The leaf who was an answer to prayer........aka Cami

Cami's Story

     I believe that God hears and answers prayers.  Last Friday I was able to attend the Bountiful, Utah Temple.  It is a place where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints can go to perform sacred work for the living and for the dead.  There is a beautiful room called The Celestial room where people can go and meditate and feel closer to God.  As I was in this room I had a prayer in my heart that my Heavenly Father would help me with some questions I needed answers to.  One of the prayers I took to the Temple was concerning my blog.  As I had experienced some opposition concerning it my prayer was for my Heavenly Father to aid me in knowing whether this was my idea to start a blog or a way for me to be an instrument in his hands to help my fellowman.  I asked Him if it was his idea to let me know who he wanted me to write about.  As I have experienced several times since starting my blog, I, didn't have to wait long to find the answer.

     I went to work later on in the day.  I had been there for an hour when in walked this cutie........

     Her name is Cami.  She shared her story with me and I loved it and I love Cami.  She has a very sweet and innocent spirit about her.

     Cami came in to HairMax to find a product for her hair.  I went over to help her and I noticed that she shakes just a little bit.  I asked her what I could help her with and she said she needed to exchange a product because the one she got wasn't the one she was looking for.  She told me she was looking for a product she used to use when she attended Cosmetology School.  She told me that she had a stroke a year ago on March 17th and things in her brain were still shuffling around a little bit.  She had a can of root lifter in her hands and told me what she wanted it for and I assured her that she was buying the correct product.  I said " How does someone as young as you experience a stroke. "  She said it wasn't a pretty story.

     I told Cami that I had a blog and that I try to write about people who have had an impact on my life.  I asked her if she would be willing to share her story with me.  When she found out that it might help even one other person she agreed to tell me.

     Last March 17th Cami's husband found her on the floor.  She was dead.  She needed action quickly and was taken to the hospital.  She had accidentally overdosed on pain medication.  The doctors told her she had twenty different strokes.  They told her the strokes were so severe and the medications she took were so strong it would have killed a horse or a cow.  Look how tiny Cami is and she survived because God has a purpose for her.

     Cami was in a coma for two days.  She doesn't remember anything about that time period.  She was in the IMC hospital for over a month.  She wasn't able to eat and wanted her diet coke.  Her family and the hospital wouldn't let her indulge in diet coke until she could get something in her body.  That something was ensure.  As long as she could start drinking ensure she was promised she could have her diet coke.

     Cami was in and out of hospitals until June.  She has neuropathy on the left side of her body so she is in constant pain.  She was told she would never drive a car again.  She was unable to wear socks or shoes for a long time because of the pain she is experiencing.  While she was in the hospital her husband decided to divorce her.  She has a seven year old son who she has been able to see every two weeks but as she is getting stronger she is going to be able to see him more often.

     The first thing Cami started to do was to swim.  Swimming was the only thing she could do at the time that felt good on her body.  She now goes to the gym and is weight lifting, riding bicycles and doing some other exercise to make her body stronger.

     She just got the o.k. for her to get her drivers license back.  All of the above exercises and driving she was told she would never be able to do and she is doing them.  She has tremendous hope for the future.  She cried as she told me her story and I cried as I listened to it.  She had become addicted to several pain medications because of surgeries she had.  Recently she had a benign cyst the size of a 50 cent piece removed from her breast.  It was the first time she took a narcotic in over a year.  She gave the medication to her mom to be her nurse and only took a few for the severe pain.  Her mom got rid of the rest.

     I asked Cami what she would tell someone experiencing the same addiction.  She said that the addict doesn't believe she has a problem.  She said the best thing family members can do is to take the initiative to get the person the help they need.  She said she was in complete denial that she had a problem and that she fought it.  She said if she would have listened to a family member she wouldn't have had to go through the experience she has had the last year.

     Thank you so much for sharing your story with me Cami. You are a beautiful daughter of God.  You have a family who loves you and who hated to see you suffer.  Sometimes the most perfect looking people on the outside are suffering tremendously on the inside.  I am glad you found the inner strength to push through pain and to start to heal.  Your story is an inspiration to me!