Unbreakable Father and Daughter Bond Strengthens Through Adversity

Sarah-Marie Henson has always been a daddy’s girl.

“Dad has always been supportive. He is my biggest champion and encouraged me to dream my dreams,” Sarah-Marie said. “And then life fell apart in the blink of an eye.”

The second of eight children, Sarah-Marie grew up in a large log home on 40 acres in the southern United States. Evenings were spent with her mom reading to her and her siblings, crocheting, coloring, and gathering near the fireplace. Her tight-knit family made Sarah-Marie look forward to becoming a wife and mother herself.

When she was 12, Sarah-Marie’s asthma started causing problems and her symptoms  worsened by high school. Additionally, she experienced abdominal pain and was diagnosed with severe endometriosis, which led to a hysterectomy.

“I remember wheeling into surgery and Dad leaning down and whispering, ‘No matter what happens, I will always be here.’”

She recovered, and life went on. Her asthma was manageable, and she started a career in property management. Then she got a phone call from her dad, Jim.

Through their church pastor, Jim Henson heard about an opportunity to teach English at a sister church in Japan. Jim thought Sarah-Marie was perfect for the role. “She had time to make money and build a career. This was one of those super neat opportunities you need to value,” Jim said.

As a respected acute care RN at a top medical facility, Jim was well-versed in Sarah-Marie’s asthma diagnosis and care. She and Jim talked with her doctors and determined she could make the move to Japan while her care was managed stateside.  

What no one could have predicted was that once Sarah-Marie arrived in Japan, the rice paddies growing all around her would make her ill. “Within two months, I was sick and just coughing all the time,” Sarah-Marie said.

And yet, with the help of medication, she persisted. However, after two years, it became evident that her asthma was worsening. She needed to come home.

And in the blink of an eye — life changed.

After returning stateside, Sarah-Marie found herself in the ICU 15 times, twice on a ventilator. Severe anaphylactic asthma was threatening Sarah-Marie’s life. She needed constant medical observation and care. Now, the person who’d always been by Sarah-Marie’s side altered his entire life to become her full-time caregiver.

Not only did Jim retire early to care for Sarah-Marie, he and his wife made the decision to sell the family home and move to an environment that would be healthier for their daughter.

“We were living in a place with high pollen and high pollution,” Jim said. So they sold their home and moved further south, just 13 miles from the ocean.

While the salt air has been helpful for Sarah-Marie, she and her dad are still very mindful of the triggers that can cause anaphylactic events — everything from gas fumes to cigarette smoke to bleach.

“Dad lives with his head on a swivel,” said Sarah-Marie.

“My objective as a clinician and as a dad is two-fold,” Jim explained. “One, keep her out of the emergency room, and two, keep her out of the hospital.”

With the change in environment, the hospital visits have thankfully decreased. Through it all, one of the constants for the family has been CaringBridge.

“The first time I ever heard of CaringBridge was back in middle school,” said Sarah-Marie. “I had a friend with cystic fibrosis and was going through a lung transplant, so I would help her and her family update [her page].”

The Henson family first used CaringBridge when Sarah-Marie had her hysterectomy—and then picked it back up again after her asthma worsened.

“CaringBridge became a way for us to give the medical details that are needed and get that prayer support,” Sarah-Marie said. “The comment section is so precious to me. I love being able to go back and read that. If I get discouraged or overwhelmed, I go straight to the comments, because of the sweet messages from people reminding me they’re there.”

Sarah-Marie’s CaringBridge page has gone global, with her Japanese and Thai friends using it to follow her journey.

“It’s the story of my life, which is chronic pain concurrent with chronic joy,” explained Sarah-Marie. “They’re not separate. And CaringBridge has been a way for us to share our story, and to be reminded of that joy.”

And while life might look a little different than she imagined when she was a child, there is one dream that came true.

In 2015, Sarah-Marie adopted her child and became a mother. She named her daughter Nozomi-Dawn, a name of Japanese origin that means “the beginning of hope in Jesus Christ.”

Hope and joy weave into the Henson family life even in the most difficult times. For Sarah-Marie, that’s what matters most.

“The other night I wasn’t feeling well,” Sarah-Marie said. “After dinner, we sat in the living room doing some coloring, and I just looked up and went, this is what makes life. We’re just all right here. We’re safe. We’re together.”