April 15th…a date near or far?

Kerissa • February 14, 2013

Well, it’s official!  Or, I guess I should say “half-official.”  April 15th is the tentative date for my first appointment at Cincinnati Children’s!  *small sigh*  I am grateful that I can see them sooner than July (we were told at first that the EDS clinic is booked until July, but they have been trying to work things out which has been a challenge for sure), but April 15th is still over 2 months away and I’m not feeling any better.  So my neurologist is gonna try to be in touch with their physician priority line to get me in even sooner, but first I’m waiting to hear the names of the doctors I’ll be seeing as she needs names as well as the phone number.

Updates:

Head: My headaches have still been very bad.  I have to use an ice pack every now and then again since pain meds don’t help.  I’m very thankful for ice. :o)

Eye: My left drooping eyelid is still there, but sometimes people don’t even notice it which I’m very glad about!

Neck: I saw my spine dr. a few weeks ago and had flexion/extension x-rays of my cervical spine again.  In addition to anterolisthesis (vertebrae slipping forwards onto each other), I now have retrolisthesis (vertebrae slipping backwards) also.  On another note, my atlanto-axial instability is still mild thankfully, so I don’t have to see him till January.

Shoulders: My right shoulder is still pretty loose and my shoulder blade pops out often, so my physical therapist wants me to see him twice a week now.  My left shoulder is starting to become a problem since it has to work more than my right..

Heart: Lately I’ve been experiencing a lot of chest pain.  I’m not sure if it’s because my heart is always tachycardic (POTS issues) or if something else is going on.  Praying that the EDS clinic will be able to find the answer.

Hip: Since my left leg muscles are weak, they’re not able to hold my hip securely, so I’m now having lots of aching pain/crunching/popping.  It makes walking painful!

Feet: This week the CRPS pain in my feet has unfortunately been increasing, but the lumbar sympathetic block I had on Jan. 30th gave me about 2 weeks of less pain so that’s a praise!

I know I look “normal” on the outside, so I just wanted to give you a little picture of what’s going on inside my body.

Stay tuned for more Cincinnati news!

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. ❤️
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
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