Thursday, October 27, 2016

Remembering Edith

A year ago, our family lost a very dear member. Edith was a joyous, vibrant woman who knew how to organize wonderful family events and cook for a crowd. She was an incredible mother--I have never seen a closer mother-daughter relationship than I saw with Edith and her daughter.

A year ago, Edith was ill with what the doctor called "the flu". Not feeling well, she went home. She took a long nap and entered into eternity. That evening around Edith's departure from this world, I was traveling in a car. A deer jumped out in front of the car. Praise be to God, quick thinking and evasive maneuvers prevented the car from hitting the deer. I vividly remember the deer looking with piercing wide eyes directly at me.

The next morning, I was told the news of Edith's passing. I was not surprised. I had noticed a few weeks before at a family birthday party, she seemed very ill. Her hands were shaky, and she was short of breath. When she sat next to me, I could sense her heart racing and beating very forcefully. Since I suffer from many health issues and am sensitive to people bringing up my health, I decided not to mention anything about Edith's health. I almost sent Edith's daughter an email inquiring about her mom's health, but again, I thought I should not intervene in other's health issues. So, when I heard Edith had passed away, I knew immediately her heart must have been very sick. (Afterward, I learned Edith had been sick for a couple months. She had been going to the doctor for heart issues. Right before she passed away, she was very ill. She sought emergency care, but she was sent home and told she had the flu.)

Moments after hearing about Edith's passing, the image of the deer popped into my mind, and Scripture floated through my head. "As the deer pants after the water brook, so pants my soul after thee, O God" (Psalm 42:1). I knew in an instant the deer in the roadway was a sign about Edith's death. It was of great comfort to think she was now not suffering and now at rest. It was of great comfort to think of that deer crossing the road and completing its journey to the great wide expanse beyond. As the deer made it safely on its journey, so too, has Edith completed hers.

As I reflect back on Edith's death, I am saddened that this wonderful woman is no longer around to love her husband, daughter, son and grandkids. But, I am very thankful Edith did not suffer long before her passing. I have thought long and hard about not mentioning anything to anyone about Edith's health. But, I am very glad she was able to die at home. She did not have to die in a cold hospital room surrounded by noisy instruments and connected to hoses and tubes. There was no trauma; there was no chaos. Only peace and quiet in her passing.

As I pray to the Lord, I ask for peace and tranquility to fill the lives of all those who loved Edith. "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Are you against going to the movies?

My dear, dear friend Barb loves to go to the movies. Whenever I talk to her, she always tells me about the latest movie she has seen. Her face illuminates with excitement as she tells me about her latest cinema experience.

Barb has asked me time and time again to come to the movies with her. Every time, I am very grateful for the invitation, but I always decline. After numerous rejections, Barb finally asked me, "Are you against going to the movies?" I almost burst into laughter. Oh dear. I guess I should explain how Mitochondrial Disease challenges me in doing a "normal" activity like going to the movies.

1. Time: Movies run about 2.5 hours plus there are about 30 minutes of previews and then you need to add in travel time, time to buy a ticket, time to go to the bathroom and time to get a seat So, going to the movies would take at least four hours. In my life, this is too long away from bed. On average, I can be out of bed about 2 hours. Some days I can go a bit longer; some days I never leave my bed. In general, an outing to the movies would push me beyond my limits.

2. Loud noise: Movies have lots of soft whispering dialogue. So, movie theaters crank up the audio volume to high to allow the audience to hear the soft audio. Then, of course, films almost always have loud shouting or other noisy audio. Since the audio is turned up, these loud noises become violent rumbles of thunder from the speakers. My brain goes haywire when exposed to loud sound. I start shaking, my heart races and I develop a severe migraine. Whenever I leave home, I wear earplugs to avoid becoming sick from loud noises. Although I could wear a couple layers of earplugs to dampen the loud noise, I would be lost during the soft audio sections.

3. Bright lights: Looking at a large illuminated screen for several hours is torture on my eyes. The pupils in my eyes do not constrict very much, which causes me to develop severe headaches from bright light. (The one benefit is I do not need my eyes dilated when I go to the eye doctor.) So, I avoid looking at any illuminated screen (TV, computer, mobile phone, etc.) for any extended time.

