The Amazing Body

I had an echocardiogram over a week ago, and the results showed that there is nothing wrong with my heart at all; it's completely normal.  So the "abnormal" T-wave on my EKG is normal for me.  That was good news.  :)

For some reason, standard procedure for PET scans is to only scan from above the knee to the head--they don't normally scan the lower limbs.  The PET scan showed a lot of cancer in my femur which makes sense, because I have a lot of pain in my upper leg.  Well, I have the exact same kind of pain in my knee and lower leg--all the way to my ankle--so I am convinced that my entire right leg has a lot of cancer in it.

One side effect I have from the hyperbaric treatments is blurred vision, which I noticed a couple weeks after starting the HBOT treatments.  The doctor said that it is a common side effect, it's temporary, and it will resolve in time.  It isn't severe and doesn't limit me in any way (except maybe night driving), but it is definitely noticeable.  When you consider that glaucoma is a result of too much pressure in the eye, and that when preemies in the NICU are getting oxygen, the nurses have to be very careful with the infants' eyes or it could blind them, it makes sense that the pressure from the HBOT can affect vision.

How I feel varies from day to day, and there doesn't seem to be anyway to predict it.  The past three Sundays in a row I have missed the evening service, but each time was for a different reason:  one time I started having a lot of leg pain in the late afternoon; another time I ran a bit of a fever and was extremely tired; last night I had no pain, but I just felt gross--not exactly nauseated, just really yucky.  Then this morning I felt back to normal when I woke up, and I've felt really good all day.  Last Monday night I had a real rough night with pain which took its toll the next day.  I skipped my early HBOT treatment Tuesday, because I just couldn't do it, but I went in for my IV at 10:30 a.m.  The rest of the week went fine other than feeling tired.  I do know that a lot of my symptoms are a result of "die-off".  The treatments/supplements are killing parasites, viruses, bacteria, fungus, cancer cells, etc., which my body then has to eliminate.  My body is working very hard through all of the die-off and detoxing, plus it is working to produce new, good cells.  The body is amazing!

 I was struggling with discouragement on Tuesday, and even though I knew it had a physical source (being worn out and tired from dealing with the pain the previous night), I felt that I just needed some extra help.  I posted a request for prayer on Facebook, because I knew all my prayer warriors would faithfully answer the call--and they did!  The response was swift and sure, and it was such a comfort and encouragement knowing so many people were lifting me up in prayer in my weakness.  The Body of Christ is amazing!

We continue to be blessed regularly by thoughtful and generous people.  I'd like to share a few of those blessings with you and how they evidence God's involvement.  A Facebook friend who is a personal trainer, along with another trainer at her gym, decided to offer personal workout sessions for the month of October and then donate the money to us.  We received the money later last week; the next day we received a medical bill, and the total amount due was just a few dollars less than the amount we received!  It wasn't difficult to decide where to apply the money.  :)


On Saturday I got a package in the mail from family...I was excited that it wasn't a shipment of supplements or meds!  One of the things inside was a beautiful blanket made by "Hugs for Hope".  It's perfect and thoughtful, because the Hyperbaric room is kept at a chilly temperature, so I can use the blanket in the chamber as well as afterward when I get IVs and am still chilled from coming out of HBOT.  I also get chilly at home a lot, so it will get put to good use!

The last blessing I'll share was from a wise and thoughtful friend who knows that "with lots of blessings come lots of note-writing."  She whipped up a bunch of cute handmade thank you notes for me and gave them to me yesterday at church.  What she didn't know was that I had run out of thank you notes the previous night and was going to have to get more.  :)  Don't tell me God doesn't care and control the "little things" in our lives!

