Hello Everyone! Happy last week in October! I can't believe November is almost here!!! I will fully admit that I listened to Christmas music over the weekend. However, it was only through my Ipod as Brian doesn't let me listen to it until Thanksgiving. :) I just can't stand to wait...I love Christmas and everything about it.
Again, I would like to start off with saying a big thank you to one of my childhood friends, Trisha, who came and stayed with us this past weekend and helped me to my appointment on Monday. It was so wonderful to see her and to catch up. We were blessed beyond measure by her generosity as she not only helped with things around the house, but also cooked Brian enough home-cooked meals until January. What a precious gift. Thank you girl for being so willing to be used by the Lord. I enjoyed our time so much!
We have had some praises! Yay! From last week when I wrote to today, my liver enzymes have gone down considerably. Praise the Lord!! I haven't ever seen them go down so fast, so I know it was all of your prayers. Thank you so much! God is so good. I have a little more to go before we reach normal, but they are drastically improved. I am doing IV Vitamin C through the weekend and also gultathione pushes through my IV. Both of those help me detox a ton. In fact, it helped me detox so much that on Sunday, I actually was able to be up and about for a couple of hours helping Trisha cook a bit and I also wasn't bothered by the cooking smells which usually make me pretty sick.
We are hoping this is the beginning of my chemical sensitivities improving. We can see small baby steps of improvement and we are encouraged. We have tiny set backs, and the four days I do antibiotic treatment each week are still really tough to get through. However, I am noticing it isn't hitting me as hard as it was a couple of weeks ago. It seems that my body is adjusting and also that the bugs are getting killed!
I have tried quite a few new foods in the last week or so. We had some unsuccessful experiences and some successful ones. The foods that I have been able to add are yogurt, olives, onions, eggs and asparagus. Also, I have been allowed to add back in some milk products, so I can now eat cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese sparingly. I can't eat those too much because it feeds the bad bacteria that the antibiotics are causing to grow. That's another reason why I haven't gotten back to drinking milk because there is a lot of sugar in it, but it's fun to add these other things in even if I don't get to eat them very much. Lentils are actually tolerable with onions in them; however, notice I say tolerable and not delicious. ;) Not sure if those will ever be delicious. :)
So, all in all it has been a good week. Please keep praying for my liver enzymes to go back to normal and also the Candida issue. Also, if you could be praying for peace and our endurance, we would appreciate it. The meds are working, we can tell, but it's a long process. We are about 2 months in on a long journey, and some days it gets pretty emotional and tough. So, we would appreciate it the prayers. Have a great weekend! I'll post again next week! :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The update is finally here!
Hello Folks! I am sorry this update is a little delayed. Things got a little crazy around our house with my health, so unfortunately the blog took the back burner. I am going to try to update every week, but as treatment gets more intense and I feel worse, it might be every two weeks. Hopefully, we will turn the corner soon, but right now it's a battle.
Let's see if I can remember everything that went on...
First, I want to say a big thank you to my friend, Jill, who came to help us out from Saturday until Wednesday. It was such a blessing to have her here. She is so kind and has such a heart for the Lord. Jill ~ Thank you for sacrificing your time. We appreciate it so much! You are such a joy! May God bless you abundantly girl. Love you!
I am up to 1 gram of Zithromycin and 500mg of Flagyl 3 times a day. That is a lot of antibiotics and I would have to say my body is not handling it so well. By last Thursday, I was REALLY sick. I took effort to talk, walk and communicate with others. That sounds crazy but doing any kind of movement was a huge chore. I am always one to answer messages, texts, e-mails and calls pretty quickly, but I am afraid that did not happen a lot. Between this and trying (keyword is trying) to keep up with my grad classes, it was a fight. I did get everything completed by the deadlines, but I have a TON to complete by the end of the semester which for one of my classes is Nov. 21st. Crazy huh!! I need to push through, but some of these days all I want to do is sleep or die (sorry, the second is my dramatic side coming out, but sometimes feels that way). I pretty much run IVs all day and by Thursday it literally feels like I am just putting poison in my veins. I know I am not, but with the side effects and the ugly symptoms that arrive, it sure feels like it! Thankfully, my doc said it seemed like I needed a break over the weekend, so instead of doing Vitamin C IVs for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I did nothing. This was a big mistake, but we didn't know it at the time.