4. Popcorn smell: My brain is very sensitive to smells, especially chemicals such as preservatives and artificial flavorings. Movie theater popcorn (which has lots and lots of artificial flavorings added to it) causes one of the worst reactions in my body. The smell causes my heart to race, my body to shake, my head to spin and I become very sick to my stomach. So, needless to say, I stay as far away from movie theater popcorn as possible.

So, combining all the above factors, I do not go to the movie theaters. I do not feel as though I am missing much. Although my friend is always so excited to venture off to a "new" movie, every movie she tells me about seems like the same old story--good versus evil, the ups and downs of love, etc. King Solomon sums it all up, "That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, 'See this, it is new'? Already it has existed for ages which were before us." (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

Friday, October 21, 2016

Perpetual frustration: Being a one-eyed bandit in an electronic world

In an age where everything is done with touch screens and keying in passcodes and pin numbers, having the ability to use both eyes to accurately hit sensitive electronic buttons is essential. For me, I am constantly plagued with utter frustration. I cannot tell you have many times I want to throw my iPad across my room because I am not able to hit the right letters on the electronic keypad or accurately touch my iPad screen.

My eyes do not work together. My right eye muscles are weak. My right eye muscles do not pull my right eye in far enough to align with my left eye. In distance vision, I am able to use prism in my glasses to compensate for this defect. For close vision, I have not been able to play around with various prism strengths to find the best strength for my eyes. (It took five pairs of distance glasses to find the correct prism strength. Being a girl of limited financial resources, this is not an option for close up vision.) Instead, I must wear an eye patch over my right eye if I want to see anything close up.

I used to be very vain about having to pull out a pirate eye patch in order to read. However, if I do not use an eye patch, I develop very painful headaches, neck aches, dizziness, nausea and eye strain. Wearing an eye patch allows me to see close up, without developing lots of unwanted symptoms. However, the significant downside is I lose my depth perception.

Depth perception in a 2D world is not a big deal...but when living in a 3D world, it can be so frustrating. Trying to hit buttons on an electronic screen is a nightmare!!! Trying to read numbers off a card and then enter those numbers into a phone keypad drives my patience to the very limits. I must concentrate very hard to hit the buttons correctly, trying to get my brain to compensate for the loss of depth perception, and trying to do it fast enough before the automated system interrupts and says, "Sorry, I did not recognize that number.". As hard as I try, I make many, many mistakes. I am so grateful for computers and for the resources available to me today. However, it is hard not to become frustrated when it takes 5-10 times longer to complete a task because I have poor depth perception from having to patch my eye. Perhaps some day I will be able to get reading glasses with the correct prism strength which word enable me to see close up without using an eye patch.

Until then, I try to keep calm and be very grateful I have an eye patch to use for close up vision and have prisms in my distance glasses. (I used to have to wear an eye patch for distance vision as well. Loss of distance depth perception left me very bruised and sore because I could not see things on the right side of my body. I ran into many, many walls!) It gives me another reason to thank God for all his mercies. "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and enter into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations." (Psalm 100:4-5)

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Another Sunday, Another Challenge!

As another Sunday has come and gone, the Pastor at my church has issued another challenge. Previous challenges have included listening to Christian music and reading one Psalm a day and two Psalms on Sundays. I have been doing ok in these challenges. The only time I usually listen to music is on Sundays in church. Reading one Psalm a day (and two on Sundays) is forcing me to get back to reading the Psalms daily. (I used to read five Psalms a day. That way, I would cycle through all the Psalms every 30 days. I stopped this a while ago because I found I was just mindlessly reciting the words--their meaning was lost in a mindless void.) But now, only reading one Psalm a day, I have been reading them slowly and often in various translations.

This week's challenge has been making me crazy! Read the whole Bible in a year! Ahhh!!! This message has been haunting me for several months..but I keep ignoring it. I have read through the entire Bible and did so using an amazing verse by verse commentary by J. Vernon McGee called Through the Bible. It is intended to take five years to go through the Bible. Since the whole series is available for free online at ttb.org, I listened/studied the entire Bible in 15 months. Since then, I have hop-scotched through the Bible. My younger years of my life, I spent attending a church which focused almost 100% of the sermons from the New Testament. Henceforth, I have a very good knowledge of the New Testament. I have tried to focus my energy on things I am unfamiliar with such as the Old Testament history, kings and prophets--Haggai, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Nahum, etc.

