Day Twenty Four - March 4, 2026

A belated update…..

We walked into Wednesday knowing it would be a lot, and it was. I pushed myself beyond my limits. There was a great deal to accomplish in our very last day, and we did not know how long it would take to cover all the areas we hoped would be touched on, as well as complete some more therapies. There was the “mentally shelved” option that if we really needed to, we would try to stay another night in our VRBO, and come back in on Thursday and sign up for a “pay as you go” time with the doctor.

I started the day with another lymph therapy session, this being the first time I did two days in a row, and once again it left me extremely exhausted. The day started with a headache which continued to pull me down as the day progressed. The final EBOO “hurrah” was booked, and in order to get my blood sugars where they needed to be, and because time was too limited to drive to the VRBO for food, we finally had the epiphany to bring an instant pot to the clinic and cook the food I could eat while I was in therapy. All the staff thought the food smelled divine, although they hadn’t been eating it day in and day out for two years (smiley emoji). I’m just glad we found an option to get food prepared and allow the EBOO to proceed. After a sauna I did a quick appointment with the doctor and then went in for the EBOO.

Unfortunately, we were off to another difficult start as my vein blew with just a saline drip. And so progressed the rest of the treatment. After multiple pokes, my body allowed for the “in and out” tubing so the blood could start flowing. Once again, my blood was too thick and sticky to make it more than a few inches down the tubing. I had hoped it would have thinned and showed progress since last Thursdays EBOO (as it is supposed to assist with blood flow), but alas, this was going to be another struggle. Many staff popped in the room to lend helping hands, so my appointment became an eventful process for onlookers. I became very tired through the procedure, my heart skittered a bit, and my blood sugars dropped a substantial amount, but as the 50 minute mark rolled around, I had at least gotten some blood to flow through the filters and become oxygenated. I’m quite sure, that given the turtle speed of my blood, that there was quite a lot less volume that was treated than the average “bear”. The waste from my blood during this round only provided two measly drops in the bucket, so not a lot for the doctor to work with when developing antidotes. But we know this process has been fully in God’s hands, and he can make something from nothing, so two drops is a bounty.

An exhausted me then traveled back to the other side of the clinic for the final round with Dr Ehrnman. Still in pain, and oh so tired, I dug deep for resilience to get more accomplished as the clock ticked onwards. Dr Ehrnman was able to get an antidote made from the toxins filtered from the EBOO (yay). Then we started with more exploration into my COMT gene expression and finding a treatment that would allow my body to circumvent or adapt with it, possibly even overcome it. There has been a lot of chatter the last 10 years on epigenetics and how we do not have to be the product of our current gene expression. While genetics provides a blueprint for many aspects of our bodies, it is not the only factor in my life's trajectory, Environmental factors can also shape me, and with that understanding, we will try to undo the damage of my exposures. The doctor found a link between the gene variant COMT (catechol-O-methyltransferase enzyme) and the hormone Estriol. I am hopeful that treating this hormone will give my body more energy to heal and function.

We looked again at heavy metals, and found a surprising amount of aluminum on both sides of my jaw. This answers the question on why we were seeing so much inflammation on my head scans in areas where there was no metal plate. The aluminum is in the tissue, not just in the bone or blood. He also found lead in my body which was located mainly in my large intestines, but given the time crunch we did not explore the why’s and what-fors for its presence. Another organ on my list was the thyroid as it is known to be an issue for those in my boat. It came up as a problem, and I have past ultrasounds showing concern, so he worked to find a decent treatment. Typically I would ask a lot of questions but in this appointment it was more of a “get to the finish line” as opposed to digging deep, and with my ongoing head pain, it was difficult to stay focussed. In the past three weeks I know we have addressed the core underlying issues (mold, lyme, abnormal cell growth), so, even though the organs we were inspecting are major areas for my healing, we are in agreement that targeting the root cause will have an affect on the stressors of the current areas being discovered. My brain came up as being high in ammonia, which explains my inability to often process thought and remember things. And speaking of my brain, that is all I can remember from my marathon day. Dr Ehrnman stayed an extraordinary amount of time again with us. As I am “unique” (an unfortunate term for me), he felt it was needed. With a quick discussion on what will come next with follow-ups, we finally made it out the door by 7:15 pm (after a full day at the clinic) and wearily drove back to our VRBO, making it back for 8pm.

I had nothing left in my tank and crawled to my bed for a bit. Jeff started dinner for me and neither of us had much of any energy to start packing for an early departure the next morning. I tried to manage the pain that I’d been struggling with all day, and we both found some quiet time before crashing. We know this day has taken its toll, so we decided not to try any heroics in the morning, of putting expectations on ourselves of having to leave at a crazy early hour. We hoped to be out the door by 7am for the 13 - 14 hour trip, but Jeff needed his sleep and I was hoping I would have both mental and physical strength come the new day to make it through the long drive. When all was said and done, I don’t know if it was worth it to push through such a long day, but what was done was done, and we could look forward to coming home!

God as my rock has echoed in my head today. He is my strength and my song. My hiding place and deliverance. He places me high on a rock and keeps me safe.

Psalm 27:5 "For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock"

Psalm 18:2: "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

Psalm 32:7 “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

I will add, that after the night we had from Sunday to Monday with feeling the spiritual attack, I had the chance to chat with Denise, my therapy coordinator at the clinic. The experience was so vivid, it came out in conversation. Denise got teary eyed and told me of a few instances at the clinic where she has prayed because of such incidents. As many different types of people come to the clinic, she has found the need on different occasions to pray. She and my lymph specialist Christi will anoint the walls of the clinic while they pray, she recommended I do likewise with the house we were in. I only had an essential oil for immune building called “Natures Shield” The shield seems oh so appropriate. For three nights Jeff and I prayed and I applied a small cross of oil on each wall. Perhaps in the future, if the light hits the walls a certain way, other residents of this refurbished shed will see three little crosses on the walls where we have prayed. I find such beauty in the imagery. Three nights. Three crosses.

My blood finally makes it to the filter!

Getting started…