My break over the weekend, caused my body to stop detoxing. Vitamin C is a great immune booster, but when you take in high doses IV form, it also helps you to get rid of the toxins that the Lyme bacteria produces when it's killed. At the time, we didn't think it would be that big of a deal to miss it. However, we learned our lesson. My symptoms went through the roof and the most annoying was that I started reacting to EVERYTHING! Never a fun time, believe you me. So, on Monday, we talked to the doctor and we will not be doing that again. Since, I was already super set off allergy-wise. Doing my IVs at the office on Monday was a chore. It took a long time to get them done and I reacted to some of them, specifically the Vitamin C IV. Crazy huh...well my body does this funky thing where if I gap certain things, when I start them up again, I react. However, I made it through the day and things have started to lessen as we have gone on through the week.
We have had to really up my dose on probiotics and praise the Lord, I am tolerating it. I was starting to see signs of Candida (that is what you get when too much good bacteria is killed), so we had to make some changes to my diet (which is always such an insane challenge because I am so limited). It seems to be working, but I am SOOOO hungry! :P So, that is one problem we have encountered. It's not too big of a deal yet, but we have to watch it carefully. Please be praying that this will be resolved quickly so that I can add some of the foods I can eat back into my diet. I have lost about 27 pounds since the end of July, so I really can't afford to lose any more weight. Nothing fits anymore (which is nice except I don't have very much to wear) and I keep getting smaller and smaller. They are not concerned at this point, but 7 more pounds lost would put me at a not so healthy weight.
The second big piece of not-so-good news is that my liver enzymes are high again and keep climbing. One month ago, they were a bit elevated, but nothing we needed to watch carefully. However, this month's report showed them higher. So, I just heard from my doctor and we are going to try to up my detox protocol and will have to take weekly blood draws until we see improvement. Antibiotics are really hard on your liver, especially when you take them long term. Add that on top of my body not being able to get rid of the toxins without assistance and it creates a problem. We would REALLY appreciate your prayers for this. It's so important that my enzymes go down so that we can progress with my treatment protocol. I'll keep you posted on what they are doing. :)
Finally, I still need to get on a bunch of supplements and medication that my doctor wants me to take. We have to do it so slowly and can only do it when I am not dealing with allergic reactions already (if I react, we have to make sure we know what I am reacting to). As you can probably guess, we haven't had too many of those "good days" in the last couple of weeks. Please be praying that my body will calm down so that I can take the supplements. Please also pray that I tolerate them! It's so hard for me to take pills for some reason. I do better with IV stuff, but herbs and supplements always give me a ton of problems.
Well, I think that is all that's happened. Tomorrow, we will go to my doctor's office and Brian gets to go with me! Yay! He went last week too and it's so nice to have him along. I know it's hard on him not being able to be with my at my appointments. Starting next week, I will only be able to go to my doctor's on Mondays to get infusions and then pick up my supplies for the rest of the week. It's going to be challenging to not be able to go twice a week especially if I have problems. However, I am way too sick to drive myself, so we will just have to deal with it.
Thank you all for your prayers! This truly is a fight to the finish and we are definitely feeling the battle big time. However, we know that with God there will be victory. What that will look like, we are not sure, but we trust in His sovereign plan. Blessings to all of you!!
Let's see if I can remember everything that went on...
First, I want to say a big thank you to my friend, Jill, who came to help us out from Saturday until Wednesday. It was such a blessing to have her here. She is so kind and has such a heart for the Lord. Jill ~ Thank you for sacrificing your time. We appreciate it so much! You are such a joy! May God bless you abundantly girl. Love you!
