7th night

Kerissa • September 25, 2012

Okay, hopefully tonight is my last night in the hospital.  7 nights and 8 days spent here is enough for me for now… I feel like it’s been too long since I slept in my own sweet bed!  The reason I didn’t go home today is because the genetics team hasn’t seen me yet.  Been waiting all weekend.  But I think I’ll be seeing them for sure tomorrow..  Also, my headaches still get bad if I don’t receive IV magnesium and toradol, so we’ll be discussing pain management tomorrow for when I get discharged.  Oh yes, my spinal tap results came back completely normal! Thank you, God. What a relief that I don’t have Multiple Sclerosis or Myasthenia Gravis!  But at the same time, this is kinda hard because this also means there still isn’t an answer for all my symptoms. And I’ve been waiting so long.  We’ll see if the genetics doctors have any answers, and I’ll also be discussing with my pain dr. whether I should end up getting my implant removed after all to have the MRI.  He’s reluctant to do it, mainly cuz the stimulator is so helpful.  Please pray that the Lord will give me wisdom to know what to do.  It’s been really hard deciding as you can imagine because it would be really terrible if I went through the whole explant surgery and MRI only to find out that the results are normal…

Goodnight, everyone!  Hopefully my next post will be typed at home…

October prayer request

By Kerissa Lee • October 19, 2025
Dear friends, At the beginning of October, I started taking a new medication for the autoimmune disease. I thought I was tolerating it just fine, but after several days passed, I began experiencing nausea, loss of appetite, weakness all over, and increased pain. 🙁 It’s like I’m experiencing another “mito crash.” I found out that this specific lupus medication affects mitochondria. That is, it causes an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This, in turn, causes cell damage and oxidative stress. I sure wish the rheumatologists would have known about this before prescribing. But I have to remember that Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome is rare, and they’re not “mito experts.” Anyways, the last time I felt like this was back in May.. I’m so grateful to God that I haven’t needed to be hospitalized from this, but at the same time, I’m also sad that this happened at all, especially because I had such a nice stretch of stable health. I’d really appreciate your prayers, that this muscle weakness can resolve soon, and that this increased pain all over will get back to my baseline. Every time I have a “mito crash,” it feels like I’m fighting the flu which always sucks. The pain has been hard to bear. And whenever I’m in the thick of it, it’s difficult to remember that this too will eventually pass. 😢 Pray that I will endure and follow Jesus’ example like this passage from Hebrews 12:1-2– “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross...” Thank you all so much for praying for me. ❤️

Thank you! (+ a prayer request)

By Kerissa Lee • October 4, 2025
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." James 1:2-3

Praises & Prayer Requests

By Kerissa Lee • September 3, 2025
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23