Striving to walk worthy,
Kim

Perspectives

I really enjoy the conversations I've been able to have with the staff at the clinic.  I'm getting to know them better, learn some of their stories, hear their perspectives on all different topics, and share my own perspectives.  I've also had the joy of sharing good Christian fellowship with a couple of them.  Alicia is my main nurse, and I've spent a lot of time with her the past three days while she administered the ozone treatments.  She's a beautiful young woman who has her RN degree; she's very competent, friendly and helpful, and it's been neat to hear about how she arrived in her position at this clinic.  I met Tracy for the first time this week, too, because she does a therapy known as "lymphatic massage" after the ozone treatment.  Tracy seems to have a personal relationship with Christ, and we've had a few good conversations on spiritual things.  The ozone therapy is done in the same room as the hyperbaric chamber, so we can also chat with the HBOT attendant.  There are three who regularly rotate on HBOT duty--Crystal, Pam, and Kim--and it's been fun and interesting talking to them more this week, too.

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Isn't it strange that when a cancer patient who chose alternative treatments dies, a common response is, "See, alternative treatments don't work."  Yet when cancer patients die after receiving standard medical cancer treatments, the common response is excuses like "the cancer was just too strong" or "we did everything we could"--but the treatments themselves are not blamed for not working.  It's pretty amazing how blind people are to the obvious double standard.

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Have you ever imagined God the Father delighting in you and singing about you with joy?  I hadn't until I read this verse, Zephaniah 3:17.  I know God loves me with an indescribable love, shows mercy and grace to me, grants indescribable peace, is longsuffering with my constant failures, forgiving, etc., etc., but those things are all on the serious side.  I never thought of God's lighter side--delighting over me and rejoicing over me with singing.  And what is He so cheerful about?  Me, a dirty rotten failing sinner.  This verse blew my mind when I found it.  My friend, Nancy, colored the picture, wrote a sweet note on the back and gave it to me last week.  She didn't even know how much I like the verse!

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The Brat Fry benefit a couple weeks ago was a big event and far exceeded our expectations, but people have continued to give us gifts, and the generosity of people has just been overwhelming!  Encouraging cards, a bit of cash here, a check there, a gas card.  Last week while he was at work, Bob was presented with a large wad of cash from a 50/50 raffle that takes place at work regularly.  Not only did they decide to give the proceeds from that raffle to Bob, but the winner donated his winnings back, too, to add to the total!  Bob told me that he was overcome, and when he went down to the locker room to put the money in his locker, he just lost it and had to stay in the locker room for 10-15 minutes before he could compose himself enough to return to the line.  It was very good for him to be able to release all the pent-up emotions he's been carrying around.  Oh, my Love.  He's been everything I need him to be and a rock for me to lean on.

Another example is a far-away Facebook friend who generously ordered a rebounder and had it shipped to me after reading that I was looking for one.  She said her family have been praying for us and really wished they could have been around to help with the Brat Fry, so when she saw my post about a mini-trampoline, they jumped on the idea, since it was a way they could help.  She even ordered one with a handle bar, which has allowed me to still rebound when I'm tired or my leg is hurting.  Such a blessing!

"Rebounding", bouncing up and down on a trampoline--the motion of resisting gravity--has proven very effective in ensuring proper movement of lymph through the lymph vessels.  Lymph vessels do not have muscles like blood vessels to automatically move fluid through.  Lymph vessels rely on movement of the body to move the lymph fluid along.  And since the lymph system is a crucial part of the immune system, we want it to be moving freely and often.

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I have had some pretty serious leg pain the past three evenings and even ran a low fever for several hours a couple nights in a row.  However, I was still able to sleep well the whole night, which is a big praise.  The only thing I've done differently is added the lymphatic massage treatments, which have been targeting my leg and knee.  I told my nurse, Alicia, and she asked Dr. Coleman about it.  He said that it may well be that all the treatments are "stirring things up", "messing with" the cancer--which doesn't like to be messed with, causing it to react.  :)  Either way, it's a sign that things are working and having an effect, so I'm not going to complain about the pain!  It is common in natural healing for things to get worse before they get better.  The pain was so bad that I could barely walk, and I know it bothers Bob and the kids to see me like that.  And it bothers me that it is bothering them.  They are all very willing helpers and get me whatever I need.  I am learning to be the receiver instead of the do-er.  Partly because I really could use help, and partly because I know how helpless they feel and that the more they can do to help, the better they feel.    (The photo is Alicia giving me the IV ozone treatment.)

