Divine Mercy Healing

On Saturday, November 9th, at approximately 3PM, I received healing by the power of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands of Fr. Tom Ganley during a Divine Mercy Healing Service at the Shrine of St. Anthony chapel in Ellicott City, Maryland.  I asked for the neurological healing specifically and also specifically healing from miscarriage and prevention of future miscarriages.  I brought before God my prayer intentions - physical, emotional, spiritual and mental - Physical (my neurological issues, my back pain, my miscarriages, etc...), Emotional (my tendency to despair and worry, my grieving mother's heart), Spiritual (forgiving myself, daily devotion to God through prayer, ridding my life of things that do not glorify Him, strength in my marriage and spiritual growth of my family) and Mental (past depression, moodiness, panic attacks, being overwhelmed). 

Immediately afterward, my constant state of "brain fog" these last couple of years or so seemed immediately lifted. My mind was clear.  My focus was intent.  My ability to take in information and process it immediately improved.  I claimed healing of my brain fog. 

During mass earlier that day, the other priest, Fr. Bill Halbing, blessed me with healing for my cold.  I started to feel better every hour after that. 

Believe in the healing power of God.  Believe in the miracles God still bestows upon us if we are willing to receive them and believe in them.  They are not just reserved for biblical times.  They are not reserved only for what we believe is the most righteous among us always believing we aren't in that category. 

You are holy.  You can find your salvation through Jesus' Divine Mercy who forgives all sin. Yes, all sin.  The sin you are thinking of right now... ask and He shall forgive.  Then, as He says, SIN NO MORE.  You cannot change your life unless you remove from your life what has led you to this place of sin.  Remove it, move from it, ignore it, change it, be free from what traps you in a sinful state.  God forgives not just once but over and over again.  Keep confessing your sins before Him.

I am healed.  I believe.  Pray for me. Jesus, I trust in you.  St. Faustina, pray for us.

 

Divine Mercy Jesus ~ may the water represented in the white light cleanse me of my sin as the blood represented in the red light save my life from sin henceforth.

Find Your Healing by Starting Here

Introducing Dr. Shoemaker, the Leading Expert on Mold Illness & Biotoxins

Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker -- www.SurvivingMold.com -- a medical doctor from the Eastern Shore of Maryland educated at Duke medical school and has taught at Duke, Johns Hopkins and is still teaching at University of Maryland medical schools.  He has done extensive research and has treated patients for decades in a private family practice and focuses on biotoxin illnesses.  (See his C.V.)  He has written many books but these two are the ones we will be focusing on...  (the newest one Surviving Mold is downloaded in my iPhone).

                   

Instead of rewriting a great synapsis of Dr. Shoemaker's discoveries with testing and treatment of toxic mold illness, I am including several excerpts from a web site (www.BetterHealthGuy.com) summarized by Scott Forsgren, another mold illness victim.

TESTING & TREATMENT

Are you genetically susceptible and therefore have a predisposition to a biotoxin like mold?

A blood test looks at HLA (human leukocyte antigen) to find this answer.

"The immune system uses HLA to determine the difference between "self" and "non-self". HLA is involved in the steps responsible for antibody formation. These genes have been associated with an inability of the body to recover from illnesses resulting from Lyme disease, molds, and other sources. In the event that a person has a susceptible genotype, the body does not recognize the toxins as a foreign invader and thus, they are allowed to remain in the body. This causes long-term and perpetual ill-health. It has been asserted that nearly 100% of people that become ill after exposure to a biotoxin can be shown to have a predisposition to that biotoxin through the HLA-DR genotype. Many of us have bodies that simply do not recognize the presence of these toxic substances and thus do nothing to eliminate them. Dr. Shoemaker uses the terms "mold susceptible" to categorize one's HLA genotype."

It is just one part of the puzzle discovering you are genetically susceptible.  If you are exposed like I was to significant inhalation of mold spores when cleaning and sweeping dust for hours in a mold basement and you are susceptible to mold illness, then your body cannot fight off the biotoxins in its tissues and organs by itself. 

What other blood tests are done to monitor the body's response to a biotoxin illness like mold?

The “Biotoxin Pathway” shows the cascade of events that starts a biotoxin illness in those who are HLA-susceptible the moment that they are exposed to a biotoxin. It leads to increased leptin, increased cytokines, increased MMP-9 (MMP-9 is a global measure of cytokine activity in the body), reduced VEGF, and reduced MSH (alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone). Reduced MSH leads to reduced ADH (antidiuretic hormone), reduced sex hormones, changes in cortisol and ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), prolonged illness, resistant staphylococci infections, gastrointestinal problems, chronic pain, and sleep disturbances. All of these are downstream effects of a biotoxin in an HLA-susceptible individual. It is mind-boggling to try and comprehend the magnitude of negative impacts on so many body systems caused by a biotoxin.