Unfortunately, when I try to read through a book in the Bible, I get hung up on details. For example, today I was studying Zechariah chapter 8. There were four fast days mentioned in the Scripture, but no explanation was given. I then researched what these fast days where, when they started to observe them, why they observe them, what traditions are associated with them, etc. Needless to say, I am easily diverted from my main reading into all different parts of the Bible. It takes me a very long time to get through one chapter of the Bible. But I feel like learn lots and lots!

For example, I spent a large amount of time in Jeremiah chapters 40-41reading about Gedaliah and his amazing leadership of the remnant which remained in Judah (586 B.C.) after King Nebuchadnezzar took captive and hauled away (or killed) almost all the Jews to Babylon. Of course, jealousy arose because Nebuchadnezzar did not appoint a guy who was a royal descendent, a plot to kill Gedaliah was hatched and ultimately Gedaliah and a bunch of Jews were killed by their own countrymen. After this, the tiny Jewish remnant ignored God's advice delivered by the prospect Jeremiah. God promised if the Jews remained in the land, He would protect them. If they fled to Egypt, they would suffer famine and die when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt. The Jews decided to flee their homeland (Israel) and escaped to Egypt. A few years later, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt, and the Jewish remnant was killed in the subsequent war (another prophecy fulfilled). The Jews observe a fast day in their seventh month (Tishri) in which they observe the death of Gedaliah. I find this all terribly interesting, but I only got through about 10 verses of Scripture.

I decided I was going to ignore the Pastor's challenge, but as I was eating lunch and listening to a Bible commentator, he emphasized the need for Christians to read the Bible through every year. Noooo!!! Why does this message keep haunting me!? So, I have resolved myself to attempt to "just read" through the Bible (i.e., do not research all the details and numerous questions which pop up in my head when reading through Scripture). I will try hard, but I am so easily distracted with questions--what does this person's name mean, who was his ancestors/descendants, where is this city located,
how far is it between these two places, what other important events happens at this locations, etc., etc. This must be an important challenge for me since God keeps sending the same message over and over again. I get so mad at the Jews when they ignore God's words. Perhaps God is just as annoyed with me for ignoring His message.

"Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make known my words to you." (Proverbs 1:23)

Friday, October 14, 2016

A different day, a different day of health

Earlier this week, I really needed to feel well. I had made a commitment to drop a couple items off at a place just a stone's throw away from my house. I always am so enthusiatic about being able to help in really little ways. This seemed like a task I could accomplish. Take a couple items, put them in a bag, travel a very short distance, hand the items out the car door and head back home. Unfortunately, my health has been really challenging. I prayed I would be able to complete the task.

When I woke up, my heart rate was very fast. Moving the smallest muscle sent my heart racing. I tried moving as little as possible, but who was I kidding? I really needed to move to get myself and the items into the car, and I had absolutely no energy to get out of bed. I did the only thing I could think of. I fought hard to get my body to the kitchen, and I started drinking lots and lots of strong black tea. After about ten cups of tea, my heart rate was much more tolerable, and I seemed to have a little bit of energy. Oh praise the Lord!

I was able to get myself and the items to the location. A sweet friend met me at the car. She told me I looked like I was having an outstanding health day, and she noticed I seemed to have a little bit of energy. I thanked her for the compliment. (I held my tongue and did not tell about all the caffeine I consumed.)

Today, my sweet friend dropped off the items at my house. (The bad side effects of mass caffeine consumption is several days of complete bed rest.) When my friend saw me, her face changed to one of concern. She noticed my body was shaking, and I was gasping for breath trying to speak to her. I try to explain to people on different days, I have different health. If I push really hard one day, my body needs several days to recover. My friend felt miserable that I was so sick from doing such a small task. She told me I don't ever have to help her out again. Although I appreciate her sympathy, doing really small simple things for people helps me be grateful and thankful to God for allowing me to be as well as I am. Even in the smallest ways, I can still be of use to Him. "In whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him" (Colossians 3:17).

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Happy, Sad

Of late, it seems as though so many people I know have passed away. It is always a time of joy and/or sorrow.

