New Joys but still some worries...

Hi All,

I just wanted to give a quick update. So I told you about this cyst they found in January and I was hoping once the ob-gyn doctor checked it out he would have no concerns. And although it wasn't a huge concern he still wanted to send me off to check for high levels of some big word I don't remember; but it can be an indicator for ovarian cancer. He also wanted to order ANOTHER ultrasound to get a better look at it.

The cyst is 5.7cm at 6 cm he said they like to surgically remove them whether they are cancerous or not. So thankfully I am just under that mark. I do not want surgery.

This will be the 3rd " cancer scare" within the last few years and all the cancers have been different types. I been biopsied, had surgery, pet scanned, ct scanned, blood tested galore. I am tired- tired of being poked, and prodded and just being at the doctors in general.

I  feel like the joy has just began because PLEXUS is helping me with my energy and I have done more in the last few months then I have in the last few years. I don't have to tell people- " let me see how I feel and I'll text you that day." I can plan stuff; put it on the calendar and feel confident I will have the energy and capability to be there and it feels so wonderful!!

But then this little hiccup makes me feel a bit sadden. I just for ONCE would like to go to the doctor and have them say- your all good- go home and enjoy your life.  Instead I have to have the worry of cancer in the back of my head- as if dealing with my 6 other diagnosis isn't enough.

My prayer is that the cyst will be gone- no cancer and still to heal from these other diseases. Yes I feel a lot better because of the plexus products I am taking but I am not cured. (yet) and that is my hope and prayer!!

Thank you for reading and for your prayers!

The difference Plexus is making for me.

I wanted to write a blog post on what PLEXUS is doing for me. I really can't believe all the things I am able to do lately, which I can only attribute to plexus. I have been on my medications since January 2014. I still wasn't able to even brush my hair on my own in September 2014. In October my blood was continuing to drop so I began getting iron infusions twice a week and continued once a week in November. Finally, my hemoglobin came up to a 12.4 so my hematologist said it was okay to stop the infusions. I was starting to be able to do more. I could get dressed on my own, get up earlier in the day, I made a few meals and I was beginning to feel better.

Although I felt happy for the progress, there wasn't a single day that I didn't limp or have severe pain. I also had these thoughts?
-Will I ever be able to get through a day without pain and without fighting against my body?
-Will I ever be able to stop taking immuno-suppressant chemo drugs?
-Am I going to die soon?

I ordered plexus the tri-plex package November 30th. Upon receiving the product I tried drinking the pink drink called slim and thought it was much too sweet for my liking. I had eliminated sugar from my diet and this was ridiculously sweet to me. I didn't think it could do well for my body. So I decided to put it away in the cabinet and forget about it.

A few weeks later, I realized that my lower back had been hurting for quite some time. I believed it was my kidneys. I have lupus and lupus can cause kidney disease so I figured that is what it was. I wanted to get rid of the pain without taking more drugs. So I decided to give the all natural slim drink a try again and drink lots of water hoping it would help my kidneys.This was December 18th, 2014.

I didn't notice much at first except that my lower back pain was feeling better. (BTW, if you want to know the real reason for the pain- see my last post.)

But the first week of January we went to visit my mom in North Carolina. I kept saying to Carl that whole week- " I'm surprised that I'm not that tired" and " My pain isn't as bad as I thought it would be in this cold weather." He and I attributed it to the fact that I never adjusted to the time frame and I got out of bed around 12/1 everyday eastern time. I always feel better later in the day then I do earlier in the day. Also, I thought well maybe it because the air is cleaner and my body isn't trying to fight off as much toxins or something.

When we returned home my pain level did increase. I didn't take my plexus the day of travel because I had packed it and forgot. Once Christmas break was over and we were back in our normal routine is when I really started noticing. My energy was without a doubt increasing.

• I no longer have to take a rest after taking a shower. I would only have energy long enough to shower and I would have to lay down for 5-10 minutes before I had the energy to get dressed. Once I was dressed I would have to rest again before attempting hair or make-up and many times those things just didn't happen. ( I wore ALOT of hats and headbands!)
• I can make dinner and wash dishes!!! I haven't been able to lift a glass of water for a long while, let a lone a pot or pan. I have been able to do the dishes- who would of ever thought of being thankful that they can do dishes?! 
• I can drive my daughter to school in the early morning. Turning the steering wheel was too hard for me in the morning because my inflammation and stiffness is the worst in the mornings. ( I didn't have the strength to start my car on my own with my hands I would have to use my foot)
• I pushed a shopping cart!! If you follow me on facebook, you probably saw my post about this, but yes I have been using the handicap drive-able carts for almost 2 years.
• I am no longer sleeping most my day away. I would go back to bed after MJ goes off to school and if I didn't I would be in bed by 3pm in the afternoon. This isn't happening ANYMORE!
• Today I raked and cleaned up all the dog poop in our backyard ( gross I know) but when putting a shirt on was impossible or opening a door or even walking was like trying to fight a gladiator. I am so grateful for the progress plexus has made for me in just a little over a month. 
• And this...(picture below) I used to love to run and jump and Carl would catch me in this position. It was just something fun I loved. I haven't been able to do this now in like 5 years. And no there was no running and jumping just some light lifting but I was able to put my arm over his shoulder and bend my knees and it barely hurt only a little. I would want to cry or die if someone so much as tried to put one finger on me just a couple months ago. The pain was unbearable and I had no choice but to bear it before. 