I am up to 1 gram of Zithromycin and 500mg of Flagyl 3 times a day. That is a lot of antibiotics and I would have to say my body is not handling it so well. By last Thursday, I was REALLY sick. I took effort to talk, walk and communicate with others. That sounds crazy but doing any kind of movement was a huge chore. I am always one to answer messages, texts, e-mails and calls pretty quickly, but I am afraid that did not happen a lot. Between this and trying (keyword is trying) to keep up with my grad classes, it was a fight. I did get everything completed by the deadlines, but I have a TON to complete by the end of the semester which for one of my classes is Nov. 21st. Crazy huh!! I need to push through, but some of these days all I want to do is sleep or die (sorry, the second is my dramatic side coming out, but sometimes feels that way). I pretty much run IVs all day and by Thursday it literally feels like I am just putting poison in my veins. I know I am not, but with the side effects and the ugly symptoms that arrive, it sure feels like it! Thankfully, my doc said it seemed like I needed a break over the weekend, so instead of doing Vitamin C IVs for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I did nothing. This was a big mistake, but we didn't know it at the time.
My break over the weekend, caused my body to stop detoxing. Vitamin C is a great immune booster, but when you take in high doses IV form, it also helps you to get rid of the toxins that the Lyme bacteria produces when it's killed. At the time, we didn't think it would be that big of a deal to miss it. However, we learned our lesson. My symptoms went through the roof and the most annoying was that I started reacting to EVERYTHING! Never a fun time, believe you me. So, on Monday, we talked to the doctor and we will not be doing that again. Since, I was already super set off allergy-wise. Doing my IVs at the office on Monday was a chore. It took a long time to get them done and I reacted to some of them, specifically the Vitamin C IV. Crazy huh...well my body does this funky thing where if I gap certain things, when I start them up again, I react. However, I made it through the day and things have started to lessen as we have gone on through the week.
We have had to really up my dose on probiotics and praise the Lord, I am tolerating it. I was starting to see signs of Candida (that is what you get when too much good bacteria is killed), so we had to make some changes to my diet (which is always such an insane challenge because I am so limited). It seems to be working, but I am SOOOO hungry! :P So, that is one problem we have encountered. It's not too big of a deal yet, but we have to watch it carefully. Please be praying that this will be resolved quickly so that I can add some of the foods I can eat back into my diet. I have lost about 27 pounds since the end of July, so I really can't afford to lose any more weight. Nothing fits anymore (which is nice except I don't have very much to wear) and I keep getting smaller and smaller. They are not concerned at this point, but 7 more pounds lost would put me at a not so healthy weight.
The second big piece of not-so-good news is that my liver enzymes are high again and keep climbing. One month ago, they were a bit elevated, but nothing we needed to watch carefully. However, this month's report showed them higher. So, I just heard from my doctor and we are going to try to up my detox protocol and will have to take weekly blood draws until we see improvement. Antibiotics are really hard on your liver, especially when you take them long term. Add that on top of my body not being able to get rid of the toxins without assistance and it creates a problem. We would REALLY appreciate your prayers for this. It's so important that my enzymes go down so that we can progress with my treatment protocol. I'll keep you posted on what they are doing. :)
Finally, I still need to get on a bunch of supplements and medication that my doctor wants me to take. We have to do it so slowly and can only do it when I am not dealing with allergic reactions already (if I react, we have to make sure we know what I am reacting to). As you can probably guess, we haven't had too many of those "good days" in the last couple of weeks. Please be praying that my body will calm down so that I can take the supplements. Please also pray that I tolerate them! It's so hard for me to take pills for some reason. I do better with IV stuff, but herbs and supplements always give me a ton of problems.
Well, I think that is all that's happened. Tomorrow, we will go to my doctor's office and Brian gets to go with me! Yay! He went last week too and it's so nice to have him along. I know it's hard on him not being able to be with my at my appointments. Starting next week, I will only be able to go to my doctor's on Mondays to get infusions and then pick up my supplies for the rest of the week. It's going to be challenging to not be able to go twice a week especially if I have problems. However, I am way too sick to drive myself, so we will just have to deal with it.
