We serve a God of Miracles.  For my faith does not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.  I hope that you all have been blessed and that your faith has been strengthened by the miracle that is my mom, Betty.  A month ago my mom was in a terrible car accident.  She was making a left turn on a green arrow and a young, reckless driver, ran a red light.  The impact of the crash sent my mom spinning down the road until her car finally came to  stop several yards down the street.  The damage to her car was so extensive it took EMS about 40 minutes to get her out.  Several things happen after the crash that sent all of us on an emotional roller coaster not knowing if she was going to be alright, or even survive.  The original prognosis was 18 broken bones that required 6 hours of surgery, but a clean CT scan for which we were grateful, because we knew broken bones would heal but brain damage is permanent.  Then when almost a week passed and mom still wasn't waking up, the ICU doctors became concerned.  More scans were ordered.  The second CT scan was still clean.  The first MRI was not very clear, so not conclusive about over all damage,  but they did ruled out axonal sheering (permanent brain damage).  The second MRI of the brain, using a different resolution, was much clearer and they found several cerebral fatty embolisms scattered all over her brain.  The result indicated that there were tons of tiny strokes in multiple regions of her brain.  When the team of doctors came in to tell me the news I was standing in the room with mom and two of my uncles (I think).  The neurologist told us that the MRI showed multiple tiny stroke lesions all over her brain and that the damage was extensive and irreversible, and that there was nothing they could do.  We then met with the palliative care team who helped us understand mom's living will.  As they explained it, the bottom line was that she didn't want to live in her current state, but that she did want to be comfortable.

Our family requested a meeting with the trauma team to better understand the results and were ultimately told that the best we could hope for was that mom would be able to open her eyes and track us with her eyes.  Wow!  Gut blow!  Okay God it is all up to you now!  Another lesson in surrender.  I remember going to bed that night and laying my mom down at the feet of Jesus and saying 'your will God not mine'.

We knew we didn't have to 'pull the plug' any time soon so we focused on ways we could keep her comfortable, and as a family we decided to remove the tube from her mouth.  We knew she didn't like it, and that it was clearly irritating to her because she kept coughing and choking.  The miracles really started to kick into high gear when the surgeons took out the breathing tube and put in a tracheotomy.  Not only did she start to opening her eyes on command, she could answer yes and no questions and even started to mouth words like 'I love you'.  Hallelujah!  

The trach was put in three weeks ago now and every day there seems to be a new miracle.  She moved to a rehabilitation center on May 10th and she is well on her way to a full recovery.  She is moving all of her limbs and she is able to talk and communicate fully.  Just in the past week she had the tracheotomy removed, started eating real food and had her feeding tube removed.  One of the most recent answers to prayer happen yesterday when the follow up appointments with the orthopedic surgeons told her she can start putting weight on her legs and feet.  My brother Mike has been doing some tremendous work with mom during physical therapy in making her upper body stronger and they both have been anxiously awaiting permission for her to start standing, moving in and out of the wheelchair, and hopefully walking very soon.  

Thank you all so much for all of your continued prayers.  When I talked to my mom yesterday she was expressing some grief and told me that 'it is all just so overwhelming'.  So if you would please continue to pray for peace and acceptance.  Pray for her sleep, and that she will overcome the anxiety caused by this terribly traumatic experience.

Here are a couple pictures of her journey.