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A few sermons lately from my brother and from Pastor Schultz have been encouraging.  A few weeks ago my brother, Steve, pointed out that all the people Jesus healed and even brought back to life during His earthly ministry didn't live forever.  Jesus healed them at one time, but they all ended up dying of something at some point.  Since that sermon I've shared that thought with many people, and it really seems to be impactful.  Even if God heals me of this cancer now, I'm eventually going to die of something (barring the Lord's return, of course).  It helps put things in perspective.

Pastor Schultz did a sermon and word study on the differences between patience, longsuffering, and forbearance.  Patience is the ability to "stay under"--to stay and be still under the pressure of trials.  Forbearance is the ability to endure to the end, follow it through, not give up.  It was a timely message since this battle with cancer is definitely going to require staying power.  I'm so thankful I don't have to muster it up on my own because my strength is in Christ!

There has already been so much good accomplished through this trial.  We are learning

lessons that we could not have learned otherwise and are experiencing blessings that we could not have experienced otherwise.  He truly does work "exceeding abundantly" above what we could ask or think.

PET Scan Results

Well, the results aren't that great, but they could definitely be worse.  I'm somewhere between "what I expected" and "disappointed."  There are a lot of small lesions in my bones:  "several scattered" in the pelvis, as well as the left humerus (upper arm bone), left scapula (shoulder blade), left 6th rib, and three different vertebrae (T7, L2, L5).  There is also a large lesion in my right femur (which explains a lot of my leg pain).  Then one more 7mm nodule in my right lung base.  The fact that all the spots in the bones don't have measurements attached makes me think they are quite small.

There is some good news: there is no cancer in my lymph nodes or lymph system; my bone marrow has not been damaged yet; and I have adequate immune fighter cells--the "Special Forces" of the immune system military that specifically hunt down and destroy cancer cells.  Obviously, there are other areas where I have deficiencies, but those are all being addressed through my treatments and supplements and diet.  Dr. Coleman said repeatedly that "all this is reversible", and he didn't seem discouraged or put off at all by the results.  Bloodwork will be repeated in six weeks, hopefully showing improvements in all the numbers that are not where they should be right now.

So I will keep doing what I'm doing, we'll all keep praying, and we'll keep trusting in the Father's perfect plan!

My dear friend Tammy drove me to the clinic today.  I had a hyperbaric treatment and an ozone therapy IV--today was the first time I had ozone.  They "vacuum" 200 cc of my blood, infuse it with ozone (O3 as opposed to O2), and return it to my body.  A full treatment is 10 cycles of this; I only did five today, because I wanted to see how I tolerated it.  I didn't have any problems, so next week I will do full ozone treatments three days in a row as well as hyperbaric each of those days.  The other day I will do hyperbaric and an IV chelation treatment.  I am expecting to be exhausted by the end of the week.

Tammy accompanied me everywhere today, and she was able to sit in on the meeting with Dr. Coleman.  I did not have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Coleman today, but apparently he had extra time, so instead of one of the nurses showing me the PET scan report, he sat down with us and went through that as well as all of the blood work results that had come back and my EKG.  So I won't see him again until six weeks from today.

That's another thing...my heart.  I have an abnormal T-wave which is most likely due to an area of my heart that at some point was blocked and the tissue died.  It could have been the result of a virus or something, and it could have happened a very long time ago.  When I was in high school, I had a mono-type illness for a couple weeks, but the doctor said it wasn't mononucleosis--that virus could have caused the little blockage.  This was all quite shocking to me, and I asked Dr. Coleman how I could play sports my whole life and never have any symptoms of heart issues?  He said that the body is amazing, and the rest of my heart just compensated.  But now I have to get an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) to see which part is damaged and make sure the heart is functioning properly.  He also said that the heart can generate new tissue and repair even that damage!

Tammy took pictures at the clinic today, so you can see what the hyperbaric chamber looks like and the ozone machine.  Enjoy!  :)

The Brat Fry Benefit Was Amazing!

All glory to God for the great day we had this past Saturday at the Brat Fry benefit! 

