Happy

Kerissa • November 21, 2012

Yayyyyy!!!  Last night, I emailed my pain dr. and asked him if I could at least know what’s gonna happen before Thanksgiving.  I just received a reply from him!  He’s the best.  He told me he did speak with my neurologist today, and after discussing options together, they both agree that taking the SCS out would allow her to best sort out my issues with testing.  He spoke with a surgery coordinator, and he said he can likely take out my SCS on December 4th.  *gulp*  I have a lot to ask him cuz I’m gonna miss my stimulator so much.  “Can I have another one implanted later?”  “Can he just remove the IPG and leave the leads in?”  “What happens if the pain in my feet gets severe again?”  All I can say is, God is so faithful, and He will carry me through this next step.

Last week, my pain dr. discussed the explant surgery with me.  I’m gonna have 2 more incisions on my back..  That will be 4 total so far!!  Thankfully, he said the post-op pain is nothing like an implant surgery.

Thank you so much for your prayers and love!!  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

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