Allie's Progress

Hi Everyone: This is Allie's dad. My name is Steve and I have created this blog to keep everyone informed on Allie's progress while she is in the hospital and during her recovery process. This blog is for information, healing, well wishes and prayers. We appreciate only kind and positive words. First Day, Monday May 14th What happened. We don't know. From what we have been told, Allie was driving down 276 near hwy 8 when she ran off the road and hit a tree. No one knows the cause and we probably never will - that's OK. For those of you that do not know, 276 is an extremely narrow and windy road in the mountains of NC. Immediately she was surrounded by angels sent to protect her. The first person sent immediately was a woman pastor (thank God) and her angel Kent (thank you guys) immediately after her was a respiratory therapist (Marty and his aunt Diane) who jumped right in and began treating Allie. She was in bad shape. It took about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get her out of the car. She was airlifted to Greenville Memorial Hospital where she underwent surgery to reduce the swelling in the brain. She suffered a massive brain trauma with severe swelling. The surgery was necessary for survival. We were devestated but as people of faith, we remained strong. The surgeon met with us at 3:00 am and informed us of the progress. She saw her and hugged her. We gave her permission to go home if that was what she needed to do. No one was mad at her and she could transition if she needed to. We know she was on the fence with her decision and woluld be for a few days. She was alive. Tuesday, May 15th What a long night. No sleep just prayers. We layed on the floor afraid to close our eyes for fear of someone waking us up with bad news. Nancy's brothers flew in from New York and New Mexico; my family came from Florida and Pennsylvania. We are numb. The neurosurgeon told us today that she had youth on her side. We prayed all day. Wednesday - Today, Tuesday May Something 8 days after the accident, it has all been a big blur, prayer and cry fest. We are hopefully optimistic and cautiously reserved. There have been over 3,000,000 prayer requests in over 30 countries. Sorry I have skipped so many days but I am just learning how to do this and I am finally feeling able. Now for some good news. Medically Allie is stable. She is still in a coma but the neurosurgeon says she is heading in the right direction. We don't know what that means but we like the sounds of it. While Allie does not respond to commands yet such as raising a finger or squeezing your hand, we know that she can hear us she is just unable to respond. She has no broken bone, no spinal cord damage and not even a scratch on her face, she has all of her teeth. Due to the massive amout of brain swelling she suffered, thay performed surgery as soon as they brought her here to relieve the swelling. they do this by removing a piece of skull which they then freeze. The doctor said it would be a few months before they put it back in. What a scar but her hair will cover it. This morning she was brought back into surgery to remove the ventilator tubes abd replace them with a trach tube which is inserted in the throat. She is definitely more comfortable. Our good friend Marla bought Allie a CD player and we play music for here all of the time. 2 days ago she began tapping her foot to the beat. She has not done that today. Due to being so tired from the surgery. She also had another cat scan today to check how the swelling is going. Upon palpation (touch) the doctor felt it is going down. Allie has what they call appropriate action in her right side. That means she tries to pull the tubes out of her throat. She also cracks her knockles and at times snaps her fingers. This thrills us. Please keep checking back. will try to post every day. Thanks to the millions of people who are praying for Allie and sending love and energy. She is in Greenville Memorial Hospital is you would like to send a card or visit. God Bless you all.