Dr. Shoemaker's Monitoring Protocol:  The labs are monitored (MMP9, VEGF, C4a, and TGF beta-1) and Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) discussed below at each step.  The next intervention is continually enacted that fixes each uncorrected item until we get to the "top" of the treatment pyramid.

 

My results fall in line with being exposed to a biotoxin:  I have increased cytokines and reduced VEGF.  I've also tested low for thyroid hormone, have tested high for dairy/egg food allergy, struggle with nightly insomnia and other mold illness related symptoms like those listed below.

"The symptoms of mold illnesses include:

• Fatigue  

• Headaches  

• Weakness  

• Stabbing sensations  

• Light sensitivity  

• Rashes  

• Memory loss  

• Concentration difficulties  

• Confusion  

• Joint pain and morning stiffness  

• Shortness of breath  

• Cough  

• Blurred vision  

• Sweats  

• Abdominal Pain  

• Metallic taste  

• Static shocks  

• Sinus congestion  

• Numbness and tingling  

• Skin sensitivity  

• Muscle aches and pains"

What is a simple online test you can do to see if you have biotoxins in your system?

The online screening test is a measure of one of the neurologic functions of vision called contrast.  I have failed this test twice in 2012.  Try it to see if you are suffering!

What is Dr. Shoemaker's treatment protocol?

"Dr. Shoemaker contends that people with mold-related biotoxin illness are not necessarily infected with a mold or fungus, but that they are exposed to the spores that these produce which are highly toxic. When biotoxin illness is confirmed, Dr. Shoemaker often uses a combination treatment of Cholestyramine (CSM) and Actos, along with a low amylose diet. CSM works by removing the toxins that have entered the body. Though it should still be a key goal to avoid the toxin-producing substances in the first place, CSM can help to bind to the toxins already in the body and shuttle them out of the system. A low amylose diet is an extremely important part of the treatment protocol, as it helps to minimize (along with the Actos) the pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are often elevated in individuals with biotoxin induced illnesses."

 

To see more on this subject from Scott visit his web page at: http://www.betterhealthguy.com/topics/mold#sthash.z9iIlENw.dpuf

My World Turned Upside Down

On a Saturday morning, I still had not felt my baby's kicks yet.  I knew I had an anterior placenta and hearing the heart rate was never easy but I just wanted to check in because the last two days I felt different.  I felt like I lost weight.  I felt like I just wasn't pregnant anymore.  I was able to easily put on a Halloween costume the night before which should have made me look more round but it didn't.  So as my husband put the kids in the car and took them to their soccer games and I was a few minutes behind in my minivan with my 10 month old, Sara Beth, already in her car seat waiting for me, I pulled out the handheld Doppler to listen for my baby's heart rate...

Back in late July 2012, I got a positive pregnancy test!!  Most mothers would be ecstatic but I was less than that.  I was scared.  Here I was sick with an unknown illness later to be determined to be related to the mold found in my home that I swept up one Labor Day weekend 2011 and breathed in tiny mold spores that became my toxic illness leading to pain, neurological and vision changes, etc...  I knew I was "fertile" because I chart my cycles but 2AM happened ;) and here I was... pregnant with #6!

...so on that morning, I failed to find the heart rate.  I knew immediately that baby was gone.  I didn't want to believe it.  I got into the car and drove to the soccer fields.  Outside of the fields in the parking lot, I ran into another fellow Catholic minivan mom of many who also had experienced miscarriage in the past (I lost Baby Groves 4 in January 2011).  She asked me if everything was OK.  I shook my head "no" and we clutched each other in a strong embrace and cried as I told her that I couldn't find my baby's heartbeat.  My husband still didn't know.

I sat through the soccer games of my children and told a friend who was also a nurse and was also pregnant at the same time as me and due at the same time I was.  She said to come to her house after and she'd try to find his heart rate with her Doppler.  After the games were done I told Austin the plan and we went over to her house.  The kids oblivious to anything played with their close friends while we tried again.  Unfortunately, there still was no sound.... boom, boom, boom, boom.  Nothing.

Austin and I got into the car and drove to Sinai where my hospital team awaited our arrival and they too got out the Doppler to try to hear and heard nothing though I told them they wouldn't hear anything and that I was ready to see my baby on ultrasound...now.  They wheeled in the machine and a student doctor put the wand on my belly with the necessary amount of goo and there my baby was... still.  No movement.  No heartbeat.  Silence fell over us all.... then tears.