Now for the bloodwork...

I have a standing order at the lab that I have to go in and get my labs done on a regular basis due to the harsh drugs I am on so the monitoring of that and my health. I want to tell you my hemoglobin levels have been out of range since summer 2013 and maybe longer. Here you can see old labs and new:

I am now in range!! Some of this is because of the infusions. But the one that is not pictured that I know is for sure because of  PLEXUS is my SED rate (SED rate basically measures the inflammation of your body.) It went from 75 to 56. Normal is  less than or = 20. I hoping as time goes on with plexus this will get even lower as I am still really high.

 I now have hope again.Hope to overcome this and hopefully one day I can get off these horrible meds and still be able to function and not be disabled. I don't feel like I'm heading for death soon but now I can plan for tomorrow and a future. I hope this Plexus is an answer to more then just my health prayers. My journey is still going and I want to reach optimal health and I need to be blessed financially to do all the things I have in mind to get there. And plexus could quite possibly make that happen. I have a friend from college who it has changed her life financially.

Where can you get some plexus? If you know me personally and see me I am happy to give you a sample of the pink drink. You can also order from me. If you would like to know more, feel free to message me. I hope it can bless others as it is for me! :)


www.plexusslim.com/hollieo

What a difference a year makes...

Last January I was having surgery to check for lymphoma. I am glad to say it came back negative. Leading up to the surgery was the worse months of my life. Not only was I disabled but I was super sick, nauseous and in a fog.

I hit a break through in November 2014. Right after receiving all those iron infusions. I began having a little more energy. But there has been more. I have been able to dress myself since then, cook dinner without help, able to wash dishes and do things around the house that were impossible for me a year ago.

Yes, I am on some hardcore drugs now but I feel like I owe it to my family to be functional. I tried just about everything I could afford to try and get better without these vicous drugs but I was just getting worse and more disabled.

I am able to have the energy to search more, study more, and continue to try things, that I can't when I am without drugs because I can't even get out of bed.

I still have intense pain everyday but my body works. Yes, I want to be farther a long but I am grateful for the progress. These are my wishes for the future- increased strength and energy and one day to be able to play catch with my daughter. It's crazy to me that a couple years ago I was coaching basketball and getting out on the court with the girls shooting and playing and now I can't even lift my arms above my head for more then 10 seconds and that's improvement from just a few short months ago when I couldn't even do that.

Although there is so much to be grateful for as I have been able to live more lately. There is also so much uncertain for the future and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't worry about if Ill be around for Makenna's wedding and to meet my grandchild/ren one day. I feel like everything is bad news from the doctors even when I am doing my best to treat my body well.

Most recently, I went to the doctors right after Christmas because I thought my kidneys were hurting. They did a urine test which showed inflammation so they sent me off for an ultrasound of my bladder and kidneys. ( Lupus can cause kidney disease/disorder)

My doctors office called me a few days ago to tell me that the ultrasound showed no signs of kidney stones or anything but that they found a tangerine size cyst on one of my ovaries. So now onto more appointments to see what that is all about. I am asking for prayers because at this point I am worn and tired. Every time I try to get back to life they're are health road bumps and I can't plan tomorrow let a lone the future because I am at the mercy of my body and health. I WANT SO BADLY to heal!! Please keep me in your prayers and thank you for reading.

P.S. The thing I am trying now is Plexus. I have been on it since Dec 18th.  There have been some testimonials stating healing of RA and other auto immune diseases. I will keep you guys posted. 

One of my favorite regimans for detoxing.

I need to begin sharing more about the things I do to help with my health.

I would like to start by saying whenever we get sick symptoms, it is our body trying to tell us something. When we get a cough, sore throat, rash, acne, dry skin, red eyes and more.  Our bodies were made incredibly and most often when they are attempting to repair and fix themselves instead of coming a long side our immune system and giving it the things it needs in order to achieve healing, we most often do the opposite.

