We are still alive! :)

Hey Everyone!

Wow, I did not realize how long it's been since I last blogged. I apologize! Time just has gotten away from us.  I am happy to say that we are still alive and moving forward. Life has just been extremely busy.  That in itself is a positive as it means that I can handle a busy schedule. Yay! :)  You definitely know it's been a long time since your last blog post when you log into Blogger and you can't figure out how to write a post.  :D  I know that many of you have asked for an update, so here it goes!

Work has been extremely busy for both of us.  We are definitely thankful for the jobs God has given us, but I will admit, we are both pretty tired.  I have been working an average of 6 days a week.  I love what I do, and I still pinch myself sometimes when I think of what an amazing job I have.  I am now skilled to train 5 different programs at my work, and I am in the process of learning program number 6.  In the last 5 weeks, I have probably had a total of 4 days off, however, training customer service agents and seeing them excel on the programs makes it worth it!  They said our fall was going to be busy, and boy, they were not kidding.  I have about 7 more weeks of a crazy schedule, but I just found out that there will be no training classes from December 1 until after the first of the year.  So, I get about a month off! That is perfect timing as I will probably want to collapse by that time, and we have family coming to visit. :) I am definitely looking forward to a break.

Overall, my health has been pretty good.  We are still doing acupuncture.  We really credit the Lord and acupuncture to the amazing turn around.  I still have days where I don't feel good (tired, achy, headaches and dizziness); however, it has enabled me to work a lot and also we have seen my chemical sensitivities drastically improve. I still have sensitivities that flare up every once in a while, but what a difference a year makes!  We are hoping I will continue to make positive gains.  Brian has been able to start attending church regularly, and it is my home that I will be able to join him on a regular basis soon!  We also are currently working with a couple of doctors to balance my thyroid and hormones.  We would love to start looking at having family, but my polycystic ovarian syndrome makes it quite challenging.  We would really appreciate your prayers that God would move in this area.

Brian's work is very busy also. He is working on a project at work where he has had the opportunity to take more of a management role. He loves it! Brian really excels in those types of positions.  In late June/early July, he was able to meet with some of the partners at his firm to discuss the future of their company and also how Brian would fit in going forward. It was an awesome meeting, and it looks like Brian is going to get to use his educational background in come capacity as he is going to be working on their training program.  Man, if you would have told us years ago that Brian and I would both be in the corporate training field, we would have probably laughed in your face. :)  It's cool to see how God guides and directs you on the path of life.

Now onto Brian's health.  For the last couple of months, Brian has been really tried.  We thought it was because he has been working so much and maybe the result of the last 8 years of craziness, but he wanted to go to the doctor to get checked out.  After a number of tests and an MRI, we were told that he has a small 4mm tumor on his pituitary gland.  The good news is in 99% of the cases it is benign.  Also, he was told by his endocrinologist that about 10-20% of the population have this and don't even realize it. They are not sure why they develop.  There really is no treatment.  They just do repeat MRIs every 6 months to a year to make sure it doesn't change in size.  Crazy huh!  He has a follow-up appointment to discuss some additional test results on October 10th.  If you could be praying they could find a solution to help Brian not be so tired, we would appreciate it!  We got a Vitamix in August, and Brian has enjoyed making green smoothies.  He also has started exercising, but he still his pretty tired throughout the day.  Please just pray that the doctors would have wisdom and most of all, that the small tumor will not change in size as the months/years go by.

Now onto a cute topic. :) I know, I posted something on Facebook the first week of August, but I would like to introduce all my blog readers to the new addition to our family.  His name is Zach otherwise known as Zach Attack.   He is a 12 week old Cavachon puppy and boy does he keep us busy.  I don't know if I have ever met a dog with this kind of energy level. He is super adorable, and we love him, but he is SOOOO naughty!! :D  Right now, his new thing is to rip out our carpet.  I definitely wish we had wood floors!!  We do thank the Lord over and over for allowing me not to be allergic to these types of dogs.  Toby and Zach bring us a lot of joy, but there is never a dull moment which brings me to my last topic.

Recently, I noticed that my engagement/wedding rings were missing.  I am usually so careful with them. I always put them on my dresser if I am at home.  The last time I remember seeing them was when I went to acupuncture on the 22nd.  They have mysteriously disappeared.  We have torn our house upside down and spent hours looking for them.  Brian even went out in the yard to see if one of the dogs had swallowed them (which would have not shocked us, lol) and then given us a surprise in the end. :D They are nowhere to be found.  Obviously, this is very devastating.  They were insured, but Brian and I had a lapse of judgement and didn't bother getting them reappraised since the price of gold has increased.  So, yes, they are insured, but no, we won't be receiving the full cost of the rings. Please ladies....if you have not had your rings reappraised, learn from us!!!  We definitely would have liked to actually collect what they were worth.  Live and learn!!  In a couple of weeks, Brian will be flying back to Nebraska to go get a replacement from the same jeweler who sold him my ring almost 10 years ago.  Isn't that romantic?!! :)  I am very blessed with an amazing husband!

