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!