Lyme – Page 7 – Jesus is for the Wounded

One Day

Published on March 20, 2017March 21, 2017 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

Friday my Doctor recommended some new supplements to further my care and seemed pleased at some progress revealed in retesting of my gut health. But neither product is available right now; instead I had to crash in bed that night and most of Saturday.

Yesterday I thought I would work on trimming a sterile plum tree in our backyard that is riddled with black knot disease. We are trying to save it for a few more years of it’s flowering glory in the Spring and rich wine-colored leaves in the Summer. It was not to be so today.

Tomorrow I hope that my trial of THC-free hemp oil will resume with receipt of a shipment in the mail. I didn’t realize when I started it recently, how much I would need nor the extra timing needed for shipments across our country. This could help resolve the seizure attacks as soon as this week . . . if I get the dosing right . . . and if the next shipment arrives shortly thereafter. But there was a fire in a warehouse between here and there, threatening my continuity of care. Maybe I will have enough? Maybe not? Lord knows that one day we will have figured this all out!

When today came I thought I might clean our bathrooms and floors then complete an infrared sauna treatment before heading outside. Instead I was sick. Only the sauna treatment happened.

Then later and just when it looked like the core of my treatment plan was coming together, another infection sent me and my beloved to the walk-in clinic of our local hospital. Geez oh man. Steve offered to take me out to dinner last night but I could not make it. I was hoping to take a walk with him and the pup in the sunny, 50-degree weather. Nope, not today.

I cried a lot before proceeding with what we did need to take care of me today. Life sure is funny. Perhaps some medical appointments this coming week will clarify what I should do next to get well in addition to responding to urgent changes that seem to come along every few days. And maybe someday, one day, we will make plans for something fun and they will really happen!

In the meantime, date nights will be at a clinic or pharmacy at Walgreens or driving to the nearest metropolis for a fancy NeuroQuant brain scan. At least in the case of the latter, we got to see a dear friend, Mary, for a quick lunch at Freshii’s in Chicago’s Loop. Now that’s making the most of a day, eh?

Straining to trust in my Lord this night. Choosing to trust in His Word and promise to carry me through it all no matter what may be one day for:

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³    a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶    a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷    a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸    a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time.   Ecclesiastes 3

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Full Moon Follies

Published on March 13, 2017March 13, 2017 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

My beloved qualified as my “Night in Shining Armour” last night. If only it were for a victorious time instead of quite the opposite . . .

One would hope that significant interventions to quiet my inner storm would start working already. Or at least tame the tempest beast when challenges such as noxious exposures and the mysterious workings of a full moon come along. I have read a hundred or more testimonies of the latter: that for persons battling chronic disease, symptoms can worsen around the time of a full moon. Perhaps it coincides with the life cycle of various bacteria or parasites? Who really knows? What I do know is that the worst of everything came forth and both of us are pretty beat up today from the lack of sleep along with the emotional and physical trauma.

Continuous convulsive spikes of every dimension
Headache, joint and muscle pain, ringing in my ears, dysarthria, bradykinesia, left-sided parasthesia, hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli
Visual anomalies (spots of bright lights when my eyes were closed)
Cognitive slowing
Difficulty breathing and communicating
Incredible frustration and discouragement leading to hysterical crying and anguish
Neurological collapse requiring maximum assistance with feeding, toileting, and dressing
Eventually passing out in bed around 2:30 a.m., partially dressed with no recollection of falling asleep

The 100% THC-free CBD oil provided a temporary pause in seizure attacks as did a large dose of liposomal Biocidin. The entire episode finally ended shortly after taking my (3rd) nightly dose of Low Dose Naltrexone. I must add that the only positive part of this experience was when I could open my eyes and saw my hubby in his night clothes as he cared for me. I liked that!

Please pray for us. We are exhausted. The demands of life go on just the same. My MRI with NeuroQuant study our of State will be delayed due to severe weather expected tomorrow; I am hoping to reschedule the appointment for later in the week. Let’s hope that the NeuroQuant and the updating of multiple medical tests this month will be fruitful, Lord willing. My Jesus goes before us and sees us through it all. I trust in His timing, His plan for our lives. Thank you for praying.

And thank you Steve for your heroic love and care. May the Lord carry you today.

We wait on the Lord this day and always as we try to figure this out! This illness is killing us. JJ

Treatment Update and New Learning

Published on March 10, 2017March 11, 2017 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

So they say that the brain is relatively “plastic” meaning that new associations can form within it over time, over the synapses between cells, even structures. This can make a critical difference in the long term outcome of traumatic brain injury, seizures, stroke, toxicity, and disease processes affecting our central nervous system. Thank goodness. I might just make it out of this neurological illness with something good?

New associations can form in the brain via various mechanisms: learning a new skill, subject of study, or behavior (such as breaking a habit and replacing it with another). Utilizing memory can draw together old and new centers of the brain where information is stored. Sensory stimulation from the five senses and movement also have an impact as each stimulates different centers in brain stem and cerebral cortex. Movement increases blood flow to virtually all of the tissues of the body including the brain. I understand that all of these activities but new learning in particular, can help slow down the onset of age-related dementia. Never stop learning folks . . .