Well, that is all for now!  Again, I apologize it has taken me so long to put a post together. As I look at my schedule the next 2 months, I am guessing you won't see another post from me until December. So until then, Happy Fall Everyone! See you soon! :)

Summer Waves :)

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are enjoying the summer weather! It has been HOT here!  I can't complain though...it's nice to live in a place where it's sunny 90% of the year. :)  Do you all have big summer plans? I hope you will be able to take some time away from the business of life.  Brian and I were going to try and get away to San Diego for a couple of days, but between our two work schedules and my heath, it doesn't look like that will happen this year.  One of these days we will make it there! :)  I would love to visit the ocean; however, Brian and I joke about how our life is a never ending ocean of crazy waves so why would we need to visit one. :D

The last 6 weeks have been challenging, but now overwhelming.  I haven't felt the best, but at the same time, I am still in a much better place than I was last fall.  I think, that is what keeps me from getting too discouraged.  We still have a lot of positives in our life, and I praise the Lord for those!  One thing we have noticed is that my chemical sensitivities keep improving.  We thought we had stalled out in that area, but we have had to test them (some by choice and some not by choice) quite a bit in the last couple of weeks and for the most part I have done okay.  I went to an actual hair salon (that had a nail salon inside it) to get my hair cut instead of the normal cheap haircut at Supercuts.  It was AMAZING to get it cut and styled. In fact, I love it!  I get so excited about these little things. :)  I found an incredible stylist, and I can't wait to get it cut again! So, I praise Jesus for the gift of being able to feel normal in that aspect.  I have also been exposed to chemicals/scents and overall done okay.  So, we think we are down to my big offenders like a couple of colognes, formaldehyde and latex.  It also depends on how much I have been exposed to over a period of time.  I seem to be more sensitive the more I am exposed too.  However, I haven't had ANY bad reactions except for a minor incident at Whole Foods because of their monstrous peanut display.  Why do stores do that!?! LOL  So, we are really praising God! The Lord has really worked in this area, and we are thankful. We pray that things will continue to improve.

My other health areas have been up and down.  I would equate them to waves...some weeks are better than others.  I haven't crashed praise the Lord, but I haven't felt that great.  We are still trying to figure out what we are dealing with.  We aren't ready to just jump to Lyme without making sure that all other areas have been investigated. I have quite a few doctor's appointments in the next couple of weeks.  The catalyst/tidal wave was our ER trip last Friday.  Yep, we graced the ER with our presence last week.  We just felt like they were missing us too much.  Ha!  Actually, it was kind of a scary episode, and I am thankful we live close to the hospital.  I hadn't been feeling well for a couple of days.  My heart had been racing a lot, I was short of breath and dizzy.  It would come and go.  Those symptoms are nothing new for me. So, I ignored them.  However, Friday evening Brian and I were sitting and watching TV. I wasn't doing anything, and all of a sudden my heart went from my normal rate (about 85 or 90 bpm) to a whopping 156 bpm in the matter of second.  My heart was pounding so hard.  I started to get sick and almost passed out. I was shaking and weak.  It took about 5 minutes for it to go down to normal.  Talk about scary!  After that episode, I just felt terrible.  So, we decided to go get it checked out.  My heart rate kept going up and down and when we got to the hospital it was back up around 135 bpm.  I was take back to the cardiac room and hooked up right away.

We were there for a long time.  Praise the Lord they didn't find any arrhythmia, just a rapid heart beat. They talked to the cardiologist on call and he wanted me admitted for observations so he could see me in the morning. So, we got to spend a lovely night in the hospital.  Everyone we came into contact was great.  We got to see one of the best cardiologists (that's we were told, and we definitely agree).  He checked everything over, and said that at this point he wasn't too concerned since this was the first episode I had.  He said I most likely had an episode of Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) which isn't dangerous, but makes you feel terrible.  With my sensitivities, he doesn't want to jump to adding a drug to my daily meds, but he wants me to monitor it. I have a follow-up in a couple of weeks with my own cardiologist.  He answered all of our questions and was a great listener.

Before we were discharged, we saw the internal medicine doc that had been assigned to my case.  He was AMAZING. I wish he saw patients in an actual office, but he is only employed by the hospital.  He went over my entire history and symptoms looking for other causes for the rapid heart beat and also wanted to address issues I have been dealing with lately.  He gave us a couple of ideas on what to pursue from here which includes seeing an endocrinologist to get help with my thyroid (my labs were off), hypoglycemia and PCOS. With how I have been feeling lately, I have been wondering if this will just be life or if we could still work on things to help me feel better. It was nice to have a bit more hope.  We now have some new avenues to pursue.  I have an appointment with an endocrinologist in a couple of weeks.  So, overall, it was a great experience at the hospital. We were very impressed with how they handled my case as I am not an easy patient EVER. :)

I have about 3 weeks off of work, so that is nice.  It's fun to be able to spend time with Brian as he is just wrapping up the whole CPA license application process.  He should be licensed by the end of July.  It will be great for him to finally have that license in his hands.  What an accomplishment! I am so proud of that man!!  With life stabilizing a bit (aside from the hospital episode), we have begun to work on things around the house.  It's nice to be able to do some normal things instead of just being in survival mode after 7 years of that.  Wow, it's been 7 years of illness!  Crazy!!!  This week, I was able to clean the house and keep up with house stuff.  It's nice to be able to still function even if I am only feel about 70%.  I give God all the glory!

