New and current problems

Kerissa • May 9, 2014

Thank you all for visiting my blog!  That really encourages me!  I can tell from the increasing page views that some of you have been waiting for another post.

I’m sorry my blog posts have lately been few and far between….I’ve been busy trying to manage all these ongoing symptoms which are getting significantly worse.  To the stranger’s eye, I look completely normal.  And yet, this is just a small part of what’s going on:

My left eye is getting more and more paralyzed.  It hasn’t been fun losing so much range of motion, and it’s weird that I can’t look to the left unless I move my whole head.  But I’m so thankful that my right eye is unaffected at the moment and can move very easily!

I’m now dealing with ongoing hip pain, and physical therapy thinks this is a hip impingement.  The problems never end.. :/  This is probably because of EDS and all the muscle weakness that I’m experiencing as well.

The nerve pain in my feet has been increasing in severity—my pain medicine dr. is concerned that I may have a nerve injury component worsened by not getting enough nutrition.

Next Friday is the day my GI dr. will be placing an NJ feeding tube through my nose, past my stomach, and all the way into the middle of the small intestine.  I’m glad this is just around the corner because I’m still steadily losing more weight.  I’m nearing the weight that I was at when just 10 years old….that’s how bad this is becoming!

I have no clue what my prognosis will be in 1, 5, or 10 years.  Mitochondrial disease is so unpredictable.  But this I know: my future is fully in God’s hands, and I trust Him completely!

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