For many of you this post will be one you just skip because it might not be exciting. For some of you this may be what you really want to know. My plan is to put together as much information as I can find and feel up to about Hansa, the doctors, the treatments, the science, etc...I have so much still to learn. Believe me, this is a whole new way of thinking for most of us. Like I said before, this is really opening my eyes to a different approach to how my family and I live. It is a lot to absorb but I hope you get something out of it.
Dr. Jernigan (the founder/owner of Hansa) is nationally recognized as a leader in Biological Medicine and treatment of chronic illness.
(biologicalmedicine.info)- Biological medicine is holistic in that it holds the view that the living system is a matrix of interconnectedness- physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Self-healing is the primary goal.
Dr. Jerinigans philosophy and the goal of Hansa: Providing treatment and education that works with God's natural design of the body, empowering the body to heal itself. I believe that true healing cannot occur by simply masking symptoms, so we seek to treat the cause of the illness utilizing extensive, non-invasive treatment in conjunction with supplements to help the body rid itself of disease. "Health in a bottle" is a myth- if you must continually take a pill, it is not correcting what is necessary for your body to heal. (This is a large part of what drew me to the Hansa Center)
CRT- Computerized Regulation Thermography is the first test you do at Hansa and is very revealing. Here is a website that explains it really well. http://www.doctoryutsis.com/services/computerized-regulation-thermography.html
Bio-Resonnance Scanning is the second test done at Hansa. The test or type of testing is used continually throughout your time there by the doctor and massage therapist. They use it to determine things wrong and what your body needs. BRS enables the dcotor to determine highly specific information- not only the presence of a pathology, but its degree of priority for healing in the patients body. You can visit this link for some more information http://hansacenter.com/brs.php One of the reasons I loved this test was because Dr. Jowdy was able to determine the top 10 issues that needed to be addressed in order based on what my body told him. I am going to ask him to run down that list of 10 things we made on the first day so I can share that with you.
Here is a list of the treatments utilized at Hansa, along with websites for vendors they use. Again detox is a priority:
FIR Sauna- I have talked about this plenty. Used to help the body detox. I have been in there for 30 minutes almost every day. http://www.hightechhealth.com/
Ion Cleanse Footbath-Basically an array placed in the water creates negatively and positively charged ions in the water which neutralize charged particles in the body. The charged particles are then pulled out through osmosis and diffusion. Really would like to get one of these to use for the whole family .http://www.amajordifference.com/
ST8- A machine used to help the lymphatic system function properly and dump all of the junk out of your system. It uses four different therapies. 1. Cold-gas photo therapy: Photons pass through an intricate glass coil filled with 5 noble gases. The energized photons liquefy old gelatinous or mucus material to open clogged lymph drainage. 2. Scalar potentials: Opens up and separates old cells in the lymph tissues that are stuck together, and plumps up old damaged cells of the lymph nodes, so that there is room for the lymph fluid to wash around the cells, clearing the toxins out of the area. Known to block the frequencies of negative emotions, making it difficult to think negatives, and they have been shown to dramatically boost the immune system and the body's overall energy production. 3. Transdermal ozone therapy: Provides oxygen to the tissues. Ozone is a molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms loosely stuck together. This ozone is almost instantly converted into separate oxygen atoms in the body. Increase oxygen to a cell, and you increase its ability to function properly. Oxygen may also help kill any anaerobic bacteria, and some types of cancer are impeded by the presence of oxygen. 4. Rife frequency generator: Constantly broadcasts and sweeps through many different electromagnetic frequencies, each of which performs a different task. Many of the frequencies are believed to energize specific tissues in the body, while others have been shown to destroy various viruses and bacteria, which is a good thing when attempting to take the strain off of your lymphatic system. http://www.elflabstech.com/tgt-products.htm
Bio Mat- I truly love this thing. The massage therapists use it on their tables. So you lay down for your massage on this amazing heated mat. Would love one of these too. The mat uses FAR infrared light, negative ions, and amethyst quartz to basically open pathways and promote DNA repair. http://-2.thebiomatcompany.us/home/
Essential Oils and supplements- Used mostly in massage therapy but also by the doctor. They are supposed to do some great things. They test my body using BRS to see what it is saying it needs. They are usually really soothing and smell good. http://www.youngliving.com/en_US/index.html
LUX- This machine basically uses gemstones and colored filters with light to target different areas of the body and promote healing. I don't have a website for a specific vendor or that Hansahttp://www.positivehealth.com/article/energy-medicine/gem-lamp-therapy-for-health
Theralumen- This is the one machine I don't like. It is a pain to use. You have to hold it in your mouth, kind of under your tongue but it can't touch anything either. You use it about 15 minutes at a time. It is a type of laser light therapy. I believe it helps kill bacteria, etc... http://www.advancedlightdevices.com/theralumen/
Massage- I keep forgetting to ask my therapist what type of massage she does. She uses some different techniques than what I am used to and as I said before she really works some stuff out. She is awesome and that is probably my favorite therapy. I will get more information for you. I know she helps with muscle tension of course, but she also gets things moving and I believe helps move some of the lymph fluid and other stuff along.