Brian has some business trips coming up.  So, if you could please keep us in your prayers, I would appreciate it.  As evidence of last Friday, we just never know what will happen next with my health.  Brian doesn't like to leave very often and thankfully these trips only come a couple times a year.  So, please just be praying for safe travels for him and that it will be non-eventful on my end. :D

Tomorrow, June 7th, is our anniversary. I can't believe we have been married 9 years!! I am in awe of all that has happened, and it amazes me to see all that the Lord has brought us through.  We definitely have not had a normal married life; however, our faith remains strong in the Lord and our love for each other grows stronger every day.

Brian, you are the most incredible man I know.  Thank you for taking care of me, for loving me even though life is not always easy, and for leading our family.  You are the man of my dreams, and I am thankful that I get to do life with you.  June 7, 2003 was the best day of my life.  I married my best friend, my confidant and my soul mate. I am excited to see where life will take us in the future.  Wherever the Lord leads us, we will tackle those mountain tops and valleys together.  Through the Lord, we can do ALL things, and through God we will be victorious! Love you sweetheart!

A blog post...surprised?!?! :)

You know, it crossed my mind that I hadn't posted in awhile.  So, I decided today would be the day.  I logged into blogger and the whole entire format changed. I couldn't even figure out how to write this post, lol! That's when you know it's been too long!  I always swore that I wouldn't be one of those ones who got better and stopped posting, but look at me now...I guess it's a good thing we have God's grace. :)

Let's see...I don't even know where to start the update! I left you off back in March.  Things were going well health-wise!  The last time I took an antibiotic was December. Yay for being off drugs for this long! God is good! There was a time in there where I would have never thought it was possible.  However, God has truly been my sustainer.  To Him be all glory honor and praise!

After I got my new job, I gave my two weeks at my current job. It was so hard for me to do since I knew my new position didn't have guaranteed hours. I went back and forth for days driving Brian absolutely crazy.  The unknown is so scary for me even when it's a good thing.  I think, I am just still wrestling and trying to digest all that has happened to us in the last 9 years.  It's hard to battle the "what ifs" and not look at what's happened to us in the past, but through God I am learning how to have victory in this area!

About a week after I was officially done, my new job called me and said the training that they had originally had me scheduled to do fell through.  I was told that it could be anywhere from one week to 2 months before something else came along.  I about had a heart attack! All of my fears came crashing through.  I mean, we had enough money to float us for a month or two because my old job paid 2 months in the rears, but once again I was battling my fears of the unknown.  Everything in me wanted to run back to my old job to have that security, but Brian encouraged me just to hold out until April.  What he said was so true...God dropped this amazing opportunity in my lap, and we need to trust that He will come through.  It was so hard as I just waited week after week, but I am so glad I did.  Four days before my April deadline, I got a call and they had a training job for me.  I was beyond thrilled! Ever since that time, I have been busy.  In fact, my classes went so well in April,  I just was told I am going to be learning 2 other projects in the next month. May is completely booked for me, and when I say completely booked I am talking about something every day except for maybe 3! :) That is crazy insane, but I love it! I even turned down one class because it would have caused me to do double shifts, and I didn't think that would be the best for my health.  The feedback I have gotten about my classes has been amazing. I truly know that this is where God has gifted me, and it's amazing to be able to use my gifts for Him!  I found out that there is only one other trainer on staff that is busier than I am, so that is a definite compliment!!  It just astounds me when I think about how I just opened my e-mail one day and saw that my company had e-mailed me offering me a chance to interview for my current position.  If you remember, I hadn't even applied for it. They found me!  God is SOOOOOO good!!!  It will be fun to see where this takes me in the future! :)

Let's see...in other of health, we are still trying to figure out where I stand. I will admit that my new job does impact my health.  The stress on my body isn't the greatest, but I am finally getting to do what I love, so I am not about to give that up. We are just praying that my body will adjust.  I need to find a way where I can work and not get so adrenalized. Brian and I have talked a lot about it.  When you train, you have to become like a cheerleader on steriods, lol.  That's the only way I can explain it. I am serious...if you heard me, you would crack up.  It's so much fun, and the agents love it, but it's hard to go at that level for hours on end and every night.  I need to figure out a balance.

Overall, I have done very well off antibiotics. We didn't really hit a snag until the last couple of weeks, and we are pretty sure the stress of my job has played a factor in it.  We are messing around with hormones, so that really isn't helping.  I have some joint pain, headaches and nausea that comes and goes.  However, we are seeing that sometimes it is impacted by what I eat.  For example, I am not allergic to cheese, but if I eat it day after day then I get a lot of joint pain.

I just saw my amazing primary physician and we did a bunch of blood tests to make sure we weren't dealing with anything else.  We are also going to be working with my acupuncturist to see if we can upright stuff naturally.  We are believing God that we can! I was on antibiotics a LONG time, and we don't want to go back down that route unless we absolutely have to.  We won't be dumb about it, but we want to rule out everything else and try all avenues before going there.  I am nowhere close to feeling as sick as I did last fall.  We still believed God healed me in many ways.  We will keep believing Him for complete healing as long as we live!  Now, we are just in that time of testing to see how far we can push my body and where we need to pull back to keep from becoming to run down. It would help if we could get my insomnia under control.  I am just such a light sleeper that when I am stressed or have a lot going on, it directly hits that!

