Change is everywhere!

Hi! This is going to be a long one, I am warning you. A lot has taken place since my last post and I want to make sure I don't forget anything. We are finally in our new house. It has been crazy and definitely NOT uneventful, but we are here. It's beautiful and I promise to post pictures soon. Currently, we are unable to walk in some of the rooms of house, lol. So, I thought I would spare you those pictures. I promise, as soon as we get things settled, I will post a TON of pictures of our new place! Let me give you a run down of our move and what has happened this week.

Starting on Thursday night, I developed severe pain on the right side of my abdomen. Yep, our mind first jumped to what your mind just probably did....appendicitis. It lessened a little over the night, so we decided to wait to go to the ER because hospitals are so difficult for me with my MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities). However, by Friday morning, it was still hurting so I actually drove myself to the Urgent Care. That is a first in a long time as I usually don't go anywhere except my chiropractor because I don't feel good, I'm on a lot of medication that makes me feel kind of out of it, and also because I never know if I am going to have a bad reaction to something. I waited for about 4 hours at the Urgent Care only to be told that I would have to go to the hospital because they have no way to rule out appendicitis. I wish they would have told me that before I waited there that long!! :P So, I went home and lasted through the night as I was still doing everything I could not to go to the hospital.

Saturday, was our moving day (Nice timing huh?!!! I just can't handle when things become boring, lol.). My pain had not improved and was getting worse, but the movers were set to come at 9:00, so we had to wait until after they finished to go to the ER (Yes, I decided to cave and get it checked out). The move went by very quickly. Yay God! We were done by about noon and then were off to the ER. The ER worked with us wonderfully. They listened to us when we explained how highly allergic I was to everything and did not push us to get an IV or do anything invasive. We were so thankful!! They did a cat scan and did not find anything! Thank you so much for your prayers during that time!!! God totally answered them. With how allergically sensitive I am right now, a surgery would have been so dangerous. The ER doctor said he thinks a large ovarian cyst burst which would definitely explain my pain. We are just so thankful that it was not appendicitis. It was a scary 24 hours for us, but as always, God was SOOO faithful.

Now, for the next big news. Over the last few months, Brian and I have prayed a lot about trying to find a closer LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor). We love Dr. J and he is a brilliant man; however, he is in Washington DC and with my current condition, we have wondered how in the world I would ever make it to see him for an office appointment. He has been great, allowing us to have phone appointments, but we knew that we could not continue doing that forever, as that is something he had told us. It has been hard to think of letting him go, but during this whole process we have been praying that God would guide us to the correct physician and treatment plan. Dr. J was the first doctor to diagnose me correctly and find a reason for my crazy symptoms and sensitivities. We are so grateful for his insight. However, for sometime I have been looking at having a consultation with another LLMD who not only is an expert in Lyme Disease treatment, but also works with patients who have MCS. She is located in California, only about 7 hours aways from us. I was supposed to have a phone appointment with her on Friday, but because of my Urgent Care visit, I had to cancel. On Monday, I called to reschedule and they were able to fit me in that day. Praise the Lord!

I had my phone appointment at 3pm and it was one of the best two hours of my life. She was amazing!! She trained under one of the top Lyme doctors in the country and is up to date on all the current successful Lyme Disease treatments. However, what was the most amazing thing is she is used to working with patients like myself who have MCS. Half of our phone call we spent talking about my environment and things I needed to do to lessen my toxic load and my diet. There are going to be some major changes at our house. It's going to be definitely a financial investment. We have to get rid of all of our pans and cooking materials that are coated. We also have to get rid of plastic (cooking utensils, tupperware etc.). All of these things release toxins in our food which can contribute to making my MCS worse. We have to buy a new set of stainless steel pots and pans ($400) and lots of other things that are made out of glass (dishes, storage containers, jars etc.). This is going to be very expensive; however, it's worth it if we can get my MCS to improve. We will be trusting God that he will provide for all of our needs. He always has and we believe that He will continue to do so. She taught me a lot about how to boost my immune system with supplements that her MCS patients have been able to take. She also wants me to drastically change my diet which will be challenging since right now I can only eat about 15 foods. However, she said it's necessary in order for me to get well. Over and over again, she reinforced how this is going to be a slow process. I can only add one supplement a week and if I have problems taking them it will take even longer. She is so great! She has so much experience in working with MCS patients helping them to change their environments and diet and also how to help her patients detox. Detoxification is vitally important when you are going through Lyme Disease treatment and also if you have MCS. That is one area I haven't been able to do very well because of my limitations.

Next, we talked about my current antibiotic treatment protocol. She is going to be changing the antibiotics that I use to ones that she has had more success with in her patients with MCS. We are excited because one of the drugs is a drug that a couple of my friends are on and their MCS has improved drastically! She also wants me to eventually start Bicillin shots (1 per week). It is a powerful way to take antibiotics without having to get them through a PICC line. She said they have seen great improvements on this treatment protocol. The shots will be a ways off for me as my MCS needs to improve somewhat. She is also going to increase my treatment protocol in which I will take antibiotics for two weeks and then have one week off. I was excited to hear this because we have wanted to be a bit more aggressive.

Finally, she said she wanted me to get weekly infusions of Saline. She said I could do it once a week and they would ship the supplies to my house. I can either go somewhere to get the IV saline or if my insurance will allow me to have a home healthcare nurse come administer it, I can use that method.

So, it was an incredible appointment. This doctor was the first doctor to really focus on and help me with my MCS. We feel so blessed to be under her care. Her location is great and when she does want to see me (she said we could do most of the appointments by phone), we can go up and back the same day. Yay!!!

Well, that is our current update. We have some prayer requests. First, that God would provide for us financially. The changes we will need to make in our kitchen because of my MCS will be expensive. Second, please pray that my insurance company will pay for the new protocol. Lyme Disease patients often struggle to have their treatment covered. Thankfully, my insurance has paid up until this point, but we are not sure about the Bicillin shots or the saline infusions. Third, please be praying that I would be reaction free with the new supplements and drugs. Change, for me, is always challenging; however, we know we need to take this step to get well! Finally, please still be praying for my adjustment to our new house. There are couple of rooms that still bother me allergy-wise; however, we are working on those allergies with my NAET practitioner. Hopefully, my body will adjust soon and the house can be a safe and healthy place for me!

Well, that is all for now. I am sorry this is such a long post!! :) We have had quite a busy two weeks. Thank you again for your prayers and support! Jesus is moving right before our eyes, and it's exciting to see what He will do in the future. We are believing God for my healing and are excited to work with our new physician! We will update soon!!