Thank you all for your prayers! This truly is a fight to the finish and we are definitely feeling the battle big time. However, we know that with God there will be victory. What that will look like, we are not sure, but we trust in His sovereign plan. Blessings to all of you!!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Our Sustainer
As I start this post, I am not so sure what to say. It has been kind of an emotional and physical roller coaster this week. To be quite honest, treatment has been hard, and it has been a struggle to keep my eyes focused on Jesus and to remain hopeful. It's taking everything I can muster to hold tight to my Savior. However, I think it's important to let my readers of this blog see both sides of the journey. The happy, "correct focus", hopeful and joyful side, but also the struggle as your body fights the disease and the emotional battle of the unknown and the stresses that this disease brings. I know I have explained before how this disease hits you on so many levels. Not only do most people struggle physically, but since the bacteria has invaded your brain, it messes with you neurologically which leads to a roller coaster of emotions that you have to battle.
So, it's been a fight this week. It's been hard to fight the doubts and discouragement. I watch so many of my friends who have seen multiple Lyme doctors, been through all kinds of natural and conventional treatments only to be suffering day in and day out with no end in sight. It breaks my heart that there just hasn't been enough research done on this disease to help bring relief to this hurting community. I am sure things will be different in 20 to 50 years, but until then, it's hard to watch the difficult journeys unfold. I wish all of them could be well. I wish that they could play with their children, be a part of church ministries and perform normal day to day activities, but many of them have not gotten there yet. They are working hard and doing everything they can to get well, but are still falling short. Please pray for those that are suffering from this disease. We need to go to battle spiritually and intercede for those that are hurting.
Wednesday was the most difficult physically. I am now on Zithromycin along with 3 doses of Flagyl each day Monday-Thursday. It hit me hard that day and I could barely move off of the couch after my last evening dose. It was a chore to even take a breath. I think I gave both Brian and my Mom quite a scare. To be honest, it scared me too. I have never been that sick in my life. I just wanted to give up and just surrender that white flag because it was just getting too hard. However, that is not who I am and not who Jesus has called me to be. I do NOT give up. I will not surrender or let this disease win. God will have the victory!
So, on Thursday we started the drug round again, and by God's grace it was better. It's still been pretty rough over the weekend. I have had a lot of fatigue, pain, dizziness and a new not so fun symptom that has popped up which is making it difficult to eat food. It seems like everything I try to swallow induces a gag reflex. It's not because my food is bad or that I am tired of it (although, it has been a long time where I have had a list of 2 to 12 foods), but it happens with everything that I eat. Thankfully, I have been able to push through, but it has presented a new challenge. I am also getting horrible stomach pains from the drugs. I know it's IV, and it does pass the digestive tract; however, it still can affect your stomach. So, we are working on trying to find some relief by trying some new things recommended by my doctor. However, new drugs, supplements and remedies are always tough because we always have to risk setting my system off allergy-wise. Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a big day as I begin to try some of the things. We are praying for no reactions and for relief!
On Friday, I kind of hit a wall. I was discouraged and battling a lot of the symptoms. I was reading in the bible and I came across Psalm 54:4 which said "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." I felt the Lord really communicate that He is my sustainer. Later that evening, I listened to Louie Giglio's podcast from Passion City Church titled "Unstoppable". Click on the title and it will link you to the podcast. I would highly suggest listening to it! Within his message, he talked about Isaiah 46 and how God is our sustainer no matter what we go through and how difficult it gets His plans for us are "unstoppable". It was clear, that this was the message God was trying to speak to me. Isaiah 46:3-4 says (emphasis mine) "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will SUSTAIN you. I have made you and I will CARRY you; I will SUSTAIN you and I will RESCUE you." What an amazing promise. It's so easy to get lost amongst the physical and emotional pain, but we serve a God who is soveriegn, who can do miracles and who can SUSTAIN us through any trial or circumstance.
The song below has ministered to my heart a lot this week. It's "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin. Remember, you will need to push pause on my music player at the bottom of this page so it doesn't interfere.
So, that is a snapshot of the week. It was tough, but it has been good to remember that God is our sustainer. We do have a couple of prayer requests as we go forward this week. We are set to increase my level of Zithromycin which will be hard. I think once we get there though, this will be the last antibiotic increase that we will have to do for awhile. We'll hold steady at the doses until we start seeing some improvement or until we see a need to switch.
