He's Still Working

Finding thankfulness and joy in her circumstances has compelled Traci Campbell to share her story and her testimony with others. So, in November, she sat down with the staff of Montgomery Gardens to tell them how blessed she is and how grateful she is for the people and the things that God has placed in her life, especially over the last two years.

In March 2020, Traci was diagnosed with Covid. At the time, she was a teacher at the TK Martin Center on the campus of Mississippi State University. During her initial days with Covid, she underwent treatment at MSU’s Student Health Center. But her Covid symptoms worsened. She was sent to Oktibbeha County Hospital’s ER and would eventually be diagnosed with long-haul Covid. Not only did she have difficulty healing from the virus, but it affected both her physical mobility and her heart.

A short time later, while at a physical therapy appointment, Traci felt a tingling sensation, and her face began to draw up. Her doctor suspected she was having a stroke and transferred her to a hospital in Columbus. There, they verified that she had indeed had a stroke, and she was airlifted to Merritt Hospital in Jackson, MS. They were the only hospital with an available ICU bed at the time. Traci credits it to God that she ended up at Merritt under the care of a noted neurosurgeon.

Over the next several months, Traci endured surgery, intubation, a ventilator, two weeks in the ICU, a step-down hospital unit, eight weeks on a feeding tube, and four weeks in a physical rehab facility.

During that time, she was also doing physical, occupational, and speech therapy. It was a joyous time in her life and her family’s life when she was finally able to go back home to Starkville in October 2020.

Traci credits her ability to endure all the difficulties caused by her illnesses in part to the “grit” she learned as a child. Traci told the staff about how she grew up without a father. “I had a very tough childhood. My mother and father were married and divorced before I was ever born. I never had a childhood where I was taken to church by my parents. But guess what? Guess who I did have to make sure that I made it to church and that I was prayed for: a grandmother.” She went on to tell them how she can see God’s plan working itself out over the course of her life. “I’ve always felt God’s presence in my life. He has always kept me safe. Even though I didn’t have an earthly father, I had a heavenly Father.”

Traci married her high school sweetheart, Brad Campbell. They started dating in 1991 and were married in 1993. She goes on to say, “Thank God, I married someone who knew being in church and knowing God was important.” They have two daughters, Taylor, age 25, and Aubree, age 21. Both are finishing degree programs at Mississippi State this spring (EN: Aubree completed her degree in December 2022 and Taylor will continue in her studies). At the age of 28, Traci made a profession of faith and came to know God. She said that she was sitting in the church where she and Brad were attending and felt God calling her to go forward and show the congregation that she had accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior, and she did that. And now, Traci remarks, she has a daughter, Aubree, who is pursuing a life in ministry. Tracie added that she, who did not grow up in a God-centered home, now has a child who wants to serve God with her life. “So what do you think God’s will for my life is?” Traci asked. “He knew, oh, He knew. That’s why I always felt His presence and why it was so important that I was obedient.” Despite the difficulty of her illness, Traci has been able to see how God has been at work in her life all along and how God continues to bless her.

“God has given me close time with my family,” she said, especially with her daughters. They both have taken time off work and school to spend helping her. “We have time to sit down and talk, and we do Bible study together.” Because the stroke affected her ability to read words, she requires help with her Bible study homework. “I am very thankful for two daughters who are willing to show Mom love by their actions and by helping me,” Traci added. She is also thankful for her sister-in-law, Angie, who she refers to as her Guardian Angel. “How many sisters-in-law have you ever heard of—how many sisters are there by your side at the hospital feeding you, making sure you don’t take too big of bites? Helping you in the bathroom? Helping you get dressed?” She and her sister-in-law Angie also attend a Thursday morning Bible study together. Traci is very thankful for her husband, sister-in-law, and daughters for their love and care.

Because of her illness, Angie has had the opportunity to interact with people whom she most likely would never have met but who positively impacted her. From her trainer at the Wellness Center, who encourages her to keep living a joyful life, to other stroke patients in the doctor’s office, she has broadened her circle of friends. In particular, she talked about meeting other stroke patients who have had multiple strokes. “It’s just so odd because I’m 48, and I’m going through these things that people don’t usually deal with until their senior life...meeting those people has made me grateful.”

She does say that she misses the job she had working with children at the TK Martin Center on MSU’s campus. She called that job her dream job. “I worked at the TK Martin Center, and it was difficult lifting those 100-pound kids, but that is not something that I can go back to.” However, she is grateful she can volunteer there and interact with the children who have been a part of her life for so long. She’s told her past coworkers, “Be thankful you can work here. Be thankful you can hold a book and read it too. That’s not something I ever thought about when I read to my kids a few years ago...when I come here now, guess who holds the book? Angie holds the book, and I do my best to read it.” Traci has made significant improvements since initially contracting Covid and enduring a stroke. She went from not being able to walk to being able to walk with some help. Although she did not completely lose her voice, she initially struggled to speak, and now she can speak more clearly. Reading is still a challenge, but she continues to work through it.

Traci concluded her time at Montgomery Gardens by challenging the staff. She said, “If you have somebody in your life that’s going through a hard time...be present in their lives; it makes a difference. That’s our job as Christians.” As she closed her time, she prayed for us all to be encouragers, “There’s no need not to find someone to encourage.”