Here we go...

This is going to be a short post and boy do I mean short! :) Well, we are officially now submerged in chaos between my schedule and Brian's. :) My graduate coursework is insane and the further we get into this semester, the tougher it gets. My professors are awesome, but with how cruddy I have been feeling this past week, the homework load looks extremely daunting.

Brian feels pretty confident with his performance on section #2 of the CPA exam last Friday. I am so proud of him!!! We should get the results in about 4 to 6 weeks. His schedule is as crazy as mine as he is immediately going to have to start studying for section #3 while also working on his two college courses.

I wanted to update you and tell you that we found a supply of the heparin that I am not allergic to. Praise the Lord! There is an awesome receptionist who works at my local doctor's office and she went on a hunt and came up with a 5 month supply for me. We ordered enough so that there would not be a chance that we would run out while we finish up IVs. We will have to stop probably in about 5 months and switch to oral antibiotics because we will no longer be able to afford the cost of intravenous therapy. So, Brian and I are both praying hard that these last 5 months will hit the bugs hard and that God would stretch our finances for us to be able to make it to our goal.

I didn't do IV treatment this past week, because we didn't have the heparin flushes, but will start again on Tuesday. We are also set to start Rifampin which will hit the co-infection Bartonella. Please pray that this does not hit me as hard as I am afraid it will. I know Bart is a big player in why I am so ill, so we are hoping that I can take this medicine successfully and we will actually see some gains instead of a big crash!

I want to put this announcement out here so that you are ready in a couple of weeks when I ask for help. For my big research project requirement for my master's degree, I am going to be investigating the impact that social media (Facebook, Blogs, and other online social networks) has on patient education in relation to Lyme Disease. I will be putting together a survey and will be asking for participants (I need about 50 to 100). Also, I am going to be intertwining patient stories, so I will need as many as I can collect. I have started putting together a blog for this project and that is where the survey and patient stories will be displayed along with a weekly discussion activity for any who are willing to participate. So, if this interests you, and you want to be a part of the study, watch for an announcement through Facebook and/or this blog. You can participate in any or all of the 3 activities. I would love for this to be published in an academic journal which would be yet another way that would help raise Lyme Disease awareness.

Well, that is all for now. I need to try and get some sleep as this past week was pretty awful symptom-wise. Please just keep us in your prayers. Treatment is tough, school is tougher and the exhaustion from the constant stress is the toughest. I will try to update you soon! Blessings!