I MET FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA!!!

Hi!! Sorry for leaving everyone waiting with anticipation to hear all about my meeting First Lady Michelle Obama!!! It was so incredible and I have so much to share!

We got home pretty late last night and I still had to pack for my trip to Monterrey today, which we had already booked weeks ago before all of the excitement!

We landed in Mexico, safely, and I now finally have a chance to sit down and update everyone!

...So, Where do I even begin?

It has been such a whirldwind of a week!

Thursday night my story aired on TV on both NBC and FOX... Both reports were fantastic! Fox4's report by Patrick Nolan had such a huge interest and high demand that it was already re-aired twice since then!! It is the most viewed, shared, emailed, etc, story on their site right now, which is really cool amd so great for awareness!!!

FOX4- Florida woman credits 'miracle coma' for saving her life

NBC2- Experimental coma treatment gives RSD patient relief

 Friday morning I woke up, with the gorgeous Florida sun shining through my window, like any other day. Suddenly, it hit me... I am going to be meeting the First Lady of the United States... Tonight! Ahhhhh!!!!!! I could hardly contain my excitement as I woke up the entire house to remind everyone today was the big day...as if they could forget!  ;)

It seemed so surreal!!! I sometimes still have serious doubts as to whether all of these things are actually happening to me in real life... Or if I am still asleep in the coma, dreaming about it!

My mom left early to go get her hair and makeup done and my sisters did mine and helped me get all dressed up, which was a lot of fun!! I haven't 'dressed up' in over 6 years!

Here is mom and I all dressed to go and meet the First Lady!!

...We cleaned up well, I think :)

On Monday when I found out that I was going to be an honorary guest to meet Michelle Obama, I began putting together a packet of information to hand to her.

Here I am, all ready to go, awareness information in hand!

At 4pm we arrived to downtown Naples to the very upscale hotel called "The Inn on Fifth" where the dinner reception for Mrs. Obama was being held.

When we walked in there were tons of secret service and police men still doing their 'sweep' of the hotel..it was so surreal to see in action!

We were told to wait down in the lobby until the building was cleared for entry.

While waiting, I heard someone calling my name... It was Michael and Mabel, the two coordinators of the reception who invited me! It was so nice to meet them and put faces to their names! 

Mabel is from Monterrey and was born in Hospital San Jose! It's such a small world!

Upon entering our hands were stamped and we were given GREEN wristbands...anyone with a green band was going to get to meet Mrs. Obama and take a photo with her!

Jason escorted us upstairs and we enjoyed a cocktail reception while we waited anxiously for Michelle's motorcade to arrive. Most of the people there had seen my story on TV the night before and everyone was coming up to me, saying, "you're the coma girl" and wanting pictures and asking me questions... I felt like a celebrity! :)

Finally First Lady Michelle arrived and we were escorted downstairs to a private room!

I waited outside excitedly, wondering what I should even say to her!

The door opened.... And there she was, the first lady of the United States, in a beautiful red dress, smiling at me!

When she saw me being rolled in, she said, "Hi Jessica!" and extended her arms to me to give me a big hug!!


I told that it was my honor to be her guest and be able to meet her... She replied, "No, the honor is all mine to have you here... and I don't just mean "here" at this event tonight ... I mean here, as in "alive"."

She asked me to tell her my story and spent the next 5 minutes just listening to me tell her everything I have gone through in the past 6 years--- the tick bite, the suffering, the hundreds of doctors, and the  incredible pain of RSD, that made me feel like I was being burned from the inside out.

I told her how I was paralyzed, bedridden, fed thru a feeding tube, couldn't tolerate being touched, how lights and sounds caused me to have seizures and how I was told I was going to die.

I showed her this pictures of the skin lesions on my arm, and then the picture of me in the ketamine coma.

She looked at me, in shock, and said, "oh my gosh... You poor baby...You look so good, so pretty..... I can't believe that was you! ...I think I need to hug you again, just because I CAN without hurting you!"

