February 1999 Update

God is So Good!!

Cynthia, Catherine, and Robin February is our anniversary month of the accident. Catherine had planned for months to return to Tucson and revisit University Medical Center (UMC), walking and talking. We were very fortunate to have a good friend, Robin Perin, who works at UMC to help us facilitate this anniversary reunion with the staff there. She was able to reserve a room and decorate it with Valentine balloons and hearts. She provided punch and I brought homemade cookies. She had made and distributed invitations telling the staff about Catherine's anniversary visit. We didn't know what kind of a response there would be and were pleasantly surprised by the attendance of doctors, nurses, and other staff members. Click on the icon to see her beautiful invitation. Catherine had a desire to show everyone a true miracle and to thank everyone for their part in taking care of her in that early stage. A doctor told Robin that it was embarrassing to go to receive thanks for something that was truly out of their hands. He knew it was God. Dr. Valenzuela, an ER doctor who didn't personally take care of Catherine but wanted to meet her and represent the ER doctors, came bringing a gift from the ER doctors. Catherine later opened the gift and it was a gold cross. She has worn it ever since and is thrilled with it. He asked her to sign his invitation. John Duval, the CEO, came and expressed how thankful he was that we had come down and said it doesn't happen very often.

Doctor Johnson with Catherine Catherine and Neta with Doctor Johnson standing in front of her former room Dr. Johnson was the trauma surgeon who cared for Catherine many times the week she was there. She thanked him for the scar on her neck and told him that she had seen one done in Flagstaff and it was very ugly. She thinks hers looks much better and she doesn't want any plastic surgery to remove it. He said he had never been thanked for that before and pointing at Catherine, went on to say that this (her recovery) is why they do what they do. He asked Catherine to go to ICU and see the room she had occupied and say hello to the staff that couldn't get away to come meet Catherine. He wanted her to walk all the way around ICU as her victory lap. He pointed out that the patient now occupying the room she had been in a year ago was just as sick as Catherine had been and seeing her gives them hope for the others. Last year my Steve had told a nurse in ICU he would bring Catherine back in a year. When the RN came into the room where we were all visiting, she looked around, spotted Steve and said "You're her brother!" He reminded her of his promise to return with Catherine and she said she remembered him saying that.

Part of Catherine's support group. An employee at UMC exclaimed, "No wonder you got better!" Our family The nurses said it gave them hope and encouragement to see Cath's recovery. They remembered Catherine by her long pony tail that went over the end of the bed. Doctor Sanders said that he could feel the positive energy coming from the room where we were, when he walked down the corridor. He said he had read a book on Faith and healing and knew that Catherine's recovery had all to do with faith. He was the doctor we talked to from the ER when we were in Flagstaff before we drove down to Tucson on the night of the accident. He said that they love to be wrong like this in their prognosis. There were balloons decorating the room and when we packed up, Mary tied them together and said she was going to take them to ICU. The charge nurse said she wanted one balloon to go into each patient's room. When Catherine heard that, she wanted to pray every patient receiving one of the balloons would have a miraculous recovery like she has had. She and Kathleen and Aunt Debbie paused and prayed together. We were disappointed that the neurosurgeon who had been so encouraging to us the year before when he explained the extent of Catherine's injuries before we left Tucson with her, was in surgery and unable to come by and visit with us.

Cousins Robin and Amber Daulton with Catherine Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary with Catherine Joe, Cynthia and Catherine He had gone over Catherine's MRI and showed us all the damage. When Joe asked him what the medical explanation is when a patient recovers in spite of the diagnosis, he told us that there isn't a medical explanation. We told him how we were believing in spite of the horrible injury and he encouraged us to come back. When Robin went back to retrieve her displays and other things later in the afternoon, he was there and spent about an hour looking at the copies of the website and asking questions. He asked how Catherine was doing mentally and Robin told him she was writing a book. She happened to have a copy of the first chapter and was able to give it to him to read. Catherine was thrilled with her return visit, the positive response and the warm reception we all received. She said the weekend was "awesome"! While we were at the hospital, the Arizona Daily Star came and interviewed the staff and ourselves. They put an article in the Saturday issue and you can check it out by clicking the icon. I have two perspectives that were written out and given to me by our friends, Robin Perin and Kathy Robson. I would like to share with you their observations. I appreciated their reflections and know you will too. Cynthia

	Kathleen helping Catherine to the car on the way to the hospital
	Kathleen and Catherine making a poster of Catherine's goals for 1999