My daughter Kelly has lived with trials and pain. But is now well on the journey of healing and restoration. In high school she was diagnosed with dystonia. It runs in the family in various degrees, from simple writers cramp and eye blinking to severe uncontrollable muscular spasms. Initially she had some light movements and the writers cramp and it stayed that way until after turning 24. Then it kicked in and began to progress rapidly and in July of 2011 she was forced to quit her job as she became unable to manage safely. A minor car accident opened our eyes and hers and she decided it was unsafe for her to drive.
Her condition got so bad that her doctor and surgeon rushed the schedule to get her in for Deep Brain Stimulation surgeries. On September 15 she had the first of two surgeries. This one to implant the electrodes into her brain, and a week later they placed the two pacemakers that would control the implants.
One month later after some struggles that included a 12 hour stay in the ER at KU Med Center. This happened when her pain meds were transitioning from post surgery to maintenance and it caused some strong reactions. This is the video from the ER. It is hard for us to watch but an important part of the story.
With her medication and pain in control, she went in for initial programming. They turned them on and made some adjustments. Improvement is a slow patient process of making slight changes monthly and she has shown improvements almost every visit. Today she goes back in for check ups and has slight programming and medication adjustments but is living a wonderful life and is an inspiration to everyone who hears her story.
Most of us know the amazing turn of events from how a job change for me (Dad) a couple of months before surgery, we were able to add her to our new insurance that did a wonderful job of covering her medical expenses and made all of this possible with minimal out of pocket expenses. There were many more than seemed to some as coincidence but honestly were a great demonstrations of faith and putting things in God's hands.
Kelly is a remarkable young lady and is so faithful and thankful. She is surrounded with love and returns that love many times over by her inspiring spirit. Thank You Lord, for all of the blessings that our family has received. Remarkable!
This is an abbreviated version of her story but here is a video we produced one year after surgery.....
God Is Good ! #IChooseHope
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