Turning obstacles into opportunities Jennifer Kajiyama Tinkham says she overcame medical adversity by trusting in God BY HAILEY HUHANE After years of suffering from a debilitating medical disorder that causes painful muscle spasms, Jennifer Kajiyama Tinkham said her testimony of God’s love and His divine plan helped her through the darkest moments of her life. “My life is so different now. I can chew. I can smile. I can talk ... [Don’t] let the chaos and the uncertainty and the fears of the world overcome the comfort that comes only from the Savior, Jesus Christ.” Although she has had an accomplished career, Tinkham, an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Business & Government, said she recognizes the limitations and difficulties this life often presents. “Everyone goes through their own unique challenges, but God is definitely in the details of our lives.” In 2012 Tinkham was diagnosed with a debilitating medical disorder called hemifacial muscle spasm. “It started off with a flutter in my eyelid. And for most people, it will go away, but mine got progressively worse,” she said. As time progressed, so did the disorder, explained Tinkham. “It started going down my face. From my eyelids to my nose, to my cheek, to my mouth, and then kind of by my chin and then down to my neck and shoulder.” These spasms led to severe migraines, pains to the right side of her face, and muscle distortion. Hemifacial muscle spasm is a disorder of the nervous system that causes the muscles on one side of the face to twitch involuntarily. In a 2018 BYU–Hawaii devotional Tinkham said, “Movement of my face or my mouth or stressful or high-energy situations would trigger my spasms, which would not let up for several hours. “Sometimes, the spasms would continue through the night while I was sleeping. Just imagine having your eyelids rapidly open and close all day and night.” Tinkham said the condition often left her face tired and in pain and she said simple things like smiling, looking people in the eye, and even teaching were all challenges. As a teacher, 46
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Jennifer Tinkham says she is grateful to be able to smile again after recovering from hemifacial muscle spasms after surgery. Photo provided by Jennifer Tinkham
Tinkham said she was left standing every day for hours with “my face, my mouth, and my shoulder spasming.” Although Tinkham described herself as outgoing, she said, “I would wake up [every day], and I would pray to have [the] courage to teach and to look people in the eye.” Tinkham recalled one night in particular when her spasms became almost unbearable. She said, “I had been asked to give a talk in church. I was working on my talk, and I had a really bad muscle spasm attack on my face. I couldn’t sleep because it was just so painful.” The pressure of speaking the following day, paired with her inability to sleep, perpetuated the spasms. Tinkham recalled
saying, “Heavenly Father, why? I’m doing what you’re asking me to do.” The next day in Church, Tinkham prefaced her talk by explaining her condition to her fellow ward members. “Little did I know that when I shared my talk in my ward, there was a woman who had the exact same thing. She had hemifacial muscle spasms as well,” she said. Tinkham said, “She heard me talk about it in church, and then at a ward activity, she came up to me and talked to me about the surgery she had. She had gotten it a couple years before, and she was completely cured. “She told me about this doctor, and it was a surgeon I had been trying to get a hold of for a really long time. Every time I tried to make