I told her all about the ketamine coma treatment that saved my life... In Mexico... And how  it is not currently available in the United States.... Even though ketamine has been approved by the FDA for over 30 years!

I told her how my family had to be separated for 2.5 years while I struggled for survive with my mom sleeping on a couch in my hospital room for 14 months straight. I told her how this is not just an isolated rare case... That there are many people in desperate need of this treatment, here in our country, suffering greatly.

She looked at my mom with tears in her eyes and told her she was an incredible mother, and that she would do the same for either of her two girls.

She turned back to me and said, "So, after seeing hundreds of doctors, you had to go to Mexico and go into a coma to get well?.... Do you have any further information about your treatment and illness that I can read tonight on my plane ride back to DC?"

I said 'yes!' and handed her my packet of information :)

I also handed her another packet of info for her husband... The President! Who better to get information into the presidents hands than his wife?!

My mom and I gave Michelle a hand-painted cross from Monterrey for her to put in the White House and also two little hand-made mexican dolls for Malia and Sasha.

We hugged again and she told me that I was  "glowing with life" and that I was the poster child for why our country so desperately needs healthcare reform.

She then motioned for another woman who was standing in the room to come over. Mrs. Obama introduced the woman as her chief of staff and executive director of the White House (!!!) and asked me to share my story with her! I did, and she gave me her contact information and said we would stay in touch.

I gave everyone  I met, including Michelle, one of my "Jessica's Journey" awareness bracelets, so they would remember me later that night when they went home and took it off :)

There were some professional pictures taken of me hugging and meeting Mrs. Obama, but I do not have access to them yet. As soon as I do, I will post them on here!

Afterwards, we went upstairs to the banquet room to listen to her give a speech about her husbands campaign. I have to say she is truly a very gifted speaker.

At one point during the speech she said, "No American should be without a job... Or an education... Or without access to heathcare..."

She glanced toward me and mom, who were sitting in the front row, and added...."and no family should have to exhaust all of their resources to pay for medical care, outside of the country, for their dying child."

Everyone clapped. WOW. Is all I can really say about that!

She then spoke of change.... The changes we need to see in our country and how change does not happen overnight, but rather, in "small steps"... I smiled as I thought about what Dr. Cantu always says "small steps=huge advances" :)

I think it goes without saying that yesterday was a day that will be etched into my memory forever!!!! An amazing experience that I will always treasure and be so thankful for!

Through all of my years of suffering I never could have imagined a day when I would be meeting the First Lady, and sharing my story with her!!!! God is so awesome!!

There were signs everywhere, little and big, yesterday showing me that He orchestrated this entire meeting, and I pray and hope it will lead to more awareness and bigger and better things to come for all suffering in the near future!

Last night fox re-aired my 'miracle coma' segment and at the end they added this brief clip:

RSD patient meets First Lady:

Tomorrow morning I will be presenting a 30 minute video I have put together about my journey, set to inspirational music and speaking about my 'Miracle in Mexico' at the Union Church in Monterrey, whose pastor, Dave Long, and entire congregation continually prayed for me and were such a strong physical and emotional support to my mom and I during our time living here. I can't wait to share my healing, in person, with them all!

I am looking forward to spending the week with my 'mexican family' and sharing all of the excitement and new happy memories in my life with them! I continue to feel really great, but these periodic trips for follow up care and evaluation with the doctors who saved my life in Mexico are vital and key in keeping me this way :)

Michelle Obama even wrote a little note for me on this picture of me and my heroes, Dr. Cantu and Dr. Luigi!  So cool! I framed it in my bedroom already!

Well, it is time for me to finally rest and prepare for tomorrow! I am exhausted from the traveling today and events of yesterday, but wanted to update everyone on this incredible experience!

Ps- I have a funny story about my trip today...They wouldn't let me through airport security at Miami international airport because they said I didn't look like the picture on my passport!!!!! We resolved the issue, but I guess that is a great testimony to the healing that continues to take place! Haha

Thanks for checking in! I will update again once I am back stateside :)

God bless!!

Love,
Jessica

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