Yesterday, there was a horrible accident on a nearby bridge. A woman's car stalled. A delivery truck came up behind her and was not able to stop. The truck slammed into the woman's car. The woman died. The entire situation is so sad. I am heavily burdened for this family. I do not know if the woman was a Christian. I pray she was a Christian and now is in heaven. I pray that the family has a relationship with Jesus and finds comfort in the arms of the Lord and Savior. My heart is so heavy with grief and sorrow. "Oh, Lord. So many people on this earth do not know you as Lord and Savior. I desperately pray this woman and her family know you. I do not want to think where this woman is if she did not trust You to be her Savior. Please, if the rest of the family does not know you, I pray You come into their lives. I pray their hearts will be open to hear Your Word. I pray also for the delivery man and his family. I pray they know You and are able to receive grace and mercy. May the two families affected be able to have peace and be able to forgive each other. All this I ask in Jesus' name. Amen."

A friend of mine's father passed away today. He went to the hospital to have a surgery. Everything went well. He had to spend a night in the hospital before he was to be released. During the night, a nurse gave the dad a wrong medication. The effects of this error caused the man to stop breathing. Through much medical intervention (and God's grace), the dad was revived. He suffered through a few weeks more in the intensive care unit. Through God's great mercy, the dad went Home today. Although I am terribly saddened for the family, I am overjoyed with happiness that the dad is no longer suffering and is now in the presence of Jesus! I cannot tell you of the relief it is to know that this man trusted Jesus as his Savior and that he is in heaven! I am sad this wonderful man is no longer able to be with his loved ones, but soon they will all be together in God's glorious presence! "Oh, Lord, thank you for this man's life. Thank you for his amazing family. Please comfort all his loved ones as they grief for the loss of their family member. Thank you for allowing this man to live long enough to allow his daughter to make travel arrangements to see her father before he went Home to be with Jesus. With all glory and honor to You. Amen."

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Supplements: Alpha lipoic acid and magnesium



Alpha Lipoic Acid: This is an important supplement to help with regeneration of myelin (an important protective coating which covers nerves). With many illnesses, myelin is destroyed. When there is little to no myelin, neuropathy (pain caused by nerves) occurs. This frequently manifests in diabetics, but genetic and auto-immune diseases are known also to affect the rate at which myelin is produced. Alpha lipoic acid is a needed building material for your body to regenerate myelin. Taking ALA will not instantly correct nerve pain. It takes time for your body to regenerate myelin. For me, I started noticing a decrease in neuropathy after about 3 months of daily usage. It took about  one year to see the maximum effect of the supplement. Once the maximum effect is achieved, the supplement must be continued daily to maintain the needed supply of ALA.

Magnesium: A wonderful mineral to help alleviate muscle pain and muscle cramps. I take this daily. When I am having really bad spasms and cramps, I will take a few more capsules. Also, epsom salts are incredible. If you are in a lot of muscle pain, fill a tub with warm water and epsom salts and soak. Ah, relief!

Friday, October 7, 2016

Supplements: Pancreas and Liver

Chromium Piccolinate: Chromium is often deficient in people with diabetes, pancreas disease or who are on intervenous nutrition (TPN). Chromium is a trace mineral which is usually food in your blood. One of its functions is to bind up free insulin. When you eat a meal, the insulin bound to the chromium can be quickly released, and insulin can start acting almost immediately. Also, when insulin is no longer needed, chromium will bind up the free insulin, saving the insulin to be used in the future. In folks with low chromium levels, very little insulin is found circulating in the blood. When food is consumed, blood sugar levels become elevated. It takes your body time to produce and release insulin from your pancreas. During this time, high blood sugar levels greatly injure your body's cells and tissues. When insulin is no longer needed, the excess insulin is excreted by the body. By increasing your chromium level, you can increase the amount of insulin circulating in your blood which leads to lower blood sugar levels and less stress on the pancreas to produce insulin.

Gymnema Sylvestre: Gymnema does a couple of things--it blocks the taste of sweetness, helps regulate blood sugar by blocking the absorption of sugar in the intestines and stimulates insulin release from the pancreas. It works on the fat tissues in the body to help regulate the way sweet and fatty foods are metabolized.

Milk Thistle: Milk thistle has been used for 2,000 years as an herbal remedy for a variety of ailments, particularly liver, kidney, and gall bladder problems. Several scientific studies suggest that substances in milk thistle (especially a flavonoid called silymarin) protect the liver from toxins, including certain drugs, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), which can cause liver damage in high doses. Silymarin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It may help the liver repair itself by growing new cells.

