Keep Praying...

Brandi with her girls; Mazzie, Monae, and Matea

I will be posting updates on Brandi's health on my facebook page.

You can click HERE to read the first one.

I have also created a "Brandi" label off to the right if you want to see all the posts concerning her I have written since baby Matea was born in May.

Back Early

Brandi was able to see the holistic Dr. and receive a day of treatments at the center. In her quest to find out what is going on with her, and her desire to be with her husband and kids, we came back home early. She had a dr.'s appt. today in Austin which told her nothing and one tomorrow. We are hoping for an MD to sign a form to have her blood sent to California to be definitively checked for Lyme's Disease as she grows more sure by the day that this is what she has that is ravaging her body. I was able to shop for and begin her on a gluten free and dairy free diet, high in organic fruits and vegetables and low in protein. This is what the holistic dr. as well as others who are being treated for Lyme recommend in an attempt to rebalance your body and aide in the immune system's quest to heal. She is also taking herbal supplements and will be looking further into medical treatments. So far, this continues to be devestating. Her flare-ups are in the evening and her symptoms during these are many including heart flip-flops, tremors throughout her body, electrical pulses in her brain, extreme pain in her back, chest, ankles, facial numbness, and panic attacks. She is hurting deeply emotionally and physically and we continue to pray for a miracle.

During a part of my 11 hour drive to get her back to her family, she had my pomeranian pup, Oscar on her lap. He seemed to really settle her nerves and help her breathe through her flare-up. It was the happiest her husband and I have seen her in 2 months. She laughed, smiled, reminisced. It was a sweet time. I have offered to have her borrow the dog (seriously!!) if at any time she needs him! I love her so much. I won't share what we personally discussed during her worst times, but she is wanting to fight this and yet is so weak to hold on and often times prays for God to take her. She has said her goodbyes to all of us. I continue to hold out hope that something will happen to relieve her suffering and prolong her life. I pray for the God of all comfort to surround her during this dark, dark time. I wish I could be with her to continue to prepare her meals, monitor her supplement intake, and bring her comfort and care but we just live too far apart. SO I will continue to pray for her and lend support from a distance.

She may find herself headed back to Kansas with her family in tow this time to continue treatments at the center. In the meantime...we wait and pray.

On The Road Again

I will be leaving today for Wichita, KS and will not be back until Saturday. My friend Brandi has only gotten worse in her health since I left her in Austin on Thursday. Her husband drove her to Andale where she is staying with his parents and will begin receiving treatments at a holistic treatment center this week. I am going to lend support and be there with her if something happens and she ends up in the hospital. Her husband had to go back to work and take care of their girls.

I will keep you updated if I have internet axcess there. Please continue to pray. Her situation is not good.

I'm home

Vivi and I got home today from being with my dear friend Brandi and her family. She is suffering with a serious illness and is in pain every day, along with vision problems and sometimes problems walking. Her mind is hazy and her face even goes numb. This is just a short list of the many symptoms she faces. This week was very emotional for us and very painful for her. She went to two new dr's and came home with nothing but more blood that had been drawn. We were so hoping for a diagnosis and/or steroid shots but these dr's won't treat her. They ruled out MS but it looks like she most likely has an auto immune disorder. The outlook on this is not good and without her receiving treatment we can only imagine the damage that is being done to her nervous system. It is just terrible. I kept her girls and the house up for 4 days. It was so hard to see her in pain and I just didn't know what to say. There are times in life when talk is just noise. I only wish we lived closer so I could be there more.I took the girls out for lunch one day. Vivi had a lot of fun playing and doing girly things.
She walked around in a blue cinderella dress every day!

And I spent lots of good time with Matea. I bathed her, fed her, dressed her, rocked her, changed her. And I miss her already!! A baby becomes a part of you when you care for all their needs. She is such a good baby too!

Vivi came home to find Ariel jewelry and a purse on her bed along with a cute outfit and book from her Nana who was here watching Isaac while we were gone. She was thrilled to check herself out in the mirror. Thank you, Nana!

Leaving Town

**Update** Just got off the phone with Brandi and she has an appt. with an MS specialist in San Antonio Tues. She was able to squeeze in because they had a cancellation. She received her first bit of "good" news when the receptionist said "hopefully we will be able to do something to give you some relief." Oh my!! Thank you, Lord for this provision. I know Brandi's hope is on the low radar as she has been disappointed time and time again by leads that went nowhere. But I really feel good about this. So we will see. I will let ya'll know what this dr. says if I can update while I am there. Thank you for praying. My sweet mother-in-law said to me the other night that she checks Brandi's blog about as much as mine!! I know B appreciates the support.

On Sunday, I will be leaving for Austin until Thursday. I am going to visit my dear friend Brandi whom I blogged about a month or so ago. She has been having severe symptoms that lead us to believe she will be diagnosed with MS or something like that. Sadly, we still do not know what it is after she has had numerous MRI's and visited two different neurologists. On Tuesday of this week they did a Spinal Tap and her symptoms since then, have been really bad. She can't take care of her girls and has had to have help pretty consistently since the end of May when she had her first flare-up.

Our phone conversations are brief as she is suffering so terribly. I feel helpless so far away. Vivi and will be there for 4 nights and I hope to be a comfort to her and a helper. I know Vivi will enjoy playing with her girls and visiting the new baby.

My sister will have Isaac one night while I am gone and then Billy's mom is coming in for a couple days to help as he goes to work. I have been so saddened over all of this as I know the future for her does not look positive right now. Please join me in praying for her that she would receive a diagnosis soon so she can begin some type of treatment plan. Right now she is without any medication or help of any kind and often feels as though she is dying. I cry out to our Lord for help at this time. Only He can interecede and end her suffering.

So So Sad,,,UPDATED...

One of my dear, dear friends is struggling with some serious health symptoms and is awaiting a diagnosis. I have just been so sad for her, and think of her often throughout the day. I think of her husband and three tiny daughters and how and what will they do IF....whatever that "if" is.

I am going to leave this as my only post until the weekend as I do not feel like anything I post about our mundane life would pay respect to the hell she is going through right now.

Please, please intercede on her behalf to our Lord.

Please pray for peace as she is consumed with constant fear of the unknown.

I will be lighting a candle every night in her honor until we receive an answer, and will continue to pray for God's healing.

Looks like nothing came up at the nuerologist today. So she will be doing another MRI and a couple of kind of scary tests late next week and into the following week. The good news is that there is nothing noticable, the bad news is she is now struggling with walking. So of course worst case scenario is running through her head at all times. But I was actually home when she called today, woohoo, and she is in as good of spirits as one would expect. Keep praying for nothing serious to come of all this! We love you, girl!!

Our Trip To Austin

Vivi had a great time with my friend Brandi's girls this week. We spent 3 nights at their house while she was in the hospital giving birth to her 3rd daughter. I stayed the first night with her as is our tradition and we stayed up until 4:30 laughing and chatting and trying to get comfortable. The baby slept in the room with us. The other time, I spent caring for all the girls.

Vivi and Monae enjoyed doing puzzles...
watching muffins bake...

and of course visiting the baby!

You will have to watch the slideshow below to see her!!

The baby!

Make a Smilebox photobook