I made it through Day 1 without taking a bite of the Kid's leftover chili. Whew!
Today has been a TON better. I got up early to juice and get to an 8 am Dr.s
appointment with Lisa, a throat and neck therapist in the surgery dept at
Kaiser. How she ended up with my case is such a God thing! She was an angel
sent to give me lots of encouragement!
Backstory:
I saw a surgeon last week, who took a look at my vocal chords (uncomfortable)
to see if there was any atrophy of them or the surrounding area. It was
totally clear! Thank you Lord! He told me he was going to send a referral
to radiology for a barium swallow so they can pinpoint the area where the
tongue is not swallowing. It would help them consider how to protect my
airway in case of atrophy. Anyhow, the surgeon sent the referral to the
wrong place-(God redirected it!)
When Lisa called, she apologized for the referral being sent to her- and
not to radiology, as "Dr. __ knows better! Why'd he send it to me?" She
was curious about my case and wanted to know what was going on with me,
and why I had cancelled an appointment with another speech therapist.
I told her all about what was going on with me, and all the while she
kept saying "You sound so good!" ALS patients have slurred speech at the
beginning much of the time, so I think it was either that I had no slurred
speech or I was just really upbeat. Depression is very common is ALS
patients and I was not depressed. So, she said I should call her with
any concerns and we hung up.
She called back last night to tell me the referral came in and wanted to
see how I am doing and make sure I was not going to cancel again. I told
her that I think I should cancel, since my symptoms were going away! She
She was very surprised and asked me to come in to see her soon. As we
were talking, she said "Where did my patient go? Oh, well, it looks like
a spot is open for tomorrow- can you come in at 8 am?" WOW! God did not
want me to wait for the encouragement He had is store for me!
Present:
Saw her today for one hour! She asked me all kinds of questions about
my symptoms- and we established that if I followed the vegan diet to
the tee- my symptoms would disappear- because that is what is happening!
Day 2 has brought me back to where I was months ago- with the swallowing
as an inconvenience, but nothing I took seriously. To God be the glory.
He led me to just the right juicing information in a few clicks.
She told me that in 30 years of doing this work, she has never seen an
ALS patient's symptoms regress. She said "Not to go there" with the
diagnosis of ALS. Keep positive and keep on with this diet. See if it
works.
You know, at the beginning of this whole thing, I knew it was ALS.
My symptoms are very specific, and the diagnosis is a clinical one.
There are not tests to perform until I was much more advanced to get
a definitive diagnosis. We went there. I accepted it. Curtis accepted it.
We totally gave it to to the Lord. I had peace, and I have peace now.
I can truly say that if this does not work, we trust that my time
is in the Lord's hands. No disease can take me unless He allows it.
I'm not going without a fight against whatever this is. But if He
allows it, we trust Him. I thank Him for the little mercies- Lisa is
one of them!
"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, Oh God! How great is the
sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than
the sand; When I awake, I am still with you." Psalm 139:18
Moorea
