Picture of my kids

My kids after decorating the Christmas tree last night.  You know what happened to the tree this morning if you read the Facebook page!  

Tis the Season!

Have you headed over to Mom's By Heart to see her 100 Days of Christmas yet?  Below are just a few of the cute things she has posted.




 The project shown above was by A Personal Touch. She created her bag toppers with rubber stamps, but you can get a free printable HERE or HERE.  Many Dollar Stores carry the small bags.



Here’s a free printable to make you smile from my favorite Christmas movie! VisitInviting Printables to get one, then frame it up and show it off!




Laurie Furnell created this free printable Snowman Candy Bar Wrapper. Add a repurposed sock for the hat and a scrap of fleece for the scarf and you have yourself an adorable little gift!

HES Update

I haven't posted a Hypereosinophilic Syndrome (HES) update in awhile so I thought today would be an appropriate day to do that.

This year has been a roller coaster ride with my HES.  The Hematologist that I had been seeing the past 5 years retired and I got a new one in January.  It's always hard to transition to a new doctor, but I've found my new doctor to be knowledgeable about HES as well as a very nice person to work with.

I'm presently taking Hydroxyurea (chemo) to control my white blood counts.  Unfortunately, as the year has progressed the chemo has lowered my blood counts TOO low causing me to be anemic.  Recently, my doctor decided to lower the amount of chemo in order for my blood counts to raise.  About 2 weeks into my new dosage of chemo I started having more HES symptoms.  I won't go into detail on that, but believe me, I knew that my new dosage wasn't going to work out!  So, I called the doctor, they had me come in for another cbc and my blood levels had raised up enough to raise my chemo back to where it had been before.

I know this all sounds horrid to most of you, but this is actually a good thing for me.  I'd rather be tired, then in pain.  So, now I'm about 3 weeks into my raised dose and I'm feeling much better.  Yesterday I went to the doctor again for another cbc and visit.  She has decided to not mess with my chemo dosage anymore.  She believes that we've found the "happy medium" that keeps most things level.  

So, that's where we're at for now and I'm fine with that.  I'm feeling pretty good and happy to have some energy back during this time of year.  Of course, this will be an on going process, so we'll continue to keep tabs on my blood levels.

I wrote a testimony and it was published through my church newsletter if any of you want to read it.  It's about some things that the Lord has taught me through all of this.  You can find it right here.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  I'll be away from the computer for the next couple of days!  If you're a "deal" shopper I encourage you to take some time away from the computer as well.  There are plenty of days in the year to get a good deal on things.

Enjoy spending time with your family as we give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and provision!

I'm also thankful to those of you that read this blog and those of you that have hosted or attended one of our coupon classes.  It's been so much fun meeting all of you!

I'll be back with more deals in a few days!

~Heather

PS.  For those of you that will be shopping on Black Friday...get some rest, stay safe, drink plenty of water, bring a snack to munch on and good luck!  :)

Thankful for Forgiveness

Photo Credit



I had a hard time sleeping last night.  I tossed and turned for what felt like hours!  In reality it was about 2 hours and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't go back to sleep.  My back was aching so I blamed the lack of sleep on the pain.  I contemplated getting up and taking a pain pill, but I had an empty stomach and didn't want medicine on it causing further discomfort.  So...I tossed and turned and tossed and turned some more.

Usually when I wake up in the middle of the night the Lord starts bringing prayer requests to my mind and I start praying for specific people that I know are needing His touch.  I did that last night, but after I was done praying I still didn't feel like I was at rest.  I hate to admit it, but I'm so stubborn sometimes.  I'm sure that's no surprise to some of you reading this! ;)  It's one of those sins that God keeps chiseling away at in me bit by bit. 

Eventually, I heard the sound of the chisel again!  He started revealing to me some things (sin) that needed to be dealt with.  I must admit that when this happens I don't always like it.  I mean, who likes to admit their guilt?  But, after the trespasses were revealed, confessed and forgiven I find myself thankful this morning. 

• Thankful that I have a God who, by His grace, has redeemed me from my sin.  