We are still dealing with my chemical sensitivities too.  They are better, and I am able to do certain things, but then I still have limits.  Shopping is now almost always okay for me as long as it's not a perfume or candle store, lol.  However, we tried to go to the movies (shock....I know!!), and that didn't work out so well. I made it 30 minutes and then we had to leave because I was having an asthma attack. I just think there was too much in the air.  We are definitely still seeking God for complete healing in this area. It would be wonderful to not have to be so careful, but oh well...I am just so thankful for where we are now.  We are praising God for the strides that I have made, and we continue to pray that God would make those strides even bigger in the future.  We are also praying that God would guide and direct us about starting a family.  We are still trying to figure out where my body is at health-wise. However, we have always wanted a family, and we are not about to give that up. :) God has the power to move mountains if it's His will! :) Please send up some prayers about this for us! We would really appreciate it.

Brian finished his last class for the CPA exam certification requirements.  WooHoo!! (We say that in my training classes all the time, lol).  I am so proud of him!!! I know, it's a relief to be done.  He is waiting until after his birthday in June to submit his paperwork so he can avoid having to take more classes, but it's such a weight off of his shoulders!  He has a couple of business trips this summer, and one of them is to Washington DC. He gets to attend a national accounting conference. So exciting! I wish I could go with him! :)  He has been under a lot of stress lately with his job.  We are hoping things will settle down.  Please just be praying for direction and guidance in the area of leadership.  Brian truly wants to make a difference at his work now that he is in management, but he feels like there are some roadblocks.  He is amazing at what he does.  I have confidence that God will use Him big time! :) Please just be praying that God would open some doors.

Although I still haven't been able to attend church regularly yet, Brian does really want to get involved. Please be praying that God would show him what area.  Please also pray that he could meet some awesome Godly men who would invest in him.  With my restrictions, we have had quite the lonely 7 years, so it would be great for him to be able to develop some strong Christian friendships locally.  I keep praying that my sensitivities will improve to the point where I can attend church regularly! Shopping doesn't bother me because I can be in and out of store in 10 to 15 minutes, but sitting through an entire church service is a little bit of a different matter.  I believe my God can do it though!!  Please just pray that God would move in this area so that we can have that Christian fellowship.

Well, that's our update! We are excited for the summer and to have family visit us. Brian and I are also looking at trying to drive to San Diego just to get away for a couple of days. We have had really good luck staying in Residence Inns. They tend to not use a lot of chemicals.  So, we might attempt that in August or September if we don't have to go back to San Francisco to see my Lyme doc.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support!  Blessings!

Happy March 1st!!

Hello Everyone! Wow, I can't believe February is completely gone. The last post I made was on January 31st. Life has been a bit crazy, but a good kind of crazy! :) The weather has been gorgous! I just looked at the forecast for this week, and we are going to hit 82 degrees. So exciting! Time to get the flip-flops out!

Life should slow down pretty soon as I will only be working one job instead of two. It has been a big month for us. I will give you the run down. For the past couple of years, I have been teaching English to South Korean students virtually. Last summer, I was promoted to virtual trainer. In this position, I have been training new employees how to teach our students. I did this along with teaching English for two shifts. One of those shifts required me to get up at 4:30am every day! Yikes!

Anyways, I have not been looking for other jobs; however, during the first week in February, I got an e-mail asking me if I would like to interview for a vitual training position with one of the largest and well-respected virtual call centers in America. I was shocked! I had applied with them a couple years ago to be an agent (when I was looking for other employment). I hadn't heard anything. It's extremely difficult to get in with this company. Some people wait 4 years! My hubby and I prayed about it, and we felt like I should go through the interview process since God kind of dropped it in my lap.

The interviews went great, and I was offered the position. The hours are really flexible, and the compensation is amazing when you are training. Everyone I have come in contact with at the company has been wonderful! They are all former elementary/early childhood teachers. They all have such a passion for education and training. I also will have the opportunity to obtain a full-time training manager position in the future. After quite a bit of prayer, my husband and I decided this would be a perfect job for me. I finally get to use my master's degree to its potential. I am ecstatic!! This is what I have wanted to do for so long! It's amazing to me that I can go in at this level instead of starting out as a customer service agent (like most virtual companies require you to do).

So, I gave my two weeks at my current company, and I have been balancing two jobs. March 6th is my last day at my current company. Then, I will be able to focus on my new one. When I see what God has done in February, I am just in awe. His blessings truly abound! I wasn't even looking for something like this, but God had them find me! It still is contract work for now, so my hours will be pretty inconsistent. However, financially, the times when I am training will be enough to carry me during the down times. I am really praying that I will be offered a full-time position in the near future. They said with my experience I will be on the fast track. However, I have to be able to travel 8%, so I think, my MCS will be the main hurdle. God will work it out though!