Dandelion Root, Black Radish Root, Ginger, Parsley, Garlic: These amazing foods are spectacular at detoxifying the liver. If you are unable to incorporate them into your diet, they can be taken (either individually or in combination) as a supplement. The liver is the organ in your body responsible for filtering the blood. Many toxic substances such as drugs (over the counter as well as prescription drugs), food, alcohol, toxins found in drinking water, etc., poison the liver. The liver must constantly filter out these foreign substances and can easily be worn down by the constant influx of toxins, especially if you have a chronic medical condition. By eating liver cleansing foods or taking liver cleansing supplements, you can help your liver regenerate and increase its ability to work optimally.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Supplements: Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Astaxanthin

These supplements are very important because they do so many things in your body. I will list a few specific features of each, but they exhibit their effects on many, MANY functions of your body

Astaxanthin: It is called one of the most powerful antioxidants every discovered. It helps releive pain and inflammation, fights fatigue, supports eye health, cleans up your body's cells (ridding them of many toxin substances), protects your skin from sun damage.

Vitamin C: Vitamin C helps to repair and regenerate tissues, protect against heart disease, aid in the absorption of iron, prevent scurvy, and decrease total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol and triglycerides. Research indicates that vitamin C may help protect against a variety of cancers by combating free radicals, and helping neutralize the effects of nitrites (preservatives found in some packaged foods that may raise the risk of certain forms of cancer). Supplemental vitamin C may also lessen the duration and symptoms of a common cold; help delay or prevent cataracts; and support healthy immune function.

Vitamin D: Vitamin D is important for normal growth and development of bones and teeth, as well as improved resistance against certain diseases, fights depression, boosts weight loss, reduces your risk of multiple sclerosis, decreases your chances of developing heart disease, helps to reduce your likelihood of developing the flu.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Supplements: Digestive Health

I started writing about supplements in September, but then I got side-tracked before completing the series. So, here is another installment about supplements.

Triphala: This is my favorite supplement! I have a lot of GI issues, one of which is a slow moving GI tract. My GI tract takes many days to weeks to empty. Triphala is a combination of three fruits. They work in combination to help heal, cleanse and rejuvenate GI tissues. Taking triphala daily has greatly increased the speed of my GI tract and greatly decreased the number of bowel obstructions I get. Triphala can be taken as a tea or capsule. It is much cheaper to buy triphala as a tea, but it is perhaps the most revolting thing I have ever tasted! I opt to pay a little bit more money to swallow a tasteless pill.

VSL#3: This is a probiotic. There are MANY probiotics on the market. VSL#3 is the only probiotic I have found to be helpful and control symptoms. It is quite expensive, but it is very potent! VSL#3 is 10 times more potent than the average probiotic. VSL#3 contains about 15.5 billion CFU while the average probiotic contains about 4.3 billion CFU. It is the only thing I have found to control my inflamed GI tract. My daily inflammatory bowel flare-ups are mostly controlled taking this supplement, and my daily vomiting has (for the most part) stopped.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Do something nice. Go out of your way

Three weeks ago, Pastor Greg gave an amazing sermon on love. At the end of the sermon, he gave a challenge: go out of you way to do something nice. The act was suppose to be above and beyond anything you would normally do. I tried really hard the next week to do something nice that I had not already planned on doing. But, with my health leaving me bedridden for most days, the opportunity to do something nice for someone slipped away. I have kept this challenge on my mind. I felt compelled to complete the task.

As I was pondering this challenge, I realized why I was not succeeding. I try whenever I can to do something nice. Since this summer, I have been burdened with doing as many nice things as I can. I listened to an amazing sermon about sacrificial giving. Since my monetary source is very tiny, I thought giving money away was not very fulfilling. I thought what was one thing that I treasure more than anything. The answer is my energy. I have so little energy, anything I do out of my necessity to stay alive could be a sacrifice to God. I started this blog, try to send out one hand-written card a week, send out one email a week, etc. These are not big activities, but they allow me to use my precious little energy and share God's love. 

As I was reflecting on the nice things I have done, I figured out one thing I could do for someone. Last week at church, I found out a very kind woman's mother is ill with an infection. The woman has been driving back and forth between her home and her mom's medical facility (a five hour trip). I was going to just pray for the woman and her mom, but as I was thinking about her, I realized I can do something more. I can give her a card with a note inside letting her know I am praying for her. Perhaps this might cheer her up and let her know people at church are lifting her and her mom up in prayer. Praise be to God! I have been able to complete the challenge. I was able to write the card and give it to the woman at church yesterday! "And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him" (Colossians 3:17).