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!