Before my accident on August 20, 1995, i was a very successful, self assured and some what witty woman. I owned 2 business and ran a third as a business agent. I played golf quite well, matter of fact played in the Missouri State Amateur every year and in 1995, was in the top ten players in the State in my age group. On 8/19/95 matter of fact, I was playing a tournament in scorching 100+ degrees. My round was cut short because 2 ladies, one in my 4-some and one in front of me suffered from heat exhaustion, and me being in the medical field years ago, administered care and stayed with them until the 911 team got there.

August 20, 1995 at 4:37 p.m. my life changed forever. We were on our way to our daughters home, to spend time with her family and their new little baby, Haley who was 5 months old. A car, speeding, ran a stop sign and hit me head on, on the drivers side, spun my car around and hit me again on the side of the drivers side. My husband was in the passenger seat and did not have a scratch. I don't remember much, only what people tell me, but I remember being in a fog. I remember a lot of pain, and the horrible experience of emergency persons trying to get me out of the car. I was told that I was thrown forward violently and then back, into the door jam, which I guess is where the BI came from. I suffered 2 cracked vetrebrae in my neck, broken left shoulder, broken left knee, torn ligaments and a severed ulner nerve in my left arm. I have had 5 surgeries and still face several more. To make matters worse I am a juvenile diabetic and have Lupus. Because of the stress from the wreck and what my life has turned into since the wreck, my Lupus has advanced to what is called end-stages. That means it has crossed all barriers, joints, muscle, bloodstream, and is now attacking the organs. It has destroyed my left kidney and is causing the lining of my heart to crystalize. I have always been able to accept the hand God gave me, until now. I have no short term memory, terrible cognitive skills, sparse executive skills, and lack any concentration level, and the emotional roller coaster is doing me in. While this is being ligated, I set on the verge of financial diaster. We have been fighting with SSDI to no avail. My family doesn't know what to expect from me anymore. One minute I'm "fine" and the next minute I'm an emotional wreck. While my sleep patterns have been severly affected since this accident, the past 6-8 weeks I have slept little if any. The first night I was able to get into the TBICHAT room was a night I had been up for over 40 hours straight, and you know what happened that night!! Since, the doctors have given me every drug under the sun, nothing helps. I go 25-60 hours without sleep, and the "pass out" for 2-4 hours and the cycle starts all over. This sleep deprivation is doing me in. My body is not responding, and is trying to shut down, permanently from what my Doctors are saying. While I realize I will never have my old life back, I do look forward to a form of new life, called tbichat!! I truly believe the only reason I am still on this earth is because of you and the friends I have made in tbichat. While prayers are essential for me these days, I feel TBICHAT has helped tremendously.