My baby had been dead for a week they guessed.  I waited for spontaneous labor to come but it never came and I decided to push things along 9 days later and at 17 weeks of pregnancy I gave birth to a baby boy, Christopher Gabriel Groves, November 5, 2012 at home.  We interred him with the remains of my previously miscarries baby months later in a Catholic cemetery in Maryland.

Video of my pregnancy and birth of Gabriel 

My Symptoms Now...

Just a few weeks ago, I had experienced year-long pain throughout my body.  Weakness.  Couldn't do normal activities without throbbing muscle pain, shooting nerve pain, fatigue, low-energy, etc...

Today, I feel better, yes.  But I am not 100%.  I'm not sure what % I am.  I'm so grateful not to be in that pain every day I want to sing about it from a mountain top!  But I still suffer.  Today, I...

• still have shooting pain sometimes in my left thigh and less often in my arms or other places I used to feel it daily...all day long
• have hands cramp after writing, typing or extensive use like cake-making
• have daily inflammation in my hands and arms when I wake each morning so mornings worse and much more noticeable than others
• my mind has gotten clearer and I can remember things I learned more recently but things just weeks ago or especially months ago, I struggle with greatly.  In fact, I don't remember much of the last year unless I took a photo, wrote about it or regularly recall it like the birth of my daughter or this blasted illness and its journey!
• I am still very sensitive to light, almost any noise near me that isn't what I want to focus on is too loud, very sensitive to fragrances especially those hellbent on wearing daily bottles of perfume and cologne (yuck!), the laundry detergents, too!!, I'm still quite sensitive to cats.  I hate cats.  Sorry, but they make my life miserable so I don't want to even see your cat's picture!
• I feel a level of weakness that is hard to describe.  I can easily feel faint when i get up from sitting or lounging.  I get very lightheaded.  I need a minute.  When I sleep, I sleep hard and deep.  And when my body needs sleep (even that daytime nap), it takes it with or without my permission!  I have to call people to get safely to my destination or sleep in parking lots to avoid excessive driving. 
• When I eat even though I strive for a low sugar diet and to balance my meal with proteins and carbs of all kinds, I still want to fall into a deep coma.  Not normal folks.  And eating 5-6 meals a day, that crashing gets old quick!

I'm  glad I have more energy than the sloth I felt like for so long.  And I've gotten a ton done in the month of September that I'm quite proud of.  I have a lot more to go.  A lot more to get caught up with and words cannot express how thankful I am to those who help me.  Babysit so I can go to appointments to get well and learn answers, help with the kids when I need a break if even for 2-5 minutes, surprise soup-making, and I'm sure other things my short term memory won't allow me to recall as I write this post.

I'm still struggling.  I worry most now about my children because I'm well enough finally to do so.  I also worry about my in utero baby.  Only time will tell if this exposure has affected my little growing bean.  I know what the worst can be and I pray for normality, health and LIFE.

Pray for us as we go through this journey back to wellness.  Full wellness.  I'll accept nothing less.

A Month Later... Has Removing Mold from our Home Helped?

It only took 1 1/2 weeks after moving back into our home for the pain that I had shooting through my body in my muscles or nerve pain to nearly completely go away.  I suffered all day every day.  Amazingly, I rarely have this pain today.  It is a true testament that mold exposure illness does exist and it can wreak havoc on our bodies!

Over the last month (despite being in the first trimester of pregnancy), I have noticed my energy level has improved.  I've gotten so much done around my home, in my business, with my kids, running our family...  I've caught up with things I was greatly behind on.  The mental fog I had and debilitating pain and sluggish energy daily wore on me.  I couldn't get anything done.  Didn't want to.  Didn't even care after awhile.  Now I care again!  Now I'm motivated!!  I feel happier, more peaceful and hopeful. 

When you feel like what you imagine is like living an elderly life where you are days or weeks from death, you have a deep appreciation for wellness!!!

I've been able to not only focus on myself, my new pregnancy including lining up a new team for prenatal care this time (a wonderful perinatologist and midwife that work together at a local hospital), but I can now also focus more on my children's health and how this biotoxin and mold exposure has possibly affected them.

My oldest son is 7 and has been exposured since the age of 4 or 5 years old.  He has developed a focus/attention/concentration issue which is prevalent in children exposed to toxins.

My next son is now 6 and has been exposed since the age of 3 or 4 years old.  He has a bit of an obstinate streak (gets it honest) but has been emotionally more extreme in his reactions to things which we thought would improve with age but has yet to do so.