• Thankful that I have a God who loves me enough to say, "Hey, Heather...there's some sin over here in your life.  Let me show it to you so you don't have to carry it anymore.  Give it to me.  I'll take it from here on."

• Thankful for a God that loves me just as I am, but loves me enough to keep growing me and pushing me to be more like Him.  

My sweet 5 year old, Emalee, woke up this morning and came to my bed.  The first words out of her mouth were, "What are you thankful for, Mama?"  I said, "You, Emalee, I'm thankful for you."  Not long after those words left my mouth the Holy Spirit whispered to me...."That's exactly how I feel about you, Heather."   

What a way to start this week of Thanksgiving!

Swimming Upstream in a Downstream World

We have a family motto at our house:  "We're swimming upstream in a downstream world."  Brian and I came to a point in our marriage in the Fall of 2004 where we decided to be deliberate about changing some things.  As I was thinking about our motto this week I started thinking about some personal changes I've made in my life.

One year ago I was given the book, Voices of The True Woman Movement to review.  I read it cover to cover and then wound up going to the True Woman 2010 Conference in Ft. Worth, TX. Chapter 2 is all about the True Woman saying "yes" to God....


"She lives intentionally, not just drifting from one meaningless activity to the next, letting the circumstances of life pull her along.  She's willing to be like a salmon, swimming upstream, living a counter-cultural life in an unholy world for the glory of God....."  


Just those two sentences alone are full of some major food for thought!

I'm an observant person by nature.  I believe that the Lord gave me the gift of discernment and with that gift comes a lot of observing.  One thing that I've observed not only in the cyber world of Blog Land, but also in a lot of classes that I teach is the "meaningless activity" that was touched on above.

I was challenged to evaluate my own "meaningless activity" several weeks ago.  I want to extend that challenge to you.  Are you being intentional about the activities that you do or that you're involved in?  Are they profitable?  Do they please God?  Do they further His kingdom?  Do they display God's glory?

I found many "meaningless activities" that I needed to deal with.  Truth is...I'm still dealing with some of them: 

• Too much time on the Internet
• Not spending enough quality time with my children
• Not speaking enough encouraging words to my husband   
• Slacking on menu planning
• Drinking too much soda 
• and several more....

To take this thought to a spiritual level I wanted to focus on some of the "meaningless activities" that we deal with spiritually.  Chapter 2 goes on to list some of those as things we can say "no" to:

• "No" to bitterness
• "No" to self-centeredness
• "No" to whining
• "No" to complaining
• "No" to pining
• "No" to resisting, resenting, running from the will of God

But it means saying "yes" to a whole lot more:

• "Yes" to forgiving those who have sinned against us
• "Yes" to receiving God's forgiveness for ourselves
• "Yes" to repentance
• "Yes" to serving
• "Yes" to embracing God's choices for our lives
• "Yes" to trusting Him with our circumstances
• "Yes" to finding and fulfilling His purposes

 Swimming upstream in a downstream world is NOT easy.  It takes courage, sacrifice and deliberate determination to get to the goal!  It means saying "no" to some things and "yes" to other things.  It is in saying "yes" to God that we find true meaning and reach our goal in this life!

Philippians 3: 7-14 (NIV)

7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

~Heather

Series: Becoming Debt Free...Jan.-Oct. 2011 Light at the End of the Tunnel!

After going to Cincinnati for a diagnosis of HES in February, 2010 the bills started trickling in one by one.  Once again we found ourselves with loads of medical bills.  Thankfully, we had some money set back and we were able to pay those bills off! This was the first time in 5 years that we had paid all of our medical bills, on time and on our own!  It felt so good and inspired us to stick to our goal of getting out of debt in the time frame that we were wanting to get it paid off.

We wish that money would pop out of the air, but it doesn't.  The only choice we have is to plug away at the debt.  One by one the debt is getting paid.  It's been encouraging to make the final payments on the various bills that we've had.  Brian is still working extra side jobs when he can and I work really hard at home lowering the amount of money that we pay for things.  One way I do this is by continuing to use coupons combined with sales, stockpiling and menu planning.  I also limit my shopping trips.  I've found that if I'm not at the store, I don't spend money at the store!  We have learned to say no to certain things too.

