Thankful Heart

In light of the Thanksgiving holiday last week, there are several things for which I am thankful.

A couple weeks ago, I did another four sessions of IV ozone therapy followed by lymphatic treatments.  Ozone requires larger veins, but any smaller vein can be used for my other IV's.  The main large veins inside my elbows have developed scar tissue from being used so much, so there is always the question of whether the nurses will be able to use those veins four days in a row.  That Monday, it took three tries before the nurses were successful, so on Tuesday morning before I left the house, I posted a specific prayer request on Facebook that my veins would cooperate, because I knew my faithful prayer warriors would respond.  I told my nurse, Alicia, about the prayer request before she started, so when she got a good vein on the first try, we both celebrated.  I said, "BOOM--that is a specific answer to prayer!"  After I checked Facebook much later that day, it was so cool to see all the people who had prayed that morning and to be able to tell them with a thankful heart how completely God answered their prayers.

That was a good week--I felt quite well all week.  The weekend wasn't quite as good, but it wasn't terrible, either.  I had a little trouble with leg pain one night, but it didn't last too long.  I also bought some new CBD oil (marijuana) that week.  CBD oil is from hemp plants and is the non-hallucinogenic part of the plant; THC is what provides the "high."  The legal amount of THC in Wisconsin is .3, and that is what is in the CBD oil--hardly anything, and I haven't experienced any "side effects."  So, despite the teasing by my kids and the references to "Mom's weed", I am neither smoking marijuana nor getting high.  :)  The CBD oil is like an essential oil, and I just put drops under my tongue for 30 seconds or so, then swallow it.  It doesn't taste very pleasant, but it's not as bad as some of the other supplements I take.  My doctors from the clinic recommended CBD oil when I first started at the clinic.  It is supposed to help the bone pain, and it also fights cancer and strengthens and builds new bone.  It seemed to help at first, and for about two weeks straight I was able to stop taking ibuprofen, but then it wasn't effective any more.  I later found out that what I was taking was an isolate, or just one out of the multitude of compounds naturally present in the plant.  I was able to find another local supplier whose oil is a full spectrum oil--it contains all of the cannabinoids and terpenes present in the plant instead of just one.  I also learned that it's the terpenes (not the THC) that contain the smell, so my new oil does smell like marijuana when I open it.  Fortunately, it doesn't linger after I swallow it.  I bought the highest concentration oil available, and over the past couple weeks have been adjusting the amounts of oil that I take while gradually reducing the amount of ibuprofen I take.  I am able to report with a very thankful heart that for the past several days (and nights) straight, I have not taken any ibuprofen at all, and I have had little to no leg pain.  One of my goals was to get off the ibuprofen, since it is damaging to the body, so this is an important accomplishment to me.

Just over a week ago my husband, Bob, and 15-year old son, Ben, traveled to the west side of the state for opening weekend of the gun deer season.  A friend has a lot of good hunting land in Buffalo County and always hosts a good group of his family and friends for hunting season.  They were gone from Friday afternoon through Tuesday evening.  We were praying that they would get a deer, so we would have venison in our freezer.  Venison would be a great change of pace for me, too--I never thought I would get sick of meat, but beef, chicken, and fish were getting old.  Ben had easy shots at two small bucks, but he chose to let them go.  Bob got an average-sized doe on Monday morning, so we did stock our freezer with thankful hearts.

My heart is very thankful for our oldest daughter, Emily, who arrived from Michigan on Monday afternoon (while Bob and Ben were gone), and is able to stay for a full week; she leaves Tuesday morning.  We love having her home again, and she is very helpful!  I felt really lousy last Tuesday and Wednesday (no leg pain, but headache and a wonky stomach), so I was glad she drove me to the clinic on Tuesday.

Last Wednesday, instead of going to the clinic for treatment, Bob and Emily took me to a detox center in West Bend, which is also run by one of my doctors from the clinic--Dr. Abfall, who does the blood microscopy and nutrition.  It was like being at a spa--mostly.  :)  I did an ionic foot bath, infrared sauna, ozone sauna, and a few other detoxing therapies as well.  It took four hours total, so Bob and Emily went shopping and had lunch while I was there.  I had awakened still feeling lousy that day, and I did start feeling a bit better part way through the detox treatments, which was a blessing.  I'm going to try to get down there more often, because while my treatments at the clinic are supposed to be killing off cancer cells and other bad stuff, I need to make sure that my body is eliminating those toxins and bad guys instead of storing them.

I shared a prayer request on Facebook again that I would feel better for Thanksgiving, because we had a lot of family gathering at my brother's house--many from out of state--and, again, God chose to bless me.  I woke up feeling great Thursday morning, and I have felt great since then!  My sister & brother-in-law, four of their kids, and a cute new great-nephew, my brother-in-law's parents as well as my youngest brother all came from Michigan to spend Thanksgiving Day and Friday with us at our brother's house just a few miles away.  There were 24 of us all together, and we had a great time visiting, playing games, and eating.  It was so warm on Friday that a large group played Frisbee golf, and a smaller group of us went for a walk.  My heart was SO happy and thankful to be able to get outside in the sunshine and actually go for a walk without my leg acting up!

Another praise is that I can tell my vision is improving again.  It's still not back to normal, but it is definitely better.  Once it goes back to normal, I plan to do some more hyperbaric treatments.

This week I will be doing IV's again, and then on Thursday I will meet with Dr. Coleman.  I had more bloodwork done a couple weeks ago, so hopefully he will have results from that.

Choosing to be thankful and finding ways to praise God are some of the best ways to prevent getting caught up in poor attitudes toward our circumstances.  My Father has truly been demonstrating in very real ways that He loves His daughter!