Water- There is an amazing "water fountain" in the lobby of Hansa. I so want one. Not only is it healthy water is so cool to look at. I believe the water we drink at Hansa is considered living water. I will post a picture of the water fountain at some point but you may see one on their website. http://www.vibrantvitalwater.com/index.html Here is a picture of the fountain http://www.vibrantvitalwater.com/zen-cart/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=79
I know I could go into a lot more about energy medicine, bio-photons, the medical uses of light but I think this is enough for now. It comes down to light, love, and being positive. There is a book I was told to check out called that I believe is called Messages in the Water. Anyways, it talks about waters makeup etc...and how research shows being positive, negative, an so on towards water can affect the actual water crystals. A lot of the girls are walking around with positive messages on their water bottles. May be worth a try. I will have to look it up but thought you might look to check it out as well. So enough for today. I am doing ok. I have a slight headache on and off,some pain, all the normal stuff. Other than standing up straighter, having an easier time regulating temperature (my feet are a little cold today), and having less muscle tension in my shoulders, I don't "feel" much different. However, I know we are making some progress and it took my a long time to feel this bad so I know the changes I notice may not be over night. Still have high hopes and I am glad I had the chance to come.
Showing posts with label light therapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label light therapy. Show all posts
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Hansa Day 3- Body Language
Today marks the end of day three and I must admit I am feeling ok. In fact a thing or two may even be a little bit better. Despite an excruciating headache last night, I feel asleep easier than the night before and slept really well with out waking up a bunch. That is a big deal for me since I usually am awake through out the night. Weather it has to do with my new supplement or not I don't know for sure but I will take it regardless. Also for the second day in a row my feet haven't been cold. I know for many of you that sounds silly but when you are cold and your feet are chilled inside your Uggs in a house that is 72 degrees to the point that you have to get into a hot bath multiple times a day to get warm then this is a big deal. So yay for warm feet. The joint and muscle pain that was really bad has eased up as well. So far I am really impressed with everything.
Today was very similar to the last two days. My treatments don't vary much other than their order and the areas of the body they are targeting. Maybe this weekend I will take the time to write up a little definition of each treatment. I realize that I have not explained all of them adequately. Anyways, I really wanted to tell you a little more about the bio-resonance scanning or as I call it sign language for the body. This technique of asking the body questions is done a couple of times a day. The massage therapist uses it to determine what essential oils you may need and what things may be going wrong. It was so interesting because I had my massage this morning and the first thing she told was that I needed something for gastro stuff. (TMI coming) I told her my digestion was actually doing better but she said, well your body still says it needs it. Then I told her that I was having some cramps and ovary pain that wasn't normal this time of the month. She said that is all related. Then she told me I needed some stuff for sore muscles. I hadn't even told her my my arms and legs were really achy but she knew. I am believing more and more every day. The even crazier thing was tonight I did get kind of sick to my stomach. So my body told her before me. Crazy! I was also having some low back pain. She worked a lot on that area and said she felt like it was not all muscle but that I might have a descended colon, so my colon had dropped. That was confirmed a little later by the doc.
I went and saw the doctor after my massage. We discussed symptoms and what had improved then it was time for some work. He did some BRS and and some more myofascial release with the percussor (?). Her went beyond my spine this time and worked on the arms and legs and the organs. He agreed with the colon and it seems like most of my organs were out of place. He fixed it while I was laying down but when I sat up the organs moved again so he did the therapy while I was sitting up. Then we discussed treating my scars. I did tell him, that my scars had been treated with the light therapy at my doctors but he wanted to do them again using his procedure to make sure they were clear. First he determined which of my four needed attention. It was only my thyroid and my port scar that needed work. We used the laser, oil, and a special pen type device that send a tiny shock to clear up any bound energy in these scars. Although the pen thing was a little uncomfortable he had an amazing way to show me it worked. This blew me away. Dr. J brought out this doll that sings when you hold her hands. She has two little metal buttons so to speak on her hands and when you hold them in yours you complete the circuit and she begins singing. (I think it was ring around the rosie) Then I held one hand, he held one hand and then touched me with the other and she sang again. This showed that we could complete the circuit together. Then he repeated this and touched me along my thyroid scar, she wouldn't sing but made some static noise. Then he did this on my port scar and there was nothing. So he treated my scars, and repeated the test with the doll and this time she sang on my thyroid scar and made static on my port scar. It was very cool. I am learning so much and totally believe in energy medicine. You would almost have to see this for your self. Tomorrow we are going to treat some cranial-sacral issues that are effecting my brain and what not. So I am sure I will have a lot to report tomorrow. I have a slight headache creeping back, but overall I don't feel to bad. I detoxed a bunch of lymph, joint, and I thing gallbladder stuff out of my foot bath today. I will be detoxing myself and my family from here on out. Everyone needs to do it. There are going to be some major changes in our house about food choices, chemicals, use of plastics, etc...It is crazy how much junk we are exposed to and what it does to us.
