A Fungus Among Us

Last fall we moved into a new house. We knew there had been a leaky roof that caused the addition to rot and required it to be completely redone. We didn't think much about it since the damage had been repaired. We also had a problem with the dryer vent backing up and allowing moist air from the dryer to come into the house. It bothered my allergies, but we finally got it fixed and thought that was the end of it.

A few weeks after moving in I was hospitalized with a case of pancreatitis. Although I don't drink or take drugs, I eat a healthy diet, and despite having every test in the world on my liver, gall bladder, upper and lower GI tract, they could find no cause for the pancreatitis. Then, a month later I was hospitalized for pancreatitis again, and they found ulcers in my upper stomach area. We assumed it was related to medication I was taking for narcolepsy with cataplexy, so I stopped the medications. After a couple months of eating a strict diet of soft foods and taking probiotics and L-glutamine, I seemed fine.

Then, a month ago, the painful symptoms of pancreatitis and stomach ulcers returned along with bleeding sores, Chron's-like symptoms, and the inability to eat solid food. That's when I realized this was my third GI flare since moving into this house. I knew there had to be a connection. So we did a home mold test kit. You can see the photo above of the mold spores that grew from our air samples in two different rooms. So I talked to my doctor and showed her this article about what inhaling mold can do to the body, which includes respiratory, digestive, cardiac, and even neurological symptoms. Scary stuff! She put me on a 10-day course of the antifungal medication Diflucan. After 4 days, I felt much better and was able to eat solid food for the first time in 3 weeks.

But now the medicine has worn off, and I am in agony again. We spent the last 3 days making huge batches of chicken stock and broccoli cheese soup in this huge 22-quart pot my husband found.

I spoke with someone at Healthy Perceptions an air and water purification company, and they told me that because I have a mold allergy, due to my symptoms since we moved in, and - based on the results of our mold test - since we have enough airborne mold to cause concern, they recommended their Zone Air Purification system. We purchased 3 of their Aclare Air Purifiers to treat the air in our home.

Because I am perfectly miserable and have been for over a month, I can't wait until the air purifiers get here and I can start feeling better. One of our dogs, Xander, has been very sick with respiratory issues as well. He has no bacterial or viral infections and allergy treatments have not helped. We believe the mold is affecting him as well. We're treating him with natural antifungals and assisting his congestion and inflammation with nettles and eyebright and using eucalyptus oil on his ears at night to help him breathe. I feel so badly for him!

I'll keep you updated on how we both feel after we get the air treatment units!

Waiting for Morning

by Karen Kingsbury
A Book Review

" Great is Thy Faithfulness" was Hannah Ryan's favorite hymn. Having experienced a carefree life where she married her childhood sweetheart and raised two beautiful girls in a comfortable lifestyle, it was easy to believe God was faithful. But when a drunk driver killed her husband and oldest daughter, she turned away from God and made revenge against that driver her life's purpose. Entrenched in bitterness and anger, she even ignored her surviving daughter Jenny who is struggling with her grief and desires to take her own life. But God continued to pursue Hannah through a MADD activist, the prosecutor in the drunk driving case, and a final message from her dying husband.

This story is painful to read not only because of the tragic circumstances, but also because of Hannah's attitude toward her young daughter Jenny, whom she ignores and whose pain she actually taunts. I find it difficult to believe any mother who just lost her other daughter and her husband would be so callous. But then again, it's hard to know how you would react until you are faced with the unthinkable. I identified with Hannah's struggle to forgive Brian Wesley, the man who robbed her of her family, and her feeling of betrayal toward her MADD friend Carol who secretly befriends Brian. I was also relieved to discover an authentic story where Christians aren't miraculously spared from tragedy or immediately react with thankfulness when it strikes their lives. It's real and it's raw, and it's classic Kingsbury. Buy Book 1 in the "Forever Faithful" series here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Guest Post - Healing Words

Check out Invisible Illness Week's blog right here for my guest post today "Healing Words," an article which was recently featured here at A Fragile Faith. Invisible Illness Week is an annual event hosted by Lisa Copen of Rest Ministries

and is designed to raise awareness about chronic illness and provide resources for those of us who live with a chronic health condition. Invisible Illness Awareness Week is September 12-18, 2011, and the theme is "Deep Breath, Start Fresh."

Harvest of Grace - Book GIVEAWAY and Review

Read and comment on my review for a chance to WIN my copy of Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall. Drawing will be on Wednesday, August 17. See below for details.

Sylvia Fisher loves farming, her family, and her beau Elam. But when a painful betrayal drives her far away from all that she loves, she focuses her love of farming into a foreman position at another Amish family's farm. Michael and Dora Blank's farm is suffering due to family tragedies, including their son Aaron's alcohol addiction and recent death of their only daughter. Just when they feel Sylvia is the answer to rebuilding their farm and healing their hearts, Aaron returns from rehab with hopes of reconciling with his parents and selling the farm to pursue his own dreams. Although Sylvia and Aaron seem to have conflicting goals, they are drawn together by their need to find forgiveness, redemption, and healing.

