Today I got the Vitamin C IV and fluids with adrenal support. We had an appointment with my doctor today. Ever since I've been here, we've just been trying to figure the abdominal problem. We have ruled out any serious, life threatening things that would need immediate attention. Now, it is time to start killing Lyme, and any other things that are going on. We switched my pain medicine, so hopefully that will help to keep me more comfortable. The body can't heal when it's in so much pain. The time will come when I don't need pain medicine, but for now, I do. My mom and I have been really worried about me being on so much pain medicine for so long. We've been reassured that for right now it's okay. Not ideal at all of course, but they're watching it closely. It made us feel a lot better.
We are still going to do the rest of the MRI next week, because we still are worried, as are my doctors.
So today I got my first push of this trip. I got it at 3 and a few minutes later, the body pain down to my bones started. I had 3 blankets because I was so cold. Thankfully, I fell asleep for a few minutes. So far I've just had fever, body pain, migraine, and the abdominal pain has increased. I've twitched some, but not bad. Im also feeling very weak. But today wasn't too bad. We stayed at the clinic for a while, and then got to leave. Im still hurting and weak, but it's not terrible.
We found out my protein and iron are very low, so we need to get those levels up again. Im sure there's more that we found out at my appointment, but i can't remember it at the moment.
Thank you so much for praying for me today about the push! It was tolerable.
We'll see how tomorrow goes!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Update - Wednesday Night
Today I got the usual Vitamin C IV and fluids. I got another breathing treatment, which is helping my coughing.
I woke up in the middle of the night coughing so much and gagging from it, so I was up a lot. Im very tired today.
We are trying to figure out another plan to get my pain under control. The IV Demerol that I've been getting isn't working as well, since my body is getting used to it. I've had it almost everyday for 3 weeks now. Also, the morphine pills aren't working very well. So today I got a double dose of Demerol, and tomorrow I will again if I need it. We're probably going to switch my oral pain medicine too. My body has built up such a resistance to pain medicine because I've had to have so much, that it takes a lot to relieve my pain. Sometimes I feel like everyone is mad at me because I need so much medicine. I know it's not my fault, and I can't help it. It just seems like everyone gets mad at me because Im getting some strong medicine, and still hurting.
We actually got to leave the clinic early today! We left around 6.
Tomorrow I am supposed to start the push. It is a shot that goes in a vein, and stimulates the immune system. Lyme is very tricky at hiding from the immune system, and even shutting it down. So when you show your immune system that the Lyme (or any bacteria. The push works for anything) is there, it fights to kill it. Because it's so overwhelming and the toxins are so strong, you get a reaction. Usually I get a high fever, pain down to my bones, body shaking everywhere, migraine, nausea, and weakness and pain to the point where I can't walk or move much. This can last all night, and if it's a bad reaction it can last for days. It brings out your worst symptoms, and magnifies them to an almost unbearable degree.
Because of all the pain I am already in, the doctor wants me to stay at the clinic for the push. Usually you get it around 4 and then immediately go home to get ready for the reaction. It takes about an hour to hit after you get the shot. So I will get mine a little earlier, and stay there because they are a little worried about how my body will handle it, since it's really intense. Every night you are encouraged to go up a dose on the push to get a better reaction, but sometimes it's just too much. To tell you how strong the medicine is, they give people ONE drop of it, and they will react for days. That's what happened to Grayson, the boy my age here. It threw him into seizure like activity for days. He is not doing the pushes anymore, they will wait till things are more stable.
Sometimes the pain and shaking are so bad, that you have to stop the reaction. It won't stop the pain, but it stops the shaking. You have to take a bath of Apple Cider Vinegar, and it draws the medicine and toxins out. I've done that lots of times.
For me, the first thing that happens when I get the push is that deep inside me I start to hurt, and it feels like ice is running through my veins. Then, the shaking and fever starts and last a couple of hours. Next, the horrible pain that makes me not even want to move hits as your temperature rises. A lot of times I have to sit in the dark because of the migraines. Sleep does not happen because of the pain and fever and shaking. It makes for very long days and nights. Then you get to do it all over again the next day!
