In another scenario, described in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Fadiman 1997) Lia Lee, an infant of Hmong parents, has a seizure disorder that proved very difficult to control with medication. The story of Lia Lee reveals many of the cultural misunderstandings that played a role in providing an appropriate anticonvulsant regimen to the patient that the parents were willing to follow. In the following excerpt, Lia's parents explain why they did not provide the medication as prescribed by Lia's pediatricians.

The Lees continued to be troubled by the use of medications in Lia's treatment. According to Nao Kao, Lia's father, "The doctors can fix sicknesses that involve the body and blood, but for us Hmong, some people get sick because of their soul, so they need spiritual things. With Lia, it was good to do a little medicine and a little neeb [healing spirit], but not too much medicine because medicine cuts the neeb's effect. If we did a little of each, she didn't get sick as much, but the doctors wouldn't let us give just a little medicine because they didn't understand as much about the soul."

Unknown to her physicians, Lia's parents continued to employ traditional methods to aid their daughter. As soon as Lia came home from foster care, the Lees sacrificed a cow to boost Lia's health; the souls of sacrificed animals are precious and vitally connected to human souls. In addition, they spent $1,000 on amulets filled with sacred herbs from Thailand, which Lia wore around her neck. Nao Kao and Foua (Lia's mother) also tried changing Lia's name to Kou, in hopes that the dab who stole her soul would be tricked into thinking that she was someone else, and her soul could return. According to Foua, this plan was foiled because Lia's doctors persisted in calling her Lia. In another attempt to help their child, Nao Kao took Lia to a famous txiv neeb in Minnesota who gave Lia's parents hope about her condition and her future.

< prev | next >