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!