What happened last week

Kerissa • February 14, 2014

Last week was tough.  For once, it’d be nice to have no adventures. ;P

Wednesday afternoon, I started experiencing a bad headache, but I wasn’t too concerned because I get migraines (they usually don’t last more than a day).  So I just waited for the headache to pass.  It was still there the next day, though, and I started struggling because of the pain.  My left drooping eyelid got especially bad.  And none of my usual nerve pain meds or Ibuprofen and Aleve touched the pain.  As I mentioned in my previous post, my neurologist wondered if I had a TIA or small stroke..  And so I headed to the ER.  Because of the snow, I couldn’t go to OHSU’s ER, and I hated that I had to go to a different hospital.  Long story short, that was a terrible mistake because this particular ER didn’t know “me” and my complicated medical history.  They didn’t even do a full neurological exam.  All they did was give me one hydrocodone/acetaminophen tablet.  They sent me home.

The next day, the headache pain was so bad.  I couldn’t eat much because of the nausea.  I started having balance issues and was also dealing with new right hand weakness.  So this time, my parents and sister drove me to OHSU’s ER.  This hospital is so awesome (it’s #1 in the state of Oregon ;).  They got me a room right away.  They did labwork and gave me lots of IV pain and nausea meds.  People with EDS are prone to aneurysms and strokes, so the doctors were concerned that maybe I did have something like that.  They ordered two emergency MRIs which I had done there in the ER.  Thankfully, the scans were clean!  The doctors told us I was probably dealing with a “complicated migraine” which is not just a simple migraine.  They’re complex and can cause weakness/neurological issues.  They gave me IV toradol for pain, but that unfortunately didn’t help.  So they put together a “migraine cocktail” you could say.  An IV magnesium drip, Reglan for nausea, and IV benadryl which has been shown to reduce pain.  My pain went down from a 9 to a 5, and my drooping eyelid improved.  We were in the ER for 8 hours.  But we arrived home at 2:45 AM, and I slept till 4 PM the next day!

The adventure wasn’t finished. ;P  I woke up because my blood sugar dropped very low (a bad issue associated with mitochondrial disease).  My heart was pounding, I was shaking, sweating, and extremely weak.  I laid on top of our stairs, unable to move.  My mom had to quickly spoon feed me grape juice to get my blood sugar back up.  It was hard for me to even suck from a straw because I was so weak.  I had to sleep a lot after that, and it was too exhausting to even watch a movie.

That episode on top of two ER visits did me in, and I’m still trying to get better from this weakness.

So that’s what happened last week.  How was your weekend?

Surgery Update 😊

By Kerissa Lee • August 21, 2026
Dear friends, I just wanted to thank you all so much for praying for me during my abdominal surgery on August 6th! 💚 All of your messages/emails really encouraged my heart! If you missed my previous post, I had to have an unexpected surgery to take down the jejunostomy tract and repair an enterocutaneous fistula (a rare complication from having a j-tube for 12 years). I truly felt your prayers, and the Lord answered so many of them as well! 🥹 My surgeon only had to remove about 1 1/2 inches of my small intestine which is great news! I was in the hospital for 4 days because my blood pressure was low and pain control was rough (it’s a long story, but pain management is complex due to a specific medication I take daily at home..). But aside from that and having an allergic reaction to the surgical glue, I’ve been healing well. Thank you again for praying!! God has been so faithful throughout this journey. I got a visit from my sweet foster nephew when I was in the hospital (2nd picture)! 🥰 I can’t wait until I can show you his face—he’s so adorable. 🩵 I’ve mentioned this before, but an important medication I take causes severe insomnia (still not falling asleep until anywhere between 3 AM-9 AM). 😞 But I saw my naturopath this past Monday, and she’s going to treat me for suspected cortisol spiking up during the night (which disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm). I’m thankful for the wisdom God gives her, and I’m excited to see if this treatment will help! It will take 6 weeks to see if there’s any benefit, but I first have to specially order it.. 

August 6th Surgery Prayer Requests 💚

By Kerissa Lee • August 6, 2026
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." -Psalm 46:1

Another surgery 😞

By Kerissa Lee • July 25, 2026
Hi, friends, I thought I wouldn’t be posting for a while since I’ve been doing really well, but I’ve hit a bump in the road again and would appreciate your prayers. 💚 This past Tuesday the 21st, after nearly 12 years living with it, I had my jejunostomy tube removed completely. I thought it was going to be a simple process and that the stoma (hole) would close quickly within 30 minutes like they said. That didn’t happen, though, as the stoma started draining a ton! I couldn’t even leave the lobby and had to go back up to the clinic on the 8th floor to have an ostomy bag placed to collect all the small intestinal digestive juices that continually drained. Unfortunately, I’m experiencing a very rare complication called an enterocutaneous fistula. 🥺 I’m disappointed this is happening, but I’m not exactly surprised since my whole medical case with Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome has been rare from the very beginning.. I also don’t heal well due to connective tissue problems from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (case in point: my port site issues back in May when I had to have a new one surgically placed on the other side of my chest).. 😞 The clinic told me to keep emptying the ostomy bag and monitor the output. It wasn’t a fun 2 days. This whole process has definitely made me so grateful to God that I’ve never needed something like an ileostomy! TMI, but I lost almost a whole pound of fluid because so much was gushing/spurting out of the stoma every time I ate or drank. Losing so many electrolytes, I started experiencing symptoms of dehydration—weakness, high heart rate, and headaches. So yesterday, I had to go back and see the surgery resident who basically placed another j-tube (it was so painful again!). 😭 This is a temporary “plug,” and I’m bummed to say that I have to go to the operating room to have the jejunostomy tract taken down and the fistula repaired. This surgery will be happening as early as next week (it depends on my surgeon’s schedule).. She said it will be complex, especially because adhesions (scar tissue) form when a person has multiple abdominal surgeries.. I lost count what number this surgery/procedure will be, but I do know I’ve had more than 20! 😞 I know God is with me wherever I go and will supply me with the strength to endure yet another surgery like he always does. But, I’m still sad that I have to have more incisions added to my body. I shared the lyrics to this song before on an old blog post (the song is called It Is Well With My Soul by Matt Redman), but it immediately came to mind again when I was thinking of scars. As the song below said, it’s a reminder to me that my scars can be a testimony to others of God’s grace in my life and how he has brought me through every single pain and sorrow. In the Bible, I’ve always thought it’s so neat that Jesus still had his scars after he rose from the dead—he had a new body, and yet, his scars were still visible. ❤️ Our scars are a sign of grace in our lives Oh Father, how You brought us through When deep were the wounds And dark was the night The promise of Your love, You proved Now every battle still to come Let this be our song It is well (it is well) With my soul (with my soul) It is well, it is well with my soul