Hey Everyone hope you're all doing well!,
I wanted to start out this post by saying thank you all very much for your thoughts and continued prayer! It is so so so appreciated and I cant say it enough!!
I have just recently joined a site for AVM Survivors and it has been an amazing support to hear others journeys and be able to connect with people who understand my exact situation since they have also experienced it or something similar. Lots of members on there are from the states and no longer are being covered by insurance for their procedures so I am so thankful to be blessed by living where I do!
Lately I have been struggling with night terrors. Now lots of people think night terrors are just bad dreams, when in reality they are much much worse. You can't wake up until they are completely over once they have started. Waking up from them is just how the movies portray them, you sit straight up and breathe heavily, cry, scream or anything. Mine have been about demons trying to get at me and recent I started to read my favorite Bible verse every night and just sleeping with my Bible by my bed. The demonic night terrors stopped but I still had bad dreams about being chased by someone who wanted to kill me and even to the point where they were taking place in my own house and I was scared to be home alone and go upstairs on my own. I can't explain how scary these dreams are, and it's hard to tell people since it sounds so childish.
One week from today I was able to be brought before my church for a time of prayer of healing on my body. It was amazing to see how many members of our church family came up to the front to lay hands and to support me in prayer. To all those reading this post, thank you so much!
As for how I'm feeling? Not that bad lately. My headaches are minimal and my peace about the radiation is getting stronger. I found out a little while later that the metal frame that I get on my head for the radiation may possibly be screwed into my head and that really shook me. Not only do I get needles in my scalp, but I might get this frame screwed INTO my head. My prayer now is just for complete healing so that when I go for my Angio CT scan (yet to be scheduled) they tell me I don't need radiation anymore and that the AVM has healed itself =) God can do anything!
Thanks all again for your continued support!
I ask for prayer for:
- AVM Survivors who I am in touch with who are struggling financially
- Complete healing for my AVM (ask and you will receive)
- Peace for everything that is to come
- Friends and family struggling with illness
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Monday, 9 January 2012
INFO on AVM
Hey Guys,
So I was searching the internet for AVM support forums to find some people who are going through similar things that I am. One person posted this on their forum post and it explains a lot about what an AVM is and how it is treated etc. I thought I would post it in case some people were wondering what exactly an AVM is.
So here you go!! :
http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/AboutStroke/TypesofStroke/HemorrhagicBleeds/What-Is-an-Arteriovenous-Malformation-AVM_UCM_310099_Article.jsp#symptoms
So I was searching the internet for AVM support forums to find some people who are going through similar things that I am. One person posted this on their forum post and it explains a lot about what an AVM is and how it is treated etc. I thought I would post it in case some people were wondering what exactly an AVM is.
So here you go!! :
http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/AboutStroke/TypesofStroke/HemorrhagicBleeds/What-Is-an-Arteriovenous-Malformation-AVM_UCM_310099_Article.jsp#symptoms
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Doctors appointment details
Hey Everyone,
So I definitely failed at the memory thing haha but oh well. So yesterday I had my doctors appointment with my new doctor Dr. Lee. I found out through family friends that he is a Christian and prays with you before he does your radiation if you ask him too so that was very encouraging and comforting. Also, from the time I woke up yesterday I had the song "I stand amazed" (I posted the link below) stuck in my head. Yes, it's an old hymn, but it reminded me how much God loves me and it made me so thankful that He has brought me through all this, and yet, He had to endure pain way worse than what I experienced.
He started out by Dr. Lee asking what all happened so he could hear it from the direct source. So we told him how it all happened and such so he could know all the side effects that I had from the hemorrhage and then he did a few tests to see what my mobility on my right side was like now.
Then he started to explain what radiation is and how it all works and then the part that really scared me. It's really not that big of a deal but it's not like I would choose it if it didn't need to be done. But let me start with the small testing stuff he told me before the scary stuff. I have to go get blood tests which I obviously wasn't thrilled about since the needles and no matter how many you get and that I have gotten, you just don't get used to something like that. Then he told me that I will have to get a angio CT scan which involves yet again MORE NEEDLES!! An IV yay!!! NOT! haha. but at least its not the type that I have to be put asleep for and them going through an incision that they make in my leg. This test only requires an IV and they inject the die and do the CT scan. That part in not excited about BUT it will be alright.