Health-wise, I am still doing very well. It will be so good for my body not to have to get up at 4:30am. I want to start working out every day. I still have had no lyme or co-infection symptoms! We are just in awe of how God healed me from those infections. We believe that it was a miraculous healing because there is NO way that I could have successfully made that step in the fall. We are praising the Lord for His grace and mercy! It brings tears to my eyes as I think where I was last fall and now where I am today. All glory to him!!!

I am still battling MCS and allergies, but they are not as bad as they used to be. Also, God healed my body gallbladder issue so I was able to avoid surgery and even the diagnostic test! God has just done so much. I wish I had all day to sit here and type all the ways God has moved in our lives lately. I didn't think I ever thought this day would come! I always believed that God could heal, but I wasn't sure what God's plans were for us. My mindset for so long was that I knew he could heal, but I wasn't sure that he would heal my body. I am so glad we didn't give up storming the gates of heaven! We are blessed with the opportunity to be able to testify to God's healing power! We are still working on getting my MCS to improve and balancing my hormones, but after everything God has done, I have no doubt that the Lord can heal these last two areas!

Brian is doing very well. He is extremely busy, but so talented at his job. Once he finishes up his last class (he has one final left), and he obtains his CPA license, he wants to serve on the worship team at our local church. We hope that day will come quickly! This last class Brian is taking is very very difficult. In fact, people who take the CPA exam and pass it on the first try struggle to get a C. The teacher is not very good, and she does not write the tests fairly. You could study the textbook and know every ounce of it, but the test will contain a ton of information that was not covered. Please be praying he will pass this class! He has been working so hard, and it would such a blessing for him to be able to be finally done!

We are so excited to see what God will do with our future! For awhile now, Brian and I have been praying about writing a book about our experience. Our journey has been long and crazy, but we can testify firsthand to God's faithfulness and his provision. If God chooses to use our story to help encourage others, we want to walk through that door! We also hope to be able to get involved in a church and get back into ministry. That is our heart's desire. Brian can do it, but I need my MCS to improve. So, we are praying for complete healing in this area!

That's our update! Thanks for praying and walking this journey with us! We appreciate all of the support we have received! Please continue to pray for all of my precious friends who are still very sick with Lyme and co-infections. Please praying that God would work supernaturally in their lives, and that they could be victorious! Blessings to you friends!

Below is a song that has been so encouraging to us lately. Remember, to listen to it, you will have to push pause on my music player at the bottom of this blog.

Still Moving Forward :)

Hello folks!

I can't believe how fast January has gone by. It's so crazy that we are one month into 2012. March will be here before we know it and then I turn 23...jk...it's more like 32, but I like reading the numbers backwards better. :)

Things are starting to settle down after our fun adventure in San Francisco. Praise the Lord! My gallbladder is pain is intermittent these days, so we are hoping and praying we can avoid surgery. We suspect that I have what they call "sludge" that is moving through. They didn't see any gallstones on the ultrasound, but sometimes, you have "sludge" that is thicker than liquid. As it moves through your gallbladder and through your ducts it can cause a lot of pain. Many Lyme Disease patients have issues with their gallbladder because of treatment with long-term antibiotics. We are desperately praying for a miracle so that we can avoid surgery. If surgery was the only option, of course, we would trust God to take care of me. However, if we can avoid it, that would be much better as my doctor in California was a little concerned about what it would do to my body. He said I will probably do well during the procedure, but often times, Lyme patients relapse afterwards. Also, battling MCS and all my crazy allergies doesn't exactly make it risk-free. :P So, if you could please be praying that God would work a miracle, and we could avoid any further testing and surgery, we would appreciate it!!!!!

Before I continue with the update, I want to take the time to tell you how thankful we are for my Lyme doc in San Francisco. I can not put into words how grateful we are for who he is and what he does. He is brilliant, funny, understanding and goes above and beyond for his patients. While we were going through the hospital adventure on our trip, he talked to us on the phone a couple of times to help us make decisions. He even told Brian to call him if I had surgery so he could know how things went. He has helped thousands of patients, and I'm truly blessed to be under his care! It's very difficult to become a patient of his, but we are so thankful God opened the door.

We are actually on week 9 of no antibiotics! I can't believe it!! I am still doing so well. I don't really have any Lyme or Co-infection symptoms. God is SOOOOOOO good! We are celebrating big time. We have had lots and lots praises in the past 9 weeks. I am not completely healed, but we are seeing big gains. We had a little bump in the road with my gallbladder, but for the first time, that crisis didn't bring us down emotionally. We have confidence that God is working, and we are so humbled and blessed by what He is doing! A couple of days ago, Brian and I were chatting about what God has done. I haven't really posted a lot about it because we wanted to watch and see what happened. However, God is too amazing for us to keep quiet anymore. So, I am going to list the miracles we have seen lately. Hopefully, it will be an ecouragement to you!