Some things that we've limited or said "no" to:


Cable T.V.  We don't miss it either


Cell phones:  We have 1 cell phone on my brother-in-laws plan for $10 per month


Clothing budget:  Brian and I have cut back on our clothing budget big time until we get all debt paid.  It's very minimal.  We mainly get the NEEDS instead of the wants.  The kids certainly don't have as many clothes as their friends, but this was something we needed to cut back in order to have margin in our budget.  


Pets (We only have 2 African Dwarf Frogs as pets.  They cost $35 when we got them 18 month ago and I've maybe spent $6 dollars on their care since we got them!  Easy "pets" to have!  FYI...the kids are allergic to pet danger so this works good for us!)


Eating out.  This is a hard one, but one of the biggest money savers!  I try really hard to make a weekly menu plan.  When I take the time to sit down and plan out what to make (according to what I already have in my pantry) I save TONS of money.  We do eat out, but not nearly what we would if I didn't have a plan!


Frivolous Shopping Trips:  I try not to run across town for only one thing.  It costs too much $$$ in gas to do that.  Instead, I plan my trips and do all my errands on the same day...or I at least try to.  For example: when picking Emalee up from preschool I'm close to the bread store and Walgreen's.  Today I went all three places in one trip!  I was home the rest of the day.


Hair cuts:  I cut Brian, David and Emalee's hair.  Jacob's is too hard to cut because of his head shape.  Me?  I don't trust Brian to cut my hair!  :)  At the most, mine is cut 4 times per year.  Luckily, my hair grows very, very slow!

Those are just a few of the ways that we've been able to cut our expenses the past couple of years.  There are many more that I did not mention!  We did have a few monetary gifts that were given to us (because of the medical expenses) so we took that money and put it in the medical fund knowing that there would be more medical bills to come...and there are!  Currently, we're paying 5 more medical bills as with my disease they just never end!

So, where are we at on this "Becoming Debt Free" journey???  As of today we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!  *
Exact numbers will be given the next time I post in this series!

What are some ways that you cut expenses?  Please share on the Face book page or in the comments section below!  I'm sure that your comment can encourage someone else on the financial road to freedom!

My first piece of glazed furniture that I did all by myself!

Last week I took a couple days and managed to paint and glaze a little end table.  I'm fairly pleased with the outcome of the project.  My goal is to paint a large jelly cabinet that I have, but I didn't want to take on a large project quite yet, so I decided to do a trial on the little table.  I love the outcome and plan on doing the cabinet in the future...when I have a warm day outside to work on it!  Oh, and this product confirmed my love for spray paint!  :)

This is the finished product!  Couldn't find glaze at Walmart, but found various types at Lowe's.  

Started with a table we got as newlyweds 17 1/2 years ago.   I almost forgot to take a "before" photo so I snapped this one in the middle of priming it.

Primed with spray Kilz

Completely painted.  Now ready to be antiqued. (Finished piece is the top photo on the blog)

Used Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze

True Moment Tuesdays: Give Thanks

1 Thessalonian 5:16-18
 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.


As the season of Thanksgiving is upon us I've decided to blog about one thing per day up to Thanksgiving Day that I'm thankful for.  I'll add to this list daily.


Feel free to join me by leaving a comment here on the blog or on the facebook page.




November:


1.  I'm thankful for a new friendship that God has given me!


2.  I'm thankful for God's provision of chicken today!


3.  I'm thankful that I finally caught up on some much-needed sleep last night!


4.  I'm thankful for my husband:  Just last night I shared with him how much I appreciate him for always providing without complaint. He's the hardest working man I know and has great respect from his peers for his integrity in his work. He's humble, honest, meek and loves me beyond measure. I'm sick with a chronic autoimmune disorder that takes a great toll on me mentally and physically at times. He is my rock (next to Jesus!) and my shoulder to cry on, my friend to laugh with and the one person I look forward to sharing the rest of my life with. I love that he loves the Lord, teaches our children Biblical truths and demonstrates the love of Christ through his words and actions. I'm so thankful that the Lord put us together!