It really is terrible, but I have no choice. I came here to fight, and I have to do it. If I want to get better, this is what needs to be done. The push is so good for everything in your body, whether it be viruses, bacteria, scar tissue, and things like that. It just takes a lot of pain and suffering to get there.
There's a song, but I can't remember the name of it but I love one of the lines. It says, "You never said it would be easy, but you said you'd see me through the storm". I love that.
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Please pray for me as I start the push tomorrow, and that the reaction isn't very severe. I'm pretty nervous, since I'm already hurting so much, but they will monitor me and give me things as I need it.
Tonight I noticed that my abdomen is very swollen all over, so we need to have the doctor look at and see what's going on. We also have an appointment with him tomorrow to go over everything.
I hope you are having a good week so far! I know I say this a lot, but thank you so much for the prayers and encouragement! It helps me so much. As you can imagine, it's very lonely out here, so I love the messages from home.
I woke up in the middle of the night coughing so much and gagging from it, so I was up a lot. Im very tired today.
We are trying to figure out another plan to get my pain under control. The IV Demerol that I've been getting isn't working as well, since my body is getting used to it. I've had it almost everyday for 3 weeks now. Also, the morphine pills aren't working very well. So today I got a double dose of Demerol, and tomorrow I will again if I need it. We're probably going to switch my oral pain medicine too. My body has built up such a resistance to pain medicine because I've had to have so much, that it takes a lot to relieve my pain. Sometimes I feel like everyone is mad at me because I need so much medicine. I know it's not my fault, and I can't help it. It just seems like everyone gets mad at me because Im getting some strong medicine, and still hurting.
We actually got to leave the clinic early today! We left around 6.
Tomorrow I am supposed to start the push. It is a shot that goes in a vein, and stimulates the immune system. Lyme is very tricky at hiding from the immune system, and even shutting it down. So when you show your immune system that the Lyme (or any bacteria. The push works for anything) is there, it fights to kill it. Because it's so overwhelming and the toxins are so strong, you get a reaction. Usually I get a high fever, pain down to my bones, body shaking everywhere, migraine, nausea, and weakness and pain to the point where I can't walk or move much. This can last all night, and if it's a bad reaction it can last for days. It brings out your worst symptoms, and magnifies them to an almost unbearable degree.
Because of all the pain I am already in, the doctor wants me to stay at the clinic for the push. Usually you get it around 4 and then immediately go home to get ready for the reaction. It takes about an hour to hit after you get the shot. So I will get mine a little earlier, and stay there because they are a little worried about how my body will handle it, since it's really intense. Every night you are encouraged to go up a dose on the push to get a better reaction, but sometimes it's just too much. To tell you how strong the medicine is, they give people ONE drop of it, and they will react for days. That's what happened to Grayson, the boy my age here. It threw him into seizure like activity for days. He is not doing the pushes anymore, they will wait till things are more stable.
Sometimes the pain and shaking are so bad, that you have to stop the reaction. It won't stop the pain, but it stops the shaking. You have to take a bath of Apple Cider Vinegar, and it draws the medicine and toxins out. I've done that lots of times.
For me, the first thing that happens when I get the push is that deep inside me I start to hurt, and it feels like ice is running through my veins. Then, the shaking and fever starts and last a couple of hours. Next, the horrible pain that makes me not even want to move hits as your temperature rises. A lot of times I have to sit in the dark because of the migraines. Sleep does not happen because of the pain and fever and shaking. It makes for very long days and nights. Then you get to do it all over again the next day!
It really is terrible, but I have no choice. I came here to fight, and I have to do it. If I want to get better, this is what needs to be done. The push is so good for everything in your body, whether it be viruses, bacteria, scar tissue, and things like that. It just takes a lot of pain and suffering to get there.
There's a song, but I can't remember the name of it but I love one of the lines. It says, "You never said it would be easy, but you said you'd see me through the storm". I love that.
