Miracles

Let me tell you about miracles. If you don’t believe in them then let me try and convince you how real they are. I saw a picture today of the car that my sister and her friends crashed in and I can assure you, Samantha being alive is a miracle. The depth that the roof caved in would have decapitated almost anyone, and Samantha is here without a slight hint of brain damage. A 30 year neurosurgeon told us that Samantha’s spinal cord was certainly severed because of the massive trauma from the crash, and the MRI showed that NONE of the cord was severed though it still suffered some trauma.  I saw Samantha, a girl that only days before was told she would be virtually a quadrapalegic, reach out to her dad as he came to see her today. All of this I have seen in only a few days time. Today, to top it off, I saw Samantha sit up for almost 15 min and smile the most beautiful smile I have ever seen cross her face. If you don’t believe in miracles I assure you that one visit to Samantha’s angel filled room will erase all doubt from your mind. There are angels here. I know it for a certainty.

It has been a wonderful day. I had the opportunity to stay with Samantha last night and spend time with her. No time during my stay did I not feel at peace or not at ease. She breathed easily, she drank all of the nasty protein drinks I gave her, and she talked to me easily. She scared me for a second when she squeaked, but told me she just had a bad dream and couldn’t even remember it. At around 3 in the morning she kept trying to tell me something and I couldn’t understand. I took her mask of for a second and she said, “Please scratch my eyebrow. It itches so much.” I ended up scratching it a couple more times today. It brings a smile to my face thinking about it.

We had sacrament today with an older couple who are members of the LDS church that work in the hospital to bring people the sacrament. It was so spiritual. Perhaps the most spiritual sacrament meeting I have ever been in. Last night Samantha had me read to her from the Book of Mormon, and after 1 chapter I thought she would want me to stop. She told me to keep reading. After the second, she told me to keep reading even though she might fall asleep. I did so, and she struggled to stay awake to hear it all. She fell asleep 4 verses from the end.

I thank my Heavenly Father that she is such an amazing young woman and that she doesn’t blame God for anything. She has so much faith, and courage, and loyalty to her Father in Heaven it just blows me away. Bitterness seems to creep in to so many circumstances like these, but Samantha doesn’t have a bitter bone in her body. She is the perfect example, and she teaches everyone around her what true bravery really is.

UPDATE:

She has been eating better today and actually finished half of a grilled cheese, and she has two boosts down already. She has been very talkative and funny, like always J

Samantha was sitting in the front right of the car. If you can't tell, her spot was almost completely smashed in.

This was Sam during her physical therapy session.

She's Got the Feelin!

If you’ve read Samantha’s story then you can imagine the roller coaster ride that everyone has been through in the past few days. My name is Jordan, and I am her older (and only) brother. I had the opportunity to be at the hospital the moment Samantha was brought in by life flight, and Cindy (my wife) and I walked with her into the hospital and talked with her the whole way. It was the hardest day of my life, as well as for my family. There were a lot of fears for our Samantha, and all we could do was pray for everything to work out okay.

Thankfully, things have been going well considering the situation she’s in. She is the fighter of the family, and I don’t know of anyone stronger than her. She keeps improving daily and in some way lifts all of us when she is the one who is down. Every day she makes me, and everyone that visits, laugh about something. I keep hoping to bump into a “Tim” at the hospital who apparently Samantha thinks is hot stuff. She is an amazing young woman.

So to give an update about what is going down:

Samantha had a little trouble breathing last night and had a bipap (oxygen mask) placed over her mouth. She can breath on her own, this just opens her lungs a little bit more for her so she can relax about trying to breath deeply all of the time and get more oxygen in her. Her swelling has been going down and her black eye (aka LSU eye) looks much better.

She made my day again today when she did her exercises. I was out of the room talking to Grandma Guillory and when I got back Cindy told me she had done some exercises with her arms and that she was doing really well. The part that made me most excited was that when they were checking for feeling she has some in her feet and toes. These little steps give us so much hope. We know that she has a lot of work ahead of her, but according to her schedule she’s gonna do everything she wants as quickly as she wants to do it. She is awesome. Period.

Sam gave me permission to post this pic because she looks like bane with her mask on:

We love Samantha!