It's Official

Hello and Happy New Year!

I hope this update finds you well and blessed! My little family is blessed and feeling excited about the future. I have several blessings to share with you and as well as a few prayer requests.

It is official, I have chronic Lyme disease. That would go under the blessing category. It is a blessing to finally have a name to all these crazy symptoms. It is also a blessing because now I know what to pray about and what to fight.

Before I go any further, I have a plea for you. Please be your medical advocate. There are many knowledgeable doctors out there, but they don’t live with you, so they can’t know everything that is going on with you. Only you do! Also, we would have never found out what was wrong with me through conventional testing and blood work. It pays to research and learn! This is so important!

Okay, back from my scattered rant…

We have found a good doctor, who is open to many treatment options. She is knowledgeable and spends much time talking with us. She spends time asking good questions and is willing to research if she needs to. This is a huge blessing! Thank you for your prayers while we were seeking a godly, knowledgeable doctor. Also, most (not all) testing has been covered by our insurance. And any prescriptions are also covered by our insurance. These are also huge blessings!

We have a plan and are no longer wondering through life. Having a plan of action against this crazy sickness is something that my heart has been longing for. Yes, our plan is to continue to pray for healing, that will never change, but we now have the ability to fight it with knowledge and understanding as well. This is a blessing!

Lyme is a very tricky disease and can easily hide out for a while before reeking havoc in your body. It is also not an easy disease to treat as the symptoms are all very different for each person. It can also mimic many other different kinds of diseases. If you are interested in more information about Lyme, check out this website: http://www.columbia-lyme.org/ If you think that you may have Lyme, please have testing done through this company (they are the best at Lyme testing): http://www.igenex.com/Website/ The hardest part of the recovery from Lyme is that it takes time. Just like any young person, I am ready to get on with the plans that we feel God has for us and I am impatient. Please pray that I am patient for my healing!

Recovery from Lyme is not only time consuming, but it is also costly. We have been so blessed and are thankful for the many ways that God has taken care of us. He is truly faithful and we are so blown away by His ways of providing for us. Please continue to pray that He blesses our finances, so that we are able to continue treatments.

I am quickly finding out that Lyme treatments are controversial in nature, because the disease itself is very controversial. There are those that would try to scare you into only conventional treatments. There are those that would try to scare you into only natural treatments. In a nutshell, there are many scare tactics out there. Please pray that while researching, fear would have no place in our hearts and decisions. Also, as we research, please pray that we would have clear direction and peace about any treatment options.

We are moving forward with three prescription antibiotics, as well as probiotics and a prescription antifungal. This may seem crazy to you, but there are specific reasons for each of these. I am also going to start taking several supplements to help with liver function, detoxifying and immune support. It may be kind of gross, but as the Lyme dies it releases toxins that the body is just not able to handle by itself, so I need a healthy liver and several ways to detoxify. My immune system is seriously compromised, so it is very important to support my immune system, as well as physically staying away from as much sickness as I can. Please pray for these treatments to act quickly, so there use is not prolonged. Also pray that I am protected from additional sickness.

I won’t sugar coat it, recovery from Lyme is a painful recovery. As I mentioned earlier, the Lyme releases toxins as it dies. This can cause increased and worsened symptoms before getting any better. My symptoms indicate that my illness has progressed to the point of late neurological damage. Sounds worse than it is, but it means that my illness is in the late stages of damage and I will most likely have a longer and more painful recovery than if we had treated it earlier. Please pray that God gives strength and endurance during recovery.

The Lyme has opened the door to many other problems that we will have to fight against quickly. I have an underactive thyroid, which we will be working on by way of a natural hormone. I am also dealing with symptoms of adrenal fatigue and a lack of iron. I am still on supplements that will help with these problems and am researching more natural ways to combat these problems. These may seem like a small thing compared to the Lyme, but they are very serious and something that we need to get under control quickly. So, my prayer here is for quick healing, knowledge and wisdom in choosing treatment options, and financial resources for the treatments and supplements (which are not covered by insurance).

Thank you for taking this journey with me through your prayers! We are confident that the Lord is working! We are also very confident that He has a plan for me and my family! Again, we are excited about the future and look forward to more joyful blessings as we journey together. I am learning much and would love to share more if you ever want to know more about my journey. Just ask J

Many hugs,

Joy

P.S. I just realized that many of you may wonder about our little girl and how my illness may affect her (and any future kiddos). Lyme can be passed to a child during pregnancy. So, we will be getting our girly tested at her next pediatrician appointment. She can be a carrier but never have any problems, but we want check to see what her risks are.