5.  I'm thankful for the much needed nap that I got to take today.  I know it sounds a little silly to put that down as a "thankful" thing to have, but it's really true!


6.  I'm thankful for the salvation of a loved one this past week.  Oh, how He loves us!

True Moment Tuesday's...Elephant Mishap

One of the funniest things that's happened at our house in a very long time....

We had company over a couple nights ago. They were at our house a long time while Brian worked on their car. The men were in the garage, while the women visited in the living room. My friend, Edie, was sitting in a chair for quite awhile as we visited and then got up to run a quick errand for the guys. While Edie was gone I decided to clean up the dishes and put away the toys in the living room that Emalee had out. I had everything clean and then noticed that something was sitting in a chair next to where Edie had been sitting. Take a look at the photo and you'll see what I saw! I had wondered where it was that morning as I was getting dressed! Not sure what Emalee was thinking, but it sure was funny! I thought Edie was just being nice by not saying anything about it, but after I showed it to her she started laughing because she hadn't noticed it either! Apparently, Emalee did this early on in the day and I never noticed! :)

True Moment Tuesday's (TMT's) are a new feature here on Spot My Eye Savings.  Go here to see what TMT's are all about!

Homemade Taco and Chili Seasoning

I'm cooking Chili for dinner tonight!  Have you ever gotten ready to make chili or tacos and discovered that you're out of seasoning packets.  Are you a prisoner to the packets?  :)  I used to be like that until I discovered these easy recipes.  If you don't have the spices on hand you will be out of pocket some money, but in the end it will pay for itself!


Homemade Chili Seasoning

yield | about 2/3 cup

Ingredients
4 tablespoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons sea salt
4 teaspoons black pepper

Directions
In a medium bowl, combine chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, oregano, paprika, ground cumin, sea salt, and black pepper. Store in an air tight container at room temperature.

Notes:
-Stored in an airtight container, this spice blend will keep for up to a year.
-When making chili or tacos using one pound of ground beef, start with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the seasoning blend and adjust according to your tastes.

Homemade Taco Seasoning:

1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. each ground cumin, garlic powder, paprika, powdered oregano and sugar
1/2 tsp. salt


Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Makes 3 tablespoons of seasoning mix, which is equal in strength to a 1/4 ounce package of commercial seasoning mix.

True Woman Makeover

The last few weeks around here have been crazy.  I've been very busy keeping up with all the extra-curricular activities that the kids are involved in.  It seems that I spend a good portion of my day in the car taking or picking someone up from somewhere.  There are so many things on my "to do" list that I desperately want to get done, but I'm having to remind myself that I'm not Super Woman and that those things will have to wait. 


Being a woman is hard, but it's such a rewarding job.  It's easy to forget to take care of ourselves while we're taking care of so many other people.  One year ago I went on a road trip with my friend, Kristin, to the True Woman 2010 Conference.  We had so much fun, but the personal revivals that we both experienced topped the "fun" part of the trip by a long shot.  
In an effort for me to remember what I learned I signed up today for the 30 Day True Woman Makeover.  It looks like this will be a 30 Day study of  Proverbs 31, 1 Timothy 2:9-10, and Titus 2:1-5.  


Are  you interested in joining me?  Go over here and sign up today and we'll be reading the same things each day!  

Lesson's from Emalee's Plant

My 4 year old daughter, Emalee, brought a Styrofoam cup home from church a few weeks ago.  It was filled with dirt and she had planted a seed of some sort in it.  We placed the cup in the window sill above the kitchen sink.  We've watered it and have watched it for several days.  It finally sprouted!  She's so excited to see that her plant is growing.  It's been growing rapidly for days.  It's a single shoot and about 6 inches tall.  Honestly, I'm unsure of what kind of plant it is!

While I was washing dishes today I was looking at Emalee's little plant.  It was bending toward the window in an effort to catch some sunlight.  I decided to experiment with the plant and found that no matter what way I would turn the cup the plant would eventually find the sun again and eventually bend in its direction.  I always found this to be amazing when I was a kid!

