Yesterday’s Appointment

Kerissa • May 25, 2012

Had a great appointment with my pain dr. yesterday!  As far as the blood work goes, he’s concerned about my vitamin levels.  My B6 level is high, and that’s not good because he said elevated B6 can cause nerve damage/pain…  He wants me to contact my primary care dr. and see what’s causing this.  The nurse told me to come in and see her, so I have an appt. on June 4th!  Praying this is nothing serious..  Other than that, we’re happy the new med is working great and I don’t have to increase the dose because my pain level is an average of 3-5 on a scale of one to ten!  Next time I see my pain dr., I’ll also be seeing one of my St. Jude Medical reps.  My dr. wants him to check the implanted leads/device and add new programs to change things up a bit so that my brain/spinal cord doesn’t get used to the stimulation!  That’s funny.  Not too much else going on.  Still have physical therapy every week, and I’m also trying to decide if I should have genetic testing done (ordered by my rheumatologist) to rule out EDS type IV which is one of the most serious.  I will let you know what happens after I see my primary care doctor!  Stay tuned!

P.S. Just want to give a shout out to my mom!  Today’s her birthday!  Thank you, Mom, for always being there for me.  I’m so blessed to have you take me to my tons of appointments every week, pick up my regular medications, and help me do the big and little things that are hard for me to do myself, even things like washing my hair brush, peeling/cutting my fruit, or getting the cereal for me in the morning because I’m too short to reach the high cabinet…  Happy birthday, Mom!  I 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