With that I am off to detox in the bath and get some much needed rest. Here is to another night of improving sleep and no more cold feet! As always, thanks for the support.
Today was very similar to the last two days. My treatments don't vary much other than their order and the areas of the body they are targeting. Maybe this weekend I will take the time to write up a little definition of each treatment. I realize that I have not explained all of them adequately. Anyways, I really wanted to tell you a little more about the bio-resonance scanning or as I call it sign language for the body. This technique of asking the body questions is done a couple of times a day. The massage therapist uses it to determine what essential oils you may need and what things may be going wrong. It was so interesting because I had my massage this morning and the first thing she told was that I needed something for gastro stuff. (TMI coming) I told her my digestion was actually doing better but she said, well your body still says it needs it. Then I told her that I was having some cramps and ovary pain that wasn't normal this time of the month. She said that is all related. Then she told me I needed some stuff for sore muscles. I hadn't even told her my my arms and legs were really achy but she knew. I am believing more and more every day. The even crazier thing was tonight I did get kind of sick to my stomach. So my body told her before me. Crazy! I was also having some low back pain. She worked a lot on that area and said she felt like it was not all muscle but that I might have a descended colon, so my colon had dropped. That was confirmed a little later by the doc.
I went and saw the doctor after my massage. We discussed symptoms and what had improved then it was time for some work. He did some BRS and and some more myofascial release with the percussor (?). Her went beyond my spine this time and worked on the arms and legs and the organs. He agreed with the colon and it seems like most of my organs were out of place. He fixed it while I was laying down but when I sat up the organs moved again so he did the therapy while I was sitting up. Then we discussed treating my scars. I did tell him, that my scars had been treated with the light therapy at my doctors but he wanted to do them again using his procedure to make sure they were clear. First he determined which of my four needed attention. It was only my thyroid and my port scar that needed work. We used the laser, oil, and a special pen type device that send a tiny shock to clear up any bound energy in these scars. Although the pen thing was a little uncomfortable he had an amazing way to show me it worked. This blew me away. Dr. J brought out this doll that sings when you hold her hands. She has two little metal buttons so to speak on her hands and when you hold them in yours you complete the circuit and she begins singing. (I think it was ring around the rosie) Then I held one hand, he held one hand and then touched me with the other and she sang again. This showed that we could complete the circuit together. Then he repeated this and touched me along my thyroid scar, she wouldn't sing but made some static noise. Then he did this on my port scar and there was nothing. So he treated my scars, and repeated the test with the doll and this time she sang on my thyroid scar and made static on my port scar. It was very cool. I am learning so much and totally believe in energy medicine. You would almost have to see this for your self. Tomorrow we are going to treat some cranial-sacral issues that are effecting my brain and what not. So I am sure I will have a lot to report tomorrow. I have a slight headache creeping back, but overall I don't feel to bad. I detoxed a bunch of lymph, joint, and I thing gallbladder stuff out of my foot bath today. I will be detoxing myself and my family from here on out. Everyone needs to do it. There are going to be some major changes in our house about food choices, chemicals, use of plastics, etc...It is crazy how much junk we are exposed to and what it does to us.
