Just a Reminder

God Keeps His Promises

My Judson Little Sis'

Please, please pray for my Judson Little Sister's step-Dad. He started declining rapidly about 3 weeks ago and they finally have a diagnosis...he has the human form of Mad Cow Disease. Before this he was completely normal by all standards and this devastating decline in his health has all occurred in just three weeks. The following is her description of what has happened. For those of you with church families, please pass this along also to get as much prayer support as possible. They are from Prattville. Thank you.

The diagnosis for my stepdad...
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Yesterday at 10:42pm
Many of you have asked about my status and the devastating diagnosis I mentioned. Some of you may know that my stepdad has been sick for about 3 or 4 weeks. He was completely normal and healthy up until that point, driving, holding a job... Just a normal 59 year old adult. A few weeks ago he started mentioning he was becoming more forgetful. We kind of didn't put a lot of stock into that at first, but then we started noticing that indeed he was becoming forgetful. He forgot things that normally he wouldn't have.

By week 2, his memory loss continued to get worse by the day, so mom took him to his general medical doctor. They ran every lab test they knew to run, and obtained an MRI all which came back essentially normal. At this point Mom couldn't let him drive anymore, because there were so many times he didn't recognize where he was. We soon realized that he was definitely getting worse, so his doctor referred him to a neurologist in Montgomery to see what else could be going on. They had to wait several days before they could see the neurologist.

By week 3, Stevie saw the neurologist. He reviewed all the labs and MRI findings and said everything looked normal. The only thing that showed up abnormal was his EEG (electrical readings of brain waves) and he thought he had "dementia." That was sort of a wide range diagnosis without telling us anything. By this week, Stevie was having a lot of muscle jerking and loss of balance. He was walking with a "frankenstein" type gait, very rigid, and his behavior and confusion was worse and all so bizarre. He started really sleeping a lot too, but even while he slept he would jerk and have constant movement and muscle rigidity. The neurologist he saw said he didn't know what was going on, so they set up an appt. with a neurologist in Birmingham (UAB). That appointment was set for Nov. 11th.

This past weekend I saw my mom and stepdad, and was absolutely confounded at how much he had changed in a week. Stevie would try to stand up and would nearly fall. He stumbled, walking around with mom's help, and would have complete muscle tightness and shaking, nearly like a seizure. I told her Saturday night that this was too much. There was NO way on earth "nothing" could be showing up but him being THIS ill. I went home Saturday and really Googled rapid onset dementia with ataxia and muscle rigidity, etc, etc. I found out something that I didn't want to hear: Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD).

I called my mom early Sunday morning to tell her what I found on the internet, and how CJD seemed to more than fit the description of what Stevie had. She sounded broken a little... choked up... then told me she had found the description herself for CJD a few days back but was almost in denial that it could possibly be that.

For those of you who are like me, and have never really HEARD of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, it's not without reason. It is extremely, extremely rare -- only 1 out of a million people have this disease. On average, only about 200 people a year in the entire US are diagnosed with this. Basically, it is a complete medical mystery as to what causes the disease, and there is absolutely NOTHING that can be done to treat or cure it.

CJD is a terminal diagnosis. It's nothing you want to believe or hear your loved one has. Basically, most people have heard of 'Mad Cow' disease... and CJD is in all actuality the human form of Mad Cow. It is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks the brain and basically turns it into spongey material, therefore it is classified as a "spongiform" encephalopathy.

With the very fear that this could be what he had, my mom made the decision to finally get a diagnosis no matter what she had to do. She took Stevie on Sunday afternoon to Birmingham -- UAB -- to the ER there in a last ditch effort to get SOME type of diagnosis. We had to know what we were up against. After she told them all of the symptoms... the memory loss, the confusion, the loss of balance, unsteady gait, the muscle rigidity... and the fact that it HAD HAPPENED ALL IN 3 WEEKS TIME.... the medical team knew what to look for. God bless UAB for being current and well educated on uncommon diseases.

