“I want my life to be only Christ in me…”

Kerissa • April 29, 2016

Hello friends,

Last week, I saw my general surgeon who changed my jejunostomy feeding tube to a new one.  The replacement was so painful, and it’s done while you’re awake!  Basically, the doctors pull the old tube out of the stoma (hole) in my small intestine and stuff a new one in. Glad that’s over!  My feeding tube is nice and new now. They didn’t have my tube size in stock, so we decided to try a smaller size….and it’s soo much better!  The raw skin around my tube site is now healing which is a huge blessing!

All the iron labs that my GI specialist ordered came back low…one of them is almost down to zero..  So I have to get 5 weeks of IV iron infusions to correct this iron deficiency anemia.  I have daily headaches, dizziness, and pale skin from being anemic, so I’m looking forward to feeling a little better soon.  It will take a while for my red blood cells to make new ones with the iron, though..

This past Tuesday, I had a monthly follow-up with my GI specialist.  I’m still having painful intestinal spasms, so he ordered an anti-spasmodic medication for me to try.  He’s also having me try this new medical supplement to see if it can help some of my GI symptoms.  They’re capsules with lots of super tiny beads of ultra-purified peppermint oil.

I’m still working on increasing my j-tube feeds, but it’s slow progress.  Anemia on top of mitochondrial disease makes me extremely tired, so the motility in my whole GI tract has been poorly lately.

When I was in the hospital for sepsis last month, I mentioned how the doctors ordered a lumbar spine MRI.  Well, something was found on the scan that wasn’t there before (for those who like the medical jargon, it’s called a spinal nerve root sleeve cyst….), so my pain dr. referred me to an OHSU spine specialist.  More doctors to see… I hope he can help figure this out as I’ve been experiencing some new and painful symptoms.  The appointment isn’t until May 24th, though.

Soo true.

P.S. I’m loving the new look of my blog. Thank you again so much, Curtis!! <3  Love you!

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