Mold in Wes' Blood

I have not posted here in three years.  Life with a business, a toddler, and a medically-compromised husband has been a bit crazy.  This post is about the latter.

We have not publicly shared about the hellacious roller coaster Wes has been on with his health for the last four and half years.  The information felt private and perhaps our pride kept us from being more vulnerable.  So why share now?  We have learned some new information and feel that we must share it if it could help at least one other person.

When we married in August 2010, Wes was generally healthy.  While his immune system left a bit to be desired and his joints often ached, we led a full life.

When we had been married just over a year (Fall 2011), we discovered Wes had a tumor in the left side of his nasopharynx.  After a biopsy of the tumor, the doctor took me into the small, sterile bad news room.  She told me he had lymphoma and once the results came back to confirm that, we would start chemotherapy and radiation immediately.  Five days later, we learned the tumor was benign - truly a miracle!  He underwent a grueling surgery to remove the tumor, but we rejoiced that he did not have cancer!  At this point, Wes had been exposed to mold in various capacities (three separate living spaces - one in Mississippi and two in Colorado) and the doctors suspected mold had caused the tumor.  We hoped this would be the end of Wes' relationship with mold.

In Fall 2011, Wes started on an anti-inflammatory to help the increasing pain in his joints.  The medication helped immensely.  We eliminated biking and longer hikes, but Wes was able to function day to day and we still went on low-key adventures.

Soon after James was born (March 2013), Wes had to suddenly go off the anti-inflammatory because of some intense gastrointestinal (GI) side effects.  Almost immediately, pain took over Wes' life.  He could barely walk and had to resign from his job.  In the months that followed, Wes required assistance in and out of bed and help in the shower.  He was unable to go up and down stairs.  Simple tasks like a trip to the grocery store or a short walk to the park with James became impossibilities.  Due to the never-ending pain, sleeping became a rarity.

I truly cannot tell you how many doctors we saw.  I lost count.  Or how many medications he tried. Or supplements.  All I can tell you is that all of this left us with thousands upon thousand of dollars in medical bills even after "good" insurance.  But the worst part?  The HOPELESSNESS.  He was told the pain was in his head.  He was told to suck it up and "try harder".  He was told they had no idea what was causing the pain, but that he would likely have to live with it for the rest of his life.

That winter was awful.  Not only was he in excruciating pain, but he had strep five times...without tonsils and adenoids.  Even though it did not seem possible, strep made the pain worse.  The pain and fevers banished him to bed for a week at a time.

That following summer (2014), we started with doTERRA essential oils, which helped his immune system greatly, but did not touch the pain.  To bring in some extra money, Wes started a knife sharpening business.  His business was an instant success.  He tried to push through the pain, but his body could not keep up.  The guilt of not being able to provide cast a dark shadow over his life.

Fall 2014 to Spring 2015 is a big blur.  We fought to provide a thriving childhood for James while I worked crazy hours to make ends meet and Wes suffered day and night.  We stopped seeing new doctors for a while because our efforts had all been fruitless, expensive, and frustrating.  We lived in "survival mode".

In Spring 2015, Wes started using medical cannabis.  For about six months, it provided some relief.  He took small doses during the day to take the edge off the pain and a larger dose at night to relax his body and get some much needed sleep.  We felt HOPEFUL again.  The only downside was that we could legally travel with the medical cannabis.  The pain returned with a vengeance  when we traveled to visit family in Mississippi and Texas.  Our all-expense paid trip to Punta Cana with Wildtree was an excruciating one for Wes.  We were vacationing in paradise, but the pain kept him from soaking up the experience.  In late 2015, the positive effects from the cannabis started to wane.  The pain started to creep back in and the sleeplessness returned.  We could not increase the THC without making him a zombie.  When we increased his CBD, it gave him intolerable GI discomfort.  Things started to feel HOPELESS again.

After seeing a counselor for over a year, Wes made the step to go on an anti-depressant in February 2016.  He suffered extreme adverse effects and landed in the emergency room, and eventually an inpatient psychiatric hospital for severe anxiety and suicidal thoughts.  Once he was taken off of those medications, the intense anxiety and suicidal thoughts gradually eased up.  Nevertheless, I saw clearly for the first time what years of non-stop pain had done to my best friend and beloved husband.  We looked at each other and hardly recognized the person we married five and half years ago.  Our dreams hung in the balance, and we did not know where we would go from here.

Wes and I have both spent countless hours researching since his original tumor diagnosis.  What was the missing link with the pain, immune compromise, headaches, brain fog, GI upset, cold extremities, and so much more.  In late February, Wes came across an article on the effects of black mold.  The article sounded like it was written about him.  I sobbed when I read it and vowed we would travel to the Midwest to see the doctor mentioned in the article no matter what it took.

Our primary care doctor recommended an ENT who specializes in mold.  Before we made an appointment with the ENT, my dear friend Danelle suggested we visit Linda, her naturopathic practitioner, to have Wes' blood examined under the microscope.  With Danelle's help, we secured an appointment quickly.

At the appointment, Linda examined two drops of Wes' blood under a microscope.  She reported that Wes has severe levels of mold, moderate levels of candida, and moderate levels of parasites in his blood.  Additionally, his red blood cells were clumped together in "rouleaux" formation.  Wow.  The microscope magnified Wes' blood x10,000, and a projector allowed Wes to see the results on a screen as Linda walked him through what she saw.  She spent two hours with him.  Two hours.  She empathized with him and validated his pain and suffering.  "It is no wonder why you are in so much pain!" she said.  She apologized for all the practitioners who minimized his suffering.  And she said she could help.  HOPE again.

