Revelations After 21 Years

By Dorothy P. Graham Alford

The status of my condition hadnt changed since I was admitted to the hospital. The only body parts I could move were my eyes and mouth. I just stared at the ceiling and floor, day and night. I would have to endure the discomforts if my nose, eyes, ears, or scalp itched. When I cried, tears would run down the side of my face and lodge in my ears. I tried not to cry too much. I couldnt sit up in bed. Instead of just praying and asking God for deliverance from my afflictions, I began questioning God, asking why this catastrophe had happened to me. I am a Christian and believed that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I dont consider myself as the best person nor do I consider being the worst in this world.

Suicidal thoughts were entering my mind. I couldnt hold a gun or knife with my hands, so the only way left was to refuse to eat. I wouldnt eat or take medication.

As time passed, one Sunday night, the downpour of rain had erupted into a huge flood, besieging every nook and cranny of my mind. Jason and the children came to see me every Saturday and Sunday. He would call the hospital every night to see how I was doing. I couldnt answer the telephone; the nurses came in every night, about nine oclock, to inform me that he had called and said hello. His calls were like clockwork.

This particular Sunday was like any other Sunday. Jason and I talked, and he said he would call me when he got home. During the night, I called the nurse and informed her that people were bothering me. I became hysterical. She called Jason to see if he could calm me down. I talked to him and told him the same thing. I asked him to come and take me out of the hospital. He said he would be there the next morning.

I have no recollection of this or other events that unfolded for weeks. The nurses account of this time, after I came out of the depression, was that I was a very, very sick person. I would not eat or talk to anyone but my family. Another nurse asked me if I remembered what had happened to me. I told her that I didnt remember too much. She said, Its for the best that you dont remember.

I recalled Joanne, the head nurse, coming into my room often, talking and trying to lift my spirits. I never replied. I just looked at the ceiling. Joanne was constantly coming by to talk to me, without getting a response. Then one day, she came to tell me that I was going to be moved to the fifth floor and she was going to put me to work. These words were the catalyst that started propelling me out of my depression.

They finally moved me. I was basically the same for about a week or so, but all of a sudden, I miraculously said, I want something to eat! The nurses in the room replied, Dorothy, youre talking. They started hugging and kissing me. From that very moment, I had no more thoughts of suicide, and God gave me the ability to smile in spite of all my physical and mental challenges.

Gradually, I started pulling out of my depression. The once raindrops of depression that had turned into a flood on my mind were being replaced by rays of sunlight.

I have accepted being paralyzed, but the pain I am still experiencing is less accepting. I tried all kinds of over-the-counter medication for pain, without success. I was reluctant to take prescription drugs for fear of becoming addicted. I smile and try to make the best of a challenging situation.

I started taking the pain medication without any lasting results. The first three days rendered about a 50 percent reduction for my shoulder pain. Afterward, there was no reduction. I would stop taking them and start again within a month or two. The results were the same.

Only Jason and the Lord knew that I have been in pain since my accident. My mother and father went to their graves not knowing what I have been battling these past twenty-one years. Even Mrs. McDowell, my caregiver for two years, didnt know that I was in pain. She would always say to me, I know you are bad off

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493162635

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Copyright © 2014 by Dorothy P. Graham Alford.

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Rev. date: 04/29/2014

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1.The Accident

2.Divine Interventions

3.My Earlier Life

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my beloved husband of 45 years. He has been with me through the best of times and when the tide turned for the most trying of times, he has never wavered. Paraphrasing a quote I ran across while reading a Daily Word booklet one day, which describes him amazingly. Someone’s worth is not measured in the abundance of things they possess, but by their service to others. This statement speaks volumes of him. He will do anything possible for me. I said 45 years ago, our marriage was made in heaven, and this remains true to this very day.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my Savior Jesus Christ for giving me inspiration to write this book.

I am thankful to my late parents, Willie and Alwilda Graham for instilling in me a good work ethic and honesty.

Thanks to my family—Jason,Therese,Walter, Loverrz, Florence,Doris, Pretel and my three grandchildren, Endeah, Bryson and Bryan—for doing things for me, I can no longer do.

Thanks to Gloria for taking the time to type my memoir after I dictated to her.

I would like to thank my host of extended family and friends that have prayed and encouraged me along the way.