With that I am off to detox in the bath and get some much needed rest. Here is to another night of improving sleep and no more cold feet! As always, thanks for the support.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
17 Days and Counting
I knew I was behind on an update but I didn't realize it had been a month. A lot has gone on in the past few weeks. Where to begin...Well I took the leap of faith and started acupuncture. I can't tell you how happy I am that I did. I was so nervous going to that first appointment. I still get anxious when they are going draw blood or access my port. So of course the thought of having even needle stuck in some odd place was going to cause a little anxiety. Before I went in I filled out my health history. I was surprised at the amount of detailed information I had to give. I gave the acupuncturist more information than I had ever given any doctor. It was actually somewhat comforting. I brought that with me to my first appointment and we reviewed it before we did anything. I guess while I was on my antibiotic break, this guy had started working at my doctors office doing some pain management type work. We had had a chance to talk a few times before my visit so he knew how apprehensive I was and he already knew I had Lyme. After reviewing my history he checked my pulse and a few other things. Of course with being nervous my pulse was really high. The first thing he did was called cupping. I had heard of it but didn't really know what it was. It involved placing briefly heating up these glass bowls or cups and placing them quickly on my back which created a suction. You leave them on there for 5 or 10 minutes and then take them off. They are supposed to help release the stagnant blood and I believe increase circulation. He told me he knew I would bruise easily so don't be surprised it I had some marks. I did have these big circular almost hickey looking marks all over my back. They didn't hurt though. This procedure was also supposed to help with some of the tension in my shoulders and neck. I have done it on all of my visits except this last one and it has really helped a lot. After the cupping we did some needles. He made sure I was comfortable and didn't do to many because he didn't want to overwhelm me. It was nothing like I had thought and wasn't bad. He told me I would know in probably my first visit if this was for me or not. I was quickly a fan and am still going once a week. I don't know how other practitioners work but as long as he is around I won't see anybody else. His knowledge is amazing and it is evident that he wants you to get a lot out of your experience. He reviews how you are doing before starting, during, and after and makes adjustments as needed. I can say enough about what I positive experience this has been. So for all you San Diego people here is a shout out to Michael at Eight Wave Health in Encinitas. I highly recommend seeing him. He has helped with my diet, and overall healthy living. He has helped reduce my pain and is working on a couple of other issues as well. I couldn't be happier that I gave it a try!
Along with the acupuncture, I continued with the light therapy. I completed 6 treatments over about 3 weeks. I have doing okay symptom wise but I haven't had any significant breakthroughs. At the end of 6 treatments I had an appointment with the doctor to see how he wanted me to continue. He decided instead of taking a break and doing six more that he would start treating me with another type of light therapy. So yesterday I did my first treatment with the new machine. Now this one is different and is administered by the doctor or nurse. There are no glass bottles taped to me. This machine uses coherent and in-coherent light. I can't explain to you the science behind it but there is a lot of positive feed back about this kind of treatment. It is even safe for kids. It can even be used to counteract the bad stuff from vaccinations. I am really hopeful about this. One of the first things we treated with this were all of my scars and my neck from whiplash I've had once or twice. Then we treated some of my viruses, the vaccinations I have had, etc. We will begin focusing on the lyme in future treatments. I haven't been feeling great so it is hard to say weather today is because of the light therapy or something else.
In regards to how I have been feeling. I was thinking I was back to about where I was before treatment but it appears I am not even that far yet. And that isn't my goal. I need to be much better than I was before treatment to really feel like I have gotten somewhere. If you could take me back to when I was about 20, it would tolerable. But realizing that i have been sick for so long, what I felt at 20 wasn't right either. I don't really have an idea of what healthy feels like. I know now the things that bothered me then were signs of a problem even though no doctor would agree to that at the time. I am really set on getting healthy and staying that way. As I was saying, I have been doing okay. I have made some changes in my diet and have lost about 4 pounds. So that makes me happy. I had a little bit of pain and all during my cycle but nothing extreme. Then all of sudden for almost the last week I have been going down hill. I have had some pain, a ton of palpitations and heart racing episodes. I have had some dizzy spells and extra fatigue. In fact Tuesday night I had the worst creepy crawly, weak feeling in my arms and legs that I have ever had. It kept me up most of the night and I was so ready to cut my legs off at the knees and my arms off at the elbow or maybe even the shoulder. That feeling has stuck around since then but is not as intense. I'm getting transient bone pain and muscle aches. I have been muscle spasms at some place on body probably everyday for almost a month. So needless to say I am a little frustrated. I can't say what the cause is since it seems to be out of the blue. A flare, a herx, reactivation of a virus I have no idea. I guess it just a reminder I'm not done yet. I'm sure the stress surrounding the holidays, money, my trips arent' helping. I never know if stress caused it but I certainly know when you feel like this you get more stressed. Such a vicious cycle this is.
Onto something a little happier. I am officially going to Kansas. I fly to Wichita on January 1st and begin treatment January 2nd. I have been in contact with a girl who a has recently gone and has had great results. That gives me a lot of hope and I am so excited to go.The great thing is, some of what my doctor is doing here with the light therapy seems directly in line with what they do at Hansa. My hope is that for the two weeks I am gone, I get a great jump start on restoring my health so that when I come back we can finish up. I get to stay in a nice hotel where all of the rooms are kind of like studio apartments. I have a full kitchen and all so this will a nice retreat to really focus on my healing. I can't say I won't be lonely and somewhat distracted by leaving my family behind. However, I believe that this is where I am supposed be and it will be worth it if I can come back feeling better. I will doing my best to update regularly when I am back there. I will at definitely keep a journal so I can always blog about it later if I need too. I am trusting God that this is right thing to do and that not only will he take care of my family while I am gone, but that he will continue to provide for us financially. Between the light therapy, acupuncture, and this trip the available funds for treatment will be down to nothing. God has provided for us this far and I believe he will continue to do so. In His time, according to His plan and will for my life.