Apparantly, the MRI that Stevie received in Montgomery was ONLY looking for tumors (we initially thought he had a tumor since everything was so fast). The neurology team at UAB knew that you had to run a stroke series of MRI's to see the disease we all believed it to be. And there, at last, was the result: Stevie had the classic MRI of a person with Creutzfeldt- Jakob Disease. They did a lumbar puncture again too, to send off to test for a special protein that would be supportive to that diagnosis too, but it will be a few weeks before we hear the result of that. Basically, all they need to make the diagnosis is a positive MRI (there is cortical ribboning that only shows up with CJD) and the symptom history and rapid decline.

We found out that our "hunch" was right. We figured it out, and the actual neurologist in Montgomery didn't have a CLUE... or else didn't care to "go there." Stevie is a medical enigma at UAB right now and all the medical students are on his care team. It's so rare, that they are able to really see this very often so they can learn from it and the presentation of symptoms. They ran multiple tests on him to make SURE there wasn't anything else that could be going on and be treatable, but everything else has come back normal.

As of right now, we believe he will be discharged home tomorrow (Weds) to go home with Hospice care. He's been given a prognosis of anywhere from 2-12 months, but the neurologist believes that based on the speed of his decline, it may be much closer to the 2 month mark. We will be getting him back home tomorrow, and set up and comfortable. We want him to be happy and comfortable in what little time he has left with us here. The good news is that the decline with CJD is typically NOT painful, and people don't usually suffer. He will be given medication to control the uncontrollable jerking and seizures to help him rest at night especially.

Please, please, pray for our family. Anyone who knows my mom at all knows that she has had a very difficult life and truly seems to be dealt with more than seems to be her fair share in bad "luck". But she and I KNOW that ultimately Stevie will be with the Lord soon, and we want HIS will to be done and Jesus to be glorified in whatever may come.

So Sweet

Conversation with my daughter this morning:

Rach: "Mom, do you drive to Heaven?"

Me: "No."

Rach: "Does God pick up you?"

Me: "Yeah."

Oh, the pain!

So, the boy child has injured himself...again. Yes, it happens all the time...sometimes several times throughout the day! This week he ran into the corner of our kitchen counter. Did I mention he ran into it fast enough that his little chest actually bled? I, of course, immediately responded by procuring the Band-aids from their hiding place. In our household, no matter the injury, no matter the pain, a Band-aid or a ziploc full of ice will cure all ills befalling you. However, the sticky healers must be placed in just the right place or it's healing power fades dramatically. Hence the reason we, as mature adults, make sure to ask, "Would you like Mommy [Daddy] to put it on or do you want to?" Almost always the children choose the accuracy of their own germ-filled hands. This, too, was the case after the counter injury.

In proud display of his Band-aiding capabilities, Thomas came to show me how he had stuck the little piece of magic in just the right spot...
As he was making this gleeful announcement, "Look, Momma, it was a BIIIIGGG boo-boo," I looked up to see the Band-aid sticking 4 inches or so below the actual injury....taped across his right nipple.
"Yes, son. That is indeed a big boo-boo."

49

The weatherman on the radio just said the temperature tomorrow night is supposed to get down to 49! WOOT! Praise God for cool weather!

Watermelon Bliss

That's a Good Cup of Joe!

I have made a large purchase...I know...totally unlike me! For those of you who have never gone shopping with me, you may not know that I am more than frugal. If an article of clothing costs more than two dollars, you can almost bet it stays on the shelf. Shoes may stand a chance of purchase if they cost five or less. I don't just pinch pennies, I jump up and down on them! So for me, the $23 I spent yesterday is a HUGE purchase! Why the sudden splurge? September is our hardest month of the year financially. Everything is due then! So since September the 8th, we have spent NO money except for gas and perishables (milk, bread). So yesterday after depositing the hubby's paycheck and getting out enough to buy "Ironman" for him, I decided it might be okay for me to get something too. After you stretch a dollar for so long, sometimes you just need a little splurge! What did I buy? A coffeemaker! I know, not a huge deal for most folks, but for me...YES! Something about the smell of brewing coffee in the house makes me feel like an adult! Furthermore, since joining Weight Watchers, a sugar-free, fat free cappuccino is sheer heaven in a cup! Since yesterdays splurge I have enjoyed not one, not two, but three 20 oz. mugs of the good stuff! It feels like I'm being wickedly sinful without actually costing me any points! Shangri La! As I take my final sip, I must reiterate, that's a good, good cup of Joe!