4/5 – Inspirational Meeting with Michael Segal; is Jamie going through withdrawals?

So, just to finish my post from yesterday, on Friday, we had a visitor named Michael Segal. Mike was introduced to us by Rabbi Brian Strauss, who is based in Houston and is a family friend of the Prescotts (hi Myra!) in Dallas. Rabbi Strauss visited Jamie on Thursday. Even though Rabbi Strauss had a suddenly hectic schedule, he made time to stop by Jamie’s hospital room and offer some prayers and encouragement. During his visit, he mentioned Mike and briefly discussed his story. He had given us Mike’s CD, so we were vaguely familiar with him (Mike produced an inspirational CD filled with lessons that he’s learned throughout his life; please check out his website, his story is, for lack of a better word, miraculous). Our meeting absolutely blew us away, but first some background –

Like Jamie, Mike was a sophomore at The University of Texas at Austin when his life was forever changed. One night in 1981, Mike and his then-girlfriend (they’re married and their daughter is a freshman at USC) stopped by a gas station on their way back home. Mike went inside to pay for the gas and, while inside, two men entered the store, forced Mike into the stores freezer, forced him to the ground and shot him in the back of the head, execution-style. The phrase “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” must have been written about someone like Mike. While Mike’s rehabilitation was vastly different than Jamie’s will be, Mike’s story and struggles are directly applicable to Jamie’s. Whereas Jamie will have to teach herself to walk again and regain her dexterity despite lacking fingers, Mike Segal was unable to talk for 8 months. Mike is paralyzed on the right side of his body, but can go about his daily life without assistance. In addition to his other pursuits, Mike speaks to individuals and groups of people about what it takes to overcome hardships and disabilities – though, he’d kill me if I didn’t say disABILITIES! Mike now maintains an inspirational website, which can be found by clicking here (we're also going to add a link to the blog permanently), and here's a video on YouTube.

Mike spoke to Jamie, and Roni, Caitlin, mom and I listened with rapt attention to his story. In total, he probably spoke with us for 90 minutes. He spoke about how to overcome frustrations and how to focus on the things you can still do as opposed to the things you can’t. He also spoke about his four keys to recovery – (1) a strong support system, (2) a positive attitude, (3) faith in yourself, and (4) faith in God. Mike and Jamie smiled and laughed a lot. Just a great man and a great meeting. We look forward to seeing him again.

In other news, mom and I are furrowing our brows about Jamie’s current wave of nausea and general discomfort. At our weekly meetings that we’ve discussed the fact that Jamie’s medication schedule contains so many narcotics and pain killers that she’s likely to need some assistance as she comes off of her IV and Central Line. Well, she’s unplugged now, and Jamie appears to be experiencing some of the symptoms of withdrawal – unexplained nausea, headaches and whatnot. We’re going to talk with some hospital folks today so we can get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. Even though this isn’t as big a concern as we’ve had in the previous months, its one of our most pressing concerns today. Still, it should be a quick fix. That’s about all I’ve got to report, so thanks for following along and sending your warm thoughts to Jamie. Talk to you later.