To end on a happy note, I have a new excitement and passion for what the future holds. In fact, I even signed up for a college class for next semester. I am ready to put in the effort to make my dreams a reality. If I don't get to update before I leave I pray you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
You can continue to support me and my family by praying, by buying some of photography, or by making a donation to help pay for treatment. You can now donate directly to a donation account at US Bank. Just tell them you would like to make a deposit to the Jessica Madson Donation Account and give them account number 153466674998. Thanks for following along on my journey and for all of your support.
Along with the acupuncture, I continued with the light therapy. I completed 6 treatments over about 3 weeks. I have doing okay symptom wise but I haven't had any significant breakthroughs. At the end of 6 treatments I had an appointment with the doctor to see how he wanted me to continue. He decided instead of taking a break and doing six more that he would start treating me with another type of light therapy. So yesterday I did my first treatment with the new machine. Now this one is different and is administered by the doctor or nurse. There are no glass bottles taped to me. This machine uses coherent and in-coherent light. I can't explain to you the science behind it but there is a lot of positive feed back about this kind of treatment. It is even safe for kids. It can even be used to counteract the bad stuff from vaccinations. I am really hopeful about this. One of the first things we treated with this were all of my scars and my neck from whiplash I've had once or twice. Then we treated some of my viruses, the vaccinations I have had, etc. We will begin focusing on the lyme in future treatments. I haven't been feeling great so it is hard to say weather today is because of the light therapy or something else.
In regards to how I have been feeling. I was thinking I was back to about where I was before treatment but it appears I am not even that far yet. And that isn't my goal. I need to be much better than I was before treatment to really feel like I have gotten somewhere. If you could take me back to when I was about 20, it would tolerable. But realizing that i have been sick for so long, what I felt at 20 wasn't right either. I don't really have an idea of what healthy feels like. I know now the things that bothered me then were signs of a problem even though no doctor would agree to that at the time. I am really set on getting healthy and staying that way. As I was saying, I have been doing okay. I have made some changes in my diet and have lost about 4 pounds. So that makes me happy. I had a little bit of pain and all during my cycle but nothing extreme. Then all of sudden for almost the last week I have been going down hill. I have had some pain, a ton of palpitations and heart racing episodes. I have had some dizzy spells and extra fatigue. In fact Tuesday night I had the worst creepy crawly, weak feeling in my arms and legs that I have ever had. It kept me up most of the night and I was so ready to cut my legs off at the knees and my arms off at the elbow or maybe even the shoulder. That feeling has stuck around since then but is not as intense. I'm getting transient bone pain and muscle aches. I have been muscle spasms at some place on body probably everyday for almost a month. So needless to say I am a little frustrated. I can't say what the cause is since it seems to be out of the blue. A flare, a herx, reactivation of a virus I have no idea. I guess it just a reminder I'm not done yet. I'm sure the stress surrounding the holidays, money, my trips arent' helping. I never know if stress caused it but I certainly know when you feel like this you get more stressed. Such a vicious cycle this is.
Onto something a little happier. I am officially going to Kansas. I fly to Wichita on January 1st and begin treatment January 2nd. I have been in contact with a girl who a has recently gone and has had great results. That gives me a lot of hope and I am so excited to go.The great thing is, some of what my doctor is doing here with the light therapy seems directly in line with what they do at Hansa. My hope is that for the two weeks I am gone, I get a great jump start on restoring my health so that when I come back we can finish up. I get to stay in a nice hotel where all of the rooms are kind of like studio apartments. I have a full kitchen and all so this will a nice retreat to really focus on my healing. I can't say I won't be lonely and somewhat distracted by leaving my family behind. However, I believe that this is where I am supposed be and it will be worth it if I can come back feeling better. I will doing my best to update regularly when I am back there. I will at definitely keep a journal so I can always blog about it later if I need too. I am trusting God that this is right thing to do and that not only will he take care of my family while I am gone, but that he will continue to provide for us financially. Between the light therapy, acupuncture, and this trip the available funds for treatment will be down to nothing. God has provided for us this far and I believe he will continue to do so. In His time, according to His plan and will for my life.