• We prayed earnestly about the weather, because the forecast was for rain and strong winds; it sprinkled here and there, drizzled for a short time once, was breezy but not windy, and the temperature was comfortable.
• When we arrived to set up, my friend Tammy Augsburger, who organized the event, told us that there was a cart waiting for us with a couple bags of charcoal and some water and soda which had been donated by Piggly Wiggly employees.  That was the first time I cried that day.
• My sister and brother-in-law, Joy & Jeremy, and youngest brother, Tom, drove here from Michigan and surprised us by showing up to work at the benefit all day.  I bawled when I saw them (but that made them cry, too, so I wasn't alone).  ;)  The three of them plus our other brother, Steve, who lives nearby manned the hamburger/brat hut all day and did it very efficiently.  They were helped out by the men grilling who, from what I heard, kept the meat coming at the perfect pace.
• There were many volunteers, most of whom stayed the whole day.  Tammy, her husband, Dave, and son, Matt; Bonnie Mallman; Pastor Steve & Jo Schultz; Rebecca Krueger; Steve & Rebecca Abrams & their kids Luke, Joe, and John; Doris Popp; Richard & Betty Schnell; Holly & Mallory Prigge; Lisa Manz; Lisa Schwarz; and, of course, my Love, Bob, and our kids Heidi, Ben, and Rose.  (I didn't do much work; I spent most of the day talking to people and giving hugs.)  :)   Everyone did a great job, and things ran very smoothly.  We can't thank everyone enough for all their help!
• The amount of baked goods donated for the bake sale was astounding!  Several of us women who were setting up wondered what in the world we were going to do with all the leftovers.  It turned out that there weren't that many leftovers considering how much we started with--the bake sale made roughly 50% more than the brat/burger sales!
• Butch's Army gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a beautiful card--that was the third time I cried.
• The profits from the sale far exceeded what we expected!
• I felt great the entire day, and my leg gave me no problems whatsoever, even though I was on my feet most of the day.

In some of the pictures, you will notice several people wearing purple "Butch's Army" shirts.  Butch Mallmann passed away in June of this year after his own long battle with cancer.  My friends, Tammy & Dave, have been close friends with Butch and Bonnie since grade school.  I knew about Butch from Tammy, and I prayed for him throughout his battle.  Butch's Army is the group of family and friends who supported Butch during his fight, and since his passing, they want to keep the Army going to help other people fighting cancer.  They chose the benefit for me as their first project, and their support was overwhelming!  I was humbled by their willingness to volunteer and by the amount of goodies and crafts that this group--most of whom didn't even know me!--donated to the benefit.  And then the flowers and card on top of it!  This is a special group, and God used them to be a huge blessing to me and my family.

I also want to give a special Thank You to Tammy.  Planning an event like this was out of her comfort zone, but she will tell you that God put the idea in her mind, and she just obeyed Him.  It was a ton of work, but she did a super job, and God brought it all together.  Thank you, Sister!

It was an amazing day full of unbelievable love and support, and as Bob said, "a day we will never forget." 

   

Update

Yesterday morning I had an HBOT session but skipped my IV treatment, because I wanted to have a good vein left for PET scan injection.  The break allowed me enough time to go into work and finish the monthly email newsletter.  From there I left to pick Bob up from work before heading to the hospital for the PET scan.  Everything went well, and it took just under two hours--again, shorter than I had anticipated.  The scan will be read sometime today, but Fox Valley Wellness is closed on Fridays, so it will be next week before Dr. Coleman gets the report.  So we're in the Waiting Room again, but we have plenty to keep us occupied with the Brat Fry benefit being held tomorrow.

I was actually just sitting here crying into my bone broth, overwhelmed by the generosity of people's contributions for the benefit--many of whom don't even know me!  No one wants to be "the person on the poster"--it's much easier to be a supporter of the person on the poster.  God is teaching both Bob and I the life lesson of being gracious receivers.  It is very humbling...and awkward.  :)  One man came into my office at work on Wednesday to give me a donation for the benefit.  He looked so...stricken...and sad that I almost lost it.  But he wanted to speak to me personally--he didn't just drop it off at the front desk--which meant a lot.  It's good, but hard, to witness how much people care.

