Alternative treatments

If you have ever had the hiccups you have found that everybody has a sure fire way to stop them. I have never found anything but time to be effective. So usually I just decide to ignore them and eventually I realize that I can't remember when was the last time I hiccuped. The benefit to this is even while I am suffering from the hiccups I don't allow it to take over my life to the extent that I am stuck and not moving forward. This approach seems to work well for me when dealing with what are admittedly life alterating circumstances. Deal with what needs to be dealt with, ignore what can't and move on. I once tried to just lie there and check out but I got bored after about 5 mins. I'm surprised it lasted that long, I must have been trying really hard to check out. That being said I do know and understand  how one can be paralyzed by life and the crap we can be faced with, there have been times when I was overwhelmed and close to that edge.

So if you haven't figured it out by now my husband Bob has a terminal illness and we are dealing with what we can; As in managing his symptoms and learning how to cope with them, and not dwelling on what we can't change; As in his impending death. However there are always people who know an alternative treatment that the Doctors won't tell you about that saved Uncle So & So's life; There are also people who will recommend that you examine your spiritual life and get on board with  faith, repentance, etc, etc....

First of all let me say this; Yes there are instances where repenting and faith are ingredients to healing. I do believe that even today there are miraculous healing and that God also works miracles with in the medical system, cutting edge treatments and so on. I also believe that sometimes God says "No" that he has a purpose in what he has allowed to happen in your life, regardless of whether you know what that is or not. Sometimes we never know or understand, but I do maintain that we can be assured that we are working in sync with his plan and purposes and trust Him in our circumstances.

I'm addressing this issue because I have recently been approached by some who want me to try one thing or another and Bob has been accused of not having the right amount of faith or of having some sin in his life.

Bob and I have tremendous faith. It takes alot of faith to endure hardship, more so than to experience healing. I hold as an example my own dear Jesus Christ. In  the Garden;  He asked the Father if this cup could be taken from him. The answer was - No. Now tell me He didn't have enough faith or that he had some sin in his life that he needed to repent of! The purposes of God in this instance was to wipe away our sins and the only way was for Christ to be the sacrifice for our sins. When I realized that He knew what it was like to be told no, that one had to continue in this suffering; I connected with my Savior more at that moment then in any other in my life. So without going into a lot of detail about how Bob and I got to the point where we knew that we were not lacking in faith, We can say with certainty that we know there have been times when we were told "NO". That God allowed things to occur in our lives that we were not "rescued " from and that we will always be able to stand up and be a testimony and witness to God's goodness. So anyone who would claim that our spiritual life is lacking in some way that keeps us in this trial, they are lacking in understanding of how many different ways God works in peoples lives, Just read Hebrews 11 known as the "Hall of Faith" and specifically verses 35-39.

Now as for the various treatments that are recommended to us. We are always willing to, funding available, to entertain the possibility of receiving a treatment that may help with our illness. Before Bob was diagnosed with MSA and we thought he had Parkinson's we were willing to try DBS surgery. There was a valid technical reasoning and good science as to why it worked. there were also viable examples of successes with many people. Even some Stem cell treatments that were showing good results (and again good science). We did not entertain anything that had to do with embryonic stem cells for two reason, one was a moral aversion to killing babies, as far as we are concerned embryos are babies, and there other reason; It would appear that there are better more successful types of stem cells including harvesting them from your own body that actually do the job better.

 When I was trying to have a baby we did  try some unique treatments that did not work for us. Sometimes these things work and sometimes even fairly solid treatments don't. I had a friend who tried Invitro Fertilization to no success and unfortunately I do believe that because of the impact of this treatment on other parts of her body a dormant cancer was accelerated  filling her with it and she lost her life. The body is always in a delicate balance and we never know how what we do to it will affect it, so Bob and I are always cautious. We have our own stories of how this balance can be affected. Bob was taking a new medication and the next thing we know he is passing out and having what they call Hypo tension. He had blood pressures of 45/34, essentially he was having no blood flow. Fortunately we discontinued this med and he rarely has this happen. It does still occur occasionally because it is part of the MSA but not 3 & 4 times a day anymore.

Earlier I mention Good Science. What I mean by this is there can be laid out a good argument for a treatment. For instance in Parkinson's disease we know that the patient has lost the cells that make up Dopamine. When a patient has enough Dopamine they can function really well in spite of their disease. The problem is our ability to make sure enough dopamine gets to the Brain as it tends to leak into the blood system as it travels from the mouth to the brain. After awhile they have to increase the levels of meds (The body is always in a constant state of change) until you can't take enough meds to help get the Dopamine to it's destination. That's when DBS takes over. It's a more drastic and yet more powerful way to get Dopamine directly to the brain, even so the need for meds will begin again and slowly increase, and so it goes. The one thing I want you to get from this is We know what is lacking and we know of a way to get it for a period of time until the body says enough is enough. Good Science. however  there are treatments that have been proposed that claims success but have no reasonable explaination of why it would help. Say laying in a Hyperbolic chamber. I have yet to be told why this would help, what is it doing to him that would help with the lack of dopamine cells. There have not been reliable sources or claims of improvement. I would call this a fad and the claims of a cure to be unreliable. Therefore We would not entertain the notion of participating. Not Good Science.

So where does all of this put Bob and I? Here's the deal they know what Bob has by observing and listing his symptoms. They do not know what makes MSA happen., therefore there is not currently a cure. Parkinson's is closer to a cure because they know what is wrong with the patient's brain and they are working towards fixing that.  So we have a terminal disease and until we are told what is broke nothing regardless of it's claim is going to be considered a "Fix". Especially since we are concerned about the Balance in the Body. The cure could be worse than the illness in our case. We know that Bob's life will be much shorter and I have no wish to make it any shorter than it already is. What we are doing is treating each symptom as it progresses with treatments that are known to be able to deal with each symptom. That means giving the automatic systems that begin to fail help in doing their jobs, I won't go into gross details.

As for our faith and our walk with God. We are good. We know that God is providing for us, he has blessed us with so many gifts that speak to our needs. A home, a job, the ability to be with each other, so many many blessings. We have drawn near to God and asked him to enlighten us about our situation and he has answered us. One day he gave Bob the scripture in John 9:1-3

"Now, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."'."

Bob asked God Answered, that's enough for us. We are also aware that the story of our lives has been shared with people we don't know or have contact with as an encouragement, that's enough for us. Because God asks it of us we will testify to His goodness in our lives and our love for Him.

On an extremely personal note, ever since Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, I have felt the Holy Spirit well up in me and walk with me on this path that I must tread. He has given me warnings and encouragements regarding what Bob and I are facing. As time goes on those whispers in my heart have proved to be right and true. I believe He has been preparing me to be the wife Bob needs me to be so that I can overcome the overwhelming responsibility of Bob's care and to make good decisions. To not waste my time trying to cure the Hiccups but the deal with the things I can and make the best of what I can't and to not be paralyzed and stuck in the trenches of wasted energy and hopeless endeavors.