To end on a happy note, I have a new excitement and passion for what the future holds. In fact, I even signed up for a college class for next semester. I am ready to put in the effort to make my dreams a reality. If I don't get to update before I leave I pray you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
You can continue to support me and my family by praying, by buying some of photography, or by making a donation to help pay for treatment. You can now donate directly to a donation account at US Bank. Just tell them you would like to make a deposit to the Jessica Madson Donation Account and give them account number 153466674998. Thanks for following along on my journey and for all of your support.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Beam Me Up Doc
The the last few weeks have been a little crazy but I guess with me that is nothing new. There has been a lot going on with the kids and certainly a lot going on with me. I have taken a few rides on the "emotional" roller coaster. For some strange reason I still don't like that ride much. I have gone from happy to sad, frustrated to at peace, hopeful to hopeless. You get the picture. I should have expected some turmoil for the simple fact that we went to church. You don't need all of the details but like a lot of people it is easy to get in the habit of skipping church. I don't feel good, my husbands working weekends so it's hard for me to take the girls by myself, my daughter has a softball game and a million other reasons. My husband and I both knew we wanted to get back to church. So just last weekend we went. Not only once but twice. Our daughter sang for school at Saturday night church and we went to our church on Sunday morning. God welcomed us back with open arms and two great sermons. God really spoke to me and I was just kind of filled with peace. That should have been my warning, it was like the calm before the storm. The devil had to come in and start messing things up. So this past week has been especially tough. As I sit here tonight though, I am doing okay. Still working on trusting God completely and not stressing out or worrying about anything that we are facing. I just need to take it a moment at a time and know God has a plan.
So let me tell you about what has gone on treatment wise and where that is going. That of course will lead into the money part of things. Yesterday I completed day number 30 of my IV Rifampin. Too my surprise that is all I am going to take of it. Even more surprising is that I have mixed emotions about only doing one month. We never did find a cheaper source for that medication so I am excited about not having to spend another $1400+ however that doesn't mean my treatment got any cheaper. I don't know 100% why the doctor had me stop after only one month when we were really planning on 2 if not 4 months of it initially. I did feel like there was some minor improvement although it was hard to describe exactly what was better. I definitely had some returning symptoms and some new ones. The headaches that had started continued and I have had a nasty tension headache almost everyday for the past month. I also developed bad heartburn. I think the doctor was hoping for some more improvements. He seemed to key in on brain issues. "How is your brain fog and concentration? Any better?" Well I left my IV antibiotics at home twice when I went to the doctor, and not only did I go the wrong way to the doctors, I also went the wrong way to take the kids to school. That last one is a big one since the kids school is like two blocks away and on the same street we live on. I would say um no improvement in the brain area. Due to that and the doctors excitement over some new treatment he said stop the IV and lets have you try this light therapy. This sounded good to me. The only down side is the cost. At a $150 bucks a treatment, twice a week for a total of 12 treatments that puts us around $1800. Of course this wouldn't be an option if it weren't for my great friends and family and the fundraisers that have been going to help us.
As I said, yesterday I finished day number 30 of that IV med and today I started light therapy. Let me just tell you that if anyone had walked in during my treatment, I don't have any doubt in my mind that they would have called the authorities and tried to convince them that I needed to go to the hospital and be put on a 72 hour hold for a pysch evaluation. Just imagine, you walk into a room, and see me laying back with about 12 glass vials (very much like the little perfume sample bottles) taped to my stomach and I am holding what looks like a grocery store scanner or radar gun to my forehead. I am not lying to you. I almost wish I had a picture. So either I am nuts or I am trying to contact the mother ship, which I guess would also make me nuts. Beam me up doc! Maybe the aliens can fix me. All I can say is I had a good laugh at myself during all this. I'm thinking how a few years ago I would have run from a doctor or person trying to get me to do something like this. But God took the time to prepare me for the journey I was about to embark on and now I not only put radar guns on my forehead but I am even considering acupuncture. Anyone that knows me well can tell you that me and acupuncture would be a true miracle but I will save that discussion for another day. In any case, this treatment takes me a little over an hour because there are 10 points on the body you use this light and you do it in two rounds for different amounts of time. I have heard some good things about it so lets just pray that it works. I will do the treatment myself and do about 6 of them at which point I will take a month off before I would consider doing the other 6. I have started to feel a little worse in the last few days but today I really felt miserable. Tired, headache, lots of pain...it is always hard to tell for sure what is going so whether the treatment stirred things up I don't know for sure. That is my thought though. I guess I will know more on Monday when I go for round two.