The Lord began to speak to me.  He showed me that I am very much like that plant.  The following is what He showed me:

1.  I must be planted.

I have a plaque in my kitchen with the following Scripture:


Joshua 24:15
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Many years ago during my walk with the Lord I came to a cross roads of sorts.  On one particular day He made it clear to me that I must choose Him or choose the world.  Just as Emalee's plant has now taken root, I made a decision to take root.  I planted my feet firmly and decided to trust in the Lord with all my heart and follow His ways.  

Over the years life has thrown its arrows at me.  I've had some leaves and branches knocked off, but my feet have never wavered as the roots of faith in my Lord have grown deeper and deeper.  

2.  I must be watered.

Just as we've been watering Emalee's plant to make it grow, my soul must be watered.  It's a daily watering of God's Holy Word to keep me growing in the knowledge of His Truth.  There have been times in my Christian walk where I have not been in God's Word on a consistent basis.  I've noticed that during these times I'm weaker and not as strong as I could be.  My prayer is that of the Psalmist....

 Psalm 42:1 

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

Interestingly enough, the above Scripture verse was my very first vocal solo that I nervously sang in front of my church congregation at the age of sixteen.  I had no idea then how meaningful those words would be as I grew into adulthood. 

3.  I must be in the Light

John 8:12

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”


When I am in the darkness I cannot grow.  A plant needs a healthy dose of sunlight, just as my soul needs the light of the Son...Jesus...in order for me to grow.  I'm thankful that even in the days that I turned from the Lord and strayed toward the darkness (like me turning Emalee's cup around) He patiently waited for me to lean toward Him again.  It is in the Light of Jesus that I can truly have Life!



I hope that this has encouraged you today.

~Heather

Deep Cleaning Discoveries

Today I'm multi-tasking.  Well, if I think about it I multi-task almost every day!  I have two of my crock pots going.  One with chicken and the other with beef that I'll be making a roast dinner with.  I also have laundry going.  While all of that was cooking/washing, I decided that I would find something to clean.  I didn't have to look too hard! :)
I cleaned the Master Bath.  I didn't just clean it...I (what my mom says) DEEP CLEANED it!  I have linoleum (which I despise) in my Master Bathroom.  It's hard to get really clean so, yes, I got down on all fours with, believe or not, a toothbrush at one point and got all the nooks and crannies cleaned out.  I finally finished the entire bathroom, ceiling to floor!
Then I noticed that I missed something...the vanity!  Not the outside, but the inside.  It had been months (maybe even a few years) since I've cleaned out the vanity really well.  It was interesting to say the least!  I found some empty bottles, old hair accessories that I threw away, etc.  The funniest thing that I came across was my husband's old dental retainer from when he was a teenager!  LOL!  He was still wearing his retainer when we were newly weds...17 1/2 years ago!  It was still soaking in the old plastic butter container that it was in way back then!  Needless to say, I threw it away! I bet he won't even miss it!  ;)

While I was DEEP cleaning I started thinking about the spiritual side of what I was discovering as I cleaned.  How often times I clean the outside of my heart, but the inside is still really messy.  It appears squeaky clean to others, but the Lord sees it differently.  Sometimes I've found that I will hold onto a grudge or some other type of sin way too long before I get on my hands and knees and clean it all out!  Sometimes I forget that the sin is even there because I keep pushing it to the back of the vanity!

I hope I encourage you today to take a look deep within the recesses or your heart and perhaps get on your hands and knees and do some deep cleaning...

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

Another wreath!

This is the wreath that I made today!  I took 2 photos of it so that you could see it on different colored walls.  However, I'm hanging this one in my living room on a mirror.    I'm really enjoying this new found hobby as I've found that it's really easy and not very time consuming.  I wound the yarn in about 90 minutes while watching a movie a couple nights ago.  Today I made the flowers. They took about 30 minutes since I already had an idea in my head of what I wanted to make.  I'm not sure if this one is done yet.  I'm thinking about doing something with lettering for "Autumn" somewhere on it.  We'll see...