My daughter who is 3 years old seems fairly normal for her age as far as my parent analysis goes but does have persistent swollen glands in her neck which I'm not content with.  I want her to be evaluated to rule out anything concerning causing these or anything I haven't myself observed.

My baby girl is 9 months old now.  She is at least 3 months behind in developing teeth for our family.  All 3 of the others got teeth in at 6 months.  She has no sign of teeth.  She's also delayed in talking.  She doesn't making any syllabols at all but what makes me feel good is that she can mimic sounds we make (not syllabols) and she has very well developed and early gross motor skills - early to crawl, stand and walk holding onto things.

I've been looking for a doctor who specializes in mold exposure illness, who understand what we are going through, who does Dr. Shoemaker's extensive genetic and mold illness diagnosing tests, who takes our insurance or at least can help us file for insurance reimbursement (a biggie for us right now!), who will see the entire family in one day for initial evaluation and blood work, and is within 1ish hours of our home. 

I believe I found someone!  A doctor in Gaithersburg!  Dr. Alan R. Vinitsky is a medical doctor, an internist and pediatrician who specializes in environmental medicine.  Who treats autonomic nervous system dysfunction which comes from exposure to toxins like mold.  He's written books, articles, given lectures, workshops, severed on boards, etc...  He seems extremely experienced in this area in which we are in need of evaluation, diagnosis and treatment.  He "gets it".  So many doctors don't fully understand that people like me who are sick are very sensitive to light, sound, chemicals, perfumes, fragrances, and that their allergies like food/cat, etc... become worse with mold exposure illness.  He understands all of this and doesn't allow his staff or other patients to wear scented products.  :) 

Dr. V.

His testing includes: 

• Autonomic Nervous System Testing.

• Visual Contrast Sensitivity (screening for neurotoxicity).

• ELISA/ACT testing for non-IgE mechanisms of sensitivity to foods and substances.

• Skin testing to evaluate and treat food and other sensitivities (perfumes, fragrances, tobacco, cats, etc.)

• Comprehensive Digestive Stool analysis with Parasitology - evaluates digestive function, dysbiosis, inflammation, and parasites of the GI tract.

• Metal testing - heavy metals, nutritional minerals, and challenge for metal elimination.

• Organic Acids, Amino Acids, Essential Fatty Acids and minerals for nutritional and metabolic analysis.

• Porphyrins, Histamine, Zinc, Copper, Magnesium,Vitamin B6,  Folate, B12, to identify nutritional causes for depression.

• HLA DR genetic markers for Mold Toxins, ANA, immunologic markers,    TNF- a, lymphocyte distributions, natural killer cells, titers for toxoplasmosis, EBV, CMV, HHV-6, Lyme, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma.

• Carbon monoxide, venous and arterial blood gases.

• Identification of pesticides, Volatile organic chemicals (aromatic and aliphatic), herbicides.

• Hormonal Evaluation - including Adrenal, Thyroid, Ovary (or Testis), Pituitary, by blood, saliva, urine, or all 3.

• Pulmonary Function Testing.

• EKG

• Other testing as indicated based on above results

Note many of these tests are those Dr. Shoemaker uses to diagnose mold exposure illness!  

I'm really hopeful this is the doctor for me and for my family!  He seems on paper perfect!  I'll update after I set up a consultation and get to check him and his staff out!  Maybe this will help our family to change everything!

Mold exposure illness is serious.  If you live or work in a water damaged home/building, please consider removing yourself or getting your toxic home/building remediated asap!  You don't want to go through what our family is still going through.

Some Blood Tests are IN!! Good and Bad...

My test results are incomplete.  :(  One, they take weeks to come in, and two, the doctor I'm no longer with actually canceled my tests before they were finished so only partial results came in.  What does this mean?  Well, when my chronic illness brain fog self gets it in gear and gets an appointment with the new doctor, he'll have to redo most of these tests and I'll have to pay out the nose for them I'm sure as he uses a specific lab.  This could be more weeks of waiting, waiting, waiting...

Good news:  Lymes Tests - Dr. Burrascano (the Mold Doctor Exper) who recommends testing for Chronic Lymes using a bunch of IgG B.Burgdorferi test were all NEGATIVE!  This finally lays to rest that it is not Lymes or even Chronic Lymes which can go undetected with regular Lymes testing.  Woot!!

Bad news:  My VEGF result is low outside of the normal range.  

What is VEGF?  

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor - Wiki it here.

Definition:  VEGF is a signal protein produced by cells that stimulates vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. It is part of the system that restores the oxygen supply to tissues when blood circulation is inadequate.  It's normal function creates new blood vessels during embryonic development, after injury, in muscles following exercise, and to create new vessels to bypass blocked vessels.  

