Day 28

She opened her right eye again but no tears or crying today. She had one episode of neuro storm at 5pm and responded well to a small dose of morphine.

PMR physician came to see Miriam today. He strongly recommended the coma stimulation program at Atlanta's Shepherd Center. He also spoke with the medical director of The Shepherd Center. They both agree that Miriam would be an excellent candidate for their coma Stim program.  Her admission and transfer to the Shepherd Center is pending BCBS AL approval.
Please pray that approval will be granted and the door will be opened for Miriam to be treated   in this specialized program . We want what the experts think is best for Miriams' recovery.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Dad/Alex

Exciting Day 26 Update

We just heard from Alex that, "the nurse saw Miriam with tears in both eyes running down her cheeks this morning. That is new."

A prayer for Miriam: Bow the Knee

These words are very meaningful to Alex, and he is encouraging us to pray these lyrics for Miriam.  Here are the lyrics as well as the link to the video:



Bow the Knee
There are moments on our journey following the Lord
Where God illumines ev’ry step we take.
There are times when circumstances make perfect sense to us,
As we try to understand each move He makes.
When the path grows dim and our questions have no answers, turn to Him.
Bow the knee;
Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.
Bow the knee;
Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.
And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan,
In the presence of the King, bow the knee.
There are days when clouds surround us, and the rain begins to fall,
The cold and lonely winds won’t cease to blow.
And there seems to be no reason for the suffering we feel;
We are tempted to believe God does not know.
When the storms arise, don’t forget we live by faith and not by sight.

Day 26

Miriam remains virtually unchanged, although she was trying to move her lips yesterday. Any small movement is an encouragement to us and we continue to trust in The Lord and in His mighty power!  Alex would really like to thank you all for your prayers and also for the many notes and cards of encouragement. This is a wonderful help as we realize that so many people all over the world are praying for Miriam.So we continue to pray for complete healing....that Miriam will wake up soon and be restored! We long to see her smile.
Isa: 26: 3-4    You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the rock eternal.

Day 24

Very little change in Miriams condition. She remains comatosed with some movement in her right eye. There is a strong possibility of her being moved to a Rehab Center perhaps as early as next week. Please pray for God's timing in all of this. If she is not ready to go, that God will stop it from happening. If she is ready, then let things go as planned.Also please pray the insurance co. will come through with ,at least, partial payment for her care as this is very, very expensive.

It is very difficult to "wait", but our faith is in the Almighty God who never changes.There is absolutely nothing that He cannot do. We choose to trust in God and wait.

Psalm 27:13-14  " I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord ; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

Day 22

Dear Warren, Howie and Family,


I want to share a gospel song that Miriam composed and I did the lyrics borrowed from Psalm. We did this together many years ago in Tennessee.

Title: Give Thanks to the Lord

Give thanks to the Lord, 
He is love, He is just,
Tell the nations what He has done.
Sing praises to the Lord,
Tell the wonderful things He did,
Be glad we belong to Him

Your mighty deeds oh Lord,
Make us wise and make us strong,
And we sing the name Lord Jesus with joy. (repeat 2nd paragraph)

I gave you the lyrics. I can sing it but we need Miriam to play this in the piano.

Dad/Alex

Day 21

Miriam is now off the ventilator and breathing on her own. We truly thank The Lord for this! She does, however , remain in a coma so we continue to pray that she will wake up. Please also continue to pray for Alex and the family....so hard to wait!

Day 19

From Alex:
Miriam is on a trach collar today as a trial with the ventilator on stand-by.I noticed left facial palsy when changing her position and Miriam keeps turning her head to the right. Pray the facial palsy goes away and that she relaxes her neck and turns her head to the left so she will not develop contracture.
PUSH---- Pray Until Something Happens! Please continue to pray for functional recovery and claim Isa 35:5-6 for Miriam.    The cerebral edema has been subsiding since Day 8 for which we are grateful.
From Jean:
When doubt arises and medical wisdom and our own assessment and evaluation seem to confirm our doubts, CHOOSE to believe the Word of God over our fears, feelings, thoughts and circumstances. Choose to praise and thank God in everything.         Phils 4:4-7  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.          

Day 18

"Today the Pulmonologist upsized her tracheostomy and started a new arterial line in her left wrist.                       She remains in a coma....waiting for God to wake her up.I saw her try to open her right eye again. They say it is a primitive reflex. I will take whatever primitive reflex that she didn't have before as a step forward."   Alex
 So,  we continue to pray for complete healing for Miriam....that our gracious Lord will restore her completely and we can see her smile again, and hear her laugh.  Thank you so much for praying....don't stop!
Ps 40:1   I waited patiently for The Lord;he turned to me and heard my cry.

Day 17

" Miriam tried to open her right eye again. Slightly more and longer. Explained to her that her tracheostomy is temporary and not to worry. Don't know whether she understood or not but best explained upfront since she is afraid of tubes. She might think it's permanent."-Alex

This is the most recent update that we have received and Praise the Lord for it!!  

