Even though Kami has had more energy the past couple of days, she is having more pain in her chest.
So, it was back to the doctor for Kami. The doctor wanted to do one more physical just to check for anything that she (or the other doctors) have missed. We explained that the pain is getting worse for Kami and that she is needing some relief...constant pain every day is wearing her out.
So the doctor prescribed 3 more medications. The first is a muscle relaxer that Kami will take for 3-5 days. (The doctor said it will make her sleepy and change her mood...does she mean change to grumpy or happy?) If there is no improvement, then she will take another medicine that obstructs the signals that travel through her nerves. (Just to joke around with her, I told her that this medicine makes it so her muscles work in reverse because her nerve signals will be all messed up!...She's a bit nervous now!)
If there is no improvement with this medicine, then she will take an anti-biotic for a week. We can tell at this point that we are on a "Battleship" program...pick a coordinate and see if you hit anything! If not, then try another coordinate!
The doctor seems sure that the anti-biotic will help her but wants to use it as a "last resort". She believes that the anti-biotic will only cover the problem but not actually treat the problem so she wants us to first try these other medicines.
Some great news is that there are only two more days until Kami's parents come for a visit! We are excited!
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
Tropical Update...
Well, I last posted a week ago that we were sending Kami to St. Martin to have an MRI. She did go with Josh as her security guard. The problem was that Kami became extremely sick due to all of the medicine that she was on. Let's just say that the plastic bag that I told her to take with her didn't go to waste on the boat ride back!
Her MRI came back negative and the doctor here is stumped....just as were the other 6! She ended up consulting with some disease specialists on the island of Martinique. They recommended that Kami go on a Morphine treatment. They idea is that everything else has "seemingly" been examined except for a disease of her nervous system. Certain neurological diseases attack the nerves and cause extreme pain. So if the doctors were to "shut down" her body via morphine, the nervous system would have a chance to heal.
The morphine treatment lasted only 1 night. Kami became too sick from the medicine with severe migraines that the doctor told her that she needed to stop. She then recommended that Kami return to the states. We also received a call from a doctor in the U.S. that also recommended that Kami return to the states and schedule an appointment at the Mayo Hospital.
So we decided to get one more blood test to help us make a decision. We had that done yesterday (Thursday) and there was some good news. Her white blood cell count was now normal as was the rest of her numbers except for her ESR's. But they had come down over 30 points (although 65 is still extremely high).
We saw this as a vast improvement even though Kami still isn't feeling any better. We are hoping that there will be some difference in the near future and we are also going to have a special treat on June 1st. Kami's parents are coming for a visit and our whole family is excited. After they leave, we will see how Kami is doing and do another blood test. If things are the same, we will need to make a decision about sending her to the Mayo Hospital. But for now, it will be good to have her parents here. Our kids are needing a break from helping daddy take care of momma and are needing some time to get out of the house. This will be a great change of pace for them.
Until next time...
Her MRI came back negative and the doctor here is stumped....just as were the other 6! She ended up consulting with some disease specialists on the island of Martinique. They recommended that Kami go on a Morphine treatment. They idea is that everything else has "seemingly" been examined except for a disease of her nervous system. Certain neurological diseases attack the nerves and cause extreme pain. So if the doctors were to "shut down" her body via morphine, the nervous system would have a chance to heal.
The morphine treatment lasted only 1 night. Kami became too sick from the medicine with severe migraines that the doctor told her that she needed to stop. She then recommended that Kami return to the states. We also received a call from a doctor in the U.S. that also recommended that Kami return to the states and schedule an appointment at the Mayo Hospital.
So we decided to get one more blood test to help us make a decision. We had that done yesterday (Thursday) and there was some good news. Her white blood cell count was now normal as was the rest of her numbers except for her ESR's. But they had come down over 30 points (although 65 is still extremely high).
We saw this as a vast improvement even though Kami still isn't feeling any better. We are hoping that there will be some difference in the near future and we are also going to have a special treat on June 1st. Kami's parents are coming for a visit and our whole family is excited. After they leave, we will see how Kami is doing and do another blood test. If things are the same, we will need to make a decision about sending her to the Mayo Hospital. But for now, it will be good to have her parents here. Our kids are needing a break from helping daddy take care of momma and are needing some time to get out of the house. This will be a great change of pace for them.
