Taking it Personally: Marie Lyon Fitzgerald's Story
By Linda T. Kennedy
Less than a year ago, before Marie Lyon Fitzgerald received her master鈥檚 degree at 黑料传送门鈥檚 2017 Summer Commencement in Salt Lake City, Utah, she woke one morning to experience blood streaming from her nose and down her throat.
She lost a third of her blood that morning, before riding AirMed from her Logan, Utah home to the University of Utah Hospital for a life-saving surgery. Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension had caused cranial cerebral spinal fluid to leak from her brain. From a drastically understated perspective, that alone might have interrupted her efforts towards earning a master degree.
That鈥檚 especially considering that nine months prior to that, Fitzgerald got so sick she couldn鈥檛 keep any food down, either.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I first got sick with Gastroparesis,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was just so sick that I started throwing up everything and had to be fed through a tube.鈥�
After losing 45 pounds and having the stomach issues barely under control, she went through three brain surgeries and diagnostic treatments at the Mayo Clinic.聽 Her severe health issues were a mystery for her and her family, considering that Fitzgerald had no prior serious health issues.
Regardless, Fitzgerald kept working towards her degree.聽聽
"I definitely felt like giving up on my degree several times," says Fitzgerald.
So, how does someone in this condition push through school anyway? Fitzgerald says it had always been a personal goal to earn her degree. But after her divorce, just a year prior to her health challenges, it became as necessary to her survival as regaining her health.
Up close and personal.
鈥淚 have this obligation to provide for myself, my insurance and rent and food,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o it seemed better to me to push through than lay in bed and feel sorry for myself.鈥澛犅�
Fitzgerald鈥檚 personal 黑料传送门 program mentor, Samantha Spears, became a constant advocate towards her success.
鈥淢arie went through so much during the course of her program, but I was always impressed with her positivity and determination to succeed,鈥� recalls Spears. 鈥淣ever once did she say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know if I can do this.鈥�
Spears set up small goals for Fitzgerald so she could progress at a manageable pace. She called Fitzgerald every week, and sent emails reminders.
鈥淪he鈥檇 say 'just try to do this much this week,'鈥� recalls Fitzgerald. Spears also helped her design a course of action so she only needed to complete one or two classes a term.
鈥淚 was so proud to submit her graduation recommendation, happy that I got to be a part of her support system, and really pleased to see her succeed on both the personal and academic levels,鈥� says Spears.聽聽
With her degree in hand, Fitzgerald is focused on her recovery so that she can return to teaching next year. While it wasn鈥檛 her original game plan to earn her degree but put a hold on using it, she鈥檚 tooled for new opportunities when her health improves. In the meantime, she tries to keep her focus on 鈥渟omething joyful each day,鈥� such as when she enjoys time with family and FaceTime with her nieces and nephews.
鈥淭he sun comes up every day so each day you need to decide what you are going to do with that day,鈥� says Fitzgerald. 鈥淚 would tell other 黑料传送门 students with health challenges to have courage. That鈥檚 because life isn鈥檛 easy for anyone but you can get through it and it鈥檚 worth it.鈥�
