Blessings To All,
To Order Jessica's Journey Necklace, Click On Link :
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41687962
To view Jessica on Fox TV, Click on Link Below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW_vstm0bS8
Yesterday we said goodbye once again to our dear friends Fern & Kathy as they head back home to Canada after Ferns boosters. I also met Mark & Kathy who are here with their daughter Kerri who is coming out of the coma tomorrow. You become one big "family" here especially when we are all fighting the same battle, only in different ways. The one thing that is always the same, for all of us here, patients and caregivers, is our beloved Dr. Cantu - an amazing doctor, but also a truly amazing man - he is guided by God's wisdom every day and treats his patients with such warmth and care!
Yesterday, I also received another present from my new friends from Monterrey that have their family member in room 843. The people here in Mexico are simply amazing and so very helpful! They brought me a book called:"Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul". It is filled with inspirational stories. How did they know that I read uplifting stories to Jessica every day? It is no doubt God manifesting himself through these special people!
Also, we had a visit from my dear friend Sylvia. She brought us a big basket of fruit, all different kinds, and I was able to cut-up an orange for Jessica, taking out the seeds and skin. She really enjoyed it. It was her first taste of real fruit -not baby jar fruit - she said it really tasted good! Also, she received big ketamine boosters this past week as well and the lesions that have been re-appearing on her right arm have faded from the surface - you can only see their scars below the skin - and she can touch the arm and not feel terrible pain! Please pray for the effects of the ketamine to be long-lasting in her body and for continued relief for Jessica from the pain.
God is so good, isn't He?
I believe that when you go through trials in life you come to realize that we all belong to God. Wherever we go (i.e. Mexico), and whatever happens to us,(i.e. sickness) we all belong to God! He will prepare our way when we are old, just as he did when we were young. He will guide us in His glory! We need to trust and be content in that knowledge and to live only a day at a time!
I found this poem on a Christian website:
"So for tomorrow and its need --- I do not pray.
But keep me, guide me, hold me, LORD, just for Today!"
In God We Trust,
Sarah Gina (Jessica's Mom)*
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Jessica's Journey to Getting Her Life Back
By Sarah Gina (Jessica's Mom)
As we begin this journey toward renewed health we would like to express our sincere heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick and all the work he has done and continues to do in order to bring patients like my daughter Jessica back to a more meaningful life and restored from this devastating illness. Also, special thanks to Dr. Fernando Cantu and his team of doctors in Mexico for taking on a difficult case like my daughters, Words cannot express the renewed sense of hope that we have that one day, our Jessica, can regain her life that has been taken away from her – God Bless you all!
Jessica’s Story
Once an A+ student who loved school, was involved in many extracurricular activities, played varsity tennis, lacrosse and gymnastics and enjoyed spending time with her family and friends, our daughter Jessica has spent the last 3 years incapacitated, paralyzed, unable to sit or walk and eat. She spends her days confined to a hospital bed, wearing sunglasses and noise-canceling headphones, due to severe light and sound sensitivity.
Jessica and her sisters, 2 mos. before becoming illThe pain she feels is indescribable and all attempted treatments have not even come close to relieving her suffering.
She has seen many doctors, undergone numerous painful tests and procedures, has been prescribed various medications, and has been hospitalized frequently including being intubated and on a ventilator. She is severely debilitated and currently is only 92 pounds. This is certainly no life for a 21 year old young woman!
Jessica is suffering from neurologic Lyme disease and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a severely debilitating and painful neuromuscular disorder. She suffers daily with constant sharp, stabbing, tingling and burning pain; throughout her body; severe headaches; paralysis; intense muscle spasms; gastroparesis; seizures; twisting of her limbs (dystonia); sensitivity to any touch (allodynia); extreme sensitivity to lights and sounds; excessive sweating; swelling; fevers; softening of bones; decreased hair growth; redness and discoloration of the limbs; and painful skin ulcers. The pain is constant and unrelenting, but despite her suffering, her faith in God remains and she still has hope for her future.
Jessica's painful skin lesionsJessica's journey began in 1999, when she was only 11 years old. She became very ill with Mono and was bed bound for 3 months. She subsequently developed RSD (stage 1) of the lower right leg. She received early intervention and returned to playing sports and enjoying her life.
Jessica, age 15, at summer campFour years later, in 2003, while away at a sleep-away camp, she developed a rash behind her right knee, coincidentally in the same leg that previously had RSD!
