The Process of Healing

We have been on this journey for four years now. In that time we have learned so much about ourselves and each other. As hard as ALS is, we have been enriched because of our experience. I haven’t been able to write much in the past year because life has just been too busy. Tad is not driving anymore, so I am the sole means of transportation for our family. Also, he requires extensive care for his daily activities (showering, dressing, eating, etc).  Despite all of this, we have continued to live life to the fullest we can.

We had an opportunity in November to speak to a women’s group in Las Cruces, New Mexico about our testimony. We shared how we continue to lean on God for our strength and how we trust that His timing and plan is best. This, of course, is hard, but it’s our only choice. We try every day to reflect God in our struggles. We were blessed by all of the women we encountered that day.

In February we traveled again to New Mexico–this time to a small Navajo community near Gallup–to attend a spiritual healing conference. This experience expanded our beliefs in unimaginable ways. Tad and I have always known he would have healing, but we have been unsure about how that would exactly look. That weekend we both experienced a healing in our soul (mind, will, emotions) and renewed our spirit and relationship with God. Although Tad hasn’t received a full body healing, we have not given up hope.

So much of what we have researched these past few years has been the body-soul-spirit connection. In January our church had a guest speaker, Harold Eberle, who spoke to us about correcting your “stinking thinking.” He talked about how experiences are connected to emotions. When we recall these memories, the attached emotion is also felt again. For example, if a person has an argument with a loved one that is upsetting, every time the person thinks about that argument, the same feelings come back. He says these thought patterns can resurface every four days. Our thinking can cause stress and depression. Eberle says we can attach new emotions to our memories and therefore change how we feel toward ourselves and others.

Soon after this, Tad and I watched a video presentation by Dr. Gabor Mate’ called “When the Body Says No” based on his book by the same name. Dr. Mate’ suggests that many autoimmune diseases are caused by stress and the reactions our bodies have to the raised cortisol and adrenaline levels. See drgabormate.com for more information about his studies.

Listening to Harold Eberle, watching the Dr. Mate’ presentation, and attending the spiritual conference helped us pinpoint some things in Tad’s past that needed to be revealed and dealt with in order to move forward. I highly recommend everyone come to terms with things in their past so that they, too, can have total peace and comfort. Read Psalm 139:23 every day and then sit quietly while God reveals anxious thoughts. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” He will only reveal to you what you can handle in the moment.

We have also been on a nutritional journey. We have realized that all the processed foods we eat have greatly affected our health. For the last year we have been trying to adhere to a whole food diet, which is not easy when you have kids. Tad’s new doctor also wants him to temporarily eliminate animal proteins which are full of glutamates (neuro excitotoxins) and also alcohol so we can cleanse the liver. This is going to be really hard for Tad since these are two of the things left on this earth that he can enjoy. **If anyone out there would like to support him with a three-month meat and beer fast, he would greatly appreciated it.**

This long journey has led us back to the beginning. About two months after Tad’s “possible diagnosis” we attended our church’s annual conference. While there, Clay Nash, a prophetic minister from Mississippi prayed over Tad. While praying, Clay stopped and asked, “Do you all have ticks around here? Because I keep hearing the words Lyme Disease.” We didn’t know much about Lyme Disease, but we asked Tad’s primary doctor to run tests. The initial test came back negative, so we didn’t pursue it further. However, in October, 2013 Tad felt compelled to have more testing done. We did some more extensive testing and this doctor thought it was an indeterminate result. He wanted to do a culture that would take twelve weeks. At that time we didn’t feel it was enough evidence to go through the added expense and time. He wasn’t even sure treatment would help.

Then, last month Tad again kept getting a nagging feeling that we needed to pursue the Lyme path again. Last Friday (May 8, 2015) we once more went to a Lyme literate doctor. He said he felt comfortable stating that there was a Lyme presence (borrelia burgdorferi). He says that neurological complications of Lyme can happen. There is much research out there both supporting and denying that Lyme Disease can mimic other diagnosed diseases such as fibromyalgia, MS, autoimmune diseases, and even ALS. At this point, we don’t know what to believe. We are placing this in God’s hands to either open or close doors to the right course of action.

The kicker is that the type of treatment we are seeking is not covered by insurance because most medical doctors think that Lyme can be treated with a four-week course of antibiotics and nothing else is needed. That is the only thing their formulary will allow and therefore insurance won’t considerer other courses of action as “medically necessary.” We are seeking a more naturopathic treatment that will allow the body to detox the endotoxins released from the bacteria once the antibiotics kill them off. There are also some co-infections that need to be attacked. The total sticker price for the treatments is over $75,000. Insurance might reimburse some of the cost, but it could be months before we see anything.

We need prayers. We need help to locate a funding source. No amount of fundraising and donations is going to get us near what we need. We only have about two weeks to find a funding source. People can also donate if they feel compelled through our gofundme.com campaign. 

UPDATE (May 20, 2015): We are seeking other doctors to do some price comparisons and find one closer to home.