Please take a moment to pray for my sister, Dena. She is 25 years old and lives in Houma, Louisiana with our parents, Cubby & Lou Blanchard.

Dena at 18 years old

Dena was in an automobile accident May 1997. She suffers from severe brain damage. She can't talk, walk or do any of the things that most of us take for granted. My mother has to feed her, change her, put her from bed to wheel chair and so much more.
Dena was studying to be an X-Ray Tech. She was a very outgoing person who lived life to the fullest, never taking anything for granted. She is loved by many and has touched so many peoples hearts.

~ MY PRAYER FOR DENA ~

Dena, I miss you so very much!!! How I wish you could tell me hello and hug me when I visit you. I miss the times when you would sit down with me and tell me all about your new boyfriend. I miss how you would fix up your little house and get so excited to show me your handiwork. I miss how you cared for me and always made sure I had fun after my divorce. I pray for the day when you will be whole again. I am sure that if your accident had not happened, our brother Dwight would not be in the Ministry & his wife Tammy may have never come to know Jesus as her personal Lord & Savior. God does work in mysterious ways! Dena, I admire your strength to fight for your life when I'm sure it would have been much easier for you to give up. Always know I love you & I hope one day you can read this for yourself!

~ UPDATES ON DENA'S CONDITION ~

10/14/98
Oxygen therapy (HBOT) may help my sister's brain start working again. My mother heard about it when Dena was in ICU and asked the doctor about it. He told her that it was an experimental treatment and that it may hinder her. My mom then dismissed the thought all together not wanting to stop Dena from progressing. Well Dena has been home for about a year now and she isn't progressing at all. A little while back a friend sent me some info on the therapy and I sent it to my mom. Mom talked to some of Dena's therapist about it and they looked it up on the internet. They found much information on it and it looked very promising. After reading about it they called the doctor that was on the info sent to me. Amazingly, they got to speak directly to the doctor. After some discussion the doctor asked where my mom lived. My mom said in Louisiana (this doctor was in CA). The doctor got all excited and told my mom that there was a doctor in New Orleans that did this type of therapy and it is about an hour away from their home and that he is the best in the country on this type of therapy. This got mom more excited and she called for more info at the New Orleans hospital. Again, amazingly, the doctor got on the phone with her. We all know how hard it is to get a doctor to talk to you. Anyway, he told mom that he thinks it can work for Dena and that he would know from the first few therapies if it would or not and he is sending her some release forms and more information on it. Meanwhile, Dena had surgery on where her treak was because it had left a big whole in her throat from not closing properly. The surgery went fine but while Dena was in recovery she started talking with my family plain as day. Now you have to understand that Dena hasn't talked since her accident, at least not very plainly. Mostly she would say "hey" over and over. This day my brother said "Well I guess I need to get back to work" and Dena told him "Go to work then" shocking my family. After the anistesia wore off she wasn't talking anymore. While Dena was still in recovery she called the doctor from New Orleans and was explaing the details of Dena to him....how old she is and stuff like that. Then she told him how she was talking after the surgery that day. The doctor said well that is very interesting because while Dena was in surgery she was given pure oxygen. He says that he is pretty sure that is what had her thinking enough to talk and that after the anistesia wore off so did the oxygen and that was why she couldn't talk after.
In the eyes of me and my family this has all been sent directly from God! He put it on my friends heart to send the info to us and now the ball is in motion for Dena to get this treatment. He even put a doctor in New Orleans for her! There are only a handfull of doctors in our country that are doing this kind of treatmeant so this is a real blessing! We also found out that this treatmeant is no longer experimental but now proven to help most stroke and brain injury patients.
12/24/98
I went visit Dena and my family for Christmas. Dena has improved with this therapy. There is not a very big difference in her that I can tell but her brain scan shows that her brain has improved. I will update here whenever there is something to report. This will be a very slow process. I pray that God give me & my family the patience and strength we need to get through this.
View pictures of Dena before & after her accident.

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