My mom will be leaving on Tuesday to go back to Omaha. We have been so thankful for her help. It has been such a blessing to have her here, and it will definitely be an adjustment when she leaves. Thank you Mom for sacrificing so much to help us! We know it took a lot of sacrifice to come down here and give up your life for six weeks, but we appreciate it more than words can say. So, for the first time, I will be running my daily IVs by myself on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please pray for peace, safety and strength. We do have help flying in on Saturday, but we will be on our own for the first time since the end of August. Thankfully, we are never truly alone as we know that God will be with us. :)
I don't have an insurance update yet. I did call them to see how things were going with the claims that I submitted and they gave me a reimbursement figure that was definitely not 50%. We are thankful and blessed for anything we get, but we are praying hard that they will continue to cover half of my treatment. God can do it, and we are trusting and believing him to provide.
That's all for today! Thank you for praying. Your prayers are working and God is sustaining us through this journey. Have a wonderful week my dear friends! Know that we are praying for you too!
So, it's been a fight this week. It's been hard to fight the doubts and discouragement. I watch so many of my friends who have seen multiple Lyme doctors, been through all kinds of natural and conventional treatments only to be suffering day in and day out with no end in sight. It breaks my heart that there just hasn't been enough research done on this disease to help bring relief to this hurting community. I am sure things will be different in 20 to 50 years, but until then, it's hard to watch the difficult journeys unfold. I wish all of them could be well. I wish that they could play with their children, be a part of church ministries and perform normal day to day activities, but many of them have not gotten there yet. They are working hard and doing everything they can to get well, but are still falling short. Please pray for those that are suffering from this disease. We need to go to battle spiritually and intercede for those that are hurting.
Wednesday was the most difficult physically. I am now on Zithromycin along with 3 doses of Flagyl each day Monday-Thursday. It hit me hard that day and I could barely move off of the couch after my last evening dose. It was a chore to even take a breath. I think I gave both Brian and my Mom quite a scare. To be honest, it scared me too. I have never been that sick in my life. I just wanted to give up and just surrender that white flag because it was just getting too hard. However, that is not who I am and not who Jesus has called me to be. I do NOT give up. I will not surrender or let this disease win. God will have the victory!
So, on Thursday we started the drug round again, and by God's grace it was better. It's still been pretty rough over the weekend. I have had a lot of fatigue, pain, dizziness and a new not so fun symptom that has popped up which is making it difficult to eat food. It seems like everything I try to swallow induces a gag reflex. It's not because my food is bad or that I am tired of it (although, it has been a long time where I have had a list of 2 to 12 foods), but it happens with everything that I eat. Thankfully, I have been able to push through, but it has presented a new challenge. I am also getting horrible stomach pains from the drugs. I know it's IV, and it does pass the digestive tract; however, it still can affect your stomach. So, we are working on trying to find some relief by trying some new things recommended by my doctor. However, new drugs, supplements and remedies are always tough because we always have to risk setting my system off allergy-wise. Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a big day as I begin to try some of the things. We are praying for no reactions and for relief!
On Friday, I kind of hit a wall. I was discouraged and battling a lot of the symptoms. I was reading in the bible and I came across Psalm 54:4 which said "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." I felt the Lord really communicate that He is my sustainer. Later that evening, I listened to Louie Giglio's podcast from Passion City Church titled "Unstoppable". Click on the title and it will link you to the podcast. I would highly suggest listening to it! Within his message, he talked about Isaiah 46 and how God is our sustainer no matter what we go through and how difficult it gets His plans for us are "unstoppable". It was clear, that this was the message God was trying to speak to me. Isaiah 46:3-4 says (emphasis mine) "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will SUSTAIN you. I have made you and I will CARRY you; I will SUSTAIN you and I will RESCUE you." What an amazing promise. It's so easy to get lost amongst the physical and emotional pain, but we serve a God who is soveriegn, who can do miracles and who can SUSTAIN us through any trial or circumstance.
