s syndrome quite regularly in my office, as more than 3% of our practice population have this condition. And I can tell you, I don’t mind a bit.

Marga Hogenboom, general practitioner
Camphill Medical Practice, Aberdeen, UK

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As a doctor providing care to pregnant women, I have counseled many about the “standard of care” prenatal testing available for Down’s syndrome, spina bifida, and related condtions. The main purpose of such testing, of course, is to allow such children to be aborted at an early stage of pregnancy.

I saw Lesbia and Raquel on the second day of the brigade. Mama Lesbia was better dressed and better educated than most of those we were seeing. She was able to afford medication for her hyperactive thyroid. Little Raquel is about 4 and just exudes personality. She was smiling at everyone as they waited in line and hopping around on her little brace-clad legs with great enthusiasm, helping Mama keep track of little brother. Raquel has spina bifida, a congenital problem of the spinal cord that produces various degrees of paralysis in the legs. She has a 10-year visa to go to the US for medical treatment, and is scheduled to go to New York as soon as mom’s visa comes through.

I think I ordered some Tylenol and vitamins for various minor complaints. Then Lesbia asked me if I had anything for nerves. My antennae went up. She’d been having problems with anxiety ever since Hurricane Mitch. In my experience, the enemy likes to use emotionally traumatic events to implant death-dealing beliefs in our minds. These are often below the conscious level and anxiety symptoms are a frequent result.

I wanted to pray with them, but I wanted a native Spanish speaker to help me so as not to miss the nuances of Lesbia’s story. I asked Evelyn Klingler, one of the missionaries sponsoring the brigade, to step in and join me. I had already had opportunity to work with her and knew that she has great spiritual discernment.

Lesbia told us about attending a healing service with Raquel in her wheelchair. “Tell them what God said to you, Raquel,” she said. Little 4 year old Raquel, without any shyness, told how God had spoken to her, telling her to get up and walk, and she did. This gave me chills, of course!

Turns out Lesbia was pregnant with Raquel during Hurricane Mitch and she suffered a fall. I don’t know whether she misunderstood her doctors or what, but she had been believing all this time that she was responsible for Raquel’s condition. Her family also blamed her. Who wouldn’t be anxious believing that!

I had Evelyn explain to her that spina bifida is a congenital problem originating at conception, unrelated to trauma. More importantly, we prayed for God to show her the truth and deliver her from the spirit of culpability that had been tormenting her all these years.

While we were praying, I had a strong sense that Lesbia and Raquel are to have a ministry to women considering abortion in the United States, and that the enemy had been trying to frustrate this with his lies. I shared this with Lesbia and told her about children like Raquel being aborted, and she was shocked!

Seeing Raquel with her joyful heart and strong spiritual gifts, I thought of the other Raquels, the other Einsteins and Schweitzers and Ghandis and Beethovens and Mother Theresas that this world has been deprived of by abortion.

I’m just grateful that I get to have the pleasure of Raquel’s company on this earth.