Good Information.....

Therefore, having been justified by faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith

into this grace in which we stand;

and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations,

knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 

and perseverance, proven character;

and proven character, hope; 

and hope does not disappoint,

because the love of God

has been poured out within our hearts

through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:2-5

In my devotions lately, I've been reading in Romans.  Oh, what a book.  This particular passage hit home all over again, and I am encouraged by it.

In Romans 8, Paul talks about the fact that we have been saved in hope, "but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?" (8:24)  Having hope for something that is as yet unseen is an amazing thing.  It keeps me going.

Truly, "while there is life, there is hope."  We'd smother without it.

So, we are once again on the threshold of hope with my health journey.

I talked with my new doctor today to review the allergy and stool testing results.  There are 3 really interesting pieces of information:

1.  I am highly allergic to eggs and almonds, as well as to several other specific foods, but to a lesser degree.

2. My stool test reveals that I have only one opportunistic bacteria that is overgrown and that the populations of 6 out of 8 good bacteria are way too low.  There are no pathogenic bacteria or parasite issues.  Nothing is showing on yeast either, though that is a hard one to really determine because they know how to hide really well.

3. The test they ran for my sensitivity or resistance to various pharmaceutical and botanical antibiotics shows that I am resistant to four of the 23 for which I was tested.  Two of them are Allin (garlic) and Rifaxamin.  These are the two that we used to treat SIBO which resulted in higher levels of bacterial overgrowth.  What an amazing thing to discover!

So, the treatment plan is first to avoid the foods to which I am allergic.  And second, to use Berberine, a botanical antibiotic, which the doctor believes will get rid of the opportunistic bacteria strain, and then take a high-powered probiotic to build up the good bacteria which I am lacking.

The outlook from the doctor's perspective is that I will probably be experiencing die-off for the next few weeks, which is normal and I've been through it before.  And then that I should be noticing a difference within about a month in how I'm feeling and how my gut is working.

Time will tell, and during the ensuing month, hope will win.  Again.

Thank you for praying with us.  I'll let you know how it's going as we progress through June and July!

This is the day the Lord has made.....

This is the day the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

"Begin the day with open hands of faith, ready to receive all that I am pouring into this brief portion of your life.  Be careful not to complain about anything, since I am the Author of your circumstances.  The best way to handle  unwanted situations is to thank Me for them.  This act of faith frees you from resentment and frees Me to work My ways into the situation so that good emerges from it.

To find Joy in this day, you must live within its boundaries.  I knew what I was doing when I divided time into twenty-four-hour segments.  I understand human frailty, and I know that you can bear the weight of only one day at a time.  Do not worry about tomorrow or get stuck in the past.  There is abundant Life in My Presence today."

From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

I need these reminders today, to thank Him for unwanted situations and to not worry about tomorrow.  I find myself in a place where it would be easy to succumb to tears of frustration and to descend into melancholy over the seemingly endless journey of my health issues.

I finished the course of "big guns" antibiotic treatment last week and then took the SIBO breath test again on Monday.  I talked with my doctor today via Skype to get the results and discuss the findings.

There are two elements the breath test evaluates: methane and hydrogen.  Both are indicators in SIBO.  The first test showed moderate to severe levels of both.  The second test showed elevated levels of both, pushing the results to the severe level.  This third test shows that the methane is at a negative level which means it's under control.  The hydrogen levels, however, have spiraled way up.  The numbers will tell you more than I can.  From first test to third, these are the findings: 51 - 71 - 144.  So, the hydrogen has more than doubled while using the big guns.  My doctor is at a loss to understand what is going on.  She hopes to talk about my case with the doctor under whom she has studied about SIBO.  Meanwhile, we will be trying another herbal antibiotic and seeing a local doctor next week for some further testing.  In the midst, I am seeing no improvement in my symptoms.  Still up and down with good and bad days.  No rhyme or reason to either.