-As I said before, we are on week 9 of no drugs! Whoohoo! :) My symptoms have not returned. I don't have ANY bone/joint pain, cognitive issues, twitching, numbness/tingling, air hunger and the list goes on and on. This has been the biggest praise for us! I used to only last about 3 weeks before I crashed. To be able to go this long and feel good is an absolute miracle.
-I have more energy and feel well enough to help around the house! This is such a praise as I am able to start taking some of the load off of Brian. He has carried all of the responsibilities for so long. It is exciting to be able to start doing things for him instead of him only doing things for me.
-My chemical sensitivities and allergies are improving! My stay at Stanford was a big testimony. I was in the hospital for 5 days and exposed to a ton of things. We didn't have hardly any issues. Also, I have been around perfume, and it doesn't make me want to escape or not breathe. I actually think it smells good sometimes which is amazing. I haven't been like that since I first got sick. I am tolerating the smell of all kinds of foods and spices. I have been able to expand my diet some which has made a huge difference in how I feel.
-My candida issue has gotten much better since I am off antibiotics. I have been able to add back in some milk products and eat more carbs.
-I am completely off Lyrica and Ativan! Lyrica was a bear to get off of with the withdrawal symptoms; however, I made it.

So, those are our praises! God is really working in my life ever since I was prayed for in December. We didn't experience a miraculous instant healing, but we are seeing God's miracles each week. His timing is perfect, and we are grateful for his blessings. We still have some prayer requests. The are listed below:

-Please continue to pray that the infections would not come back. We believe God has set me free from this area; however, we always pray for my protection.
-Please pray that my chemical sensitivities and allergies would completely disappear. We have taken large steps in this area, but I am still not free from them. We don't have to be as careful these days, but I still react sometimes. This is an area that we would like to break-through in a major way. I would LOVE to be able to get back into ministry and to be able to have Christian fellowship on a regular basis without a lot of health repercussions.
-Please pray that my gallbladder issue would be healed and that we could avoid any further testing and surgery.
-Please pray for my insomnia. For some reason, this is the only thing I am struggling with, and I don't really feel like it's related to any of the infections. We are trying to stay off a lot of drugs to give my body a break, so we are praying I can start getting a restful nights sleep on my own.
-Please continue to pray that I will win the battle over Candida. It will take some time to heal from all the antibiotics. We are praying that my system will be restored quickly.
-Please pray that Brian can finish his last required class so that he can obtain his official CPA license. It's always hard to balance studying and life. Brian is almost done. He can see the finish line. Please pray that God will help him finish strong.

Well, that is all for now. Thanks so much for your prayers! God is using them to move mountains in our life. We are so humbled that you have supported us for so long while we have been on this journey. We continue to hope and pray that I will experience complete healing so that God can use us in big ways in the future!

San Fran and Beyond

Hello Everyone! I know I have made some posts on Facebook, but I wanted to give you an update via this blog so you can be praying! I know it seems like our San Francisco trip was full of trials; however, we actually did have some really positive parts too! I will make sure to highlight those big time because we can really see God working miracles!

We started out early Thursday morning on the 12th. I had actually been having abdominal pain for about 4 days before we left and it was worse that morning. We weighed the pros and cons of going to the ER in Tucson before we left for our trip, but decided against it. Unfortunately, we only made it 2 hours down the road before we had to stop in a small town ER to get me checked out. It was ghetto lol, and no, they weren't sure what was causing it. We wasted a good 5 hours which really put us behind in our trip.

We had scheduled an appointment with my LA doctor at 1:30pm that day, but obviously weren't going to make it at that time. She was nice enough to reschedule for 6:30pm. Overall the appointment went very good. She said all of my infections (Lyme, Bartonella etc.) had drastically improved and that it seemed like my immune system was fighting the infections on it's own for the first time in FOREVER! Yay God and acupuncture!!! I was still in quite a bit of pain, and she was a big concerned that it could be an ectopic pregnancy (no, that would have not been planned), but it was NOT. So, praise the Lord for that! Since our LA appointment was so late, we didn't arrive at our San Francisco hotel until 3:00am early Friday morning. This trip was serious the trip without sleep!

The next day, my pain was still there, but I believe with all my heart that God held off the pain so that we could spend some time with our dear friends Melody and Spencer. They are an amazing Christian couple who have also struggled with Lyme Disease. Their faith and testimony are such an encouragement to us. They drove down from Northern California to spend the day with us on Friday. It was such a precious time! Thank you to both of you! You blessed us more than words can say!!! :)

We had my Lyme doctor appointment on Friday afternoon. It went really well. He was happy with the progress I was making without antibiotics. He encouraged us to stay the path, but to keep him posted if anything changes. It was fun to start dreaming about our future again since I have taken such a turn for the better. I don't really have too much to say about the appointment. It was actually pretty quick. He did examine the cause of my abodomen pain and was a little concerned it was appendicitis. Every doctor has an opinion. :) However, we trust my San Francisco's opinion a ton more than the LA doc's.

After we got done hanging out with Melody and Spencer that evening, we went to bed only to have to wake up and hour later because I was in excruciating pain once again. We headed to the ER. Fun times! Another night with no sleep!!! It's difficult to completely rule out appendicitis with me because I am allergic to the contrast IV dye for Cat scans. The surgeons were convinced it was appendicitis when they examined me, but were hesitant to do a laproscopy procedure without absolute proof because of my horrible allergies and chemical sensitivities (which have markedly improved...another yay God!). So, we ended up going through a battery of tests, and I was admitted there for 4 days.