Day 13

"Spiked a temp of 102 F just now. They gave her Tylenol and some new antibiotics. They put her back on 4 breaths per minute on vent. It's ok since she has been on vent for a long time and it's hard to be off the vent. She just needs a little bit more time." -Alex


There have been multiple reports of Miriam moving different parts of her body.  She has moved her right arm, her eyes, and most recently tried to open her mouth.  We praise God for each and every sign and continue to pray for more.

A beautiful gift from the neighbors

Alex and Miriam's neighbors joined together to show their love and support for the family.  They put these yellow ribbons on their mailboxes with Isaiah 35:6 written on them.  How wonderful to know that
there are so many people praying for Miriam's recovery.

A note from Alex about neurostorms...

Miriam is going through some episodes of neuro storms. I thought I would post this so people understood a little better. 

Your brain has 2 centers called the sympathetic (your “get up and go” system) and the parasympathetic (your relaxation system) systems
that keep your body at a steady level of functioning (homeostasis). When there is stress, the sympathetic system releases chemicals
that provide the body with the needed support to respond to the stress. This is called your ”fight or flight” response.
The body’s response to sympathetic release of chemicals:
Increase in heart rate (tachycardia)
Increase in blood pressure (hypertension)
Elevation of temperature (hyperthermia)
Increase in breathing rate (tachypnea)
Increase in muscle tone (dystonia)
Pupils dilate
Sweating (diaphoresis)
Slowing of bowel and bladder activity

The parasympathetic system is responsible for “calming” this response and returning you to a normal state of homeostasis.

Occasionally in individuals who suffer traumatic injury to the brain, there may be episodes when the individual appears to be having a
stress response. The heart will race, breathing becomes rapid and shallow, muscles become tight and rigid, they will sweat profusely,
their temperature shoots up, and they look very uncomfortable or “stressed.” There is not a clear explanation for these episodes, but it is
thought that the sympathetic system overreacts, leading to a stress response; there is a lack of response of the parasympathetic system
to return to a normal state of homeostasis, or a combination of the two.
These episodes can occur without warning or appear to occur spontaneously. The symptoms, as well as the duration of the episode, can
be unpredictable. That is why the nurses refer to this abnormal stress response as neuro storming or sympathetic storming. It commonly
appears as medications used to sedate and control pain are discontinued.
Treatment is aimed at controlling the symptoms, decreasing the frequency of the episodes, or stopping the episodes. The nurses will
also try to identify “triggers” or activities that cause an episode. By identifying a trigger, the nurse can pretreat the individual before the
activity or attempt to avoid the activity.

These episodes may start after your family member has been transferred to the general neurological ward. The episodes do not warrant
return to the intensive care unit (ICU). The storming episodes can generally be controlled with careful adjustment of medications and
care aimed at “calming” the storm. The medications used are aimed at slowing the sympathetic response or acting as the parasympathetic
system.

Family can help by helping to identify triggers, alerting the nursing staff when an episode occurs, and providing calming activities (massage,
relaxing music, conversation, placing cool cloths on the family member’s forehead). If any of these activities cause an episode,
they should be avoided. Identifying the right combination of medications and activities that help “tone” down the episodes takes time.
Medications and activities need to be adjusted on the basis of your family member’s response to the treatment. Generally over time the
sympathetic and parasympathetic systems return to normal or a modified state and the medications can be slowly discontinued.

Day 5

"Dear Family,

CT head scan done this morning. She has a lot of cerebral edema around the hematoma evacuation site rather than a vascular territory infarct. Her speech center appears spared on CT but remains too early to tell. There has been no rebleed. 

Miriam has brisks pupillary reflexes. She remains in critical but stable condition. I saw her move her right arm slightly. Her bp is 112/61 but it would easily spike up with stimulation. She has a mild fever of 99.2F. They will be starting her on Mannitol drip and neosynephrine standby because she is sensitive to mannitol drip (bp drops easily).

Pray for: brain edema to improve and disappear completely; preservation of her speech and restoration of her motor skills; that she will not have any rebleeding in her brain; preservation of her speech; restoration of her motor strength and motor skills; regain her consciousness/ wake up from sleep; no complications such as infection, pneumonia and blood clots; that she responds well to all medications.

It is going to be a slow recovery and only God can change things for her." -Alex

Day 1

Miriam suffers a stroke on the left side of her brain.  She is rushed to the hospital and into surgery immediately.

"Neurosurgeon evacuated the large hematoma in her left brain. She was stable throughout the surgery. The next 24-48 hrs will be very critical since we do not know how much left brain function she has left." -Alex

We are writing this blog to keep you, family and friends, informed of Miriam's progress.  We know that many of you have already been covering the entire situation with your prayers, and we are so very grateful.  We will add updates as we receive them from Alex.  Please feel free to post words of encouragement and scripture on the blog.  We hope and pray to be able to present this blog to Miriam one day very soon and that she will be able to read it for herself.  The family has been claiming Isaiah 35:6 for Miriam, and we encourage you to as well.  Our God is great and mighty, and we know that He can bring Miriam to full recovery and health.  We eagerly await His answer to our prayers in this way.