At the time, the camps nurse & doctor told her that it was “duck rash” – a rash from swimming in the lake with duck feces. However, Jessica was able to obtain photos from camp from another camper which shows the classic “bulls-eye” rash from Lyme disease! It wasn’t until much later and only after developing symptoms and becoming very ill, was the diagnosis of Lyme disease and Babesiosis (another tick-borne infection) made.
Most people (and doctors!) have no idea how serious Lyme disease can become and no clue how to properly diagnose it. Unfortunately, if she would have been promptly diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease, the RSD would not have been triggered and she would not be suffering.
July 2003, Jessica's Lyme disease rashDuring these past three years and with the pain becoming more intense and unbearable she has been seeing Dr. Finkelstein for pain management. He has even made house calls to spare her the pain of coming by ambulance to his office. Jessica has been treated with multiple pain medications, at the highest possible doses, as well as an implanted dilaudid pain pump, which delivers potent medication straight into her spine. Many doctors have told us that with the amount of medications Jessica was taking would be enough to “kill a horse”—yet they had little to no effect on her. If it wasn’t for Dr. Finkelstein trying to alleviate her constant, severe, unrelenting pain, I don’t know how she would have managed. He is very special to us as well.
Recently Jessica was transported by air ambulance to Tampa, Florida to see Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, a world renowned RSD expert. Dr. Kirkpatrick told us that Jessica is one of the most debilitated patients he has ever seen.
Jessica getting into the air-ambulance to go see Dr. KirkpatrickUpon his testing and because Jessica's condition is so severe, Dr. Kirkpatrick is recommending the only treatment available that can possibly help relieve her suffering, and afford her some semblance of a “normal” life - the Ketamine Coma Procedure - a clinical trial that is being conducted in Monterrey, Mexico.
During this procedure Jessica will be put into a coma , with the hope that her nerves, brain and spinal cord will “reset” -so that her nervous system sends the correct signals to her brain.
Yes, this is a radical, scary treatment, however, for Jessica, "scary" is thinking that she could spend the rest of her life in this condition, unable to walk, eat, or take care of herself. Since all reasonable treatments have failed to help her, we feel we must try everything possible to help Jessica regain her life.
We understand that due to Jessica’s fragile condition, there is a high risk associated with this procedure. We are also aware that other patients with severe RSD like Jessica's have had success.
Jessica’s goal is to one day become a doctor. Our hope is that with this study she can have that chance. As her Mom, I know that she will be a great doctor because when a patient presents in her office and says “Doctor, I am in pain and words cannot express how bad it is” – my daughter –Dr. Jessica– will be able to say - :I know how you feel, I’ve been there too. So, take a seat and let me tell you a story”….
We are so thankful and feel so blessed to have been led to Dr. Kirkpatrick.
God is good and with his help guiding Dr. Cantu and Dr. Kirkpatrick, our hope is for Jessica to be able to return to us whole again and pain-free!
6 comments:
How absolutely wonderful! God is so good!
It has brought tears to my eyes to read that your sweet Jessica is eating oranges (not from a jar), that the lesions are fading and she can touch her right arm and NOT feel terrible pain!
You have come such a long way now Jessica! More improvements are yet to come!
We will continue to pray for your complete healing and strength for both of you to get through each and every day!
It really is a process and we praise God that Jessica is moving forward in this process!
With love & prayers,
The Turners
Praise be to God!!! He make SWEET Oranges just like he makes SWEET Jessica's!
Thank you Lord!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qp11X6LKYY
Blessed Be Your Name
Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name
Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name
Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name
Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name
Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name
Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name
Praise God that the lesions are going away and are merely scars. Praise God that Jessica no longer feels as much pain to the touch. Those are two huge bumps in her journey that she has fought to overcome.
May God continue to show you his unabounding love.
God Bless,
Jenn
Good fill someone in on and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you as your information.
Well I see that someone has already shared the prayers from church.
I had the honor of sharing Saturday Service with my dear friend Edith Freeman who was helping me out so i could help my daughter Barbara with her children during her Best Man Bob Coletti's funeral.
It was a stimulating sermon. I had the honor of being seated behind the Steven's family that is in Ny. I haven't seen the girls in a long time. Wow are they beautiful young ladies. It was great to pray (as the heavens roared- wow what a storm on long island) together for Jessica.
we love you guys
Linda in Saratoga
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