Donna Marie Paquette

PRESENT FROM THE HEART

POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2013http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXZBXqRlebU Can you Imagine what it is like to lose your Identity, that is what happened to me. I was a very active person, I loved to downhill ski scuba dive, Roller skate and ballet for many years. I would go for miles on my mountain bike. I worked with people writing Programs at Howard Teaching. I worked in Hospice helping others. They didn’t know I had a tumor for many years. In my late twenties, I had severe migraines. Migraine headaches that I had were the kind where you feel as though someone is stabbing your head. The pain was not just a day or two but for weeks on end. One Doctor asked where did your black and blue come from? They were on my face and neck, I told him I didn’t know. I told him I could not think straight and I was confused. Those migraine headaches were the worst pain I have ever experienced up until my brain injury. I was in a lot of pain In 1980, I was in a car accident where a car hit the back of the car that I was riding in. My head hit the dash of the car so hard that I blacked out.

In 1989 I fell from the ceiling fixing a curtain. My foot slipped and I crashed to the floor and landed on the back of my head. I broke my wrist, elbow and collarbone. In 2004, I was very ill and they found me at a homeless shelter. I had Amnesia and no memory. I lost my Identity and I lost my whole life. In April 2005, I had trouble waking up. I was very Ill and sick to my stomach and I had a severe headaches. I was very weak and I walked to my doctors office which is two miles away. I kept falling on the ground and my legs were cut and bleeding. The doctor sent me to the hospital in the ambulance. That is where they discovered I had a large tumor. They transferred me to the intensive care unit and they had to give me steroids. They said my brain was swelling and bleeding. I had blood dripping out of my nose. They hitched me up to so many wires and tubes, even for breathing. I was in so much pain. They informed my family that I needed brain surgery for a large tumor. They also told my family I may never wake up again.The surgery rendered me unable to walk. My surgery took 8 hours, I was in a fight for my life and ended up in a coma. I was in ICU for 6 weeks. I had patches on my eyes and my head was completely wrapped.