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Please pray for me as I start the push tomorrow, and that the reaction isn't very severe. I'm pretty nervous, since I'm already hurting so much, but they will monitor me and give me things as I need it.
Tonight I noticed that my abdomen is very swollen all over, so we need to have the doctor look at and see what's going on. We also have an appointment with him tomorrow to go over everything.
I hope you are having a good week so far! I know I say this a lot, but thank you so much for the prayers and encouragement! It helps me so much. As you can imagine, it's very lonely out here, so I love the messages from home.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Update- Tuesday night
Monday we got to the clinic early because of my MRI. I got IV fluids and adrenal support, and then we went to my MRI. It was an "open" MRI, but I was so claustrophobic still. I calmed down enough to be still though. We only did half of the test because of my coughing. I'm sorry, but can YOU hold your breath for 23 seconds while coughing up your lungs, with being short of breath from the pain? Yeah, I couldn't do it. We will have to go back when I'm over the cough.
After the MRI, I went back to the clinic for a Vitamin C IV, and shots. We got home around 7 last night, and I went to bed very early. I also got lots of IV pain and nausea meds like usual. The doctor called in some stronger cough medicine, so that helped me rest a little more last night. I still woke up at 5am coughing and hurting, but I was only awake for a couple hours.
When I woke up today I felt worse. My cough was deeper and worse, and I was hurting more. We woke up early for my lymphatic therapy. We got through about half of it before I broke down crying, saying it was too much. I hurt all over and her massaging me and working lymph knots out of me just made me hurt more. I was so upset that I couldn't handle it. I was lying flat the whole time, which made my coughing worse. We quickly left and headed over to the clinic.
For some reason, they couldn't access my port. We tried FOUR times, each time with a different needle. None of them worked. So we tried my arms. Of course, my vein blew. So we finally got a vein on the sixth try! My poor arms and port look terrible.
They started IV fluids with adrenal support and some pain medicine. I got 2, 30 minute breathing treatments, which helped my coughing. I got another Vitamin C IV and more pain and nausea medicine.
We just got home and it's 9:15 pm. We left at 9 this morning, so it's been a long day. I'm going to try to post shorter, more frequent updates, since the days are a blur from all of the medicine. And, since you are so diligently praying for me, I want you to know how I'm doing. Thank you so much for praying.
A couple of us at the clinic were talking about the verses of Jeremiah 29:11-13
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"
Praise God that He has a plan for everything, and has more planned for us than we could ever imagine.
We have a better plan of what this week might look like, but I'll post that later. For now, I'm going to bed! Goodnight!
After the MRI, I went back to the clinic for a Vitamin C IV, and shots. We got home around 7 last night, and I went to bed very early. I also got lots of IV pain and nausea meds like usual. The doctor called in some stronger cough medicine, so that helped me rest a little more last night. I still woke up at 5am coughing and hurting, but I was only awake for a couple hours.
When I woke up today I felt worse. My cough was deeper and worse, and I was hurting more. We woke up early for my lymphatic therapy. We got through about half of it before I broke down crying, saying it was too much. I hurt all over and her massaging me and working lymph knots out of me just made me hurt more. I was so upset that I couldn't handle it. I was lying flat the whole time, which made my coughing worse. We quickly left and headed over to the clinic.
For some reason, they couldn't access my port. We tried FOUR times, each time with a different needle. None of them worked. So we tried my arms. Of course, my vein blew. So we finally got a vein on the sixth try! My poor arms and port look terrible.
They started IV fluids with adrenal support and some pain medicine. I got 2, 30 minute breathing treatments, which helped my coughing. I got another Vitamin C IV and more pain and nausea medicine.
We just got home and it's 9:15 pm. We left at 9 this morning, so it's been a long day. I'm going to try to post shorter, more frequent updates, since the days are a blur from all of the medicine. And, since you are so diligently praying for me, I want you to know how I'm doing. Thank you so much for praying.
