mold illness – Page 15 – Jesus is for the Wounded

Truth be Told

Published on May 22, 2013 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

It makes no difference to a dog

Published on May 18, 2013May 18, 2013 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

I finally got off the couch today around 1:00 a.m. That’s when I started to feel better and realized that a few more newly installed plants still needed watering in the yard. My husband, Steve, had graciously watered a few before he went to bed at 11:30 p.m. when it became clear that it was not going to rain this evening. Yipes! I don’t want to lose the new seedlings, annual flowers, bare root starts, transplanted bush and perennials that I was miraculously able to get in the ground these past three weeks. And now in the wee hours of the morning, I am grateful that it makes no difference to my dog what time we go outside to the garden. Anytime, any weather, any occasion, she is ready. I wuv my pup!

I am so glad that it also doesn’t appear to matter to my Jesus what I am able to accomplish in a day. While I look around and see the paper towels that need replacing in the kitchen, the crock pot that has been running for a day and a half that needs to be put in the refrigerator, a full load of clean dishes in the dishwasher that need putting away, and so on, I am acutely aware of all that I am unable to do. Ah, there’s that phrase from my 12-Step Program days: I am a human being, not a human doing! I am perfectly o.k. just as I am, sitting on the couch for most of today. Now I also know that there are other issues such as stewardship, working as unto the Lord, and using my spiritual gifts to serve others unto Him. Those tasks will be there another day. Today was a low key day. Today was a sick day. And today is over, yeah God!

I wonder what tomorrow will bring? One thing appears to be certain: Elle will be ready to go, available without needing to stop and take care of anything else but please me, but be with me. Oh do I ever love like that? I pray that if I am able, I will love like that too, with a smile and a spring in my step. Maybe I’ll even get to help out at the plant sale at our local Cooperative Extension Office. Wow. That would be fun! Regardless, I will be o.k. It makes no difference if I fuss about it either. As for right now, it’s time to get some sleep!

Matthew 6:25-34

A Time for Prayer

Published on May 15, 2013 by Jesus is for the WoundedLeave a comment

The elders and some men rallied around Steve and I at church this evening to pray for us. (James 5:14) Very humbling and sweet.

Then they got back to business, teasing and cajoling one another in typical guy-fashion.

The Lab Rat’s VIP Update

Published on May 11, 2013May 11, 2013 by Jesus is for the Wounded2 Comments

Today was the 6th dose of vasoactive intestinal peptide or VIP for short. I’m taking it for lingering symptoms of mold illness, specifically neurotoxin complications. Turns out that it may also help modulate my extremely elevated TGF beta-1 lab value that could be creating the chest compression symptoms I’ve been having since the end of March. And to cover all of the possibilities, my LLMD ordered, and I completed, both a pulmonary function test this week to rule out asthma and a cardiac work-up three weeks ago to rule out a heart attack. I guess you could say that my Doc is thorough! He certainly is brilliant. But you know at times, I just feel like a lab rat!

The immediate noxious after-effects of the VIP dose may be diminishing; today is day 10, dose #6. Since we did not have time to talk about it in my medical appointment this past week, I’m on my own to titrate it properly. So Doc Julie recommends continuing on a once per day, every other day dose at noon (to reduce the possibilities of nightmares that occurred with midnight dose #2). It’s still early in the dosing so perhaps I’ll decide to increase it to a daily nasal spray when the subsequent nightly seizure attacks are reduced. Did I mention that I feel like a lab rat in a lab coat? A white coat, that is. And no, they are not “coming to take me away to the funny farm, where life is free and wonderful all the time . . . ” yet!

So with a little cynicism, I hereby report that I am continuing on this journey into a complicated course of treatment with prayer and caution. Yeah, you thought I was going to write, “fear and trepidation” didn’t you? Nope. I’m too far gone on trusting the Lord with this to let my faith fail with some healthy skepticism that creeps in now and then.

Signing off for now,

J. Rat