Tuesday Thoughts

Kerissa • February 6, 2013

My bilateral lumbar sympathetic blocks on Wednesday went very smoothly with no complications!  Thank you for your prayers!  Now I’m trying not to overdo things or let my feet get cold so as not to start another CRPS flare-up.  It’s difficult to do, tho’, in these winter months.  I can tell the pain starts to increase when my feet aren’t very warm..

doncha love this picture?  i’ve been blessed to know Stew, one of the pain nurses, for going on 2 years now!

Today I saw my neurologist, and at this appointment, she completed a referral for Cincinnati.  Yay!  The form will be faxed tomorrow!  The one my pain dr. filled out last week has already been received by the hospital, too.

Tomorrow my mom will call CCHMC’s concierge services—they’re the ones who will schedule the appointments close together and arrange everything.  Isn’t that neat?

This afternoon, I also saw the neuro-ophthalmologist at the OHSU Casey Eye Institute.  She and a resident did a whole neuro work-up with testing, but unfortunately, today I wasn’t experiencing the nystagmus, and she really needs to see it herself to pin-point what’s causing it and everything.  So, once the abnormal eye movements come on again, I’m to let her know and schedule a follow-up appointment.

I read this “poem” a few weeks ago and wanted to share it with you.  It was written by a mom who has a precious little adopted girl with congenital heart defects.  Ivy Joy has had to have numerous open heart surgeries, something a parent never wants to see their child go through.  The mom (I encourage you to read her whole blog post !) wrote, “Sometimes God answers our prayers differently than we expected. But He still answers.”  So very true.

I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties and made me strong.
I asked for wisdom and God gave me pro bl ems to solve.
I asked for prosperity and God gave me the strength to work.
I asked for courage and God gave me dangers to overcome.
I asked for patience and God placed me in s ituations where I was forced to wait on Him.
I asked for Love and God gave me troubled p eople to help.
I asked for favors and God gave me opp o r tunities.
I received nothing I wanted and received everything I needed.
My prayers have all been answered.    
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