Most of our stay in the hospital was good except when Brian kicked one of the doctors out of the room, lol. It was actually our last day there, and they had a general medicine doctor come in to start the full body work-up because their tests for appendicitis and gallbladder were inconclusive. This young doctor comes in and basically gives us a lecture about how we are not going to have surgery (I did NOT want surgery so I have know idea where he got that). Then, when Brian asked him what other causes could this pain be from, he proceeded to only give us one option which was "psychological trauma manifesting itself in pain"...REALLY???!!!! I started crying because I was exhausted and I knew I wasn't making it up. He looks at Brian and says, "see, that further proves my point". It was appauling and Brian threw him out of the room! After he left, the rest of the day the hospital did damage control. We saw about every high powered official in the hospital. They came to apologize and basically bend over backwards for whatever we needed. We ended up leaving that day with pain meds in tow because we were getting no where. They said we would mostly likely be safe to make it back to Tucson, so we trusted God and we made it just fine. I don't really remember most of it. Dilauded will do that to ya! :P

Once we were back, life hasn't slowed down. I had an appointment with my primary care physician and she said I needed to see a surgeon asap because of my pain. She suspects it is my gallbladder but we need to rule out the appendix too. I had my surgeon appointment yesterday, and she said I have to do one more test that involves the gallbladder before I have surgery. I should have that towards the beginning of next week and HOPEFULLY I will be able to have surgery on Friday. Please be praying for this! I am not sure how far she books out, but I am in a lot of pain and Friday would work out best with our work schedules since we both have missed so much work! Brian's work has been awesome, but my work is more difficult because my students tend to freak out when they have a substitute. It directly impacts our income which is not what we need right now with all of the upcoming astronomical hospital bills!

The pain got bad again last night and we ended up in the ER AGAIN. Another night without sleep. Brian and I are absolutely exhausted. Thankfully, my mom is coming today to help out. I can't mention enough what a gift this will be. We are so behind in life and are so exhausted that Brian and I didn't even ask the surgeon any important questions when we had my appointment. We walked out and probably only said two words to her since we were in shock from the past week. We should have grilled her about the procedure, talked to her about my chemical sensitivities and allergies etc. We did nothing. We just sat there as she told us we needed a scan first, and then walked out. Duh!! I am glad we will have my Mom here to think of those things for awhile. :)

It's crazy how life ebbs and flows. God has been doing some miraculously things with my health, and we definitely don't want to discount that! We have seen my symptoms from my infections pretty much disappear with God's power and acupuncture. My chemical sensitivities have improved too! I am definitely not as sensitive as I used to be. Perfume actually smells good to me instead of being a major threat to my body. I am still reactive to stuff especially after the events of the past week, but I am improving! During the past week, we have both been challenged to not look at the past and wonder if we are going backwards. That is something that our pastor has talked a lot about recently. I won't say that we have been totally successful (Brian is so much better at it than I am), but we are trying to hard even in the midst of these circumstances to believe God for my healing and trust that I am still moving forward even with these little bumps in the road.

So, here are a few prayer requests:

1. Please pray that I do not react to the Gallbladder test that I will have this next week. New things are always scary, but God has definitely been faithful every step of the way!

2. Please pray that we can schedule surgery on Friday of next week. This would be a miracle and would work out perfectly with our work schedules. Also, please pray that the surgery would be successful, and that they would locate the source of the pain with an easy resolution!

3. Please pray for the pain and my sensitivities. It seems like the more pain meds I have to take, the more it sets off my histamine system. So, if I can stay off of them, it would be so much more beneficial!

4. Please pray for our finances. Our bills from the past two weeks (extra hotel nights, hospital visits etc) and the upcoming surgery are really going to drain the finances. Please pray for God's provision!

5. Finally, please keep praying for healing! Please pray that we would keep our focus where where it needs to be - on Jesus! We believe that he is doing to miracle in my body and maybe, this is all part of the process of up-righting my system to it's full capacity. :)

We will try to keep you posted! Thanks for praying friends! :)

A New Year ~ Overwhelmed by God's Grace

Hey folks! I have been mulling over this post for awhile. I am going to give you a short update, and then I will get onto the purpose of this blog. I hope everyone of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's! Brian was home for 11 days, and it was wonderful to be able to spend some time with him. He of course made a list (he loves to do that) and was really productive. He deep cleaned the entire house (all we have left is the kitchen), and I am praising the Lord that I felt well enough to help him some. My husband is a rock star! :)

Now, onto the exciting news! Today marks week 5 of being off antibiotics. Actually, it is week 7, but at the beginning of December I went back on antibiotics for a week, so the count kind of started over. That's why I am still looking at it as week 5, but what a great accomplishment! I haven't really noticed any decline. I have a little bit of pain in my feet and shins, but on a scale of 1 to 10, I would say it's a 1. So, it's barely noticeable, and I can definitely live with it. That is such a praise! We know this is the right road for me. In fact, I am actually feeling so much better off of the drugs. We have decided to do acupuncture twice a week. I feel the best when I do that, and it's really helping. Another praise is that I am completely off the drug Lyrica, and my autonomic nervous system hasn't freaked out. Yay! We are praising God for these miracles! We are also starting to attempt to work on regulating my hormones since I have PCOS. This is going to take awhile. We will use acupuncture along with some natural supplements and herbs. It's exciting to be able to take these steps.