Because this is Book 3 in the Ada's House series, there are multiple subplots happening besides the story of Sylvia Fisher and Aaron Blank. Although the author makes a valiant effort to catch up any new readers, I often found myself referring back to the list of characters to keep everyone straight in my mind. Based on what I've experienced from reading other Amish fiction, the dialogue and even the circumstances often didn't quite ring true, but I did find the theme of grace and redemption to be thought-provoking. If you enjoy Amish fiction, you'll find this author uniquely different; and I would recommend reading the series in order rather than coming into the middle as I did.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

TO WIN A FREE COPY OF HARVEST OF GRACE:

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Healing Words

"The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." -Proverbs 12:18

Yesterday I had a great conversation with a health and fitness coach with whom I recently started working. Not only did she give me some great ideas to work toward my personal goals, but I also found myself leaving the conversation with a lot more hope than I've felt in a long time. It's interesting I should be so hopeful because I'm really having a tough time physically right now. And we also spent a fair amount of time discussing my past history of chronic illness, a topic that usually drains me and makes me sad. Instead, she was able to focus on the accomplishments I've made in the past two years toward a healthier me.

I later realized my coach did a simple yet powerful thing: she used her words to bring healing. Healing to my spirit and even to my body. After we spoke I was more inspired to remain on the path of a healthy lifestyle, and I was so energized by hope that I went ahead and started my new exercise program that I've been putting off for months because I didn't feel well enough to try. Which, in turn, inspired me to eat healthy and work out again today. And maybe I'm imagining things, but my current flaring health symptoms seem to be better too.

Recently I've had a lot of reckless words spoken into my life and my health situation. Well-meaning family members, friends, and doctors have said things that to some degree, robbed me of hope, faith, and joy. It's been a fierce battle in my heart to fight off the constant barrage of negativity their words created. What a contrast with my experience yesterday!

This is a great lesson for all of us. Before we share that "helpful" idea or something "the Lord laid on our heart" that our loved one "needs" to hear, let's ask ourselves if we are planting seeds of hope and healing or if we are truly piercing them with the sword of our reckless words.


"Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips." -Psalm 141:3

A Work in Progress

"If you eat so healthy, take nutritional supplements, filter your water, try to avoid chemicals, and do all these healthy things, why are you so sick?"

I get this question a lot. Especially if, out of concern for a loved one's health, I recommend something natural for a health problem they're suffering with. And if they don't say it, I still sometimes get a look that says, "Why should I take YOUR advice on being healthy? I'm healthier than you!" I get it. And if you've ever wondered that, here's my answer.

1. It took YEARS for me to get this ill. It's going to take years to undo the damage. I had health problems as a child and have had serious chronic conditions for over half my life.

2. The longer you go with an undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or improperly treated health condition, the more damage is done to your body, the more health conditions you develop, and the harder it is to get a handle on them.

3. I wasted a lot of years doing the wrong things. These are some of those things:

...Letting traditional medicine doctors "practice" medicine on me by doing surgeries, giving me all kinds of pharmaceutical drugs to treat symptoms, run diagnostic test after diagnostic test, and just overall being on a "treadmill" of conventional medicine. Which made me more and more ill.

...Getting sick of traditional medicine and therefore ignoring it completely and trying to "heal myself" with my own knowledge.

...Trying every alternative method of healing under the sun like juicing, fasting, taking supplements, making drastic dietary changes, all without any supervision or knowing the underlying CAUSE of my health condition.

4. Everyone experiences setbacks on the path to wherever they're going. That doesn't mean you're on the wrong path; sometimes it just means you need to make an adjustment.

5. I don't know everything. Honestly, most of what I've discovered about my health conditions has been through my own research, not from what I've learned from medical professionals. There is a lot of misinformation out there, making the right information hard to find. I'm always learning and discovering new pieces to the puzzle. It's hard work and takes a lot of fortitude.

6. Look how far I've come! If you've known me for any length of time, you know I've been through a lifetime of physical suffering. And you also know that in the past few years, I've had some really big improvements. You won't see me on the cover of any health and fitness magazines, but my quality of life has drastically changed since I discovered the following:

...When you already have debilitating illness, you can't choose either traditional or alternative medicine to the exclusion of the other. I tried it both ways, and I've found that the best thing to do is use integrated medicine. That means you make wise decisions about everything you put into your body and try to choose things that are the least invasive and the least foreign to your body. Occasionally, that requires taking traditional medicines.

...When you have new symptoms, rather than look for a diagnosis and something to treat those symptoms, look for the CAUSE. Everything in the body is related to the body as a whole.

...No matter how healthy you eat, if you have untreated hormone deficiencies or organs in your endocrine system that are failing, you will not feel well because hormones affect everything. I've been blessed to discover some information that finally has me on the path to healing my hormone issues.

So be patient. Don't judge me yet. I am a work in progress.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on..." Philippians 3:12