Series: Becoming Debt Free...2010

If you've missed any of the other entries in this series you can find them all right HERE.

All the the medical tests that I had in Cincinnati showed that I had Hypereosinophilic Syndrome (HES).  There are 3 different known kinds of HES:  Myeloproliferative (M-HES), Lymphocytic (L-HES) and Idiopathic  (I-HES).... we still needed to determine what type I had.  I had a blood test here at home.  My blood was sent to a National Lab where my chromosomes were looked at closely... and within a few days the results showed that I did NOT have M-HES.  They did not think that I had L-HES either, so that left me with my official diagnoses being Idiopathic Hypereosinophilic Syndrome.

Now that we knew what type of HES I had I was put on a chemotherapy that would help to decrease the amount of eosinophils that my bone marrow makes.  I started chemotherapy (not intravenous, but oral) 2 days before Easter of 2010.  Thankfully, the chemo didn't affect me too much.  If anything, it made me somewhat nauseous, my appetite decreased and I was getting tired.  All of this happened gradually.  By September of that same year I had lost about 10 pounds and was starting to get very tired...requiring daily naps while Emalee napped. My doctor decided to decrease my chemotherapy a little bit and by mid-October I had some of my energy back.

It was also in October of 2010 that I was diagnosed with a leaky heart valve.  I didn't take that news very well, but have learned to lean on Jesus...even when the enemy would rather me not!  Thankfully, it was about a week after this diagnosis that my friend Kristin and I went on a road trip to Fort Worth, TX. to take part in the True Woman Movement.  I was refreshed beyond belief at this conference!  God did a wonderful work on my heart (my spiritual heart) during this time.

Money was still tight in 2010, but we were gradually starting to chip away at our bills one medical bill at a time.  It was the first year in a long time that we were actually able to pay ALL of our medical bills ON TIME without calling the hospitals for an extension.....Praise the Lord!!!

By the end of 2010 my husband and I sat down and did some financial figuring together for the upcoming year.  We weren't positive, but our figures were showing a great possibility that we just MIGHT be able to pay off our debt (except the mortgage) by the end of 2011.  Only time would tell!

Yarn Wreath

(Click photos to enlarge)

Are you using Pinterest yet?  I finally figured out what all the hype was about and must say that I LOVE Pinterest!
Yesterday I sat down and made the cutest wreath I've ever made!  Okay...truth is, it's only the second wreath I've ever made..the first one was made from coffee filters.  It took me about 2 1/2 hours to make this yarn wreath (pictured above), but I'm thinking that I'll probably be able to make my next one in less time since I just learned how to do this.   Wreaths are one of my favorite new crafts that I've challenged myself to make this year.
Sorry the picture isn't that great.  I'm seriously pressed for time today and don't have much time to blog.  I'll take a better picture and will update this post later!  Oh, and I'm lovin' that these photos show all the smudges on my mirror!  ;)

If you want to follow me on Pinterest I have a slew of different wreaths pictured from around cyber land that you can check out!

Series: Becoming Debt Free...Late 2009-early 2010

Around October of 2009 my symptoms were starting to flare again.  My skin was broke out in a terrible rash and whenever something somewhat abrasive (like drying off with a towel) touched me I would flare up in hives.  I also started wheezing daily and my stomach was hurting again.

Cincinnati Skyline from our hotel room.

An upper G.I. of my stomach showed elevated eosinophils again.  We assumed that the eosinophils were causing the wheezing and hives as well.  The hives wound up being something called Dermagraphism.  After many months of research I found a hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio that specializes in my disease.  In December of 2009 I sent in paperwork and was accepted into the program.

In January, of 2010 Brian and I boarded a jet for Ohio!  It was an adventure, but one that we were glad to take on.  By the end of this adventure I finally had a name for my disease!  I can't even explain the relief I got by just putting a proper name to the thing that had been messing with me for so many years.  We were in Ohio for a few days.  It was an expensive visit, but with help from my in-laws, friends and family we didn't have to come up with extreme amounts out of pocket.  It did, however, put a dent in our budget.