My own ability to learn new skills appears to be improving. I have volunteered to help a friend finish her website and continue to be the Assistant Editor of the quarterly Canoe News magazine of the United States Canoe Association. Both require learning how to use software programs I had only heard of in the past; never used them in my occupational therapy career. Cool beans. Thank you Lord for these projects and my ability to tackle them! When faced with a problem to solve, my attitude of late has been more of, “I’ll figure it out,” than anything else. I like it!

And in general, the seizure attack episodes that I have suffered daily for 5 years are trending downward again. Thank you Lord again! My Doctors have transitioned my care from anti-bacterial (Lyme) to anti-viral medications and supplements. We are re-testing several areas this month as well. The biggest help overall appears to be the addition of 100% THC-free hemp oil. This is a special kind of CBD oil made from industrial hemp NOT medical marijuana. All of the cannabinoids except CBD are removed; not even the legal limit of .3% THC remains that is present in other CBD oil products. (I wrote more about this here.) It’s the only independently lab tested product of its kind that I could find in the United States. Note that the CBD oil I am taking is LEGAL in all 50 States! I know. I have been researching this issue for 4 years and have tried other CBD products available in my State.

My activity level has gone up some with pain coming down enough such that I can: work on the 2 projects noted above, walk the dog 3 times per week, and leave the house for one non-medical activity per week. So far, that is. Looks like I might have had 2 outings in the past 6 days of this past week already! I have started to be able to do my physical therapy exercises. Thank you Jesus! And when I got sidelined last night with noxious symptoms in the middle of the night, at least I had strategies to get me through a rough headache and morning today. I’ve got tools to use now that actually help my symptoms. This is a big deal to me.

Lord willing, Monday will bring an important imaging test in a large city about 3 1/2 hours from home by car. My beloved hubby is taking me. The test is a special MRI scan called an “MRI with NeuroQuant processing.” The NeuroQuant software takes volumetric measurements of various brain structures and compares them to a normal brain. Experts have identified parameters of significance in both the Lyme and Mold illness that provide diagnostic information and help in determining the severity of these respective illnesses. This test is also used in traumatic brain injury, stroke, Parkinson’s, and Multiple Sclerosis care and more. I am pursuing it due to headaches virtually every day in addition to the remaining convulsive episodes. Several EEG and sleep studies have shown no negative findings. My regular brain MRI a couple of years ago was normal. Maybe the NeuroQuant will help rule out other causative factors?

So did ya learn anything new today Gentle Reader? I sure did. I learned that there still is a someone-or-two who cares about me and what I have to say. Thank you for that dear one.

You rock! JJ

The Awakening

Published on February 26, 2017February 27, 2017 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

No plant reacts instantly to a brief change in conditions. But a change that persists is an invitation to wake up. (From the Dirt Simple blog.)

Lately I am finding myself in a place in my world that brings me to a humbling yet screeching halt. I ask: what has happened to the me I once knew and where the heck did I land? The Lord knows the journey that has transpired; the witnesses have varying accounts of this or that as well. But it is the markers in time, the events out of the ordinary that bring the changes to light, that clarify what is actually seen. Let’s see if I can explain a bit more about what is going on over here as one of those episodes hit me hard . . .

Three days ago the daily seizure attacks that I have suffered for 5 years ramped up to over SIX HOURS PER DAY. One day these were all in a row, virtually without ceasing until the wee hours of the morning. The next day I got a divided dose of 3 1/2 hours in the morning then an encore of SIX MORE HOURS in the evening! I cannot even describe to you the mental and physical anguish this brings. Time stops. A single breath, one then the next, is the only measure in my mind of the clock of life ticking forward. Difficult decisions got made between my beloved and I resulting in his cancelled trip getting replaced with the sights and sounds of another hospital emergency room. The drug they gave me helped. Miraculously, the convulsive spikes are but a blip here and there for now.

I have had over a day now to contemplate what life might be like to be normal again. Indeed the pain has gone down some, the brain fog got less misty, and my ability to move improved. So I completed a small garden project yesterday and walked our dog this evening. I think that the ER Doctors who have told me that this illness isn’t biological are dead wrong. Stop the seizing and I don’t need a psychiatrist to tell me to get back into life. I don’t need convincing. It just happens!

There is much to figure out right now. Will I get to work on more treatment like taking down viral infections? How long will I stay on the new medication that could hurt me if it was too long? What will I really do with my life should this process of healing continue? I am hopeful again and that is good. Alas it is poetic that these changes should occur as the earth warms from the cold of Winter outside. Unlike the plants that are either remaining dormant out there or are testing their new growth with some surges in our Spring-like weather lately, I will wait to wake up all the way. In the meantime maybe I can do some good with this wee bit o’ energy. After all, there is no rushing a beautiful awakening to a new life.

Five years is a long time to have been asleep.

I bought a new truck like my Dad’s just 5 days before a kayaking trip changed my life forever. I got sick from the water. I don’t know why I told you that. It’s been a long detour. Now things are changing wildly. Maybe the new beginning will need to involve a little road trip in my sweet ride? To the nursery just out of town of course. They sell bags of shredded pine bark compost that should fortify our garden vegetable beds nicely.

See what I mean? It’s already happening . . .