Reflections on this past year 2016

Kerissa • Jan 01, 2017

2016 was a hard year.  The hardest yet.  But as I think back on these last 12 months, I can’t help but see the Lord’s hand through all of it.  There were so many changes and times of discouragement, but Jesus Christ in His unfailing love went before me every single day and gave me courage to push through.

This year alone, I had:

6 hospital stays

4 ER visits

2 ambulance rides

95  doctor appointments (I had 51 last year)

5 weeks of IV iron infusions

41  physical therapy appointments (I had 21 last year)

51 home health nurse visits and 51 central line dressing site changes

2 trips to Seattle in February and June to see my pain dr. at the University of Washington

1 trip to San Diego in February to see my mitochondrial disease specialist

Sepsis (my blood grew coagulase-negative Staphylococcus Capitis) in March

1 central line removal procedure

2 CT scans (head and chest)

1 heart echocardiogram, 1 venous duplex study, and 1 kidney/bladder ultrasound

3 MRIs (spine, hip, and brain)

2 pulmonary function tests

1 feeding tube replacement

2 feeding tube infections which required “incision and drainage” both times

1 central line replacement surgery

7 IV and oral antibiotics given throughout the year for the different infections (Cephalexin, Cipro, Vancomycin, Cefazolin, Ceftriaxone, Augmentin, and Amoxicillin)

1 muscle biopsy which caused a very large hematoma that lasted more than 5 weeks

1 hip surgery (labral tear repair)

4 urinary catheterizations in the hospital

2 ultrasound-guided hip steroid injections

1 hearing test

1 metabolic cart test

6 chest and hip x-rays

2 bilateral lumbar sympathetic nerve blocks and 1 femoral nerve block

Countless blood draws for blood cultures and labs at home each week and with each hospital stay

The picture above reminds me of this past year.  There were numerous days when life seemed so blurry and hard to understand………but if I looked at it all in light of eternity, everything came into focus.  I have learned that putting Christ first in life makes things more clear.

I hope 2017 is easier with fewer appointments and hospital stays and surgeries and tests……..  But even if it isn’t, I know this for sure—the Lord is faithful and always gives me hope and strength to face the unimaginable, the constant pain, the challenges, the health battles, and much more.

I recently read this verse in the book of Psalms: “But I will sing of Your strength; I will sing aloud of Your steadfast love in the morning.  For You have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress” (Ps. 59:16).  That’s what I want to keep doing in 2017—tell others what the Lord means to me and how mighty and loving He is.🙂

To my dear family and friends, thank you for continuing to walk alongside me on this journey that seems to never end.  I couldn’t do this without you.  Abundant blessings to you in the new year!🙂

Love, Kerissa

By Kerissa Lee 23 Jan, 2024
Hi, friends, I had a whole other post ready to go with some good news, but instead, I have an urgent prayer request. I started experiencing sudden onset numbness, tingling, and weakness in my whole left leg, and it’s been so scary. 🥺 It just came on out of the blue. I was doing so well with physical therapy each week (able to walk fast on the treadmill and leg press 40 lbs), and now, I have to limp because my left leg is soo weak. I really want to avoid the ED as much as possible, so I saw one of my doctors today. She’s concerned I’m having a big motor nerve issue. 😭 The plan is to see a physical medicine specialist, have a nerve conduction study, get an urgent MRI done, as well as see my PCP and pain doctor on the 25th and 29th for further evaluation/testing. I know I already said this, but it really has been so scary to lose function so quickly. Can you pray that I will trust the Lord and not worry? It’s been very hard, so I’d really appreciate your prayers and support in the coming weeks. Thank you so much. ❤️
By Kerissa Lee 01 Jan, 2024
"Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:3
By Kerissa Lee 11 Dec, 2023
"This hard place in which you, perhaps, find yourself, is the very place in which God is giving you opportunity to look only to Him."  Elisabeth Elliot
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