A couple of us at the clinic were talking about the verses of Jeremiah 29:11-13
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"
Praise God that He has a plan for everything, and has more planned for us than we could ever imagine.
We have a better plan of what this week might look like, but I'll post that later. For now, I'm going to bed! Goodnight!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Not the day we planned, but it's been nice.
Today didn't go quite as planned. But no day goes as we planned, right? We woke up planning on going snow tubing this afternoon. We called several places, but they were all closed because of the amount of snow fall. Every place was having to dig the lifts out of the snow. We were going to still try to go later today, but as I started getting dressed, I realized how bad I felt. I so wanted to go, but they still might not have been open, and I was too sick. It never gets any easier having to cancel plans with people. It makes me feel terrible.
My mom went and got me some cough medicine, which has helped some. I'm still on pain medicine around the clock, which helps keep me a little more comfortable.
This afternoon, my mom and I decided to get a pedicure. There is a spa less than a minute from our apartment, so I could do that. It was so nice! They massaged our feet and legs for a long time, and it was really relaxing.
We rented a couple movies and are making dinner at the apartment tonight. It's been nice not having to go anywhere, but I wish we could have gone tubing. We'll try again next weekend.
These are a few pictures from around our apartment! This is the entrance of the apartments on a snowy day.
The view off of our balcony
One of the gates to the apartments
I know I say it a lot, but thank you so much for the prayers and encouragement. I really mean it from the bottom of our hearts.
My mom went and got me some cough medicine, which has helped some. I'm still on pain medicine around the clock, which helps keep me a little more comfortable.
This afternoon, my mom and I decided to get a pedicure. There is a spa less than a minute from our apartment, so I could do that. It was so nice! They massaged our feet and legs for a long time, and it was really relaxing.
We rented a couple movies and are making dinner at the apartment tonight. It's been nice not having to go anywhere, but I wish we could have gone tubing. We'll try again next weekend.
These are a few pictures from around our apartment! This is the entrance of the apartments on a snowy day.
The view off of our balcony
One of the gates to the apartments
I know I say it a lot, but thank you so much for the prayers and encouragement. I really mean it from the bottom of our hearts.
Friday, March 25, 2011
More Lake Tahoe pictures!
Today has been a good day mostly. We got to the clinic early since it is Friday. I got fluids with adrenal support, and Vitamin C for the virus I have. My cough is deeper and worse today, which makes my stomach and chest hurt so much more than they already do! At the clinic I had to have 3 doses of pain and nausea medicine (Demerol and Phenergan). My stomach felt like it was having a spasm, so they gave me a natural pain medicine, which made the pain worse so I ended up just getting the regular pain medicine. After my IVs, I had another lymphatic massage. It went well. We only did it for an hour this time, to try and ease into it. When I threw up after the treatment on Tuesday and Wednesday, she said that is a good thing because it was a fast way to get rid of toxins. So it's good that I feel horrible and throw up all night? Yep. Well, if it is good then I guess I can't complain.
They are thinking that I have a kidney or bladder infection because of some things they found, so they sent my urine off for a culture. There could also be a kidney stone that is hiding from the CT scans. Hopefully the MRI Monday will tell more!
I'm feeling okay tonight. The pain started getting worse after my lymphatic treatment, so I took some medicine and that has kept it down a little. I took a bath, and am going to get in bed early.
Tomorrow we are going to try and go snow tubing with Grayson and his mom! It will be so much fun! We could go to the clinic tomorrow morning, but both of us need a 2 day break to survive the week.
On Sunday, the missionaries from our church who live in Brazil are getting here! I've talked about them on here before, and they were at the clinic last year when were here too. So this is the second time we will be at the clinic with them. We have so much fun with them!!
Here are more pictures from this weekend. On Sunday, it was snowing so much!
I hope you have a great weekend!
They are thinking that I have a kidney or bladder infection because of some things they found, so they sent my urine off for a culture. There could also be a kidney stone that is hiding from the CT scans. Hopefully the MRI Monday will tell more!
