Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

to offer. As we left, one suggested we find someone to massage her. If I
were a rich man, I would take her to Merida, Miami, or Guatemala City, but
I am poor and anyway, I’ve heard of you. People say you do good work and
that you learned a lot from Don Elijio. I come to see you with great faith,
Doña Rosita.”
“Tell me what happened,” I asked.
The mother, an attractive woman, who like her husband was of Spanish
descent, took a deep, troubled breath. She let out a mournful sigh.
“About two months ago, Shajira [Sha-heér-a] had the flu,” she said. “It
was a very bad case and she was home from school for what seemed too
long of a time. Usually my children recover quickly and well from colds
and flu, but this time Shajira stayed in bed for three weeks. Then one
morning, she was unable to get out of bed. She said her whole body hurt
terribly and she was unable to move from the waist down.
“We took her to the hospital in Belmopan,” she continued. “They sent
us to Belize City, where they kept her for observation for ten days. They
said that none of their tests could tell them why she was unable to walk.
The doctor prescribed some pills, which made her vomit, so we stopped
using them. Then he gave us some pills for the pain, which made her feel
nauseated and sleepy. We didn’t like that but were afraid to stop the
medication and leave our daughter in pain. So we started giving her aspirin,
but that only helps a little.
“Now, it has been three weeks since we came home from the hospital
with her, and we see no improvement. She cannot walk and there is little
feeling in her body from the waist down. Some days she has a fever, no
appetite, and seems listless. And she cries often saying she’s afraid to be a
cripple. Can you help us?” the mother pleaded.
I took a long deep breath and looked searchingly at little Shajira. She
was exquisitely beautiful, with a warm terra cotta complexion, shiny black
hair, big round doe eyes, and a sweet expression.
“Bring her into the examining room and let’s have a good look,” I said.
Unfortunately Greg was back in the States visiting his parents, and I missed
his comforting presence. We usually teamed up for difficult or seriously ill
patients.
I examined the child and determined that there was soreness but no
swelling in the tissue of her upper back, very close to the spinal column.