Three Thousand Years And Nadia – WHY I Do What I Do (Part 1 of 4)

Many of us do what we do, because of some life-changing experience. Mine came when my daughter at age 6 weeks was diagnosed with, what was said to be a disease for which there was no cure: one that would leave her to suffer for her whole life. Since that day, I have devoted my life to bringing the joy of a pain-free, fulfilling life to thousands of clients worldwide.

This four-part story is taken from my book The Mother and The Therapist, read more about my work and why I do what I do.

How often do we reflect on the survival of infants born without the ability to digest breast or powder milk? Do they survive? If so, what kind of food substitute do they receive?

Did I ever consider the above questions or find them relevant?

Until the age of thirty-one I was totally ignorant of this problem. I had never encountered a child who was unable to digest any kind of milk or fat molecule.

Then my six-week-old baby girl Nadia was diagnosed as lacking the enzymes required to digest fat molecules. In 1989 there was no medical cure and I was told that she might suffer a slow, painful death. Maybe one of the worst prognoses, if not the worst, a mother can encounter. There are no words to describe the devastating thoughts and feelings that went through my mind and body. Despair and desperation and anger can only describe part of how I felt. It just could not be true!

I was living at that time with my husband and three-year-old son Oliver in Jakarta. After receiving this devastating news from medical health practitioners in Singapore, New York and Copenhagen, we were left with an almost impossible situation and a turmoil of sad emotions. I did my best to juggle the care of Oliver, and Nadia who would either cry from hunger or from stomach pain after the feeds and pass small white lumps of fat in her stools. A difficult and exhausting time which left me with almost no energy to reach out for help. On several occasions I did not even pick up the phone as I was too overwhelmed. I dreaded hearing questions and well-meant advice about what might relieve Nadia’s pain and discomfort.

The Unexpected Saviour
Often we are blessed with support and help when we need it the most. We have to be open-minded as it might come via an unexpected saviour, and that is what happened to me. I am forever grateful that I was receptive to looking beyond the known.

One day, Anne Vibeke Bendix, a senior lady within the Danish community of Jakarta, contacted me and kindly asked if I would allow her to visit. This visit changed Nadia, my life and my family forever. What I so badly needed was to be able to move forward, and Anne Vibeke’s radiant presence, calm and colourful personality, made me feel at ease, loved and comforted.

Anne Vibeke told me about her fight with breast cancer and her frequent treatment visits to a Dutch healer and former physiotherapist, Ms Anne in Bandung, a city one and a half hours outside Jakarta. Then she offered an invitation for Nadia and me to join her on the next visit as she would introduce us to the healer.

It was an extraordinary challenging journey into the unknown that changed part of my belief system. The more choices we have, the more unsure and dissatisfied we often are afterwards, and we need to learn to make choices where we can benefit. My husband and I chose to follow our inner voices, taking responsibility and action while avoiding people with limiting beliefs.

…the force that propels human actions is emotion and feelings…

Robert G. Allen

Stay tuned to find out what happened next to our beautiful daughter…

The reality is that a pain-free life is just one connection away. And that can start for you and those you love right now.

I wonder if you have a similar story. Please share it with us.