He's Coming Home! :)

Phewww...what a long week! Brian has been in Amarillo, Texas since Sunday on business. He gets back tonight. It's been a challenging week in so many ways; however, I am thankful for the Lord's protection, peace, provision and comfort. It's times like these that I am so overwhelmed with the gift God gave me in Brian. I know I have said it before, but the way he takes care of me, our house along with all of his personal and work responsibilities is so amazing. Before he left, he not only had to pack for his trip, but also make sure I had all of the things I would need including cooking some of my food ahead of time. My chemical sensitivities make it so challenging to normal every day stuff. I am truly blessed to have such an incredible man. I am excited for my best friend to walk through that door!

The week began with a pretty unexpected scary start. On Sunday night, I was sitting in my living room with my puppy talking to my Mom. I heard a noise outside, but thought it was just my imagination running away with me since I knew I was by myself. This happened at around 8:30pm. At 10pm, I had to take the dog out. He kept going to this one area in the backyard looking at something, but since it was super dark out, I decided to wait until the morning to see what it was. I knew it hadn't been there before, but I thought it was a stick.

I am not having to wake up at 4:30am to work at 5:00am to earn some extra money. Believe it or not, I am starting to get used to this schedule. It's tough, but I am adjusting. Anyways, after my early morning work shift, I took my puppy out. I went over to that area of the yard, and you wouldn't believe what I found!!! It was about a 7 inch knife. I was in shock, and that wave of dread washed over me. Obviously, someone dropped it in our yard the night before. So, there was someone out there! After getting the advice of some people, I decided to report it to the cops. When they came to get the knife, they said that they had a car break-in that night exact night one street over. They weren't sure if the two were related, but told me to call if I heard anything again. I am so thankful for the Lord's protection!

I am not a naturally calm person. I have always battled fears ever since I was little, and since I contracted Lyme Disease, it has intensified the battle with anxiety as it messes with so much neurologically. So, let's just say that this week has been a battle. Each night, I have had to consciously surrender, and trust with everything I have for God's protection. This should be a state that I am always in, but I am not usually very good at. I found these verses and they have been a comfort.

"But Moses told the people, 'Don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.'" Exodus 14:13-14

What a precious gift. I love when the Lord speaks to my heart like that. This is exactly the message I needed this week. I won't say it wasn't still difficult, but it helped me make it through.

Health-wise, it's been challenging also. I have had horrible fatigue. I feel okay when I get up in the morning, but starting about 10am, I hardly have any energy to move. I have been sleeping a lot during the day to try help increase my energy levels, but it has still been tough. So, I apologize if I have told you that I would call you, but haven't yet. Working my two shifts is about all I have energy to do each day. I am hoping this improves soon as my last grad class starts in about a week!

Overall, treatment is going well. I am handling the 7 day Rifampin dose pretty well. It's been about 3 1/2 weeks of stead antibiotics without any break. I did start to get pretty reactive towards the end of last week. When the medication builds up in my system, it really sets off my histamine system. I was starting to slip, but I went to my first appointment last Friday afternoon, and it was perfect timing. My acupuncturist is working on helping my liver detox naturally. Sure enough, within about a couple hours, my histamine system stabilized and I felt better! Yay! She is really great. I am so thankful I found her. Brian and I were talking, and we are so thankful for the team of physicians that I have now. It's been a long time since we have had such a wide variety of individuals working towards one common goal. It is obvious that they Lord led us to each one. We hope that God can use all of their wisdom to help me heal!

I have had some old symptoms pop up in the last couple of days, but that isn't surprising. We still seem to be on an uptrend if we could just get this fatigue under control! One thing we did just find out is that the supplement that I use that has helped me detox and has been the key to improving my sensitivities has been pulled off the market. I talked to the company and they said that one of the company's they were getting a particular ingredient from started being too lax in their quality standards. So, they pulled the product and are now looking for other options. This was kind of hard to handle. Since I started taking Toxin Absorbmax, my chemical sensitivities have become manageable. I have been able to go grocery shopping with Brian, and I have handled scents and fragrances so much better. Brian and I had even talked about trying to go back to church in June sometime. I am trying not to get discouraged, and just look at this as a bump in the road. However, it's disappointing when I have come so far. I am going to be talking to my doctor to see if we can find the individual ingredients since there are only 3 and maybe I could just take them separately. Please be praying that God would provide an answer for us. We are supposed to be adding a new one this weekend. If you could be praying for God's protection, I would appreciate it. We couldn't get this one compounded into a pure form, so I am a bit nervous to try it. Plus, it is always hard on your body the more antibiotics you take. I am going to have to up my probiotic dose! :)

I have a phone appointment with the NMD at my doctor's office on Monday, June 6th. We are going to ask him to bump up my dose of Rifampin. We really want to kick Bartonella. The quicker we can get off these heavy antibiotics the better. We have almost one month down, and he said it would take about 4 to 5 months. So, we are one step closer to victory! God can do it! :)

I am pretty nervous to start my last graduate course as this is a course about managing e-learning and instruction design programs. It is a really hard class. We do one group project and that is our only grade. It will be super challenging since I do not have a lot of experience in this area, but I have an amazing team, so I am hoping it will all be okay. Only about two months until I am done with my degree! I can't believe it! I can see the end in sight! Honestly, if you would have told me years ago that I would have a master's degree, I wouldn't have believed you. I am so thankful to the Lord for this opportunity.

Well, I need to go lay down again. :P I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend with your friends and family. Blessings to you!