Until next time...
Friday, May 17, 2013
I thought we were done...
Yes, "I thought we were done going to St. Martin." were the words I told myself this afternoon. (For you grandparents...you probably thought I was talking about having a baby!) But things changed when our rheumatologist called yesterday afternoon. And now Kami & Josh are heading to St. Martin tomorrow for Kami to have an MRI done.
Kami's doctor called to tell her that there was a high chance of Kami being admitted back into the hospital in order to have IV medications administered to try to control the extreme inflammation that is present in her blood (10x's higher than normal). And for anyone who knows Kami's fear of needles, she was actually excited to finally...possibly...get some relief.
But after a "drop-in" visit to the doctor this afternoon, Kami was given an appointment in St. Martin to have an MRI done. The doctor wants to check her spinal column area for any cysts and/or damage. She said that Kami's pain/symptoms are not matching up to her diagnosis. Yes she does have rheumatoid arthritis "but her symptoms aren't lining up".
So we scrambled around and bought Boat tickets (the planes were all filled) and her and Josh will be leaving for St. Martin tomorrow morning. It will be an all day event but hopefully we can get Kami some relief. For tonight, the doctor prescribed codeine tablets and a double-dose strength of the pain killer she has been taking.
Please continue to pray for her. Until next time....
Kami's doctor called to tell her that there was a high chance of Kami being admitted back into the hospital in order to have IV medications administered to try to control the extreme inflammation that is present in her blood (10x's higher than normal). And for anyone who knows Kami's fear of needles, she was actually excited to finally...possibly...get some relief.
But after a "drop-in" visit to the doctor this afternoon, Kami was given an appointment in St. Martin to have an MRI done. The doctor wants to check her spinal column area for any cysts and/or damage. She said that Kami's pain/symptoms are not matching up to her diagnosis. Yes she does have rheumatoid arthritis "but her symptoms aren't lining up".
So we scrambled around and bought Boat tickets (the planes were all filled) and her and Josh will be leaving for St. Martin tomorrow morning. It will be an all day event but hopefully we can get Kami some relief. For tonight, the doctor prescribed codeine tablets and a double-dose strength of the pain killer she has been taking.
Please continue to pray for her. Until next time....
Monday, May 13, 2013
Tropical Updates...
Well, as we near hurricane season, we truly will be watching for "Tropical Updates" by the weather service...and as we know that Jesus is coming again soon, we hope that you keep yourself updated with our family through our "Tropical Updates" from our corner of the world!
- Kami has been doing better & worse at the same time. She has more energy but the pressure in her chest is turning painful. She is "living" off of pain meds and ice-packs. Please continue to pray for her. We know that God has let this into our lives for a reason and we fully accept it. We hope that our trials will glorify Him in the end!
- We celebrated two birthdays for this month. Callie turned 3 on May 5th and Kami turned ?? on May 9th. I don't know if she would want me to put her age right on our blog ! (...but she is somewhere between 36 & 38)
- We had our 4 regular ladies back in Sunday Bible study this past Sunday. For various reasons, each has missed a Sunday or two over the past month. Satan is really fighting any advancement of the Gospel but we praise the Lord for a great Bible study this past Sunday! Our topic for this month is to learn to pray powerfully!
- A desire of my heart fulfilled : Two days ago, I passed the fish market and saw all the fresh fish. I thought to myself, "I sure would love to have the money to buy some fresh fish for our family." I was all alone in the car but another voice said to me, "If you had stayed in the states and fulfilled your dreams, you would have had lots of money to buy all the fresh fish that you wanted!" I quickly responded out loud, "I'm exactly where I want to be and the God I serve is more than capable to give me fresh fish if He so desires."
The very next day, someone dropped off this bag of fresh (as in still jumping) fish for our family! There were about 35 fish in all...grouper, parrot fish, trigger fish, snapper, grunts...
I finish this post with this verse : Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Thank you Lord for my fresh fish...
Until next time...
- Kami has been doing better & worse at the same time. She has more energy but the pressure in her chest is turning painful. She is "living" off of pain meds and ice-packs. Please continue to pray for her. We know that God has let this into our lives for a reason and we fully accept it. We hope that our trials will glorify Him in the end!
