Well 2019, you were a year of MAJOR change! I am very excited to share a wonderful praise report. Seems 2019 has been a year filled with much redemption for the hard years we have been fighting through Mommy having major medical issues. I am filled with happy tears just writing this! AND to top it all off…4 days ago we got the BEST news yet!!!
Before I share the news, I need to take it back a minute and reflect where we have been to get us to this point.
February 13th, 2018 we got a call that changed our lives. I found out from the most experienced Adhesive Arachnoiditis MD, that I was in severe late stages of Adhesive Arachnoiditis in BOTH my lumbar and cervical spine. (Remember this was AFTER I had been through Tarlov Cyst Disease and surgery for the previous 3 years.) I was told that I had signs of CSF seepage and leakage which he was not sure as to weather it was present or past from the imaging. Dylan and I began to prepare for the years ahead of treatments that it would take to hopefully hault the progression of this Progressive Neurodegenerative Disease. A lot of questions were answered as to why I had declined so much since TC surgery, as we began to understand this new diagnosis. Another Rare Disease.
Prior to beginning treatment for Adhesive Arachnoiditis I could not travel more than 30 minutes laying down in the van. I could not sit upright for more than a few minutes without severe dizziness, nausea, blurry or double vision, and most of all severe pain. The pain was unrelenting 24/7 despite ALL the holistic and medical measures I had taken the past 3 years leading to that point! The day we got that call from the Adheisve Arachnoiditis Doctor was scary but it was also a relief because we knew the Lord was leading us in a path toward the right treatment! My HOPE and prayer was to HEAL even though this is an incurable Neurodegenerative Disease.
I have to remember where I was almost two years ago because so much has improved since then. The tears of pain have turned to tears of joy! 2018 was the first time we were able to do much of anything since Tarlov Cyst Disease and Adhesive Arachnoiditis started in 2014. I remember 2018 was the first year we were able to attend a Birthday Party ALL together for one of the boy’s friends from school! That was the first Summer we did not have to hire extra childcare. We were able to manage with Dylan’s FMLA days and my Mom helping…and I was actually able to care for the boys 2 or 3 days a week! HUGE victory! I started being able to stand long enough to prepare simple meals once a week. We started visiting church together again as a family!
Then came 2019! I took even more steps toward healing. As a family we took kore steps toward healing. Aden and Jordan got Baptized. Dylan was able to actually have enough time to take some days off from work in order to help care for his Dad who overcame liver cancer this year! Another HUGE blessing this year!!! The pain started to become better controlled by Summer this year. Then I had a huge setback and lost function in my neck, arms and legs for a few days and it slowly began to return over two weeks. Function has not been exactly the same ever since. BUT there have been many other improvements. I had the opportunity to have a DNA customized supplement protocol designed for me by my amazing Chiropractor Dr. Jill Plentl – which was a HUGE turning point in October! I also finally took the last step in my nutritional changes and started the third level of the Wahls Protocol which is nutritional Ketosis. Then by the grace of God I was finally able to start my blog and my online shop – Rare Love! Then there was this amazing news, the one I was completely shocked by 4 days ago…
OK so here it is. 4 days ago I received a letter from my Adhesive Arachnoiditis specialist updating me on the results of my most recent Lumbar MRIs. BEST NEWS EVER! He said by most standards what I sent him for my Lumbar MRI would be considered by most Radiologists as NORMAL!!!! What??? He only found 1 area of Adheisions in my L4 lumbar spine!!!!!! He said he wants to know what else I am doing in addition to his Protocol because whatever it is – IT IS WORKING and needs to be shared!!! He wants to see another copy of my previous MRIs again to compare! I am also waiting to hear back about my Cervical MRIs but I am now anticipating a praise report for those as well!!!
I was in tears of JOY all day!!! Jesus gets ALL the GLORY! This disease is supposed to be incurable! I honestly do not believe this would have been possible without HIM! I also found out this year that I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome which produces faulty connective tissue. NOW my Doctors are beginning to see that the EDS is probably what was behind all of these different issues developing. EVEN more of a miracle that I am experiencing healing despite this genetic syndrome!!!!! Eeekkkk! Just so amazed!!! I have a whole journey ahead of this new EDS diagnosis and I am carrying SO much hope into it for God to do BIG things!!!
So I am here to say to all my friends and family today, do not give up HOPE! I spent 5 years in a very dark place and wondering if and or when the light at the end of the tunnel would come. It has. It will for you too! Also, give yourself permission to let go and accept help. There is strength in vulnerability. We were made to help eachother. We were made to need family, community and friends. We were desinged to need Jesus. I don’t say that in a political or religious way. Nor do I judge anyone who believes differently than me. I just know that no thing and no one ever healed my heart and soul like Jesus has. He and I have been on a very long journey together. I am far from perfect but I am complete in knowing I am so loved! I hope and pray that ALL He has brought me through in my lifetime can be used to shine HIS light through my life. I hope that whatever lies ahead with my health, the Lord will continue to open doors for me to serve in any capacity possible.
So goodbye 2019. Thank you for all of it, the good and bad. Welcome 2020. 🙌
Remember that you are not alone and you are welcome here!