Teresa’s Story

Site created on November 7, 2021


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Teresa was on a trip with a friend, doing a photo shoot in eastern Utah the last week of October.  Towards the end of the trip, on October 28th, Teresa became gravely ill and had to be taken 75 miles by ambulance to St. Mary's hospital in Grand Junction CO.  In the emergency room, Teresa tested positive for Covid and the next day had to be put on a ventilator.  With everything happening so fast and her being 1,000 miles from home, my mom and other sister, Deb, only got to talk to her for about 5 minutes over Facetime right before she was intubated.  She was incredibly scared, but her strength and bravery was undeniable as she waived, smiled and told us how much she loved us. Teresa has always been a fighter...      


The first two days after Teresa went on the ventilator were incredibly tense for as communication with her care team was very limited, and of course, we no longer had the ability to communicate with her directly.  All we knew was that she was in extremely critical condition in the Covid intensive care unit with no access to visitors.  On Monday, November 1st, we decided the only way to get more information and be more involved with her care was to make the 15+ hour trek to Grand Junction.  


We got to the hospital on Tuesday and finally had the opportunity to talk to her doctors face-to-face.  At that point in time, the doctors were not very optimistic and the outlook for Teresa seemed grim.  But again, Teresa has always been a fighter.  

Newest Update

Journal entry by Deb Linsley

Not much else I can say, Teresa said it all in her post today that I am going to share with you all. She did have a good day today and is working hard to gain her strength back. 
 
I want to thank everyone who has been lifting me and my family up in prayer since that harrowing  October 28 ambulance ride. I can honestly say that in those moments when your heart and brain start stealing the oxygen from the rest of your organs, it is very serene. I was not afraid of where I would go. I feel the most pain for my family as they waited 12 days without any assurance we would see one another this side of heaven again. God is so amazing. I have no damage to my organs from the lack of oxygen. 
I am on the rehabilitation floor as of Tuesday. It’s 3 to 3.5 hours per day to simply get me ready to travel back to Iowa….no, not Idaho lol. 
I must say God has been gracious to me. 17 years ago the Monday after Thanksgiving, I started treatment for a cancer that had a 10 year survival term and was only seen 1 in 3 million cases. God has seen to set the cancer in remission and bring me back from the ventilator after a very bleak prognosis. 
The verse and spiritual healing I can pass along from this is, here I am Lord. My case will not be brought on the discussion table until next Tuesday.

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