I'm feeling okay tonight. The pain started getting worse after my lymphatic treatment, so I took some medicine and that has kept it down a little. I took a bath, and am going to get in bed early.
Tomorrow we are going to try and go snow tubing with Grayson and his mom! It will be so much fun! We could go to the clinic tomorrow morning, but both of us need a 2 day break to survive the week.
On Sunday, the missionaries from our church who live in Brazil are getting here! I've talked about them on here before, and they were at the clinic last year when were here too. So this is the second time we will be at the clinic with them. We have so much fun with them!!
Here are more pictures from this weekend. On Sunday, it was snowing so much!
I hope you have a great weekend!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Thursday update
I still have pictures from last weekend to post, but here's an update on me.
Monday was a crazy day. Sunday night, after I took the morphine, I started having bad muscle twitches and the pain got worse. My whole body would twitch. Monday morning, I didn't take the morphine because of the reaction, so I was hurting so much by the time we got to the clinic. They started my IV, and then it was time for my dad and brother to go to the airport. We said goodbye, and my mom took them to the airport to fly back home to Oklahoma. The pain started getting worse so fast. I lost it, and was trying not to scream. I had to have the trash can because I felt like I was going to be sick. They had to give me double doses of Demerol and Phenergan. It was terrible. My doctor thinks that the cyst burst then, because it was so bad. After a couple more doses of medicine, the pain was less, so we got to go home.
Tuesday was a decent day. It was the first day that I didn't require IV pain medicine. I went to a lymphatic massage Tuesday afternoon. And why it's called a massage I will never know. It's not relaxing or anything. This treatment is to try and help the lymph system drain and release toxins. Mine is very backed up and not working properly. There are pressure points on the feet and body that correspond to organs. She worked on each, and which ever ones hurt, there could be a problem there. The worst for me where the bladder, kidneys, ovaries, and uterus. I almost jumped off the table as she pressed on those. There are also lumps all over my body that she has to work out, to get the lymph system moving. I can feel the lumps all over me, and once she works on them, they are smaller.
Everything was fine until an hour after the treatment. I got the worst migraine and body aches. My abdomen hurt even more. I had to go ahead and take morphine, and thankfully didn't have a reaction to it. Through out the night, I took 2 migraine pills, and the migraine was still there. I threw up several times starting at 6am, but went to sleep after that. I only got a few hours of sleep, and when I woke up, I felt terrible. I barely made it through a shower, before I begged to take me to the clinic. I couldn't stand light, so I hid under my blanket. They gave me IV pain medicine, and natural migraine medicine. That all helped my migraine, but not the abdominal pain and back pain. It was like I got a bad push.
Getting sick from the lymphatic treatment shows us that it's releasing toxins, which is a good thing.
Today I woke up feeling better than yesterday, but still not good. I've had to sleep with a trash can by my bed because I've been getting sick so much. I was able to take a shower this morning and get dressed, which was an improvement. I woke up with a cough, and my voice is hoarse. Coughing causes more pain in my abdomen, which is not good! I got IV fluids today, along with another IV of things to help my cough hopefully. I also got IV pain and nausea because I hurt so much more with the coughing.
I have an MRI scheduled for Monday afternoon. They are going to do a full abdominal and pelvis exam. I'm having bladder problems, so they need to make sure everything is okay with my bladder and kidneys. But the main reason for the MRI is to check for endometriosis, or something else in my abdomen that is causing the pain. Depending on what the MRI shows, I might have to have exploratory surgery again back home. The pain is just not better, and it's gone on for long enough. We are anxious to see what it shows.
I'm feeling better tonight, just hurting some and tired, but better than the past couple days. We met with the doctor today and just talked about things. We got a stronger medicine to try and keep the cysts and endometriosis from coming back again, so we'll see if that helps.
It started snowing so much this afternoon here! It's really pretty. Tomorrow I have another lymphatic treatment, so please pray that goes well, and that it's not too hard on my body.
