Category: Recovery from Serious Illness: Lyme, CIRS, & More

Enemy Number Two

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moldimagesEnemy number one is the author of all that is evil, Satan himself.  Fallen from the angelic realm, he roams the earth tempting and taunting everyone.  Unless we claim the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will have no defense against his schemes nor against sin.  With faith in Christ, we are free from the penalty of sin (which is death), receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our eternal life begins with the triune God.  Whether I live or perish in this earthly life, I have eternal victory in Jesus Christ.  Enemy number one is defeated.

I have a new enemy in my life and it is not Lyme Disease.  Enemy number two, superseding all other hassles is mold.  Mold is making me sicker and sicker every day.  Turns out that the floods in our home when our water softener filter broke, twice, have introduced this dangerous neurotoxin into our master bedroom and bathroom.  We got a good look at some of it tonight when my husband, Steve, shined a flashlight under the bathroom cabinet.  Greenish blue spots splatter the wooden base that backs to the garage (and where the water softener is located).  The next step is to pull up the carpet and examine the pad, drywall, and wooden base in the bedroom.  Geez!  No wonder the ERMI (household DNA test for mold) exceeded the scale values.  We have a serious problem!

Sick building syndrome and mold exposure can mimic the symptoms of Lyme Disease or worsen them.  Initially I wondered if the mold exposure complication I was suspecting was from working some years ago in a moldy old hospital Aurora, IL.  Certainly I had chronic sinus infections back then, with the sick leave eventually complicating my job situation.  This newer exposure leads me to wonder if this is why I have had such a rough time treating Lyme Disease?  Is this why I am  struggling even more since ingesting mold (microbial rennet) in Gruyere goat cheese this past week?  Well with this discovery, we not only have a serious problem, we might have a solution!

Steve and I are implementing some survival strategies while we investigate the matter further.  We wonder if our homeowners’ insurance will cover repairs and we wonder how to protect me and everyone in our household from further mold exposure?  Can I stay here?  Thankfully, I will see my Lyme Literate Doctor this week and this will be a center point of our discussion for sure.  I’m feeling very sick these days.  Thank you for hanging in there with me as we prayerfully proceed.

Since the Lord has given us victory over enemy number one, we know that He will grant us grace, mercy, and peace with “enemy number two.”  And this night, I will be keeping my eyes fixed on Him.  Oh Lord, grant me your gracious mercy, yes mercy please.

Not all goats can be my friend

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goatimagesI finally figured out what kept me in neurotoxin distress for the better part of two days:  guyere goat cheese!  Turns out that this particular type of goat cheese is made with microbial rennet.   According to Wiki,

these molds are produced in a fermenter and then specially concentrated and purified to avoid contamination with unpleasant byproducts of the mold growth. At the present state of scientific research, governmental food safety organizations such as the European Food Safety Authority deny QPS (Qualified Presumption of Safety) status to enzymes produced especially by these molds.  The flavor and taste of cheeses produced with microbial rennets tend towards some bitterness, especially after longer maturation periods.[3]

Great.  Cheese that is unsafe in Europe is o.k. in the great United States of America.  I rarely ate goat cheese until I was put on a special diet to control “neuromuscular events.”  The first 3 weeks on this diet have been challenging due to limited and exotic food choices yet it appeared to be helping some.  Then consumption of guyere goat cheese put this mold sensitive gal with Lyme Disease in a neurological crisis for about 5 hours on Wednesday and another 5 hours on Thursday!  I know that I am sensitive to mold but had no idea that I should search for it and avoid it in food.  Lord have mercy!