The song below has ministered to my heart a lot this week. It's "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin. Remember, you will need to push pause on my music player at the bottom of this page so it doesn't interfere.
So, that is a snapshot of the week. It was tough, but it has been good to remember that God is our sustainer. We do have a couple of prayer requests as we go forward this week. We are set to increase my level of Zithromycin which will be hard. I think once we get there though, this will be the last antibiotic increase that we will have to do for awhile. We'll hold steady at the doses until we start seeing some improvement or until we see a need to switch.
My mom will be leaving on Tuesday to go back to Omaha. We have been so thankful for her help. It has been such a blessing to have her here, and it will definitely be an adjustment when she leaves. Thank you Mom for sacrificing so much to help us! We know it took a lot of sacrifice to come down here and give up your life for six weeks, but we appreciate it more than words can say. So, for the first time, I will be running my daily IVs by myself on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please pray for peace, safety and strength. We do have help flying in on Saturday, but we will be on our own for the first time since the end of August. Thankfully, we are never truly alone as we know that God will be with us. :)
I don't have an insurance update yet. I did call them to see how things were going with the claims that I submitted and they gave me a reimbursement figure that was definitely not 50%. We are thankful and blessed for anything we get, but we are praying hard that they will continue to cover half of my treatment. God can do it, and we are trusting and believing him to provide.
That's all for today! Thank you for praying. Your prayers are working and God is sustaining us through this journey. Have a wonderful week my dear friends! Know that we are praying for you too!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Crazy thing called Lyme
Happy October everyone! Wow, I can't believe fall is here...it's strange because we have been around 100 degrees in Southern Arizona. So, it definitely doesn't feel like fall, but the calendar says it is, so I guess I have to believe it. :) However, I would like to stop using our air conditioning soon as it is expensive, so prayers would be appreciated! :)
Let's see...here is the update this week. I wish I could say it was pretty uneventful, but I was wrong..so here we go.
First, we had an AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING (can you catch my excitement??!!!!) answered to prayer this past week. Starting the beginning of September, I began sending in our medical claims to our insurance company on the off-chance that they would pay. I had LOW expectations, but thought I would give it a try. Well, the first batch I mailed off only contained nutritional IVs (like Vitamin C and Myer's cocktails etc.). I really didn't expect them to pay anything because most of the time insurance companies do NOT pay for things like these. However, it was worth a shot, so I mailed them in anyways.
Well, this past week, I logged into our insurance carrier's website just out of curiosity and saw that my insurance company paid 50% of the first batch. I about fell off of the couch! That is so exciting and amazing for us. Anything that we can get back will help us be able to afford more of my treatment. Now, we did send in another huge batch mid-September and haven't heard anything yet. This contained both the nutritional IVs and the really expensive antibiotic IVs. So, it will be interesting to see if this will flag them and they will take a second look at what I am submitting or if they will continue to pay 50%. If you could please, please, please be praying that they will continue to pay half. I can't tell you how much it would mean to our finances especially since I took a leave of absence from work and we no longer have that income coming in.
Now onto this past week of treatment...Monday through Wednesday, I handled the IV Rocephin morning and evening totally fine. We added Flagyl at the beginning of the week once a day, and I handled those IVs fine also. By Wednesday, we were set to step up on Flagyl to twice a day. Is this confusing you yet? It is quite the challenge to keep everything straight between all of my oral medication, supplements and IVs. I think a master list may be in order in the future as I tend to not be the most detailed person on the planet. :)
So, Wednesday night, I had everything with me to do an evening dose of IV Rocephin and Flagyl. However, my body had different plans. :P I started the IV Rocephin and boy did I get a reaction I was not expecting. Apparently, between the morning dose and my evening dose, my body decided it didn't want the drug anymore. I had a horrible reaction....throat swelling, asthma, and my mouth, throat and tongue went completely numb etc. It was quite scary. We toughed it out at home as going to the hospital never comes without its consequences. Don't worry though...the minute we would have seen that it was irreversible at home, we would have gone. All in all, it was a crazy reaction. It was especially odd that I was able to take it for two weeks with no problems and then all of sudden out of nowhere I reacted. I have heard of this happening to my friends. We are not quite sure if I developed a true allergic reaction to it or if the Lyme Disease caused me to become allergic to it (as it does such crazy things with your immune system), but whatever the case is, I will not be having that antibiotic for quite some time.
