I thought I would take a moment to share some awesome healing miracle news with all of you.
God continues to heal our family in so many ways.
Michael with Mr. Pounds our amazing Physical Therapist when he was discharged.
Michael, age 4, was discharged from physical therapy at the end of October!
Josh with our amazing Physical Therapist, Mr. Pounds, when he was discharged.
Josh, age 9, was discharged from physical therapy right after Thanksgiving!
A couple of weeks ago at my primary care physician appointment my amazing nurse practitioner, who was Will’s PCP and friend for over 10 years, sat me down to talk about the results of my x-rays that were taken at the end of December. She told me that there are two issues still remaining in my spine in my back. I have two compression fracture issues…one between T10 and T11 and one higher up between 5 and 6.
It may sounds strange, but hearing this helped me feel better. I finally had an understanding and explanation for the serious pain issues I struggle with in my upper back. I have an appointment with a orthopedic/cervical/spinal specialist this Friday. So your prayers would be welcome. He is going to go over x-rays for all twelve of the fractures that occurred in the accident on July 15. I had seven fractured ribs, two spinal fractures, and three cervical fractures. All were treated but all were considered stable so I did not have to have any surgeries.
It is the x-rays of my cervical spine where the the three fractures were that my PCP wanted to focus on when I was there.
She reminded me of the concerns that the hospital trauma team was concerned about with my cervical spine fractures back in July. I was kept in a cervical, hard plastic brace that went from my head down over my shoulders for FOUR DAYS. They took lots of x-rays, a number of different kinds of scans and still struggled to accept that I was going to be OK. You see…all three of the fractures in the vertebra in my neck were in the one small area of the vertebra that won’t affect or damage the spinal cord or the vascular artery. ALL THREE were stable.
I didn’t understand the problem. I could move my legs, feet and toes. I could move my arms, hands and fingers. In my way of looking at things, that meant I as fine. It wasn’t until day three that someone explained to me that if they removed it and the cervical/neck fractures were not in just the right place and stable, they could still sever my spinal cord or vascular artery if I moved wrong when I turned my head. WOW! That explained all of my worried family members who kept asking me so many questions.
Every time my Dad came to see me he would touch my foot and ask me if I could feel it. Then he would gently grab my toes and ask me if I could feel that. I didn’t understand the concern. You see God had had a powerful encounter with me while I was pinned in the car while we waited for the emergency workers to get me out. I was in and out of consciousness for several hours and especially while I was trapped in the car.
What was so strange, was that I had the most incredible calm come over me after I said good bye to my husband.
I don’t remember talking to anyone but God during that time.
And I don’t remember anyone but God talking to me.
I don’t remember the accident itself…but I remember that time of talking with God.
But what you need to know is that I remember believing and understanding with everything in me that I was going to be OK. I knew with total faith and confidence that God had rescued my husband by taking him to heaven because of how badly he was hurt. But I also knew with that same confidence and faith that He had rescued me for a purpose and part of that purpose was so that I could take care of our children.
At that moment, I only knew for sure that Josh had survived. I thanked Him for that and asked Him to help me to deal with the loss of Michael if he had gone home to heaven too. And I thanked Him for rescuing him too in whatever way He had done that.
But I told God that in order for me to be able to take care of our family I needed to be able to walk and use my body. I wiggled my fingers and toes and moved my right hand and my feet and as far as I was concerned, I was going to be OK. It is hard to explain. But God helped me to know that He had rescued me and had His hand on me for His reasons I was really going to be OK for His glory and purpose and I would never forget that.
I shared this with the medical people but most of them had a hard time wrapping their minds around the fact that God had performed a miracle like that. I was told that there was no explanation for why I wasn’t paralyzed. There was no explanation for why I didn’t have any brain damage from the severe head trauma that I experienced, other than memory loss of a few hours.
Time after time, day after day I reminded them that there was an explanation. It was simple. God had a purpose in rescuing me. Most never accepted that. I will share more stories about the opportunities that God gave me to share my testimony about God having His hand on me in the accident while I was in the hospital, in the rehab hospital, and since I was discharged from the rehab hospital, only using a walker for long walks in future articles.
Well there is one special lady…our nurse practitioner who understood. She got it.
And there she was on January 4th ready to discuss her findings regarding my cervical/neck x-rays.
She told me that she had looked over the results that the doctor who had read the x-rays at the imaging center had sent her. He wasn’t familiar with my case as they were taken at a different facility than the hospital I was life flighted to on July 15th. After looking over the results she had to go back and look at the images herself. Then she said that after seeing them…she had to go back and read my file from the results the week of July 15, 2012.
She told me that the x-rays taken in December 2012 showed NO TRACE OF EVIDENCE that there had been three fractures in my cervical spine. NO EVIDENCE. She explained that there should have at least been a note that there was evidence of old fractures that had healed. She told me that you should be able to see something there, no matter what. There should be SOME EVIDENCE. There is NONE.
And unlike the medical team in St. Louis…she had an explanation.
She said the only explanation is that God did a miracle. God had His hand on me and the evidence is real!
The muscles are still stiff in my neck but I can turn my head both directions with almost total range of motion.
I was discharged one week ago tomorrow from physical therapy with a list of physical therapy home exercises to continue strengthening my back and core so that I will eventually not have the pain that I do now. But my neck is doing soooo much better than they ever expected.
I started driving again at the end of October.
I am driving with no problems.
I am walking with no problems and no walker.
I still have limitations on how much I can lift because of the back/spinal injuries. But those injuries are considered moderate and surgery has not been recommended.
I still struggle with managing the major pain in my upper back, especially when I try to bend over too far too pick things up off of the floor or stand too long doing dishes or move around very much. But I am doing so much better than anyone ever expected.
So today I share with you my testimony of how God is healing our boys and how He is healing me!
The evidence is there. I can’t wait to share my story with the specialists on Friday. Their nurse has already talked with me a few times and each time was blown away that I was able to walk, drive and take care of my family.
Me ringing in the New Year 2013 with our boys at their midnight (10:00pm).
God is awesome! He has a purpose in my remaining here on earth and not taking me home to heaven just yet. Every day I pray that He continues to guide and lead me in living that purpose…and continuing to discover the extent of His purpose. But I continue not to worry about it.
This journey has been and continues to be filled with healing through the emotional roller coaster of grieving, dealing with struggles with the insurance company from the accident continually, learning to live on a more modest budget than before the accident, and learning to raise and continue to homeschool our boys while adjusting to life without Will at my side. It isn’t easy. I miss him SO much! But I know I am not alone. He is with me. He promised me that He would never leave me and would walk with me and carry me through this journey. I pray every day that His light shines through the daily ins and outs of the weakest months of my life…for it is when we are at our weakest that HE is strong! All Glory to God!
I will share more of the miracles God blessed us with at the time of the accident and during the days, weeks and months following over the next few months. And my prayer is that through my story…my experience…you will see how much God loves each one of us…loves YOU and has a purpose for your life too!!!
Be sure to come back on Friday for “Blessing Journal Fridays” in which I share a story of how God has helped me to heal through focusing on blessing and how the Blessing Journals came from that experience.
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Dancing at the foot of the Cross,
Mary Joy
