Woman begins talking after two years of being a silent Medicalodge patient
By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer

For about two years nurse Georgi Hollins at Medicalodge North Post-Acute Care Center cared for a woman who could not talk. Her mouth was shut because she couldn't move her facial muscles.

Last Tuesday, on Halloween, she got a big surprise as she was caring for 60-year-old De Glaze, who suffers from Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"She said, 'Georgi, I want to thank you for that bath you gave me last week; it was one of the best baths I've had,'" said Hollins, director of nursing at the Medicalodge North.

"It brought tears to my eyes," she said. "It was such a long sentence."

Hollins said De's recovery is "quite remarkable. We dance around miracles."

Her recovery is the second to be termed "miraculous" in the past year and a half at the Medicalodge. In 2005, Tracy Gaskill spoke her first words in nearly three years after suffering critical internal and head injuries in a traffic accident.

In a visit with family members Monday, Glaze spoke of her recovery.

"It's the miracle of my life," she said.

Every Tuesday, church ladies from her church, First Assembly of God, prayed for her, Glaze said. Their persistent prayers were answered last Tuesday, Halloween.

"They came every Tuesday for two and a half years," she said.

Members of Glaze's family including her husband, Joe, and her daughter, Doreen, also were present last Tuesday when she began to talk.

She spoke her first words to her husband, Joe Glaze, team leader for respiratory therapy at South Central Kansas Regional Medical Center.

"She said 'thank you,'" he said. "It just happened suddenly, and then, wham, she took off (talking). Then she started complaining."

Joe Glaze said De's doctor told him he had never seen a patient with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, lose their voice and regain it.

"Lou Gehrig's disease is a continually deteriorating disease that continues until a person dies," said Dr. David Schmeidler, De's physician. "It's a neurological disease and they gradually go down, lose control of their muscles and waste away."

Schmeidler said De's recovery could very well be miraculous, "except the diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's Disease was never definitely made with De; it was a working diagnosis from the neurologist."

He added that he hopes her recovery will continue and that she will gain more control of some muscle.

Meanwhile, Gaskill, who started talking a little over a year ago, remains under care at the Medicalodge and now talks continually, said Erik Hatten, the Medicalodge North administrator.

"The church ladies said they'll have to rename this place the Miracle Lodge," said De, who served as a nurse for over 30 years before the disease debilitated her.
http://www.arkcity.net/stories/110706/com_0004.shtml

Unfortunately..I think the key to the miracle was summed up in this sentence...Lisa

Schmeidler said De's recovery could very well be miraculous, "except the diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's Disease was never definitely made with De; it was a working diagnosis from the neurologist."

I'll be next, I'm accepting my healing from the Lord Jesus Christ whether it be instantaneously or slowly over months. Amen

Rama