This leads into my other treatment plans. After much deliberations, prayer, discussion, etc., I am planning on going to the Hansa Center in Kansas and have made my reservations. I had so much to consider when making this decision but here is what it came down to. First off this place has just been on my heart since I read about it. The more I learn the more I like it. Now they had an anniversary deal for a flat fee that was a couple thousand dollars cheaper than it is normally to go for two weeks. Of course that got my attention. After my fundraiser and some other help it looked like I may be able to consider going. I talked with the center again and wanted to confirm that they had no payment plans. That is when they told me that they do work through Care Credit and have a deal with 6 months no interest financing. I was beyond excited. So I went home and applied immediately and received instant approval for about half of what I needed to go. In my mind it was a sign that I had to go. Unfortunately my family didn't necessarily see it that way and we had some intense and emotional discussions on the issue. When all was said and done though I booked my appointment for January 2 through 13. If all goes as planned, I will be spending the first two weeks of 2012 in Wichita, Kansas hopefully getting my health back. The only thing that would make it better would be to have my family with me. Being away from my husband and kids for two weeks is going to be really tough. But I hope to come back so much closer to being the mom and the wife that I desire to be. What a way to start the new year. I am excited beyond belief. There is always a chance that I won't end up going but I am going to do everything I can to make sure I get to keep this opportunity. The last step is booking my flight. My hotel is reserved already. I have been checking flights and they are reasonable right now. I just need to confirm what refund or cancellation policies are. It looks like I would be flying Frontier which I have heard good reviews on. The cheapest flight so far, with tax and fees and all is about $300 round trip. I just need to know that my money is not totally lost if I have to cancel my trip. That deal was through Priceline so I have a little more research to do. I don't want to wait to the last minute either. I am flying out on New Years Day so I am hoping that keeps the price a little lower.
That brings me to the money. Oh how I wish money was never an issue. I am working on not making it one but right now it is still a dark cloud looming overhead. I think the issue is more with family than with me. I have really begun to feel a peace that God is taking care of it. However, the devil seems to be going after my family and they are just not at the same place I am. Because we are in this together their concern, worry, and opinion play a big part in how I proceed. This is where some of the concern with Kansas came in. If I go, and it doesn't work, then will I have just spent all of our money and have no money left for treatment? I see their point but I am trusting God on this and I feel like this is what I need to be doing. Of course add in things like Christmas, vehicle registrations, vehicle maintenance, etc...and it is easy to go into a tailspin of worrying and thinking the worst. I have continued to see God bless us though and have also felt like we are blessed so much more that we realize sometimes. It is easy to say that we don't have money to spare for others but the reality is we do. If I have money for a Starbucks even once, or a new jacket for my kids, or for cable or a cell phone I have money for others. The message we got from church had so much to do with this topic. If we look at where we are spending our time and our money, we will get a good picture of what is important to us. It seems the more we focus on others and help those in need the more we are taken care of. I am so on board. I am just praying God reveals this as clearly to my family. I am not ready to panic yet. God has our back. I am excited to see how He works things out.
I could go on but at this point I will be lucky if anyone read this all the way to the end. Thank you again for keeping on my crazy and wild journey through life with Lyme. I will try to update a little more often so my posts aren't so long. At least it may be good enough to put you to sleep right?
So let me tell you about what has gone on treatment wise and where that is going. That of course will lead into the money part of things. Yesterday I completed day number 30 of my IV Rifampin. Too my surprise that is all I am going to take of it. Even more surprising is that I have mixed emotions about only doing one month. We never did find a cheaper source for that medication so I am excited about not having to spend another $1400+ however that doesn't mean my treatment got any cheaper. I don't know 100% why the doctor had me stop after only one month when we were really planning on 2 if not 4 months of it initially. I did feel like there was some minor improvement although it was hard to describe exactly what was better. I definitely had some returning symptoms and some new ones. The headaches that had started continued and I have had a nasty tension headache almost everyday for the past month. I also developed bad heartburn. I think the doctor was hoping for some more improvements. He seemed to key in on brain issues. "How is your brain fog and concentration? Any better?" Well I left my IV antibiotics at home twice when I went to the doctor, and not only did I go the wrong way to the doctors, I also went the wrong way to take the kids to school. That last one is a big one since the kids school is like two blocks away and on the same street we live on. I would say um no improvement in the brain area. Due to that and the doctors excitement over some new treatment he said stop the IV and lets have you try this light therapy. This sounded good to me. The only down side is the cost. At a $150 bucks a treatment, twice a week for a total of 12 treatments that puts us around $1800. Of course this wouldn't be an option if it weren't for my great friends and family and the fundraisers that have been going to help us.
