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Letters To The Editor Love Holly Springs:
Dear Editor, Very nice story, and congratulations to Holly Springs and the Court Square Inn. We travel from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, every April to spend time in “the land where the blues began.” This past April we spent four nights/days in Holly Springs at the Court Square Inn and just loved the town and B&B. We
were made to feel welcome by Lisa and locals, and visited some
of Holly Springs’ attractions like Walter Place Estate and Strawberry
Plains Audubon Center. We plan on returning next spring before going to Clarksdale for their Juke Joint Festival. One
point: Holly Springs should be very proud of the native sons R.L.
Burnside and Junior Kimbrough -- these blues musicians are known around
the world to blues fans! Steve Myers
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Forgotten angel:
Dear Editor, Twelve
years ago on Jan. 30, 1998, my 23-year-old daughter was in a car
accident. Her brain swelled so badly that doctors had to remove remove
half the frontal lobe and the right temporal lobe. Her leg and hand
were broken and her legs were like raw meat. The machine soon showed
she was brain dead and they were going to unplug her. Miracle -- her
dad told her it was up to her now and she squeezed his hand, a miracle.
There was a convention of neurosurgeons at the trauma center. They did
another surgery, removing a blood clot. Because of excess fluid on the
brain, her huge piece of missing skull could not be replaced for two
years. That meant any form of physical therapy was too dangerous. They
said she would be a vegetable and we should put her in a nursing home.
Brain trauma rehabs would not take her because of the missing skull
piece. We kept her home for five years and nine months. Her stepmother
and I rotated her between homes when we reached exhaustion. Our only
help was my sister, until we eventually discovered we could have a
nurse’s aide one hour a day. May 3, 2000, a
wonderful plastic surgeon and neurosurgeon replaced her skull with
Medpor Alloplastic. She had been mostly bedridden with a feeding tube.
She got her first brief rehab. By Feb. 2001, she was playing games,
cards, puzzles, and transferred herself into a chair and bed. By May
2001, she was answering the phone and talking more. In Sept. 2001, she
got her first portable wheelchair. Her feet could finally touch the
floor. It was her key to independence and she walked it everywhere. She
started doing everything normal people do, including checking her watch
against the clock. Her talking increased. She called people by their
names. Late December 2001, she quit walking with her chair and was screaming in pain. “Oh God. What’s happening to me.” Jan. 13, 2002, a very special doctor replaced her right hip joint. Oct.
21, 2003, she was admitted to a nursing home. Three of her four
parents, who were working together, developed major health problems.
For the past six years, I have brought her home for a week every second
month with no nurse’s aide. We lost the help because she is in a
nursing home. She’s in one of the good nursing
homes and thankfully has several guardian angels there, but even
guardian angels can’t break the law forbidding them to hold her down
even for necessary medical procedures. Since she is very protective of
her head and contractured hand, she won’ let anyone brush her teeth,
cut her nails or draw blood for her diabetes tests. She has severe
periodontal disease and some of her nails are soft as sponge.
Periodontal disease jeopardizes her immune system and contributes to
heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and osteoporosis. She is only 35 and
has diseases that belong to the elderly. With so many medical advances,
these should be preventable. In the last 12
years, I have talked to 100 dentists and taken her to five. The only
dentist who will sedate her in a hospital for dental care is in
Jackson, Miss., and a four-hour drive that’s physically impossible for
handicapped parents. Her guardian angels at the nursing home actually
got her there March 10, 2010, but none of her parents are physically
able to go with her or stay overnight if she has an emergency at her
actual dental surgery. This is a bad situation because she doesn’t talk
at all now. Even when she did talk, it was random and she never
answered questions. She needs a family member familiar with her last 12
years of medical history. Since July 2009, I’ve
been in the emergency room four times with blackouts no one can explain
and haven’t been able to help my baby. I can’t even bring her home to
spend one night. It hurts my heart and soul for her to think we have
abandoned her. Sept. 27, 2009, Carye fell at the
nursing home and broke her left femur, requiring a steel plate and pin.
She needs an osteoporosis specialist familiar with rebuilding bone
density. She may be at risk for spinal fracture. I found a doctor at
Campbell Clinic who can do a tendon transfer that may help her frozen
hand. There may be new procedures that could help her frozen foot. She
spends hours looking out windows. She tries to go outside in the
sunshine. Such a simple wish. Nursing homes don’t have enough help and
old parents don’t have enough strength. She has said, “Why? I’m so
sorry. I’m so sad. I’m so lonely. Please don’t leave me. I’ve been
talking to God all day.” Please help answer her prayers. Thank you
S. Laraine Yates
Red Banks
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