Here's some journal entries from that visit:


Monday, February 8, 2010

My trip to Cincinnati

Well, where to begin??? WARNING...THIS IS TERRIBLY LONG! Although most of our trip revolved around doctor appointments I really enjoyed spending time ALONE with my hubby. It's been way too long since we've had several days alone together. The last time was when we went to get Emalee and before that it had been several years. I sooo wish that we could do this at least once a year, but it's just hard for us to find a sitter for that long. Anyway, I'm looking forward to those days when the kids are grown and we get to do this every day. Of course, when that happens we'll be missing them and want them back!


We arrived Monday evening and didn't really do anything. We walked up the street to a restaurant named Big Boy's (I've never heard of it but it reminds me of a Shoney's) and we had dinner there. We then went to a little gas station and grabbed some bottles of water, a few snacks and called it a day.


Tuesday was my first doctor appt. This was with theGastroenterologist (Dr. "X"). He's supposedly one of the best Gastro's in the world. We were told by several nurses and hospital staff that people from all over the world come to Cincinnati for eosinophilic issues. He wasn't overly friendly, but I felt that he listened well. He basically asked me all my history and symptoms. He then examined me...the usual eye, ear, nose, mouth check. Then he listened to my breathing and my heart beat. That's when he said that he could hear a heart murmur. I told him that I've never been told that I've had one before, so he listened again to make sure. Yep, I have one. What does this mean? I don't know for sure, but I will have an Echocardiogram and an EKG sometime soon here in Springfield to check it out.
Anyway, he went over some of the scopes that I've had here at home and decided that he wanted to go ahead and do a colonoscopy too so then I got scheduled for that and we were done for the day.
We were back to the hotel by 10 a.m. so we decided that we'd better make a day of it and have some fun! We got a taxi and went to the "Back to Genesis Creation Museum"...oh my was it awesome! I would love to go back. It took us 5 hours to go through it and we still weren't done, but we were tired and I had to get back and rest up for Wednesday. The museum starts out at the beginning of Genesis when God created the world and walks you through the main points of Creation, Adam and Eve, Sin, the flood, tower of babel, Christ and his birth, death, resurrection, salvation, etc. It not only gives the Biblical answer behind questions such as evolution, but it also gives the world view. Very cool for Believers, but also very inviting for unbelievers as well. There were life like figures of several Biblical people and then other people in history, like Martin Luther, that were great historical figures of the early church. There was a garden of eden, a serpent, tree of life,noah's ark....these were all big display rooms that you walk through as the story is being told or read. There were dinorsaurs too! If you guys ever get to Cincinnati (it's actually across the border in Kentucky) I would HIGHLY recommend that you go visit. Here's the website www.creationmuseum.org/

Plaque at the Creation Museum

The Tree of Life

Noah's Ark

We did go to the revolving restaurant in our hotel this night too. It was very cool, very romantic and a bit pricey (that's coming from a coupon lady! LOL!), but worth it just to say we went! I think our dinner was about $65 for both of us which included an appetizer, salad and entree. Here's the website for it.http://www.radisson.com/covingtonky Our room was up on the 13th floor facing the Cincinnati skyline. It was a great view!