Week 6 is big for us! That is when I started crashing the last time; however, we feel strongly that I will be fine. We can see God working, and we are trusting that he is going to heal me without the use of those drugs. We go to San Francisco next week on Thursday. My appointment with my Lyme doctor is on Friday. I am really excited to go. I am excited to tell him all that's happening and share with him what God has done. We have some things we want to discuss with him, so please be praying that he will be accepting of our current decision in regards to treatment, and that he will be able to give us some guidance.

Now, I want to get to the reason for this post. For a couple of years now, I have consistently read a number of blogs written by Lyme Disease patients. Many of these patients post videos that they have found of those suffering from Lyme Disease. To be honest, I haven't really watched a ton of them because it's a little difficult emotionally. However, I believe with my whole heart that God led me to watch the video at the bottom of this blog post. It is one hour and 14 minutes long which is more time than I usually spend on these things; however I was drawn to it.

I have to say that in that hour and 14 minutes this amazing Christian couple's testimony impacted me in so many ways. It literally turned my life upside down. It is a video assembled by her husband for her birthday. Her name is Christa, and for years she has suffered from a chronic illness that causes her excruciating unimaginable pain. She actually tested positive for Lyme Disease and other co-infections and went through treatment. This amazing Godly couple has handled her condition with a faith in God that absolutely astounded me. I will be honest with you and tell you that the video is extremely difficult to watch at times. They made a decision to document both the good and bad times, and I have never in my life seen such suffering. They have been to so many doctors and clinics and have gone through the agony of getting no answers. You visibly see the pain that Justin goes through as he walks the halls at night praying while his wife is screaming from the bedroom. This is not a video you will want to watch in the presence of young children.

You might be asking why I would want to share something that is so difficult to watch. I want to share it with you because as you watch their journey, their faith and perseverance will touch your heart. They never have once questioned God. Scriptures carried them through the darkest of times. Justin talks about his wife's faith and how this has only brought her closer to the Lord. Whenever she had a break in the pain, she studied her Bible. She never once asked why. Their goal as a couple has always been to give God glory in ALL circumstances even through pain and suffering. I was so overwhelmed by what an example of Christ Justin is to His wife. Their life has been extremely difficult as shortly after they got married Christa became deathly ill, but he never once stopped loving and serving. He is a true example of how Christ loves the church. As he cared for his wife, I was reminded constantly of how Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us. He loved us that much!

Even as I write this, I feel like I am not explaining adequately how incredible this video is. I know it's long, but I promise you, it will change your outlook on life. It taught me what true faith and surrender is. It showed me how we should serve one another. Above all, it showed me how God can be glorified even in the darkest of circumstances.

For those of you who will struggle to get through to the end (have a box of Kleenex ready), the ending is filled with hope. She is doing much better now. She still has healing to do, but her pain is decreasing every day, and they have been able to do things like a normal couple. Please be praying for Justin and Christa! They are an amazing couple, and I have a strong feeling that God is going to use them in incredible ways.

The video is below. You will have to push pause on my music player at the bottom of my blog so it doesn't interfere. (More writing below the video)



I want to take this time to thank my husband. I know that I have said it before on this blog, but there are some who know what people like Justin and my husband go through as their wive's struggle through an isolating and sometimes debilitating illness. Yes, they have to carry the load of being a full-time care giver and provider; however, they do much more than you can ever imagine. Although, I do not have horrible pain, my chemical sensitivities and horrendous allergies have made our journey very difficult. One of these days, I want to write out our story from start to finish. There are things that would make your jaw drop like driving home from the Mayo Clinic in the middle of the night because I couldn't drink the water in Minnesota and was severely dehydrated. We froze for 7 hours in 20 degree temps because we couldn't use the heater as it would let too much exhaust into our car and I would have an asthma attack from the chemicals. We had to stop half-way home in a small town to get IV fluids in the emergency room because I almost passed out in the car.

There is the time when we were moving to Arizona because I was too sick to live in Nebraska anymore. We couldn't find a hotel to stay in that I didn't react to in Colorado. We drove around for 6 hours and checked out over 20 hotels. We were exhausted, stressed and knew that I was so sick, but had no answers. I remember standing in the middle of the hotel room balling my eyes out. All I could eat was chicken and drink a specific kind water. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't even sit on the bed without having an allergic reaction. Brian was at a loss at what he could do to help us. I remember he just held me and we cried together. We were taking a huge risk moving to Arizona not even knowing if I would be able to live in my new environment. We felt like we had hit rock bottom; however, God carried us through.

It's time like these that I am so thankful for God and his provision and protection. I am thankful for the husband who has been my rock through it all. Brian's life has and is not normal, but he has never complained. He loves me like Christ loves the church, and our marriage is as strong as it's ever been. God doesn't owe us anything, but his blessings abound. Our journey has taught us to cherish the little things, and for that, I am forever grateful.

I can truly say, I am overwhelmed by God's grace...