Day Two - February 9, 2026

I’ve written a lot of letters in my head this last week… trying to find the energy to put them down in print. Although energies are still evading me, there is just so much to explain, so here I go.

Words can’t really describe my emotions last week when the Go Fund Me started. It affected me in a completely unexpected way. I have struggled for so long, and tried to keep up where I could. But family events, time with friends, and other moments in life suffered and disappeared. To see the names of family, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, who I haven’t seen in over a decade pop up, it made tears stream down my face (and they are starting up again) because all of a sudden it didn’t matter that they hadn’t seen me in so long. They were there, and they could “see me”. Being seen is something remarkable when it feels like life is passing you by, and beyond the funds to help make this trip to Tennessee possible, and my prayerful healing (which we are infinitely grateful for), having people in my life say “hey we see you”, is more powerful than words can express. So thank you from the bottom of my heart to my family, friends, friends of family, church family, and Bible Study (Life) Group , you have brought me immeasurable joy, peace and hope.

A quick recap on our extensive drive yesterday. Thank you John for providing the update. We had to 4-wheel it through Fort Erie and Buffalo because of snow conditions, but after the Erie areas, the drive was mostly clear and sunny. Although taking shorter trips to get to Tennessee would have been easier on my fatigue, it was a concern that stopping at hotels would cause a setback with exposure to things I react to like molds, perfumes, emfs, etc. So the decision was made to truck right through. The only outstanding issue was food. With histamine issues, you typically have to cook from frozen so no “histamines” or molds have started growing. Cooking while driving 14 hours seemed a challenge, so we tried an instant pot in the truck by my feet with frozen chicken in it. A worthwhile effort to keep me fed, but unfortunately, pickup trucks and instant pots don’t seem to be compatible! I have been trying to introduce green apples… sometimes they sit ok, sometimes they don’t. Yesterday they thankfully sat ok and I was able to eat two. I had a significant setback with breathing on the trip… it was concerning for about 6 hours, but settled past Cincinnati (thank you for the prayers!), and we carried on. We arrived in Thompson Station (outside of Franklin) very tired. After unloading the truck and getting our stuff in our rented cottage, we thankfully got some rest and set the alarm for an early appointment

We are in Central Standard Time now, so thankfully had an extra hour to work with. We arrived at the clinic at 8am and I noticed a sign on the front desk that said “Made in the image of God’. So awesome! The first order of business was going through intake forms and signed our lives away. Then we met with the doctor. It was the initial foray into their testing to see what I am dealing with and in what order. I was so exhausted that for most of the time I just laid there while he ran the tests. Emotions got the better of me at times, so I closed my eyes and pictured walking with Jesus. The verse that came to mind in those moments was. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;  In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.” (After wanting desperately to have this trip be God’s will and not mine, this verse was poignant to me). I got the hang of the doctors testing method after awhile, the system he was using made more sound when he found a problem. I definitely had issues over my jaw plate (noticeable the noise was only on the left side of my face... which is where the plate is - almost all the toxins, viruses and bacteria are hiding there) and on my thyroid. But he said at the end, that my right kidney was holding the most of the issues, although other organs did show up as well (I’ll fine tune this info tomorrow as I was a bit out of it). I didn't have anything to write with, but my memory tells me that molds still came up as highest, then bacteria (which includes Lyme), then viruses, then mycotoxins (which are also from molds). I am missing one but I can't remember which. Tomorrow I will have more diagnostic testing and the first phase of Phage therapy will begin for me. I will also have my scar tissue tested to see if that is blocking or causing issues internally. They wanted me to start treatments today, but after expressing concerns for my reactivity right out of the gate, it was decided to leave most until I am more stable. It was a long day, again without me being able to intake food until evening, but hopefully the appointments become more streamlined and we will be better able to manage the food intake and I will be able to handle the treatment therapies.

A little side note…. I have had others share with me how they have signs from God along their illness journeys. I have prayed that God would show me in the middle of my chaos, that he too would provide me with a sign. He didn’t need to, but it would have been so encouraging in the midst of doubt, pain, exhaustion and fear, to have God say, “Here I Am Maria, I ‘ve got you.” Much time has gone by… but (here’s where it gets funny/sad) I moved back into our own home a few weeks ago (after being told by my mold doctor I had to move out), so I was without my home for 7 months… and being back in my own home after a long time, I was sitting up in my room, snow was everywhere outside the window and I saw a cardinal far away, a glimpse of beautiful red amongst the snow. I was like, wow, “God has sent me a cardinal, how beautiful.” Jeff came in the room and I pointed out the cardinal God had sent. The next morning, I got up and saw once again the cardinal was in the exact same tree. I was like wow, and then paused… I went to another window, and my beautiful cardinal… my sign… was a piece of red plastic in the tree that Stephen (thank you Stephen) had gotten for Jeff’s birthday, a China White Lilac tree. I had to laugh at myself, better than crying. My longed for sign from God was a piece of red plastic. I told a few people in the past week, with trepidations on this trip, about my sign from God story, and how I longed to know if the decision to come to Tennessee was the right one as there was still so much chaos.

So today… leaving our little cottage…. on the way to the clinic… I see a real cardinal. No piece of plastic. Again, I had to smile. God teaches us and has a sense of humor at the same time (trust in Him always and lean not on your own understanding). And coming back from the clinic we saw four more cardinals. God is being abundant in his offerings now! It's so funny, sad (the plastic part), amazing... but God's timing is so impeccable. I just had to trust and follow. He was with me and already here for me, all at the same time. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is our past, present and future. Its so incredible for me its actually hard to process. My mind is is spun with it but oh so amazed!

Franklin reached an unusual high of 25 degrees today, with a morning starting at 0. So a few moments of sun shine on our return to the cottage was lovely.

Thank you again for love extended to me and my family. It has meant the world to us. I will strive to send updates and better pictures (phones are to be turned off in the clinic so I didn’t have it in hand for photos).

Maria