Thanks to my two therapists whom I had when I was in the hospital. Connie and Martha taught me how to do ordinary things again in a different way.

INTRODUCTION

This book elaborates on a host of challenging ordeals that I have inherited as a paralyzed person. I was thrusted into an abyss with depression and pain. When I was in that altered state, God started empowering my mind with inner strength to weather the storms of life,instead of going back to that depressing time.

It wasn’t until 21 years after I was paralyzed, I revealed my plights to others, after being encouraged by Divine Intervention. I appropriately name my memoir, Revelations After 21Years. I contemplated God wanted me to begin testifying about how he intervened in my life and by doing so, I could help other people going through some tragedy.

I constantly asked God why this catastrophe had to happened to me? I found my answer by reading (John 9)in the Bible.

I am content with my life now, despite all of my challenges, I consider myself blessed. I would like my life back as it was prior to the accident, but that is an unrealistic quest. I am just going to make the best out of the hand which I was dealt.

1

The Accident

Friday, May 8, 1981—a date that will live in infinity for me—started with a host of chores to do. I couldn’t have fantasized in my wildest nightmares, time was being calculated down to a split second that I would collide with another vehicle at exactly 10:20 that very day, forever changing the lives of four families.

I got up at 6:00 o’clock to take a bath, fix breakfast for my husband, Walter (whom I call Jason) our three children—Therese, age 11, Walter Jr., age 9, and Loverrz, age 4.

After I saw Therese and Walter off to school, I hurriedly started doing some chores around the house. Loverrz and I were to leave our home in Bishopville, South Carolina at 8:30. We went to my hometown of Society Hill to pick up my mother, Alwilda Graham, my two sisters, Gwendolyn, and Louvenia to take them to the VA hospital in Columbia to see our terminally ill father. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer a week earlier. His doctor said, He has about six months to live.

Gwen and Louvenia came from Albany, New York to see him. I had been making the 275-mile round-trip since the previous Monday. On Thursday night, I mentioned to Jason, I really don’t feel like taking them back to Columbia, because I am tired driving all those miles.

Louvenia and Gwen were to leave for Albany the following Sunday. I wanted them to spend as much time as possible with Daddy before they returned to their homes. Jason offered to take them for me, but I decided to go as planned.

On the way to Columbia, about 15 miles out of Society Hill, I looked down at the speedometer for a split second to see how fast I was going. As my eyes ventured back up and began focusing on the road again, I saw a truck not stopping at the stop sign. I started breaking down my speed of 55 m p h and said, I’m going to hit that truck! When the car came to an abrupt stop, the very first thing I was concerned about, whether Loverrz was still in the backseat and all right, since he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. He was and appeared to be all right. I turned around. The next thing that came to my mind was to try not to move any parts of my body. I remembered, in a split second, hearing a speech by Martin Luther King in which he stated, after being stabbed by a woman, If I had moved an inch, I would have died.

Utter pandemonium was just thrusted upon the Graham, Alford, Harrison, and Fowler families.. I did not see anyone after I turned around. I heard moans, groans, and frantic crying from everyone. Help me, Lord! was being echoed throughout the car. All I saw from my viewpoint was a broken windshield. I heard the sound of ambulances coming.

My mother, Gwen, and Loverrz were transported to the hospital first. Louvenia, who was the front-seat passenger, went next. I was the last to be transported. We all went to the same hospital. After a doctor examined each of us to assess our injuries, my mother and Gwen were admitted to that hospital. Loverrz had only a minor cut to his upper lip. An uncle who lived in Hartsville came to get him.

Both Louvenia’s injuries and mine were too severe to be treated at that hospital. We were transferred to another hospital about 25 miles away. Louvenia arrived first and was admitted with head and hip injuries. I came last, to be admitted with a neck injury.

Jason was notified of the accident at his job. He rushed to see me at the hospital. This was just the beginning of his marathon of pit stops to various hospitals.

This is where my memory started to fade. Jason said, You was in the examining room when I arrived. The doctor came in and examined me. He informed us, I was paralyzed from the neck down and they were going to put me in the intensive care unit. All I asked, Is Loverrz all right? Jason said, Yes, and I’m going to get him, Therese, Walter and bring them back here.

After Jason left, the doctor decided to transfer me to the Medical University of South Carolina Hospital, which