Another ER visit and more appointment updates.

Kerissa • February 27, 2015

Hi friends,

This past Monday evening, I started dealing with 100 degree fevers, severe nausea, and headaches.  So my mom called my GI doctor who recommended that we head back to the ER to get blood cultures drawn in case of a line infection.  Can’t catch a break, and ER visits always wipe me out.  We spent over 8 hours there—the ER was jam packed!  The doctors ordered labs, IV dilaudid, and zofran.  The meds helped a lot.  Thankfully, they couldn’t find signs of infection in my blood, although blood cultures do take a couple days to come back.  They came to the conclusion that this was either a virus or the dysautonomia (autonomic nervous system dysfunction) that I deal with on a daily basis—my body could now be having trouble regulating temperature..

We got home after 6 in the morning on Tuesday, so I’ve been so exhausted!  I did have two appointments yesterday with my surgeon and a new ENT dr.  I had a lot of granulation tissue growing at my j-tube site, so my surgeon used more silver nitrate sticks to burn it off.  The ENT visit went well.  I had a laryngoscopy done—one of the doctors inserted a scope down my nose to look closely at my swallowing muscles and voice box.  My ENT dr. noticed that all the muscles in that area have atrophied a lot, so he thinks this may be what’s causing my chronic cough/swallowing issues.  He ordered another modified barium swallow study with x-ray to be done in 3 weeks.

Here is some good news: I am now off both blood thinners!  I’m so thankful.  I had a follow up with the anti-coagulation clinic at OHSU on Monday, and the nurse practitioner consulted with one of their hematologists.  They all agree that I’ve been treated long enough for this type of clot.

I have a lot of upcoming appointments next month with Neuro-urology, Neurology, ENT, and GI..  This week has again been rough, but I strive to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and not on all these continuing problems.  One day they will end!

“Days have come, days have gone
I know one thing’s sure
Hanging on by the words of Your promise, Lord
You are good, You are true
Even in my pain

And I’m thankful for this suffering
‘Cause it’s brought me right here on my knees
~partial lyrics from Perfect Love by Jeremy Camp

October prayer request

By Kerissa Lee • October 19, 2025
Dear friends, At the beginning of October, I started taking a new medication for the autoimmune disease. I thought I was tolerating it just fine, but after several days passed, I began experiencing nausea, loss of appetite, weakness all over, and increased pain. 🙁 It’s like I’m experiencing another “mito crash.” I found out that this specific lupus medication affects mitochondria. That is, it causes an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This, in turn, causes cell damage and oxidative stress. I sure wish the rheumatologists would have known about this before prescribing. But I have to remember that Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome is rare, and they’re not “mito experts.” Anyways, the last time I felt like this was back in May.. I’m so grateful to God that I haven’t needed to be hospitalized from this, but at the same time, I’m also sad that this happened at all, especially because I had such a nice stretch of stable health. I’d really appreciate your prayers, that this muscle weakness can resolve soon, and that this increased pain all over will get back to my baseline. Every time I have a “mito crash,” it feels like I’m fighting the flu which always sucks. The pain has been hard to bear. And whenever I’m in the thick of it, it’s difficult to remember that this too will eventually pass. 😢 Pray that I will endure and follow Jesus’ example like this passage from Hebrews 12:1-2– “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross...” Thank you all so much for praying for me. ❤️

Thank you! (+ a prayer request)

By Kerissa Lee • October 4, 2025
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." James 1:2-3

Praises & Prayer Requests

By Kerissa Lee • September 3, 2025
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23