Mariette’s daughter explains …
My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012, I believe. And for us it meant really just dropping everything and trying to figure out what her needs were and to understand what the disease was. I did receive a number of calls from strangers that she was lost or hungry. That’s the point when I decided that I had to take her in and try to figure out our options for her. It was a devastating experience to leave a loved one behind when you don’t understand fully the disease. I was losing her. Her mind was deteriorating as I said, and I didn’t think she would last the year. I didn’t think she was going to make it. Shortly thereafter she did have a fall – a significant fall where she broke her neck and she ended up again in ICU in the hospital. They repaired her neck.
Mariette …
I wish I could remember because I have no pain. I don’t remember having any pain. Did I have a body? Did I have a mind? I don’t know. I don’t remember anything.
Caregiver …
She was in ICU attached to all these machines. She had a breathing tube in and she had a neck collar on because she’d broken her neck. Her face was just swollen almost beyond recognition. And as I stood at her bedside and prayed for her I thought, I don’t think we’re going to see her back at the facility. I remember praying at her bedside and just asking God for mercy in bringing her back. It was a long journey, but then she came back. And suddenly she was getting so much better and not just physically but also cognitively.
Interviewer …
Tell me why you think this is a miracle?
Mariette …
When I look today at the people with Alzheimer’s and think that I was like that, and I was even much worse than that because I went down to zero and they’re not the one I see. They’re not down to zero. And I say, there’s no way I could get out of that by myself – no way without intervention by God. It has to be God. It’s a miracle because nothing else would take me out of there.
Caregiver …
So it was really a miraculous change that none of us could even fathom. And then, I mean, this never happens where residents in long-term care improve so much that the care staff are saying and the doctor – they can be in independent living now, you know. And for her to move out, it’s usually the other way around – people moving from assisted or independent to long-term care. But Mariette came the other way.
Mariette …
Because there’s so many Alzheimer’s patients I don’t know why I’m so different, you know. I mean, why did God choose me to get better? Maybe He wants me to give hope to people.
Caregiver …
I feel that prayer is a crucial piece of our work here. It’s not just the chaplains praying. This is what we see every day – the residents praying for each other, staff in housekeeping cleaning the rooms and then coming in and seeing that a resident is distressed or not feeling well or discouraged or grieving. It’s a community of care, and prayer is at the heart of it.
Mariette …
How can I describe my God? He’s everything, everything – the creator of everything.
Mariette’s daughter …
You know, we talk a lot about miracles and I do truly believe that because she’s my mom again. She’s my mom. It’s important to have her back because she wants to help people. She wants to ensure that people understand what Alzheimer’s is, what dementia is. Because honestly until you experience it, it’s hard to believe that this happens. It’s hard to believe that somebody comes back from this. So, yeah, it’s a miracle for sure – no question.
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Is any disease too big for God to heal? No! God not only gives us supernatural faith for salvation, but that same faith for healing, peace, joy, and prosperity. See more at sinsurvivor.com/healing.
