These Are Very Special Times for Dr. Anibal Molina Lugo

On Saturday, March 27, 2010 he met Ashley Harrington!

On Thursday, June 3, 2010 he graduated from The Ohio State University Medical School!

I met Al and Ashley in the same way; I received a phone call from a family member while they were experiencing severe inflammatory attacks.  In Al’s case, I started communicating with his sister, Ivetteliz.  In Ashley’s case, I communicated regularly with her father, Jeff.  Both were given a diagnosis of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis or ADEM.    

Ashley had a very severe attack about three years ago.  Her recovery has been very slow but steady.  She has regained significant motor function and is slowly but surely regaining the ability to eat and to communicate.  It isn’t easy to communicate with a person who is not speaking, but this is not the case with Ashley.  She has such a beautiful smile and such sparkling and knowing eyes, that she makes expression of ideas, thoughts and emotions not entirely dependent on spoken words.  I write about Ashley often, because she has taken up permanent residence in my heart and my mind.

I encouraged Jeff and Mary to bring Ashley to the retreat weekend at Victory Junction.  They did attend two years ago and also came to the family camp last year.  It was just incredible spending time with Ashley and her family.  She is such a special person.  Ashley and I have been connected by the heart from the very first time we set eyes on each other.  We share equal measure of smiles and tears through every visit. 

Al was diagnosed with ADEM when he was 24 years old; it was March of 2003.  Al was admitted to Henry Ford Health Services Center in Detroit, Michigan.  Through incredibly hard work and perseverance, Al has regained significant motor function.  While Al has managed to gain independence, he still has symptoms from the severe inflammatory attack he experienced in his brain and spinal cord. 

When I first met Al, he had recently been accepted into the doctoral program in chemistry at The Ohio State University.  His academic pursuits were shelved after he was diagnosed with ADEM and began a long and difficult rehabilitation process.  A few years after his ADEM attack, Al announced to me that he had applied and had been accepted to The Ohio State University Medical School.  Pauline and I were so thrilled; Al was going to become a doctor and Al was going to be coming to live in Columbus.  Over the past four years, we have been in touch with Al by phone and we have gotten together on a fairly regular basis to be sure Al was getting a break from his studies and getting a decent meal.  Medical school has been a grueling process for Al.  No one could have higher expectations nor push themselves physically and mentally as hard as Al has over the past four years.  Along with Al’s parents and sister, Pauline and I have been Al’s cheerleaders throughout his journey through medical school.

Because the world is such a small place, Al developed a very close relationship with a Professor from the Department of Neurology at the Medical School.  Her name is Dr. Joanne Lynn.  Dr. Lynn also happens to serve on the TMA medical advisory board and is Pauline’s neurologist.  Dr. Lynn has served as a mentor for Al and has provided him with tremendous guidance during his education.  Through this important relationship, and through Al’s personal experiences, it is no great surprise that Al is going to specialize in Neurology. 

I attended Al’s graduation on June 3^rd.  Dr. Lynn is the Associate Dean for Student Life of The Ohio State University School of Medicine.  Al asked her to perform the great honor of hooding him at the graduation ceremony.  Watching Anibal Molina Lugo become Dr. Lugo by having Dr. Joanne Lynn place the hood over his head was one of the more cosmic moments I’m going to have in my life.  Al is headed back to Henry Ford Health Services Center in Detroit, Michigan, and this time, not as a patient, but to begin his residency in neurology!  Al can decide to specialize in whatever he wants, so long as it is neuroimmunology with a focus on acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

Al has been talking on the phone with the Harringtons since Ashley was diagnosed with ADEM.  I connect Al to families all the time.  He is going to be an excellent physician.  Al is an incredibly kind, sensitive and compassionate person; and it is these qualities that are going to make him an exceptional clinician.  One of my goals over the past couple of years has been to arrange for Al to meet Ashley and her parents, Jeff and Mary.  Finally, on March 27^th, we arranged to meet the Harringtons halfway between their home in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Columbus.  We picked a hotel just off of the freeway in Lima, Ohio for our meeting.  Pauline, Kazu and I drove Al up to Lima and we met Ashley, Jeff and Mary at around noon on Saturday.  It was an awesome six hour visit.  We’re all looking forward to a reunion this fall at the Victory Junction Retreat Weekend. 

Over the years, Pauline and I have become very close with both of these families.  I think about Al and Ashley all of the time.  A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about Ashley.  In both Ashley’s and Al’s cases, their recoveries have been significantly impacted by the efforts, love and care of wonderful, supportive families.  There couldn’t be families on the face of the earth that could be any more devoted to their children than the Harringtons and Lugos.  And Al and Ashley have been incredibly disciplined and motivated to do all of the hard work that is required of rehabilitation.  I wanted for Ashley to meet Al and to share in the hope that Al represents for her future on so many different levels.  As we were leaving the hotel, Al’s first words to Pauline and I were that Ashley was just so filled with dignity.  We all see this in Ashley.  Without her speaking a word, you know you are with a very intelligent, very wise, very spiritual, very sensitive human being.  Ashley is so filled with dignity and I believe in my heart of hearts that she has a bright and positive future before her.  Ashley will have her time and her opportunity to heal the world. 

Al will also have his chance to heal the world.  I marvel at your accomplishment and I share the great pride of your Mom, Dad and Sister.  We can only imagine the journey you’ve been on in the past five years.  We wish you the very best of luck throughout your residency.  Mazel tov, Al!