Her relationship with the Lubavitcher Rebbe was quite amazing. She always called the Rebbe her ‘best friend.’ She spoke with the Rebbe face to face whenever she had the opportunity and received all sorts of special answers and blessings. The Rebbe advised us that she should indeed have the surgery and gave Devorah Leah a blessing for a ‘long, sweet and healthy life.’
At that point in time I was working at Camp Heller in the Catskills area, and so I told Devo that she should hang out with us at camp, have a good summer, and have the surgery after the summer. Of course, my intentions were to keep pushing it off as long as possible, hoping that Moshiach would come beforehand! (I usually have the same tefillah when I have to make a dentist appointment.) But Devo insisted on writing to the Rebbe again, who advised us, of course, to have it as soon as possible.
The first open date for such a procedure fell on the week of the 9th of Av. I was certain that I had ‘beaten’ the Rebbe and that we’d have to take the next available date, which was basically the end of the summer. I breathed a sigh of relief, but was surprised once again, as the Rebbe gave her a blessing and said we should take that first possible date.
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Thank G-d the surgery was a success, and a mere four days later she was with us back at camp, her head wrapped in bandages. A few weeks later we were canoeing down the Delaware River. Around this time we began getting information about the kitogenic diet – a highly specialized regimen that was discovered by accident and which diminishes seizure activity in the brain. Basically, it fools the body into thinking it’s fasting.
The diet is extremely difficult to keep and the neurologist advised to pass on it. He told us that nearly all adults who try it don’t have the discipline to keep it up. Every single food item needs to be weighed out on an electronic scale, to the gram. Furthermore, there are very few food items one can eat on this diet. And yet, at a mere 16 years old, Devo began this diet and kept at it for more than two and a half years. To everyone’s amazement and joy, she became seizure-free.
It was like a new lease on life for her. To suddenly go from a state of utter lethargy and depression to feeling, well, normal, was like being reborn. She quickly made up for lost time and soon became very independent, getting her own apartment and car, and going to work as a teacher. She was grateful to Hashem for this new opportunity and she never took anything for granted. To her, the every day was miraculous, and everything about it – the sun shining, the birds chirping, the wind blowing – was all special.
But what Devo most appreciated and cherished was people. Size, shape, color – none of that mattered. She loved everyone and she spent the next nine years of her life in this world actively helping others, simply trying her best to make others happy. She made an effort to attend as many simchas as possible, never jealous, just truly happy for another’s joyous event. Her friends said she was the life of the party.
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