Coming Back to Life

I will be sharing my story at the Neuro Finness Foundation Golf Tournament , Monday, April 25th. Please come if you can, but if you can't here's what I will be sharing. -Daniel I’ve been coming to the NFF a little over a year. I would not be alive today if it were not for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let me tell you a little about my accident, and what the NFF has meant to me. At 5:15 a.m. on January 17, 2008, as a result from a drug overdose from taking Xanax, Ambien, and Methodone, my mom found me unconscious in my bed, covered in vomit, barely breathing. I was totally unresponsive and barely alive. The paramedics who answered the 911 call had to work on me for 45 minutes to bring me back to life. I was rushed to Harris Methodist HEB Hospital. My doctors didn’t think I would live through the first shift. But I did. They didn’t think I would live through the first day, or the first weekend, or the first week. But I did. I was on a ventilator; I had aspiration pneumonia, b...

As of this week, I have basically stopped using the walker!!! The only time I'm using it is at the gym, and hope to stop taking it there soon. Now I can walk all over my house by myself. Yesterday, I went to CVS to pick up my prescription, walked all over Home Depot, all over the grocery store, and finally went out to eat with my family at On The Border. Obviously, this is thanks to more healing from Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior! I've also been slowly reducing a muscle relaxer I have been taking for two and half years. My doctor thinks my body may not need the amount I have been taking since I'm healthy now. Those two factors combined have let me break out of my “cage” as my mom and sister called it. Thanks for all the continued prayers and support. I very much appreciate it!

Hello all my loyal blog followers . . . I did not know there were so many of you out there, so I'll be updating this more often. Since my last update, I graduated PT and Speech at HEB. I still go there for Occupational Therapy where I work on my fine motor skills, handwriting, and other things that have to do with my hands. I am still going to Goddard Sports Therapy in Coppell where I still get ASTYM treatment, work on core strengthening, flexibility, and walking without the walker. I've started going to a gym where I work out three days a week. It's called the Neuro Fitness Foundation. It's a gym for people with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or people that have had a stroke. The equipment is set up to accommodate people in a wheelchair or you can just use it normally. The gym also has staff on hand to help you if you need assistance. So like for me, I need help getting from one weight machine to the other, and adjusting the weights. I recently got...

After many weeks of trying to tweak my medication, my doctor and I came to the conclusion to just go back to what I was on before all this happened. I'm doing much better now - I have stopped falling. Every once in a while though, I'll still have some anxiety and take a tumble, but for the most part I'm back to where I was before all this happened. Thanks to everyone out there for your thoughts and prayers. It seems like every day now I can do something new that hadn't been able to do before. I am now able to write the whole alphabet from A to Z, I have started shaving with an electric shaver (I never would have had the control to handle that even two months ago), and finally sitting down at the piano and trying to push each key down with each individual finger. My doctor says even if I can't push a certain finger down that that is due to weakness, and just the act of trying to push the key down is strengthening my fingers. I will keep you all up to date on any new ...

It has been a frustrating start to the new year. I've been going through some medicine changes, and it has been causing me to be very shaky and fall a lot. In the past couple of weeks I've probably fallen over 20 times. I even fell in the bathroom and knocked a hole in the wall. To look on the bright side, thanks to the imprint of my backside in the wall we get to redo the whole bathroom. Even as I sit here at the computer, it is very hard to even control the mouse. Sometimes it just goes flying in the air. Please pray for me. I just want to feel better!

Today, I spoke to the kids at Winfree Academy in Grapevine. It was a very fulfilling experience. It was the first time, outside of rehab, that I've gotten to share my story with people other than online. I was very nervous, and wasn't sure how the kids would receive me. But I had nothing to worry about because they were very gracious, and listened intently to what I had to say. I believe God spoke through me, and used my story to touch some people. I want to thank my aunt Susie for inviting me out there to speak. And thank all the kids for being so kind, and listening to what I had to say. Winfree Academy Pictures

I just got home from therapy about an hour ago. As you probably can guess, I cannot drive YET. So therefore, I use Red Cross' public transportation to get to and from therapy. Today they picked me up from therapy, but instead of going straight home they had one more person to pick up. So we pulled into a doctor's office, and the driver went to go get the other patient that would be riding with us. As the driver came out with with this young lady in a motorized wheelchair my heart just broke. As she came up the wheelchair lift, and the driver helped her back up into the bus I could see she had some of the same issues I once had. She could hardly hold her head up, one of her wrists was contracted like mine was, and her speech was barely intelligible. I should have ended up in that position if you go by what all doctors say about my injury. BUT I'M NOT! And it's only for one reason. And that is Jesus Christ healed me from head to toe! I just wanted to share that with all...

Monday, August 17th, was my last day at Pate Rehabilitation. I would like to thank all my therapists and techs who helped me along the way. It has been a long journey. I was there for almost a year, and they have helped me so much! So again, many thanks. The next step in my journey will be outpatient therapy two days a week at Harris Methodist HEB Hospital at their physical medicine and rehabilitation program.

This past Friday I was given the chance to share my story with a group of people from my rehab facility. It made me feel very good to have this opportunity to not only get my story out there, but get the experience I will need to eventually speak at high schools and youth groups. I got a great response from my therapists and fellow patients. Some were moved by my presentation. This does not surprise me at the least. It just makes me feel good inside to know all I went through can maybe help someone, and now I'm seeing it actually coming to fruition.

About a year ago this week I was having tendon lengthening surgery on both legs, and each finger on the right hand. The day after my surgery was my birthday the 17th. When my mom walked in the room I just started crying because I was in so much pain. Now we fast forwarded just one year later, and it's hard to believe all the progress I have made! I think Jesus for His miraculous healing by Him, in the wonderful surgeons and physical therapists he placed around me. Then on August 28th I had to repeat the whole thing over again on the left-hand. Not as painful, but still very uncomfortable. After the surgery I had to wear casts on both feet for six weeks. Then after that I had to wear ankle foot orthotics for six months. I could not use my hands or bear weight on them for at least six weeks. Then I had to relearn everything you might take for granted like eating, bathing, brushing your teeth, personal grooming... you get the picture. And I have a wonderful mother to thank for all ...

I am a miracle and I’d like to share my story with you. At 5:15 a.m. on January 17, 2008, as a result from a drug overdose from taking Xanax , Ambien , and Methodone , my mom found me unconscious in my bed, covered in vomit, barely breathing. I was totally unresponsive and barely alive. Let me tell you how I got there. I grew up in a Christian home with loving parents. My parents took me on vacations every summer. They taught me the importance of having a relationship with God. As a teenager, I played in the church orchestra and even lead worship for the church youth group. Throughout high school, I made A’s and B’s in my classes. I was also an active member of my high school band, playing percussion and competing in prestigious competitions. From 2003 to 2008, I became addicted to drugs, which ranged from meth , marijuana, heroin, cocaine and prescription drugs. I made several attempts in those five years to stay clean, but I would always get back into drugs. My dad passed away su...