Now onto the scary part, well at least for me it sounds scary. So that they do they radiation correctly since they can only do it once and hopefully make no mistakes, they have to put a metal frame on my head. I will have to wear this for at least 7 hours that day. It weighs 6-7 lbs so any bball girls that are reading this, I'm doing my weight training, just Kim style ;) hahaha. Anyway, for this to be on my head for that long, they have to put freezing cream on my scalp and then USING NEEDLES, even if they arent that big, will inject more freezing under my scalp so that they metal legs that are leaning on my head don't hurt my head too much.
Yup not to excited about that, but I do know God will be with me. There is no doubt about that.
For the radiation, they take that CT scan to see the shape of the AVM and use the computer on the radiation machine (sorry for my non-medical terms, but I DID have a brain hemorrhage hah) to generate a beam in the exact same shape as my AVM. I thought that was pretty cool!!
Dr. Lee was wonderful and kept us in his office until all of our questions were answered... it ended up being a half an hour long!! After my radiation, I will go back annually for scans to see the progress the radiation is making.
So that is about it! Any questions do not hesitate to text me or send me a message on facebook! Thanks for the prayer and support!!
I ask for prayer for:
- God to calm my fears and anxiousness about the tests and radiation
- Thankfulness to God for the wonderful doctor he has blessed me with.
-For people I know struggling with ongoing illness
The Song: I Stand Amazed = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtqG3EdGiGQ&feature=related
So I definitely failed at the memory thing haha but oh well. So yesterday I had my doctors appointment with my new doctor Dr. Lee. I found out through family friends that he is a Christian and prays with you before he does your radiation if you ask him too so that was very encouraging and comforting. Also, from the time I woke up yesterday I had the song "I stand amazed" (I posted the link below) stuck in my head. Yes, it's an old hymn, but it reminded me how much God loves me and it made me so thankful that He has brought me through all this, and yet, He had to endure pain way worse than what I experienced.
He started out by Dr. Lee asking what all happened so he could hear it from the direct source. So we told him how it all happened and such so he could know all the side effects that I had from the hemorrhage and then he did a few tests to see what my mobility on my right side was like now.
Then he started to explain what radiation is and how it all works and then the part that really scared me. It's really not that big of a deal but it's not like I would choose it if it didn't need to be done. But let me start with the small testing stuff he told me before the scary stuff. I have to go get blood tests which I obviously wasn't thrilled about since the needles and no matter how many you get and that I have gotten, you just don't get used to something like that. Then he told me that I will have to get a angio CT scan which involves yet again MORE NEEDLES!! An IV yay!!! NOT! haha. but at least its not the type that I have to be put asleep for and them going through an incision that they make in my leg. This test only requires an IV and they inject the die and do the CT scan. That part in not excited about BUT it will be alright.
Now onto the scary part, well at least for me it sounds scary. So that they do they radiation correctly since they can only do it once and hopefully make no mistakes, they have to put a metal frame on my head. I will have to wear this for at least 7 hours that day. It weighs 6-7 lbs so any bball girls that are reading this, I'm doing my weight training, just Kim style ;) hahaha. Anyway, for this to be on my head for that long, they have to put freezing cream on my scalp and then USING NEEDLES, even if they arent that big, will inject more freezing under my scalp so that they metal legs that are leaning on my head don't hurt my head too much.
Yup not to excited about that, but I do know God will be with me. There is no doubt about that.
For the radiation, they take that CT scan to see the shape of the AVM and use the computer on the radiation machine (sorry for my non-medical terms, but I DID have a brain hemorrhage hah) to generate a beam in the exact same shape as my AVM. I thought that was pretty cool!!
Dr. Lee was wonderful and kept us in his office until all of our questions were answered... it ended up being a half an hour long!! After my radiation, I will go back annually for scans to see the progress the radiation is making.
So that is about it! Any questions do not hesitate to text me or send me a message on facebook! Thanks for the prayer and support!!
I ask for prayer for:
- God to calm my fears and anxiousness about the tests and radiation
- Thankfulness to God for the wonderful doctor he has blessed me with.
-For people I know struggling with ongoing illness
The Song: I Stand Amazed = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtqG3EdGiGQ&feature=related
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