Yesterday’s “Appointment”

Kerissa • October 4, 2012

Yesterday went so well!  This is actually kinda funny…I did see my pain dr. yesterday, but it wasn’t an “official” appointment like I thought it was going to be.  I learned that if I ever need to see a St. Jude rep, the pain center has to book a room under my doctor’s schedule which is why it showed on MyChart that I was gonna have an “appointment” with him.  Anyway, I did see my pain dr. for a few minutes because I wanted him to check the area next to my SCS anchors where I had the spinal tap.  It’s been bothering me the past couple days, and I thought it was getting swollen, but my pain dr. thinks it looks fine.  He said the area probably got irritated after the tap because it was done so close to my anchors.  So I stuck a Lidoderm patch over the bump, and it seems to have helped!

PT was great!  My therapist did a very long assessment and spent about an hour and ten minutes with me!  After my appointment, he said he was gonna try and catch my pain dr. during the lunch hour and speak with him about all that he found.  My leg is soo weak and has atrophied.  I also have decreased sensation on the whole left side of my body.  He said I should hear from him by Friday about what’s next.

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