new medical breakthroughs before the general public. The experts said that the brain never stops recuperating, but most of that recovery was in the first 18 months after the brain injury. Progress was slow after that.”
At first, Mary used a walker, then eventually a cane.“ One day, Jesus gave me the courage to walk across the entire room with no apparatus or wall to help me,” she writes.“ I did it! I was walking with no assistance.”
Throughout the book, Mary discusses the frustrations and disappointments of parenting from a distance. However, she recounts sweet moments like Andrew’ s first visit to Louisville for Thanksgiving.“ Mommy, I know I do not see you very much,” he told her.“ But I still think about you every day.” Now a college student, Andrew has a solid relationship with his mother.
After her heartbreaking losses, Mary achieved inspiring triumphs. She progressed to living in her own condo. Through the Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky( BIAK), she met with other brain injury survivors. BIAK’ s mission is to serve those affected by brain injuries and brain tumors by:
• Linking survivors of brain injury and their families to support from others with similar experiences
• Providing them with education and information about living and coping with brain injury
• Assisting them in locating resources for financial assistance
• Seeking to connect people with sources of emotional support
Dan was on the BIAK board, and his wife, Kimberly Alumbaugh, MD, came up with the idea of hosting a fundraising gala. The inaugural Brain Ball in 2004 was a“ magical night” where Mary received the Inspiration Award. In the years since then, she has presented the Mary Varga Award to a brain injury survivor who has improved the lives of others.“ Every year as the Brain Ball gears up, I smile knowing that my family started it all, out of their love for me,” Mary writes.“ I am most fulfilled when I feel like I am providing hope to others who are facing the same challenges as I did.”
Somewhat ironically, Mary drew on her passion for exercise to become a certified personal trainer and certified senior fitness instructor. She founded a business called SilverStrength in 2010 and teaches classes at facilities around Louisville.
Finally, Mary’ s memoir is about her deepening Catholic faith and her personal spiritual journey. After a high school retreat, she started keeping a journal of prayers to God. Each chapter of her book begins with a relevant Bible verse and closes with a remarkably honest prayer.
REVIEW
Mary Varga( image from baik. us)
For example, she discovers the power of forgiving her ex-husband, who had remarried. His response:“ That means so much to me. You are the strongest woman I have ever known.”
Mary explains the meaning of the book’ s title, The Light Through My Tunnel, in this way:“ God... has walked with me through the many years I have journeyed this dark tunnel of brain injury and disability. He has been the light through this dark tunnel I call physical disability. My main desire has been to show you the infinite ways Jesus has stayed by my side and sometimes even carried me through my new life as a brain injury survivor.”
If you know the Varga family, you must read Mary’ s book. I also recommend it to physicians as the story of one patient overcoming tremendous odds. Perhaps you have patients— brain injury survivors or individuals with disabilities, mental illnesses and chronic health conditions— who would discover encouragement and hope in the pages of Mary’ s book.
The Light Through My Tunnel is available at Carmichael’ s as well as at Amazon( paperback and Kindle). Mary is contributing 50 percent of the proceeds to BIAK.
Ellen R. Hale was communications associate for the Greater Louisville Medical Society from 2009 to 2013.
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