Low VEGF causes muscle pain, fatigue and shortness of breath.  (I suffer from all of these off and on.)

Dr. Shoemaker, the expert in mold illness, states that a low VEGF inidicates inadequate oxygen delivery in the capillary beds.  In other words, there is a reduction of blood flow in the small blood vessels (called capillaries) throughout my body.  Having low VEGF like I do is one of the most common abnormalities he sees in chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) caused by exposure to water-damaged buildings.

This capillary hypoperfusion means that there is reduced blood flow in the smallest, most abundant blood vessels (and the tissues in the body they serve), which means a lack of normal oxygen delivery.  Restore normal perfusion and then watch as the devestating fatigue and all of its associated symptoms fade away. 

Normal blood flow in the tiniest of blood vessels is essential.  It is important to understand how our cells burn sugar.  The abnormal, inadequate delivery of oxygen leads to wasteful burning of limited cellular resources, including make-up energy sources like fat and protein - especially protein.  If there isn't enough oxygen in the cell, it only gets about 5% of the total available energy from sugar that it should while the other 95% is wasted with rising lactic acid which is a good measure of how little oxygen is being delivered.

My good days and bad days...remember those?

Well, I'll have a good day and get stuff done and then I'll have to rest for about 2 days to make up for the "good" day that I had energy and overdid it.  What constitute overdoing it?  Normal activities you do every day - showering, taking care of kids, cleaning around house, driving to places, working on a project, shopping, running errands, little things or big things with the big things draining me more for sure.  Well, when I burn up the small supply of glycogen I have, that's why I need two days to rest - my body is replenishing the glycogen used up.

Bad advice:  "Exercise more, Eat less"

For chronically ill patients like me, this is bad advice.  The more physical activity I do the more I hurt and the harder my body has to work to deliver oxygen to my starved tissues.  Eating less - well, I'm on a Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free, low-sugar diet as it is.  But my body needs more protein in order to have more back up for the sugar I deplete with just a few hours of an activity.

There's so much more to learn and so much more testing to be done.  I hope we have a treatment protocol soon.  I'm growing impatient, admittedly, but more than ever I really need these answers.

(Parts of this post are adapted from Dr. Shoemaker's book, Surviving Mold downloaded to my iPhone on iBooks.)

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Meralgia Paresthetica

Recently in July, my neurologist tenatively diagnosed me with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and Meralgia Paresthetica.

CTS causes numbness, pain and tingling in the fingers, hands, arms.  This began about 25 weeks of pregnancy and got progressively worst at the time of birth and continued for 6 weeks postpartum.  Today, I still feel weakness in my arms and pain in my arm muscles but not much tingling or numbness.  Losing 54 pounds in 7.5 months postpartum has greatly reduced the swelling that existed in my arms putting pressure on the median nerve in my wrist.  But another cause of CTS is relaxed muscle tissue.  As long as my body is filled with biotoxins, this muscle tissue will continue to be relaxed to the point of not being able to prevent pressure on that nerve.  Biotoxins must go!

Meralgia Paresthetica is a syndrome that comes from damage to the LCNT (Lateral Cutaneous Nerve of the Thigh).  The LCNT arises from the lumbar area specifically the L2 and L3 spinal nerves emerging from the border of the psoas muscle and the iliacus muscle deep to the iliacus fascia passing to the anterior superior iliac spine.  This condition can be cause by involvement in a motor vehicle accident like the one I was in 2 years ago as the seat belt is across this nerve over the hips.  Other causes or worsening conditions can also be caused by muscle weakness from Biotoxins!

My chiropractic history has revealed some definite low back pain!  More recently, after my accident I had pubic bone pain and hip pain for the first time in pregnancy.  I also had this pain only after the exposure to mold during mid-pregnancy.

My neurologist would love to do nerve conduction studies or electric shock tests but I'm gonna forego that for now.  I know I have pain in both areas of my body.  I accept his diagnosis.  The question is, would there be complete healing once Biotoxins are removed from my body?  Only time will tell us the answer once a final determination of which Biotoxins I'm suffering from is revealed and treatment is rendered.  But for now, I'll deal with the symptoms knowing that already both conditions have gotten better in the last week or so living out of my home, back in my remediated home and taking supplements like anti-inflammatories and probiotics, diet changes like gluten-free, low-sugar and being in a mold-free environment for the first time in years.

Treatment from a neurological stand-point would be with medication like steroids including shots or surgery neither of which I'm hoping for in the end.

My CTS and Meralgia Paresthetica will either disappear or need further treatment because too much damage has been done.  Stay tuned on these neurological conditions.