I also just posted on Facebook that I have been asking God to hold off the wind and rain forecasted for tomorrow until after the benefit is over.  He answered a very specific request I had for yesterday, proving that He cares about the small things.  Well, He controls the weather, and He can do the big things, too!

I haven't been feeling well lately.  I compare it to recovering from the flu.  I'm tired, weak, emotional, and my stomach isn't "right."  It's hard to explain, because it's not even nausea.  Probably TMI, but my BM's are diarrhea--not uncontrollable, but when I do go, that's what it is.  So my gut is just "yucky" right now.  I guess this is all pretty normal due to the fact that my body is detoxing.  I'm taking so many supplements plus the treatments on top of it.  I will get hungry, but then nothing sounds good...or tastes good.  Sometimes I want to put food in my mouth and taste it, but I don't want to swallow it and let it go into my stomach.  Weird.  I always have a bad taste in my mouth and feel like I have bad breath; many of the supplements aren't very pleasant--they aren't nasty, just not good, either.  I feel like I can't get enough water even though I'm drinking way more than I should have to.  I'm trying to find the right combinations of when to eat and when to take all my supplements and meds, since I'm sure that makes a difference in how my stomach feels.

Last evening I was a mess. I crawled into bed fully clothed at 7:30.  Nothing specific was "wrong"; I was just exhausted and cold and emotional.  About an hour later I called to Bob to bring me some ibuprofen for my leg (the pain wasn't horrible, but it was starting), and he heated up some bone broth for me.  The broth tasted good, but I could only get about a quarter of the cup down.  I woke up at 1:30 a.m., got a drink, went to the bathroom, got undressed and went back to bed.  Then I slept till about 7:00-ish.  So I did sleep quite well, which was a blessing.  This morning I'm still very tired and weak, but my stomach feels better.  Since my clinic is closed on Fridays, I get a three-day break before treatments start on Monday, and I think that is a very good thing right now.

I've always desired that God would be glorified through this journey, and last Tuesday was a good example.  There were two other very friendly ladies in the IV room at the clinic when I went in.  After the usual introductions and, "What are you in for?" discussion, the conversation turned to spiritual things:  faith, healing, God's will, peace, etc.  One of the ladies was very proactive and appeared to have a strong faith; the other lady was more quiet, but she didn't seem uncomfortable or offended by the topic, either.  It was a good time of mutual fellowship and encouragement.  Both of their IV's were finished before mine, but before they left I led in prayer for all of us, which they seemed to really appreciate.  It was a sweet time.

     "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be
      done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in my
      name, there am I among them."
                                                                   Matthew 18:19-20

First Day of Treatment

Well, it was a long day, but not as long as it could have been.  They squeezed my appointment with Dr. Abfall in between the two hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT), and I had my high-dose vitamin C IV running while I met with her.  I was home shortly after 4:00 p.m. when I was expecting to be at the clinic until 5:00.

The HBOT went well.  The chamber was pretty cool; it looks a lot like a mini submarine.  I felt like Jacques Cousteau except there were no fish swimming by.  I was given scrubs to wear and a plastic hood with a flexible rubber collar that fits tightly around the neck.  There are two hoses hooked up to the hood.  Oxygen is only flowing inside the hood--the "dive" chamber is pressurized with regular air.  The seats are quite comfortable, and pillows & blankets are allowed.  They have a video screen attached to the outside of one of the porthole windows, and there are speakers inside the chamber, so we can watch movies during the dive.  I thought I was going to be able to read in there, but the plastic of the hood isn't crystal clear, and the lighting is a bit dim.  I guess I'm going to be watching a lot of movies!  I took two shorter dives today--they do that to make sure you don't have any kind of trouble with it.  From now on it will be one longer dive each time which lasts a couple hours (2 1/2 hours counting the set up time and pressurizing/depressurizing time.  Of course the ears pop a lot during pressurizing/depressurizing, but otherwise it's quite uneventful.  I did take note of all the warnings and instructions printed inside the chamber "in case of fire"--oh, boy!