When we take medicine, its usually used as a blocker to block us from feeling what's taking place inside or to stop the process. This results in the problem never really going away but just masking it.

I know in order for me to heal, it will be no easy task. It will take a lot of time, energy, money and the help of others and God. But I hope for one day my diseases to be gone and to go to the doctors office and everything is no longer in my blood work.

One thing I want to share with you that is extremely beneficial to me: is infrared saunas. I try to go as often as possible. If I could afford to I would go once a day. You see, with my physical limitations I cannot currently do enough physical activity to break a sweat- due to lack of strength and energy. Also, my body doesn't really like to release, it holds onto everything until it explodes. Infrared sauna helps me to sweat and when I sweat I release toxins. When we see rashes on our skin, it is our body trying to release toxins out of our skin. I currently have a rash around my eyes and on my hands. When I am going to the sauna consistently this all clears up and goes away. Not only does it help with my skin, it helps my bones feel better because it is a deep penetrating heat. I was not breaking a sweat at 135 degrees so the last time I went up to 149 degrees. It take some getting use to but now I crave it.I crave it because its a tool used to help my body do what it already is attempting to do. By sweating and releasing these toxins on a regular basis they don't build up and cause me to feel miserable dry and itchy skin. Instead I have well balanced clear skin.

The place I go charges $25 for a 30 min session. I get a deal since I go so often and I also get colonics there- but I will save that for another post.

It's my hope to just own my own sauna so I can go in it whenever I want. Hopefully, one day.

Thankful

It is Thanksgiving soon and there are so many reasons to be thankful. I am extremely thankful for the blessings in my life. I am thankful that currently medication is helping with my pain level, I have less pain then I have had in over 2/3 years. I am able to participate more in life. I feel grateful that I am able to drive in the morning now. I even took my daughter to school one morning and she has to be there at 7:30am. My body was not operating in the early hours for over a year.


I am grateful that all these medical expenses have not put us in a huge amount of debt. Last month alone I paid out of pocket $220 in co-pays and I got a bill for $184. That means in one month just to go to my doctors appointments it cost me $404. This doesn't include my cost of prescriptions, vitamins/supplements, or the many other regimens that I do in order to stay operating. To be honest I have no idea how we have kept up, but by the grace of God we have.


I am thankful for all I have learned from being sick. I don't know where this road is going to lead but I know already I have come across so much information that I have been able to share with others. There is SO much that food has to do with so many of our issues ( autoimmune, diabetes, cancer, add/adhd, and the list goes on). I've heard it a million times throughout my life but until I studied and it was broken down as to why and how; that is when it all began making perfect sense. The way our organs and immune system operates and what our food does when it goes into our body and how it is able to get into our blood stream etc. I understand now why I am so sick. This gives me hope because I have things I can do to sustain and hopefully one day thrive.


I am thankful that I am not alone. As much as I don't wish this disease on anyone. I have come across many people (mostly on instagram) that live with RA and lupus and other auto immune diseases. They fight everyday like I do to stay operating and living. I also more recently have talked a little with a guy at my church who suffers with RA. He serves every week and stands ups before and after each service. This brings me to tears when I think of it because if everyone only knew how much sacrifice that takes from a person in chronic pain, its nothing short of amazing that he chooses to do this week after week.


I am thankful for friends and family. I am thankful for the care, love, help and assistance I have received. This journey is so hard that it can't be done alone.


I am thankful for my pastor and my church. My pastor came to the hospital and prayed with Carl and I when I had surgery. He also met with us to pray over me and ask for healing. He also has been an encourager of this blog-telling me to keep writing, and I am a good writer. What?! I know I am not. ( I failed my college exit writing exam twice). I just bust out these blogs randomly with no organization. They often have many mechanical and spelling errors because to be honest I rarely proof-read them. But his encouragement made me glad.


I am thankful because of being sick I don't take life for granted as much. I treasure each moment I have with my 91 year old grandma or time with family. I smell the fresh air more and I get to enjoy the little things because I have to do things slower.


I am thankful that I have been able to work more lately and contribute financially.


I am thankful for my car, house, clothes and food. I know these are practical and its easy to want more and better. My I am thankful for the ones I have and the older I get ( and sicker) I want things more simplistic. :)

Storms in life: How I am getting through mine.

My church has been doing a series on Storms. Why does God allow bad things to happen in our lives?  This series has given me a lot of perspective. For the last 2 and half years, I have felt like I have been on my death bed. I have barely survived.