As Jessie says, "We need Doctor Jesus."  Amen.

How you can pray:

1. Bolstering of my faith and spirits.

2. That my doctor would be able to talk with the specialist in LA about my case.

3. That testing will reveal something if there's something else going on.

4. That God will provide the resources we need to continue this journey.

5. That all of us in our family will feel the encouragement and comfort of the Lord in the midst.

Thank you so much for praying.  Bless each of you.

Day 3 Update on Meds

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Just a quick update......

I'm on day 3 of the "big guns" and doing okay so far.  Dale and I were both really anxious on Wednesday about one of the meds and the possible severe side-effects.  So much so that I decided I needed to call my doctor and talk with her about it.  She returned my call the next morning (yesterday) and was able to explain why she is comfortable prescribing this particular med (neomycin).

The FDA warnings include the possibility of kidney problems and hearing loss.  When she went through treatment, she had the same concerns, obviously, and when she began treating SIBO patients, she had real questions as to whether this drug was actually okay to prescribe.  She took about a year to research the FDA claims, and the conclusion she has drawn indicates that the IV form of neomycin is indeed plagued with the very real and documented risk of kidney issues and hearing loss, however, the oral meds have no history of causing the same issues.  She talked with many pharmacists, doctors, and members of one other entity, the identity of which I'm not remembering.  They all confirm that they have seen no incidence of kidney or hearing issues in the use of oral neomycin.  This has been a great relief to us.

As of today, Day 3, I am not experiencing any of the other potentially nasty side-effects.  I'm just really tired.  And as Dale says, that's the easiest of the possibilities to deal with.  I agree!

Thanks so much for praying for us.  I'll keep you updated as we go.

Medication Update

I have strength for all things

in Christ Who empowers me

[I am ready for anything and equal to anything

through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; 

I am self sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].

Phillippians 4:13 AMP

"Abundant life is not necessarily health and wealth;

it is living in continual dependence on Me.

Instead of trying to fit this day into a preconceived mold,

relax and be on the lookout for what I am doing.

This mind-set will free you to enjoy Me

and find what I have planned for you to do.

This is far better than trying to make things go

according to your own plan."

Sarah Young, Jesus Calling

On almost a daily basis, Jesus Calling - the devotional by Sarah Young - ministers to me.  This particular passage from March 16th, especially so.  I am a "plan and organize" person.  Or I guess I should say I have been.  In the past couple of years as we've walked this challenging health pathway, I have had to abandon my plans and my organizing tendencies over and over again.  The encouragement to live in continual dependence on God instead of trying to fit the days into preconceived molds, and watching for what He is doing and following His plan, really hit home.  Thank You, Jesus, for Your awesome good Words to me.  To us all.

After 2 1/2 months of waiting on doctors and insurance company policy, we have obtained a pre-approval for the "big guns" medications.  The insurance company has agreed to pay half of the cost of the $800+ medication and I will start that, coupled with another med, tomorrow.  We would greatly appreciate prayer on a few fronts.

First, that the meds will actually do their job and eradicate the bacterial overgrowth in one course.  We don't want to have to pay for a second course with the cost so steep, nor do we want the meds in my system any longer than the first two weeks.

Second, one of these meds has potentially serious side-effects, and we're praying protection from that.  As in hearing loss and kidney problems.

Third, that my gut will respond favorably to these antibiotics in that I won't experience the unpleasantness of diarrhea or severe constipation, and that there will be no yeast overgrowth.

Fourth, that I'll be able to discern what supplements and other intestinal tract helps are needed at specific times to guard against all of the above.

I will keep you all posted as we go through these next two weeks.  Thanks so much for praying.  I know I say it often, but we really don't know where we'd be without the prayers of the saints.  Bless you, each one.

Conformed to the image of His Son....

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined
to become conformed to the image of His Son...

