New Developments…again

Kerissa • May 3, 2012
“When obstacles and trials seem

Like prison walls to be,

Streams in the Desert

As I wrote in a previous post , my life is truly a “two steps forward, one step back” kind-of-thing.  One and a half weeks ago, I was actually doing so well!  I didn’t have burning pain in my left arm, and pretty much the only pain I had was localized in my finger from the initial trauma back in November.  But that was not to last.  On Friday, I noticed my left upper back burning.  It wasn’t too painful, but the next day, things started feeling worse.  By Monday, the burning pain spread to my right upper back, so I emailed my pain management dr., and by God’s grace, he had an opening for me to see him this morning.  It’s been a long day.  The CRPS has, in fact, spread to my back, and we’re not yet sure why.  Today, my dr. told me CRPS doesn’t usually spread to other areas this quickly .  This does happen but not very often.  He said that, in other people, CRPS usually stays in one spot, like in the foot.  But with me, CRPS is more of a whole body disease of the nervous system.

Sooo, now I am to get some lab work done, and if anything shows up positive, I will go back to the OHSU rheumatologist to once again rule out any other diseases/conditions.  I will be starting up biofeedback with one of the doctors at the pain center.  My pain dr. also wants me to switch the nortriptyline to a different pain med because the nortriptyline may partly be why I have tachycardia..  Waiting to hear back from him right now because the cost of the med I was going to try is SO expensive!  The pharmacy told us it’s expensive because it’s a brand name and is classed as a tier 2 drug. :

Thank you so much for your prayers!  Prayer is powerful.  I will keep updating when there are new developments!

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. ❤️
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
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