It’s been a while since I completed phase 1 of the #Lemtrada #MStreatment. I started the Lemtrada early November 2016 and completed in five days. With the many post-treatment symptoms I’ve experienced, I’d be lying if I said, “I have no regrets.” I have asked myself, “Was it worth it? Were those five days with an I-V an investment? #doubt A small price to pay for a hopefully better, but not guaranteed future down the road? And to be honest, I have gone through many dark episodes weeks of regretting my decision and desiring the opportunity to go back and do it over. As if that was possible. Well, I have regretted following-through and getting the treatment because of consistent lingering side effects like vertigo, muscle weakness, excessively painful tummy/gut aches and now hair loss. In fact, my poor head is losing hair by dozens of strands each time I brush. #chemo I’m not joking about the chemo. The Lemtrada is a diluted formula of it. And those gut-aches? They’re so painful, that at times I’ve prayed for God to bring me home to him so the pain will stop. But #reminder it’s now been going on four months since I’ve had to give myself an MS drug injection. Small blessings? No! Gi-normous #blessings.
That still remains the biggest adjustment as I’ve gotten out of the habit of doing shots, but I still question myself. Have I have done my today? No! And then, “You’re done with shots, Jenn!” I really do not do them any longer. November 5 was the final self-injection. Yay! So, yes I regretted doing the treatment, but remind myself of the benefits. 1. No more injections. 2. Rinse, Repeat to infinity and beyond. 3. #Nuffsaid. And then there’s the whole thing with my epidermis thanking me for seeking a different treatment. No, really. My skin and husband too, continually thank me as my skin has been able to work on returning much of its softness and a lot of its elasticity. Yay! #vanicream Only the best facial moisturizer and body cream I’ve ever used! Now here’s the really bad part… But, before you read further, can you handle my open book? My #honesty? My #transparency?
With those aforementioned painful, side-effects lingering, I’ve doubted God. I’m not by any means proud of my doubts during these rough times. I have questioned God about his goodness and good plans, which then causes me to question my own eternal status for questioning God. #believe Has my performance been up to par, Lord? Have I doubted one too many times, #Jesus? But I know better. #faith In Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV states, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast.” A reminder that no one goes to the Father, but through him.” I’m a sinner, but God is good. Very good. How dare I question whether I’ve earned his mercy because it’s freely given to ALL who repent. #grace So, I’ve failed to update anything in a long time because I haven’t felt very good in long time and lost a lot of hair. I’m not bald, but my pony-tail over the last few months has diminished to about 1/3 of it’s prior thickness. Reminder that hair can grow back. I’m aware, I have nothing on those battling worse conditions, but please just stop comparing conditions because they are all so different. Yes, some are worse, some are better per se, but when you’re in the middle of a chronic fight for your life at times, it’s challenging to see that light that’s become so faint, you almost miss seeing it, at the end of the dark tunnel.
Here’s what happened: This morning I got up after having a really bad day yesterday filled with pain, self-doubt, about those alleged promises from #God, that will never happen (the doubts in my own head). My mental state has been rough and this morning as I was getting Baby Girl ready for the day, I was pretty resolved to stop going to church, stop believing, etc. because I’ve become very weary in maintaining my faith. It’s exhausting to smile when it seems pain is the new “normal” each day, I know I should eat something, but there’s nothing enticing about any type of food, when I’ll likely throw-up again.
I want my life back. I want to at least exist as things were prior to treatment, when I could walk only so far with MS, but it was predictable and I already knew that a short walk in the morning would require a half hour of rest, instead of the new normal to the rest of the day and the following morning. A tad excessive? I mean, come on, Lord! This new normal sucks! At least going into and following treatment, I had maintained my #faith through consistent #prayer and reading my Bible. But after some weeks of dealing with pain, weakness and queasiness, I became discouraged and my #prayer #Bible reading habits became easily dismissed most days.
Back to this morning, it was rough. I didn’t have the energy to battle #Baby Girls’s one-year-old antics when we and by “we,” I mean I FINALLY got her through eating most of her breakfast after smacking the utensil full of food many times for those food donations to be clean-up by the dog, cleaned her-up and took her out of her high-chair and put down to walk on her own and play with her toys. I finally had a #quiet moment #meditation to sit at my desk, while Baby Girl was playing just a few feet away, to look at my iPad. The first thing that greeted me was a notification that showed me the verse of the day. Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Wow! That was precisely what I needed. #hope
God has fantastic timing, doesn’t he? He’s always on-time and never late. Just when I was ready to give-in to circumstantially-driven doubt, He showed up to remind me of these words I’d forgotten, but read many times throughout the years. I needed to reread that and I’m so very #thankful to you Jesus for reminding me. #peace
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