Rom 8:29

This past week has been a roller coaster for me.  After feeling as well as I have in a really long time, yesterday things came crashing down again.  The nausea is back with a vengeance.  No one knows why it went away or why it has returned.  Except God, of course!

After multiple conversations with both doctors, and calls to the pharmacy and our insurance provider, we are still waiting for a definitive go-ahead for the insurance to cover the most expensive of the meds I'm slated to take.  Because I was doing well, Dr. Allison and I had decided to wait and see what changes might come before deciding for sure on taking the "big guns," but wanted to have them ready to go should we choose to use them.  When we know more from the insurance provider, we will make that decision based on where I am at that time.

We'd appreciate continued prayer for wisdom and discernment as we make these medication decisions in the weeks ahead.  And I would covet your prayers as I ride this roller coaster.  It was awesome to feel good for that week!  At the same time, it is hard to feel well and then be plunged into feeling badly again, rather than to have the consistency of feeling lousy.  That is probably rather warped, but it's the truth of how I'm feeling. :-)

In the midst, the truth I know is that God is good.  All the time.  He can't be other than He is.  And He IS good.  And, amazingly, He loves me and is working out the conforming of me to the image of His Son, breaking away the stuff that doesn't look like Jesus.  Kinda like Michaelangelo did when he chipped away all the bits that weren't David or Jesus or Moses.  Before long there they were, having emerged because Michaelangelo saw them in those blocks of marble and in essence freed them to be what he had in his mind.

I really want to be who God made me to be.  Conformed to the image of His Son.  And all of this is part of it.  I'm convinced.  Doesn't mean it isn't hard.  But it's good for me to try to see things from that perspective. His perspective.  And give thanks and count it nothing but joy in the midst of trials, because He says that's what I'm to do and that there will be good results in my life because of it.  James is awesome.

Thanks for praying!  I know I've said it many times, but I mean it every single time.  I can't imagine where we'd be without your prayers.

Light.....

Light arises in the darkness for the upright;

He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.

Psalm 112:4

Light is in Him.  Grace. Compassion. Righteousness.  Such a blessed picture of our God.  It reminds me of the contrast between the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.  The darkness of the flesh and the light of the Spirit.  Every time I read that passage, I feel myself recoil from and flinch at the description of the deeds of the flesh, and then yearn for and lean into the beauty of the fruit of the Spirit.  Darkness versus light.  All of us who know Him lived in darkness at one time.  But the darkness of the deeds of the flesh are behind us, and we are living in the light.  Light belongs to God.  It's Him, His essence.

"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you,

that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."

1 John 1:5 

I think living in the Northwest causes me to revel in light more than I ever have living elsewhere.  It was just common in California.  Hardly ever dark and cloudy for more than a few days running.  Same in Missouri.  Here I crave the light and delight in the moments when the sun breaks through the clouds on a dark day, and am so thankful for full sunny days when they come along.

So, wow.  I guess I kinda took off on that!  Where I was actually heading about the whole light thing was to say we would really be blessed by more light being shed on where I am now in the treatment and healing process.  That in His grace, compassion and righteousness, He would shine His light on the path we need to take.  Clearly.

I was able to see the colleague of Doctor Allison's this past week and it was a good appointment.  The "big guns" prescriptions have been called in again and I should be able to pick them up early this week - with my insurance covering them.  That's huge.

Since my appointment with Dr. Allison two weeks ago, I have felt better than I have for a long time.  I've changed a few things in my diet-and-supplement regime and started drinking well water (as opposed to filtered city water).  There have been several positive changes overall.  In light of that, I feel the need to talk with Dr. Allison again before I start the new course of medication to see if she has any input on the changes.  We'd appreciate prayer that we will hear the voice of the Lord in what I should do.  These antibiotics are still scary to me.  They represent the possibility of months of ill-effects, coupled with the hoped-for positive effects of killing off the bacterial overgrowth.  So, assurance that we're on the right path would be wonderful.

I'll let you all know what's up as we go along.  Thanks so much for praying!