The story of baby Caitlin, whose survival was in doubt, demonstrates some of the mysteries of healing and urges us not to give up despite the sometimes hopeless prognoses we get from conventional medicine.
Celeste, a young woman of Choctaw, Mexican, and Irish heritage living in Florida, conceived a child despite having been told by doctors that it was highly unlikely. Unfortunately, she began to have early signs of miscarriage. After several examinations her doctor told her that her body was rejecting the pregnancy and that she should go home and allow nature to take its course. But she wanted to have the baby and knew it might be her only chance.
Her mother, grandmother, and other American Indian friends far away in the Northeast prayed for her and sent sacred herbs, such as red cedar, sage, tobacco, and sweetgrass, in tiny red packets (red, which represents the heart, blood, and heat, is a color frequently used in healing rites and sacred offerings) for the baby.
After a few months of confinement she delivered Caitlin, a very premature baby, who weighed only 1-1/2 pounds. Again the doctors held little hope. They werer very cautious about the baby's survival, telling her family that if she lived, there was an 80 percent chance of blindness, loss of hearing, and very likely brain damage or some degree of cerebral palsy. Once more family and friends went to work with prayers, creating a special medicine bag, a dream catcher, and other accouterments for Caitlin.
In her tiny isolette in the hospital, Caitlin's heart was stopping many times a day. Doctors would say only, "Wait and see"; they thought it would be only a matter of time until she died. Her grandmother asked the nurses to put the medicine bag in with the baby. Trying to humor her, they put it in a Ziplock bag and taped it to the isolette. The baby's mother was very pleased but quite surprised that the health care professionals honored the request. Within a few hours the heart arrhythmia episodes became fewer, and then stopped. Caitlin was out of the woods and a true survivor. Today Caitlin is a precocious, active twelve-year-old with full faculties and remarkable awareness.
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