Lia Lee's Story from Her Parents' Perspective

When Lia was around three months old, one of her older sisters, Yer, slammed the front door of the Lees' apartment. A few minutes later, Lia's eyes rolled up, her arms jerked over her head, and she fainted. Lia's parents believed that the noise of the door slamming had frightened Lia's soul out of her body, in spite of the smooth hu plig that had been conducted for Lia. They identified the symptoms that followed as qaug dab peg, which means "the spirit catches you and you fall down." The Lees harbored resentment towards Yer for many years.

Lia's parents were both concerned about and proud of their daughter's condition. They recognized it as being potentially dangerous and hoped that the qaug dab peg could be healed most of the time. On the other hand, it was an illness of honor. The Hmong believe that seizures enable the sufferers to perceive and feel things that others cannot. People who are inflicted with qaug dab peg could become txiv neebs (people with a healing spirit), which is considered a calling. Lia was a very chubby, beautiful baby who had always been the family favorite; now, she was also regarded as an anointed one. During the next few months of her life, Lia had at least 20 more seizures. On October 24^th, 1982, Foua and Nao Kao, Lia's mother and father, carried Lia to the ED at MCMC, three blocks from their apartment. There was no one to interpret, and they had no way of explaining what had happened. Lia's seizures had stopped before they reached the ED. She only exhibited a cough and congested chest. When Lia was discharged, Nao Kao signed a paper that acknowledged his receipt of instructions for Lia's medications and directions to call the clinic ten days later. Nao Kao did not speak or read English. On November 11^th, they once more carried Lia to the ED. Again, there was no interpreter present, and again, Lia was misdiagnosed.

On March 3, 1983, they took her to the ED for the third time; this time, she was admitted. She had been seizing when she arrived at the hospital. Foua and Nao Kao took turns watching over Lia every night, and Foua continued to breastfeed her daughter. Lia was discharged on March 11, 1983. Through an English-speaking relative, doctors instructed Lia's parents to give her 500mg of ampicillin for her aspiration and 40mg of Dilantin for seizures, daily.

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