Day Twelve - February 19, 2026

Epic Fail?

Yesterday was eventful. In todays vernacular, I’m thinking we could have achieved a “viral moment” for social media (my tongue in cheek attempt at humor). Last night I wasn’t in any shape to write or type, in the meantime I’ve thought of what to report and have promptly forgotten it all.

I’ll start at the beginning…

Had another restless sleep leading up to EBOO day. Jeff was singing “it’s EBOO Day” while we headed out the door. But I was having a hard time feeling footloose and fancy free. We pulled out of the driveway and I saw a cardinal scurrying around in some underbrush. We were off to a good start! But after a few more bends in the road I could feel myself tensing up, my chest getting tight, and my internal head chatter started… I was trying very hard to push it away… “We do not live in a spirit of fear” (2 Tim 1::7) and ‘fear is a liar” (Zach Williams). Followed by, “the power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me.”. But it was like an oncoming train, it just kept coming and I was fighting back the tears.

We arrived at the clinic, prayed in the truck, and then I went in for my first treatment of lymphatic drainage. My therapist Kristi is a gift, an angel in disguise. She went over how I had been since she last saw me, and said, you know Maria, Jesus got tired, and Jesus wept. Give yourself some grace. I have been defeated on days with crushing fatigue, but she loved me there and then and gave me permission to be what I was in that moment.

I met with the doctor next but we didn’t get to much as I had to allow enough time to rush back to our cottage to get high protein and carb food into me, and of the 4 foods i eat… I can achieve that! Awesome. My doctor was running a half hour behind (which cut our allotted time in half) so I asked him if he would have any extra time in his day. He said yes, he could likely see me after my EBOO.

EBOO was next. I came into it as cool as a cucumber. The image of not having a worry in the world, and I was able to maintain that for quite awhile. We’d prayed. Lots of friends and family were praying for me. I wouldn’t have a reaction, everything was going to be fine, and we would get results which would propel us to new information we could use moving forward with the added bonus of potentially me feeling fantastic with cleaned blood. … Free of the burdens of the swamp my blood currently finds itself moving in. Step one of concern… the nurse could not get blood to flow out of me even through the needle, let alone the dialysis machine. After many pokes, she felt somewhat settled until one port suddenly started becoming very painful… she moved it and we saw a huge lump on my arm and iv fluid started spraying. (I was very concerned about the fluid buildup under my skin, golf ball sized, as I didn’t know if I would have an allergic reaction) I had blown a vein. She clamped that up and tried again. More pokes to number seven. She got that one bleeding and hooked up, moved back to my other arm to fix a port on that side, and the pain started all over. This time when the vein blew the saline fluid blew right into my face. Jeff had already told himself he wouldn’t let it go any further if it wasn’t stopped. It was hard for him to watch me go through the process. I held it together until it was over, and then I wept. I felt such fatigue and an absolute loss of hope. Grief flowed over me again as nothing works for me. Will I just end up fading away. I can only do 2 treatments at the clinic, and they have a ton. My blood is now too fibrous and sticky to even accept treatment or my veins are too fragile. I sat in a chair for awhile while the nurse cleaned up my station. After stabilizing some, Jeff walked me over to the doctors side of the clinic while we waited for him to be available. I curled up in Jeffs lap as he held me. All of a sudden a curly haired woman peering around us came into our line of vision with tears in her eyes. She said, I’m Brenda, and I just want to know if I can pray for you as seeing how he cares for you has really moved me, We said of course.

I was coping, but feeling defeated. I had sharp pain, bruising and hurt where I didn’t have any before so we’ve added to my concerns not diminished any. Our doctor says he’s available and we go in and sit down. He says he likely has 45 minutes for us and says how sorry he is that the EBOO turned out as it did and he asked me to talk through it. Also a good man, he asked how much weight I had put on the EBOO being necessary for success of my treatment. I thought about it and said a fair bit, not as much as the phage therapy, but far more than the “accessory therapies” like sauna, hyperbaric, lymph drainage etc, as my filtered blood would have been tested and we would have gained more insight. He nods and agrees, but in that comment I feel and understand I can still get better without the failed EBOO. There is a chance I could try again next week, but at this point nobody knows if that would be advisable.

This is where my day turned around and, cue the trumpets, God’s glory and plan became apparent. Dr Earnham started working on me and asked how long we had, I responded with how ever long it took, I had to get better. He worked on my for the next FOUR hours (not the 45 minutes he had mentioned). Four. Hours after the clinic closed, he kept going. (Even though his dogs at home might pee on his floor (smiley face). And what we found out in those four hours Jeff and I agree, far surpassed anything the EBOO would have shown us. Yes, the EBOO process was painful, Yes it was devastating and crushing, but the understanding by staff of how unique my situation truly is became glaringly obvious. And for me, and you… have you ever heard the saying, “When you’re going through hell, keep going?” God is with you always, even in those moments … “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 19:1) So don’t give up. Keep walking around Jericho, I’m not going to be the best theologian, astronaut, or surgeon, but perseverance, I’ve gotten a handle on that one. Don’t give up, lift up your eyes to the hills. Ask for prayer, for he is abundant in His love, His listening, and His answers. And from my experience at Biologix, he has sent me “angels” daily. (Brenda, Lisa, Ari, Caleb, Kristi) Christ does dwell in the hearts of my fellow believers. Mightily so. I talked to Lisa today and she told me she’s been praying for me since I arrived (and she is there for cancer).

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

(Psalm 91: 14 - 16)

So what did we discover? I’ll see if I can remember some of it. It was a very long medical day. I started at 8 am (left at 7:15am) and we left the clinic at 7:30, getting back at 8pm. I have the COMT gene, which helps understand my inability to detox toxins. The Lyme (specifically Borellia) in my small and large intestine is causing the Mast Cell and histamine response. The Mast Cell response is then causing my reaction to EMFs and Geopathic stressors (geological issues like radon, or manmade ones like hydro lines, cell towers, and wind turbines). I can react with extreme pain like a brain aneurysm or with strong muscle cramp like seizures when exposed to high signals. This is also causing issues, now confirmed, in my metal jaw plate and wires in my head which create an antenna like effect in my body. Pathogens then find residence around the metal in my body (Lyme and Mold do have an affinity for electro magnetic fields). There was a long cause and effect that was analyzed and determined with testing. Dr Earnham wasn’t just satisfied to get positive readings for MCAS, he wanted to know why it was being caused and get to the underlying reason… which is exactly what I want too. Just addressing a symptom of a greater problem will keep me from returning to full vitality. The blood thickness and stickiness is definitely the result of spike proteins circulated through COVID. This is still a very big concern. Even today I had difficulty breathing. Resolving this will be an incredible game changer for me. So fibrin is next on my list… prayerfully this will be completely resolved.

I wasn’t functional when we got back to our cottage and my arms were too sore to lift or move anything, so Jeff cleaned up my dishes and cooked my regular meal for me. I usually try to to some home therapies to assist with everything, but last night was for recovery.

I slept well and went into the clinic again early this morning, just for a nir infrared sauna to see if that would help my blood vessels, and then headed back for another slow recovery day.

Our final week begins on Monday. Please pray this week is complete with every thing needed for my recovery, not only for the future, but so the drive home won’t be an issue like the drive here was.

Please continue to pray. Your prayers are everything to me.

Maria

P.S. Apologies I still have no fun therapy pictures for inquiring minds. Perhaps, maybe, there is still a chance for some :)