I have stepped up on Flagyl to twice a day and next week we are set to do three times a day and add Zithromycin. So prayers would be appreciated that I would tolerate the increased doses and new drugs. I really don't want to experience anything like I did Wednesday night for quite some time. :)
Well, that is our update. These are getting shorter and shorter as you can tell. I am pretty tired these days from traveling to Phoenix and my treatment. Plus I pretty much feel like junk 90% of the time. Brian is busier than ever studying for the CPA exam. So, our words our fewer; however, I promise to keep the weekly updates coming! :) Hope you have a great first week in October! Blessings!
Let's see...here is the update this week. I wish I could say it was pretty uneventful, but I was wrong..so here we go.
First, we had an AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING (can you catch my excitement??!!!!) answered to prayer this past week. Starting the beginning of September, I began sending in our medical claims to our insurance company on the off-chance that they would pay. I had LOW expectations, but thought I would give it a try. Well, the first batch I mailed off only contained nutritional IVs (like Vitamin C and Myer's cocktails etc.). I really didn't expect them to pay anything because most of the time insurance companies do NOT pay for things like these. However, it was worth a shot, so I mailed them in anyways.
Well, this past week, I logged into our insurance carrier's website just out of curiosity and saw that my insurance company paid 50% of the first batch. I about fell off of the couch! That is so exciting and amazing for us. Anything that we can get back will help us be able to afford more of my treatment. Now, we did send in another huge batch mid-September and haven't heard anything yet. This contained both the nutritional IVs and the really expensive antibiotic IVs. So, it will be interesting to see if this will flag them and they will take a second look at what I am submitting or if they will continue to pay 50%. If you could please, please, please be praying that they will continue to pay half. I can't tell you how much it would mean to our finances especially since I took a leave of absence from work and we no longer have that income coming in.
Now onto this past week of treatment...Monday through Wednesday, I handled the IV Rocephin morning and evening totally fine. We added Flagyl at the beginning of the week once a day, and I handled those IVs fine also. By Wednesday, we were set to step up on Flagyl to twice a day. Is this confusing you yet? It is quite the challenge to keep everything straight between all of my oral medication, supplements and IVs. I think a master list may be in order in the future as I tend to not be the most detailed person on the planet. :)
So, Wednesday night, I had everything with me to do an evening dose of IV Rocephin and Flagyl. However, my body had different plans. :P I started the IV Rocephin and boy did I get a reaction I was not expecting. Apparently, between the morning dose and my evening dose, my body decided it didn't want the drug anymore. I had a horrible reaction....throat swelling, asthma, and my mouth, throat and tongue went completely numb etc. It was quite scary. We toughed it out at home as going to the hospital never comes without its consequences. Don't worry though...the minute we would have seen that it was irreversible at home, we would have gone. All in all, it was a crazy reaction. It was especially odd that I was able to take it for two weeks with no problems and then all of sudden out of nowhere I reacted. I have heard of this happening to my friends. We are not quite sure if I developed a true allergic reaction to it or if the Lyme Disease caused me to become allergic to it (as it does such crazy things with your immune system), but whatever the case is, I will not be having that antibiotic for quite some time.
I have stepped up on Flagyl to twice a day and next week we are set to do three times a day and add Zithromycin. So prayers would be appreciated that I would tolerate the increased doses and new drugs. I really don't want to experience anything like I did Wednesday night for quite some time. :)
Well, that is our update. These are getting shorter and shorter as you can tell. I am pretty tired these days from traveling to Phoenix and my treatment. Plus I pretty much feel like junk 90% of the time. Brian is busier than ever studying for the CPA exam. So, our words our fewer; however, I promise to keep the weekly updates coming! :) Hope you have a great first week in October! Blessings!
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