As I said, yesterday I finished day number 30 of that IV med and today I started light therapy. Let me just tell you that if anyone had walked in during my treatment, I don't have any doubt in my mind that they would have called the authorities and tried to convince them that I needed to go to the hospital and be put on a 72 hour hold for a pysch evaluation. Just imagine, you walk into a room, and see me laying back with about 12 glass vials (very much like the little perfume sample bottles) taped to my stomach and I am holding what looks like a grocery store scanner or radar gun to my forehead. I am not lying to you. I almost wish I had a picture. So either I am nuts or I am trying to contact the mother ship, which I guess would also make me nuts. Beam me up doc! Maybe the aliens can fix me. All I can say is I had a good laugh at myself during all this. I'm thinking how a few years ago I would have run from a doctor or person trying to get me to do something like this. But God took the time to prepare me for the journey I was about to embark on and now I not only put radar guns on my forehead but I am even considering acupuncture. Anyone that knows me well can tell you that me and acupuncture would be a true miracle but I will save that discussion for another day. In any case, this treatment takes me a little over an hour because there are 10 points on the body you use this light and you do it in two rounds for different amounts of time. I have heard some good things about it so lets just pray that it works. I will do the treatment myself and do about 6 of them at which point I will take a month off before I would consider doing the other 6. I have started to feel a little worse in the last few days but today I really felt miserable. Tired, headache, lots of pain...it is always hard to tell for sure what is going so whether the treatment stirred things up I don't know for sure. That is my thought though. I guess I will know more on Monday when I go for round two.
This leads into my other treatment plans. After much deliberations, prayer, discussion, etc., I am planning on going to the Hansa Center in Kansas and have made my reservations. I had so much to consider when making this decision but here is what it came down to. First off this place has just been on my heart since I read about it. The more I learn the more I like it. Now they had an anniversary deal for a flat fee that was a couple thousand dollars cheaper than it is normally to go for two weeks. Of course that got my attention. After my fundraiser and some other help it looked like I may be able to consider going. I talked with the center again and wanted to confirm that they had no payment plans. That is when they told me that they do work through Care Credit and have a deal with 6 months no interest financing. I was beyond excited. So I went home and applied immediately and received instant approval for about half of what I needed to go. In my mind it was a sign that I had to go. Unfortunately my family didn't necessarily see it that way and we had some intense and emotional discussions on the issue. When all was said and done though I booked my appointment for January 2 through 13. If all goes as planned, I will be spending the first two weeks of 2012 in Wichita, Kansas hopefully getting my health back. The only thing that would make it better would be to have my family with me. Being away from my husband and kids for two weeks is going to be really tough. But I hope to come back so much closer to being the mom and the wife that I desire to be. What a way to start the new year. I am excited beyond belief. There is always a chance that I won't end up going but I am going to do everything I can to make sure I get to keep this opportunity. The last step is booking my flight. My hotel is reserved already. I have been checking flights and they are reasonable right now. I just need to confirm what refund or cancellation policies are. It looks like I would be flying Frontier which I have heard good reviews on. The cheapest flight so far, with tax and fees and all is about $300 round trip. I just need to know that my money is not totally lost if I have to cancel my trip. That deal was through Priceline so I have a little more research to do. I don't want to wait to the last minute either. I am flying out on New Years Day so I am hoping that keeps the price a little lower.
That brings me to the money. Oh how I wish money was never an issue. I am working on not making it one but right now it is still a dark cloud looming overhead. I think the issue is more with family than with me. I have really begun to feel a peace that God is taking care of it. However, the devil seems to be going after my family and they are just not at the same place I am. Because we are in this together their concern, worry, and opinion play a big part in how I proceed. This is where some of the concern with Kansas came in. If I go, and it doesn't work, then will I have just spent all of our money and have no money left for treatment? I see their point but I am trusting God on this and I feel like this is what I need to be doing. Of course add in things like Christmas, vehicle registrations, vehicle maintenance, etc...and it is easy to go into a tailspin of worrying and thinking the worst. I have continued to see God bless us though and have also felt like we are blessed so much more that we realize sometimes. It is easy to say that we don't have money to spare for others but the reality is we do. If I have money for a Starbucks even once, or a new jacket for my kids, or for cable or a cell phone I have money for others. The message we got from church had so much to do with this topic. If we look at where we are spending our time and our money, we will get a good picture of what is important to us. It seems the more we focus on others and help those in need the more we are taken care of. I am so on board. I am just praying God reveals this as clearly to my family. I am not ready to panic yet. God has our back. I am excited to see how He works things out.
I could go on but at this point I will be lucky if anyone read this all the way to the end. Thank you again for keeping on my crazy and wild journey through life with Lyme. I will try to update a little more often so my posts aren't so long. At least it may be good enough to put you to sleep right?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)