- We celebrated two birthdays for this month. Callie turned 3 on May 5th and Kami turned ?? on May 9th. I don't know if she would want me to put her age right on our blog ! (...but she is somewhere between 36 & 38)
Silas & Callie bought Momma a kiddie swimming pool for her birthday...They were sure that she would want one!
Our Callie Grace just loves life!
Two of my four beautiful girls ! Happy Birthday !
- We had our 4 regular ladies back in Sunday Bible study this past Sunday. For various reasons, each has missed a Sunday or two over the past month. Satan is really fighting any advancement of the Gospel but we praise the Lord for a great Bible study this past Sunday! Our topic for this month is to learn to pray powerfully!
- A desire of my heart fulfilled : Two days ago, I passed the fish market and saw all the fresh fish. I thought to myself, "I sure would love to have the money to buy some fresh fish for our family." I was all alone in the car but another voice said to me, "If you had stayed in the states and fulfilled your dreams, you would have had lots of money to buy all the fresh fish that you wanted!" I quickly responded out loud, "I'm exactly where I want to be and the God I serve is more than capable to give me fresh fish if He so desires."
The very next day, someone dropped off this bag of fresh (as in still jumping) fish for our family! There were about 35 fish in all...grouper, parrot fish, trigger fish, snapper, grunts...
I finish this post with this verse : Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Thank you Lord for my fresh fish...
Until next time...
Friday, May 10, 2013
Tropical Update: A diagnosis for Kami
Yes, it has been a while since my last post and I know that many of you are wanting to know some information about Kami...so here goes.
Kami did arrive back home last week. She has been gaining her strength and energy back. We are so thankful for this! She is able to laugh and play with the kids again. This is a huge difference since a month ago.
We did have an appointment with the rheumatologist today and the news was good & bad. The good news is that we seem to have a definite diagnosis of her symptoms she has been suffering through for the past 3 months. The bad news is that she is only going to get worse as the years go by. She was diagnosed with a "severe" case of rheumatoid arthritis. We use the word "severe" because we had a doctor call us today from the states when he saw one of Kami's blood test results. He stated that there is no doubt that Kami has rheumatoid arthritis and that it is very serious. The rheumatologist here also agrees.
The next step is to try 1 or 2 more rounds of steroids, and if they do not start to have some affect, then she will have to take some medicines that are "cancer treatment drugs". These medicines would inhibit her immune system severely to the point where she will contract every cold & flu that she comes in contact with. It seems that the form of rheumatoid arthritis Kami has, has "chosen" to attack the rib cage and cartilage in her chest. Whereas most people start to have symptoms in their hands and knees, Kami has hers in her chest area. I think this is where most doctors have been confused as to her symptoms and the cause of them.
So please be in continued prayer for her. We are hoping that she does not have to take any high-powered drugs that will cause her to get sick often. In the ministry, it seems we are always coming in contact with sicknesses...especially when you have 6 children who always seem to be bringing something new into the home!
Until next time...
Kami did arrive back home last week. She has been gaining her strength and energy back. We are so thankful for this! She is able to laugh and play with the kids again. This is a huge difference since a month ago.
We did have an appointment with the rheumatologist today and the news was good & bad. The good news is that we seem to have a definite diagnosis of her symptoms she has been suffering through for the past 3 months. The bad news is that she is only going to get worse as the years go by. She was diagnosed with a "severe" case of rheumatoid arthritis. We use the word "severe" because we had a doctor call us today from the states when he saw one of Kami's blood test results. He stated that there is no doubt that Kami has rheumatoid arthritis and that it is very serious. The rheumatologist here also agrees.
The next step is to try 1 or 2 more rounds of steroids, and if they do not start to have some affect, then she will have to take some medicines that are "cancer treatment drugs". These medicines would inhibit her immune system severely to the point where she will contract every cold & flu that she comes in contact with. It seems that the form of rheumatoid arthritis Kami has, has "chosen" to attack the rib cage and cartilage in her chest. Whereas most people start to have symptoms in their hands and knees, Kami has hers in her chest area. I think this is where most doctors have been confused as to her symptoms and the cause of them.
So please be in continued prayer for her. We are hoping that she does not have to take any high-powered drugs that will cause her to get sick often. In the ministry, it seems we are always coming in contact with sicknesses...especially when you have 6 children who always seem to be bringing something new into the home!
Until next time...
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