Today was a recovery day, waking up because of a four-minute seizure attack, difficulty breathing, and a splitting headache in the middle of the night.  Or maybe I should say that after a lot more sleep, today was a recovery day.  Turns out I might not have turned off the wireless router correctly late last night.  Sometimes that bothers the symptoms of Lyme so we always turn it off at night.   I finally started feeling better around 4:30 p.m. after a good cry.  Gratefully my sister-in-law asked to chat on the phone and brought out the best in me; finally showered at 7:00 p.m.  Later I got to meet my husband’s son Daniel’s sweet date, Erin, and have my own date with my hubby to Office Depot and the post office.  This is huge, gang.  Running errands with my buddy is a treat lately . . .

I don’t really blame the goat for this setback.  That scrawny creature didn’t add mold to it’s milk for me to get sick on it.  Somebody out there probably loves microbial rennet.  I’m just frustrated.  Maybe tomorrow will be better.

He’s kinda cute in a way . . .

You Can Laugh at Anything but not Everything

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Case Scenario #1

Husband helps his wife dispense a glass of water out of two-tiered water dispenser in the kitchen of some friends’ home during a New Year’s Day party.    Wife cautions her engineer husband to be careful as he tips the dispenser forward to get the water flowing.  Upper bottle suddenly becomes dislodged from the base, spilling 4 GALLONS OF WATER OVER THE WIFE AND THE FLOOR!!!  Mass chaos ensues as some scamper for towels for the floor then eventually for the wife.  Moments later I am outfitted in some cute-but-too-short sweats and socks while my jeans and warm fuzzy socks head to the dryer.  My shock at the incident lasts for hours afterward as I wasn’t feeling good in the first place.  Overall, I am glad we made it to the party and the hostess was very gracious.  I think we broke the water dispenser, though.

Case Scenario #2

Seizure attack episode ramps up then subsides as I decide to take my Epsom salt and baking soda hot bath today.  The soak was uneventful as I later drained the tub intending to take a shower and get going for the day — after all, it was already 2:30 in the afternoon!  For some reason I am immobilized and unable to get out of the tub for a long time.  My mind goes numb, I have trouble initiating more than one step of a task at a time, and I can’t seem to call or knock on something for help.  This is Chronic Lyme Disease and its complications.  Husband comes to my rescue and helps me get myself together with a little coaching from his occupational therapist wife on how to perform a tub transfer.  Flawless execution ensues.  More time passes before my coordinated movement returns and allows me to make my special diet/lunch at 6:00 p.m. or so.  I’m now very hungry and thirsty!  Food and drink revive me.  I think I’m moving a bit slower than normal, though.

So which one did you laugh at?  In the end, the second one was the most humorous for me.  Seriously!  The difference was the attitude of my husband.  An hour under the covers, recovering from a bath misadventure can be delightful between husband and wife no matter the details.  I guess it’s all a matter of perspective and I love it when Steve and I connect with the same perspective.    Maybe next time we will be “on the same page” so to speak when the water breaks loose.  This time, the bath water won, for sure.

(No honey, I’m menopausal not pregnant!  Gotcha!)

After the Wedding

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Many Christian weddings call upon the Apostle Paul’s marvelous description of love to help us know what love really looks like.  Sound familiar?

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

When you see love in action, you know that it truly exists.  While love is the hallmark of God’s gift of marriage, we know that it exists in many other relationships too.  I must write that I have seen it again today like so many days these past five years.  To see love as created by God himself, is to fully be alive.  To feel loved by another, is to know that God exists.  To love in return, is what I can do to say thank you.  To love before I see it, before I feel it, before I can give it, is to become an instrument of the Lord.  All are humbling and wonderful.

Today was a particularly difficult day.  More noxious symptoms occurred than usual and many continue at this moment.  And yet I feel no less loved than any other day from my beloved husband, Steve Horney.  He is my Jesus with skin on today and for that I am more than grateful.  I . . .   I . . .   I . . .    All I can say is thank you and I love you too!

If you were not in my life, my dear Stevers, I would have my Heavenly Husband to help me through this day.  He knows what days this has been true in my past and what days He will be my Rock in the future.  Wow.  Today I have both.  God is good.  All the time.  God is good.