Iowa teacher ‘went into mom mode’ for student diagnosed with leukemia in Japan

CEDAR RAPIDS - When Glenna Houtz went to Japan this past summer for a three-week study abroad program, she expected it to be the trip of a lifetime.

It was, only not in the way the Washington High School student anticipated.

Shortly after arriving in Japan in June, what Glenna thought was merely nerves from the trip turned into illness and a visit to an Okinawa hospital, where it was confirmed she had pneumonia.

But that was just the beginning. After a blood test, Houtz, who was more than 7,000 miles from her home and family in Cedar Rapids, also was diagnosed with leukemia.

'It was really surreal,” Glenna recalled.

But as difficult as that moment was, the 17-year-old said she couldn't have gotten through it without the help she received from her Japanese teacher Julie Cain.

It was Cain who took Glenna to the hospital, stayed with her until her parents flew in from Cedar Rapids and remained to help as a translator between Glenna and her parents and their doctors.

Glenna's mother, Mary Noland Houtz, said the ordeal is one of the most difficult things her daughter and the whole family has gone through, and she praised Cain for her efforts.

'I can't imagine having done any of that without Julie's help,” she said.

Cain, who has been teaching at Washington High for nearly 20 years and has taken students to Japan 10 times, said she stayed at the hospital with Glenna while Jefferson High School's Rachel Henderson carried on with the rest of the students on the trip.

For Cain, instinct took over and she 'went into mom mode.”

'Suddenly (Glenna) didn't have her mom there, and she was terrified and really sick,” Cain recalled. 'I think I learned a lot more about how strong I actually am. When something like that happens you just kind of take a deep breath and figure it out.

'My biggest goal was to never let her see me cry. It was really tough.”

Cain also credited Washington's sister school, Okinawa's Koyo Senior High School, and teacher Kayo Miyagi for their help during Glenna's illness.

'They were the most supportive, caring, kind, compassionate people. I think Okinawans are a lot like Iowans,” Cain said. 'I think what they did for us while we were over there, it just really shows how strong that bond is.”

Students from Koyo High are to visiting Washington High later this month.

After eight days in an Okinawan hospital, Glenna and her parents flew to Tokyo and then embarked on the 17-hour flight back to Chicago. From there, they got a ride from a friend straight to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where Glenna spent 12 days and began chemotherapy.

Her leukemia is in remission, but she will continue with treatments until November 2018.

Glenna said she is determined to enjoy her senior year. She takes some online courses but makes a point to attend class at least a few days a week.

'I am going to graduate,” she said.

She isn't ready to share which college she hopes to attend, but said she wants to study art history.

As her daughter looks toward her future, Noland Houtz said she looks back at the past several months and can't thank enough all those who helped - and continue to help - her daughter, both here and in Japan.

'I hate to use that cliché, it takes a village, but that's the village,” she said.

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