Against All Odds

Alena Butkevica has had a remarkable life, over the past few years she has had to overcome many obstacles.

Alena has had an avid love of learning from a very young age. As she got older Alena realized she had a strong interest in the dentistry field. She started out as a dentist technician and quickly realized that she wanted more. Alena went back to school and got her doctorate degree and became a dentist. However, her thirst for knowledge was unsatisfied and Alena went to Boston University in order to receive postgrad specialization in prosthodontics and dental implantology. She then spent an additional five years at Boston University acquiring her Ph.D in dental implant biomechanics

In addition to learning Alena has always had a love of horses. One afternoon when riding she had an unfortunate accident. She fell off her horse and had to be transported to the ER for a broken spine. While in the ER Alena got more bad news, the x-rays found a tumor and she was diagnosed with carcinoma on her C2 vertebrae. Not only did Alena have to deal with recovering from a spinal injury, she now had to fight cancer as well. During this time her only son had gone off to fight in Afghanistan. As a mother Alena’s only thought was the well-being of her son. She feared that news of her having cancer would serve as a distraction to her son, in a place where distractions could very well get you killed. Alena then set a goal to beat her cancer by the time her son returned home from the war. While it was a tough battle, Alena put every ounce of her soul into it and never gave up hope as she knew she had to do this for her son. By the time her son returned home Alena reached her goal, and beat her cancer.

A few years later Alena had no idea that another huge battle was coming her way. One day while at a stable she was caring for horse. While she was cleaning the horse it got spooked, reared back, lost its balance, and fell on Alena. After the horse landed on top of her Alena could hear the cracks as her bones broke and her muscles tore. She began to move in and out of consciousness as the fight for her life started. Alena soon began to feel as though she was being dragged through a tunnel and the more she resisted the faster the force seemed to pull her. Eventually she gave up and subjected herself to the force. When she had almost lost all hope something told her to turn around and keep fighting. Alena regained consciousness and her only concern was whether she would one day be able to walk again. Against all odds Alena pulled her body up and took two steps. Upon completing these steps she knew it would be possible for her to walk again and she passed out.

Alena went to the hospital for 21 broken bones, including another broken spine, and various organ failures. Her condition was so bad that she had to be flown to another hospital to receive treatment from more specialized doctors. In the beginning everything was painful, it hurt Alena to walk, sit, and lay down. Eventually Alena overcame her injuries and was put back together. While her body had been back together by western medicine, Alena was still in a lot of pain. While in Latvia she encountered a Shaolin monk who helped her to fight her final battle. The monk taught her the ways of Qigong which was the key in getting rid of her remaining pain.

Alena credits both western and eastern medicine for making her whole again and today she shows almost no signs of her near death experience. Alena’s story is one of incredible triumph and it was wonderful to get the chance to talk to such an amazing person.