After fighting with the hospital to keep her, when they wanted to put her out, she remained at the hospital for eight weeks. We were then able to get her into a nursing home, on the therapy floor, where she got great therapy-then, after 7 weeks, she was so advanced, they suggested a rehab center-where she remained for 4 weeks. The nursing care there was so bad, I begged them to let me bring her home.

When we did bring her home, Debbie was completely continent, fed herself, took steps and crawled all over the floor, crawled up onto and off the couch, brushed her teeth, and her memory was coming back nicely. However, at exactly 1 year following her arrest, they dropped all therapy and she began to go backwards so badly that she didn't even know who we were, lost her entire memory, went incontinent again,and just plain lost everything we had worked so frantically to achieve. Her case worker at the time had no idea what was involved with Brain Injury and she refused to allow Debbie to have therapy. It took me 3 years of begging for therapy for her, and once a new case worker was put on Debbie's case, she began receiving the therapy she had been denied for 3 long years. We are not back to the point we were when she was denied therapy - but we are getting there.

No one ever suggested any help or services regarding brain injury to me in all that time-I had NO idea what was ahead for us. If I had left Debbie to their care only - she would not be with us today! Prior to her cardiac arrest, I knew nothing about the brain. However, I do know now that with good therapy, and continuing therapy, a brain injury survivor can and will recover!

We are now pleased with the services we are getting, although I KNOW physical therapy once a week isn't helping much, but Medicare won't listen and understand my proof to them that if we had more weekly visits, Debbie would improve more quickly. There are some things about a child that only a mother knows!

I have proven to the very system that would like to forget about Debbie, that a brain injured survivor can and will recover. It just takes much, much longer for the therapy to connect in their injured brain, than it does for a person healing from a broken leg. However, we would never think of starving a person to death who needs therapy to heal a broken leg! I am a person who knew absolutely nothing about brain injury 5 years ago, yet I have proved to the medical field,the system and the politicians, that by ignoring the physical therapy needs of a survivor, they are guilty of throwing away a productive human being! I give the credit to God, BUT nobody should ever try to tell a mother that they know better than she does what her child needs - I don't care if it's a doctor or who it is!

Love, Hope, Faith, and therapy are the clue to recovery-Debbie has gotten the love all along-it's the therapy which we have had so much trouble getting and keeping for her.I can only hope Debbie has been used as an example for the system to realize the importance of therapy. I still say Debbie will recover, and I believe Terri Schindler-Schiavo should have the chance too as well!

Treat her - Don't Kill her!

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