A rough start to the new year.

Kerissa • January 9, 2016

All last week, I wasn’t feeling my normal and just felt “off.”  I kept losing my balance and had nystagmus/dizziness.  This past Saturday, I was feeling so bad with horrible body aches, headache, and nausea, so I ended up going to the ER to make sure I didn’t have a central line infection.

The ER docs followed my mitochondrial specialist’s ER protocol letter, so I received through my central line a dose of IV carnitine and more than 3 liters of continuous D10 with sodium chloride and potassium.  I also had a ton of labs drawn.  It turns out I was nearing a metabolic alkalosis state (opposite of metabolic acidosis), and I was diagnosed with hypomagnesemia (lower-than-normal levels of magnesium which is an electrolyte).  This happened even though I still receive daily IV fluids with extra magnesium for 2 hours…!

I just had labs drawn with home health 3 days before Saturday which showed some abnormal things, but my magnesium level was fine.  So it dropped quickly.  Hypomagnesemia can be very serious and cause seizures and even cardiac arrest, so my GI dr. is glad I went to the ER to get checked out.

I got admitted to the ER observation unit for 2 nights and received 3 different IV pain medications because the pain was so bad.  I also had to be placed on a continuous cardiac monitor to watch my heart rhythm and high heart rate.  Though short, it was a rough hospital stay—all the IV fluids overwhelmed my neurogenic bladder (and when I’m in a mito crash, body system functions don’t work well)…I had to be cathed because I had over 1 liter in my bladder which I couldn’t empty.  TMI, but mito is no fun.

To correct the low magnesium, the doctors gave me 4 grams of IV magnesium.  That brought the levels back up, but they soon dropped again.  So I had another magnesium infusion early Monday morning before I got discharged.

My GI dr. thinks the prescription zinc I was taking 3x a day for Wilson’s disease caused my body to get depleted of magnesium.  But, if my MG levels start dropping again while off of zinc, then he said something else is going on..  I had weekly labs drawn yesterday.

This coming Tuesday, I have a monthly follow-up with my GI dr.  Wednesday, I finally see the hepatologist (liver specialist) after waiting 2 long months.  And Thursday, I have an appointment with my neuro-urologist.  It’s gonna be busy! :/

I wasn’t expecting a hospital stay right at the beginning of the new year, but the bright side is, I went without an ER visit for almost 11 months which is a record!  I’m thankful to the Lord for His protection this past weekend.  My condition could have been a lot worse if my very low MG wasn’t corrected!

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