Wednesday was an extremely long and tiring day. We arrived at the hospital at 9 a.m. We had a seminar with another family that was all about eosinophilic disorders. I knew almost everything already that was taught, but Brian really didn't know as much so it was really good for him to get educated about it. After the class we were given a tour of the eosinophilic center research lab. There's a whole wing that's strictly devoted to eosinophilic research. One of the leading pathologists in the world heads the department along with 4 other world renowned doctors (2 of them are the Dr's I saw). It looks like a huge science lab. There's tons of freezers, refrigerators, mice and lots and lots of scientist/doctors that are working on different eosinophil assignments. So little is understood, but just in the last 3 years they've made HUGE strides in understanding eosinophilic disorders. In fact, I donated my blood and some extra biopsies to their research center. I figure that whatever I can do to help would be beneficial in the future..if not to me, then to someone else!
After the seminar I had my allergy/immunology visit....First, we met the allergist (Dr. "X"). When he walked in the door I was shocked by how young he was. He's probably 30 years old at the most and already one of the top doctors in his field. I could tell by our conversation that he really knew his eosinophil stuff! He was very friendly, easy to talk to, we could actually joke with him and laughed about things...it was great! We visited for about 60-80 minutes. He took tons of time with us. He asked my whole medical history again, typed it all out himself on his computer too. None of the doctors would say a definite on what they thought was going on because they can't. They all work together as a team, review my information, all my blood work and biopsies and then they have a meeting to discuss what they believe is happening. Just the fact that they all work as a team is so encouraging. My doctors here don't really do that. I have information coming from one doctor that the other doctors aren't even aware of. At this hospital NOTHING is left out. They all get the exact same information. In the rare case that "science" doesn't back anything up they all make an educated guess together. Dr. "X" actually said (his exact words)...."You've been jerked around by other doctors way too long. We'll do our best to get to the bottom of this." Now that, my friends, was encouraging : )
I had a complete skin allergy test that showed NO food allergies. I only reacted to ragweed. This is good because we now know that food is not the culprit. The bad thing is that we don't know what the culprit is.
I also had a lung function test and passed with with flying colors. I'm not really sure how my wheezing plays into all of this? The Dr. wasn't sure either other than my "asthma" must be well controlled now. All I know is that I'm still short of breath, not wheezing though. After that I gave lots and lots of blood. I'm pretty sure that they took 9 vilesand then one more because she forgot one and I had to be re-stuck! Ouch! That was the one for the research lab and I really wanted to do that so I took the extra poke anyway : /
By the time we got back to the hotel it was 6 p.m. and I still had to prep for my colonoscopy. :(


We were at the hospital early on Thursday. I had to be there at 6:30 a.m. I was the first patient to be seen. I don't remember much other than the nurses were exceptionally nice. I was actually looking forward to getting some sleep! I had my upper endoscopy and colonoscopy back to back. I had to stop eating by late Tuesday night. All I could have was clear fluids. Because Wednesday was such a long day w/o many breaks I didn't get as hydrated as I should have, plus I had quite a bit of blood taken too. After I woke up I could tell that I wasn't feeling right. I thought it was just the anesthesia, but I now know that I was dehydrated. Right when we were about to leave I about fainted. They had to put me back in a bed and gave me another bag of fluids. Our driver was already there. I felt so bad because he had to turn around and leave only to come back later. Fortunately, our hotel has a partnership with the hospital for free shuttle transportation or we would have been out a big taxi fee! Still, I felt bad that he had wasted his time. Once we got back to the hotel I just slept. I think I slept until 6p.m.?? Anyway, when I woke up enough Brian walked to Subway down the street and got some dinner for himself. He got me some too, but I just didn't feel like eating. I drank A LOT though and still found myself overly thirsty the next day.
Friday was just travel. We slept in and left around 10:30 for the airport. Our flight was a bit delayed due to a pressure valve issue. Then in Memphis our flight was delayed again for just a bit. We got all the way to our gate in Memphis and then they changed the gate! I hate it when that happens! Our new gate was on the complete opposite side of the airport.  I was really tired by the time we trekked to the other side of the airport!


We were glad to see the kids. Emalee wasn't so sure about us coming home. She doesn't adjust well to change so it took her a bit to adjust, but after that she was fine.
I won't know anything for 2-3 weeks. I'll let you all know as soon as they call me. For those of you that prayed for me I really appreciate it.

Journal entry from the following day:

The phone rang this morning and to my surprise it was Dr. "X" from Cincinnati Hospital. He had the lab results from all my blood work and gave me the results. They tested me for EVERYTHING that one could ever been tested for....all cancers, HIV, leukaemia's, autoimmune disorders, allergies, parasites...everything turned out negative. That was good news. With all of those tests and looking at my past medical history it was concluded that I have Hypereosinophilic Syndrome (HES). This is what I thought I had. I'm not a bit surprised.  It comes with its own problems, but at least we now have a name for what I have.