Before the vitamin C IV, I received a glutathione "push" IV--which means I had to push the IV plunger manually--it wasn't in a bag.  Ooookay...I didn't really know what I was doing, but I didn't blow a vein or anything, so I guess I did it correctly.  Seriously, it was pretty easy.  The vitamin C took a couple hours or more.  The drip is pretty slow, because if it goes in too fast, apparently you can feel burning in your veins.  Oh, I was able to take my IV right into the HBOT chamber during the second dive.  The pressure just made the drip slow down a bit more.  I had no reactions to the IV's, either, so that's good.  The nurses/attendants are always asking if I feel ok or am having any problems.  I had heard that one tends to feel very energized after an HBOT dive, but when I asked the nurses, they said that doesn't happen right away.  They said I will actually be exhausted by the end of the first week, but then it gets better.  I don't really feel any different at all after the treatments today.

The meeting with Dr. Abfall (a woman) was very interesting.  She looked at my blood under a microscope which was hooked up to a large computer monitor, so I could see what she saw.  I have to say, it's pretty interesting to see a parasite, protozoa, yeast, uric acid, heavy metal particle, and what-all else swimming around with the red blood cells.  Yeah, it's creepy at the same time.  I have a lot of good red blood cells, but I also have a lot of unhealthy ones, and the difference is very obvious.  I saw some white blood cells, too, and actually watched one move toward  one of the "bad guys" and start "eating" it, which is what they are supposed to do.  My white count is low, though, so we really have to build up my immune system.

Dr. Abfall is a super lady; she has strong faith and made a few references to the Creator's intelligent design/our fearfully and wonderfully made bodies, etc.  I made sure to let her know we were on the same page.  :)  She went over some of my lab results and also did a test which measures the electric current passing through every part/organ of my body.  Anywhere in which the current is slow or blocked is a problem.  She detailed exactly which nutrients in which I'm deficient and what types of foods and other substances to which my body is sensitive.  Mind you, I've never had any symptoms at all other than leg pain, so it is slightly discouraging to find out that my blood and gut, etc., etc. aren't actually that healthy right now.  It's like when a patient goes to the chiropractor for one specific pain and finds out that their whole spine is out of line.  You feel perfectly fine...and then find out that you aren't.  :)  She gave me a lot more specific diet and nutrition advice based on what my body needs, which is one of the things for which I was looking forward to getting help.  She also added more supplements (AARRGGHH--I might have to get a bigger pill box!).  :)  My diet is even stricter now, but some of it is temporary.  Everything--the food, supplements, and drugs--will be re-evaluated at the six-week appointment.  There is a lot of stuff to fix, but it is fixable!

The next two days I have to be at the clinic by 7:45 for HBOT followed by an IV treatment (glutathione and chelation tomorrow).  Thursday I will go from the clinic straight to the hospital in Sheboygan for the PET scan.  Just so you all know, I am fully expecting the PET scan to show more cancer.  Best case would be it is only in my hip; worst case would be it's everywhere.  I'm thinking it will be somewhere between.  So I'll be either pleasantly surprised, disappointed, or have my expectations met. 

The day at the clinic went well, but I was feeling a bit stressed afterward.  I have a lot to keep track of; I was a bit discouraged to find out I'm sicker than I thought; and it's pretty unreal the amount of money I'm dropping every visit.  I've been fine the whole time since my first appointment last week, but I think everything kind of got to me this afternoon.  Bob noticed, too--have I mentioned that I love that man?  After I got home and sorted out all the new supplements and papers, I went outside and spent some time in the yard and garden, and then I went for a long walk--and my leg didn't bother me!  I needed that, and I used the time outdoors to pray and to thank God for all the good things that happened (remember King David and ending with praise?):

• No reactions or side effects from any treatments
• A shorter than expected appointment allowing me to have time outdoors
• Dr. Abfall is a woman of faith
• Our bodies are truly amazing creations
• Leg pain is better today--hopefully, that means something is working!

God is good ALL the time!