Many times when I was laying in bed unable to move and in unbearable pain I would ask God why? I would beg and plee with him to take this from my life. To take away the pain and the disability and I promise I will live life differently- never to take my health for granted again. I would ask him for a way out. I would tell God in my prayers I feel like I can't go on any longer and if He wouldn't take my pain could he possibly take my life. I prayed that if he did he would provide a wife and mom to my husband and baby girl that could love them more then me and be a wife/mom better then I could.

As scary as it is to admit this: maybe this can give you a sense of the excursating pain I have lived with day in and day out for the last few years. I love my family more then anything but it killed me to have them carry this burden and having to take care of me. I was completely at their mercy, I wouldn't have ate many days if they were not there to make and bring me food and even feed me at times.

This storm of my life is not over. I am doing much better with medication more recently. But I never know when this medication will stop working just as the last did. Our bodies build up antibodies over time and can cause the medication to become ineffective. I still live with pain like a broken foot and shoulder on a daily basis but my hands and legs are 90% more functional then they were this time last year.

So why does God send storms?  I would ponder over what I have done wrong in my life- asking forgiveness and wishing to take back anything I may have said or done that would cause this punishment on me. But as my pastor says: God allows storms to reveal the real me.

Throughout this journey: I have searched for healing in prayer, meds, holistic approaches and more. I have spent more money on myself then I ever would have healthy. Just to "try" something out-like a juicing, laser light treatments, water treatments, acupunture/acupressure, detox wraps, several diets, nutrionalist, N.A.E.T, red and white light treatments, natropath, colonics, infrared suanas, essential oils, healing rooms of claremont, healing rooms at water of life, annointing of oil by my pastor and elders, vitamins/supplements and more.

I have learned more about the real me. I don't try the first thing people suggest, I don't do things anymore because my best friend did it and loved it. I am figuring out whats right for me. What's important to me. Here's what is: my family and friends, my faith, my health. To live the life that I was destined to live not to live my own way. I want to be used and make a difference.

Before this journey I knew this in the back of my mind. But I still placed value on the things this world and society does. Not deciding these values for myself.

God sends storms to get our attention: If I didn't have this storm I wouldn't turn to God as much, I wouldn't search so much, I wouldn't pray so much. I wouldn't try and figure out WHY? I would just go through each day as I did the one before.

One thing I have wanted an answer to this whole time is WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG?

But recently I read some of the book of Job in the bible and I cried my eyes out while I was reading.

Job was a good guy with good health and wealth, he lived a life that was good and pleased God. But when God and Satan were talking Satan said the only reason he is so great and loves God is because he blesses him. So in order for God to show Satan he was a good guy anyway God allowed Satan to take away all his possiessions and eventually his health as well.  When this happened Job pleaded with God. This is the part where I was crying as I read because I understand how Job felt. I have said some of the same things he said to God wanting out of this misery. But reading this allowed me to know I didn't necessarily do anything wrong. But this is still being allowed in my life.

The people who love me have suffered watching me suffer. And its all for a reason. I am still in the storm but the gushing wind, hurriance has settled a little and it is only raining now. I kept asking God how can I make a difference or live differently if I can't even live - im just stuck in my bed. Well, now I'm not stuck in bed but I am still trying to figure out my purpose. In the mean time I have felt the push to be more giving. I am in need of many things I know will help my health but they have a lot of financial cost but I am being asked to give. So I have listened in a small way. When I have been approched by homeless the last few weeks I have gave. I prayed for the man next to me at my last infusion as he was in turmoil over his last cancer news. I have always felt these inclinations but haven't really acted on them and now I am becuase I am being more of the REAL ME.

More to come on the storm next blog! :)

Let me know what you would like me to write about- meals I can eat, products I use, my diganosis, medications I take, supplements I take, what contributed to my 20 pounds weight loss, what other things I want to do in the future to better my health, the cost of trying to get healthy, the cost of being unhealthy, etc.


Here's a few fun pics from the weekend:

Blood update

The quick update: last week Thursday I went to see my hematologist. I thought that he'd be enthusiastic about my blood coming up. However his response was not what I was expecting. He said that he thought he would see much more improvement after so many infusions. So he said that I need to continue infusions. However I can go down to getting them once a week instead of every 2 days. 

Here's what it's like when I'm getting infusion.

Everyone in the room getting infusion is chronically ill there either getting chemotherapy for cancer or infused with medicine for  a chronic illness such as RA or lupus. When I was there a few weeks ago I met a lady who's a teacher. She was receiving her every three-month chemo treatment. She's a single mother with twin boys and is a teacher. Her and I know what it's like to trying go through life like everyone else well behind the scenes were constantly at the doctors office and fighting.  We're fighting in different degrees but we can definitely relate to one another. Just remember that some of the people that are the most physically weak are the most mentally and emotionally strong.