Here is a picture of Grayson and I at the clinic today. He is the one I asked for prayers for a couple of posts ago. He's doing okay, not worse, but not better.
Monday was a crazy day. Sunday night, after I took the morphine, I started having bad muscle twitches and the pain got worse. My whole body would twitch. Monday morning, I didn't take the morphine because of the reaction, so I was hurting so much by the time we got to the clinic. They started my IV, and then it was time for my dad and brother to go to the airport. We said goodbye, and my mom took them to the airport to fly back home to Oklahoma. The pain started getting worse so fast. I lost it, and was trying not to scream. I had to have the trash can because I felt like I was going to be sick. They had to give me double doses of Demerol and Phenergan. It was terrible. My doctor thinks that the cyst burst then, because it was so bad. After a couple more doses of medicine, the pain was less, so we got to go home.
Tuesday was a decent day. It was the first day that I didn't require IV pain medicine. I went to a lymphatic massage Tuesday afternoon. And why it's called a massage I will never know. It's not relaxing or anything. This treatment is to try and help the lymph system drain and release toxins. Mine is very backed up and not working properly. There are pressure points on the feet and body that correspond to organs. She worked on each, and which ever ones hurt, there could be a problem there. The worst for me where the bladder, kidneys, ovaries, and uterus. I almost jumped off the table as she pressed on those. There are also lumps all over my body that she has to work out, to get the lymph system moving. I can feel the lumps all over me, and once she works on them, they are smaller.
Everything was fine until an hour after the treatment. I got the worst migraine and body aches. My abdomen hurt even more. I had to go ahead and take morphine, and thankfully didn't have a reaction to it. Through out the night, I took 2 migraine pills, and the migraine was still there. I threw up several times starting at 6am, but went to sleep after that. I only got a few hours of sleep, and when I woke up, I felt terrible. I barely made it through a shower, before I begged to take me to the clinic. I couldn't stand light, so I hid under my blanket. They gave me IV pain medicine, and natural migraine medicine. That all helped my migraine, but not the abdominal pain and back pain. It was like I got a bad push.
Getting sick from the lymphatic treatment shows us that it's releasing toxins, which is a good thing.
Today I woke up feeling better than yesterday, but still not good. I've had to sleep with a trash can by my bed because I've been getting sick so much. I was able to take a shower this morning and get dressed, which was an improvement. I woke up with a cough, and my voice is hoarse. Coughing causes more pain in my abdomen, which is not good! I got IV fluids today, along with another IV of things to help my cough hopefully. I also got IV pain and nausea because I hurt so much more with the coughing.
I have an MRI scheduled for Monday afternoon. They are going to do a full abdominal and pelvis exam. I'm having bladder problems, so they need to make sure everything is okay with my bladder and kidneys. But the main reason for the MRI is to check for endometriosis, or something else in my abdomen that is causing the pain. Depending on what the MRI shows, I might have to have exploratory surgery again back home. The pain is just not better, and it's gone on for long enough. We are anxious to see what it shows.
I'm feeling better tonight, just hurting some and tired, but better than the past couple days. We met with the doctor today and just talked about things. We got a stronger medicine to try and keep the cysts and endometriosis from coming back again, so we'll see if that helps.
It started snowing so much this afternoon here! It's really pretty. Tomorrow I have another lymphatic treatment, so please pray that goes well, and that it's not too hard on my body.
Here is a picture of Grayson and I at the clinic today. He is the one I asked for prayers for a couple of posts ago. He's doing okay, not worse, but not better.
We saw these fake palm trees covered in snow tonight and had to take a picture!
I hope you are having a good week so far. The weekend is soon! I can't thank you enough for your prayers and support.
"I thank my God everytime I remember you" Philippians 1:3
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Lake Tahoe - Part 3
We tried to drive to a bay on the other side of the lake, but the roads were closed because of the snow. But we still saw amazing things!
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1
Thank you God, for giving us these beautiful things to look at!
I think I have one more post of pictures from this weekend!
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