Wes returned home that evening with tears of relief running down his face.  We finally knew the root cause for the nightmare he had been living.  And we had a plan to get his life back.  To get our life back.

Wes started immediately on a candida cleanse diet, which seeks to take away the elements of his diet that were feeding the candida and the mold.  We began to focus on getting his body to an alkaline state.  He has been drinking an anti-parasite tea and taking supplements to promote this detoxing of his body.

His appointment was almost a month ago.  He started to see positive effects right away.   HOPE.  While he is still seeing these positive effects, the "die off" of the candida and mold hit him hard some days.  But overall, improvement!  On a side note, we found out that 25% of the population has a gene that makes them more susceptible to mold toxicity.  We are guessing Wes has that gene...

I am so proud of him.  He has dedicated himself to the ins and outs of his treatment.  We both feel like he is on his way to getting his life back.  To getting our life back.

To those experiencing pain or discomfort of an unknown origin, do not give up and do not settle.  I am a nurse, so obviously I am not opposed to Western medicine.  However, I am opposed to vague diagnoses (fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome).  I am opposed to throwing pharmaceuticals at symptoms and not searching for the root cause.  I am opposed to 15 minute doctors appointments that do not even begin in scratch the surface.  You have to be your own advocate.  Don't stop until you have answers!

If we can support you on your journey, please feel free to reach out.

Your prayers for Wes' continued recovery are much appreciated.

Laura Strebeck

laura.strebeck@gmail.com

(Wes can be contacted at w.strebeck@gmail.com)

Simple crib bumper tutorial

This is my first tutorial.  It is by no means technical in regards to terms or methods as I am a novice seamstress, but it gets the point across. I came up with a very simple way to make cute crib bumpers and I wanted to share my method in case it would benefit someone else.  Let me know if you have any feedback or questions!

What you need:
- six 1" x 10" x 26" of Nu-Foam baby crib bumper pads
- two yards of a patterned cotton material
- two yards of a matching plain cotton material
- matching thread
- 16 yards of ribbon (I used 3/8" - you could also use 5/8")
- straight pins
- scissors

What to do:
1. Wash and iron your material.  You do not want to it to shrink or bleed after you have assembled the bumper.  I found it really easy to iron after I had cut up my material.
2. Cut out six 11 3/4" x 27 1/2" pieces of patterned material.  Do the same for the plain material.

3. Cut twenty four 24" pieces of ribbon.  If it will fray on the ends, seal it with a flame.
4. Pin one piece of patterned material and one piece of plain material together inside out with a 3/8" seam allowance.  Only pin the two short sides and one long side.  One long side will need to be open to place the pad inside.

5. You will add four ribbons into your seams before sewing (two ribbons to each short side of the bumper).  Fold each ribbon in half and pin it into the seam 1" from the edge.  The tails of the ribbon should be on the inside with the fold barely poking out.  Please see photos below for clarification.

6. Sew around the three pinned sides.  Pay close attention to your ribbons staying straight.
7. Turn right side out, with special attention to keeping your corners sharp.
8. Place pad inside.

9. Pin the open side and sew (see photo below for pinning clarification).

10. Place your bumpers in the crib!

                                      

                                      

Simple DIY Changing Pad Cover

So I haven't blogged since I got pregnant last July.  The main reason is that my pregnancy has been a bit tumultuous and my focus has been on taking care of me and baby.  The other reason is that I really have not made much new arts and crafts wise (just the same old crocheted hats and scarves and a few burp clothes) or cooked anything mind blowing.  Actually, Wes has done most of the cooking.

However, today that changed!  I embarked on a new project: a diaper changing pad cover!  While the tutorial is not my own, I wanted to share it because it is very simple.  I am not a sewing whiz and I was able to complete the task.  A couple of quick notes though: (1) I added an extra 18" of elastic because it was too tight on the corners of my changing pad; (2) you can see  in my photos that mine does not fit snug on the front because we have a strap attaching it to the dresser.  Click here for the tutorial.

Good luck!

T-shirt tunic for little girls

I found an easy tutorial for making a t-shirt into a little girl's tunic. I made two for Ricki's daughter Mollie this week and had to really cut the t-shirts down. However, the pattern calls for a men's medium or large. It seems to me that this would be suitable for girls ages 4-7.

Iron the t-shirt (as you can see from my photos, I skipped this step!) and lay it on a flat surface. Use the guide below to mark and cut the t-shirt.

Fold the top edge over one inch and pin it. Sew the fold along the edge so that a ribbon can go through the channel you've created.

Attach a safety pin to a 48 inch long 3/4 inch wide fabric ribbon. Feed the ribbon pin first through both channels to form a loop. Pull the ribbon to cinch up the neck of the tunic. Making sure the hole is big enough for the head, tie the ribbon ends in a bow.

(Sorry the photos are in a weird order. I have no control over that when I post from my iPhone.

Baby headbands

I made these headbands for Meredith's baby girl Evelyn (who should be arriving any day now!). I made it up as I went a long, but here's the gist. For the pink one I did five single crochet stitches and then just started doing the back and forth like I'd do with a scarf. I made a rough estimate of how big the baby's head would be (airing on the big side so little Evelyn can grow into it). I used a slip stitch to try it off. I then used thread to sew it together and to sew the flower on (my friend Sandy made that). I used a similar strategy for the yellow one, but I used the double crochet stitch instead. I used a 6.5mm crochet hook to do both. Hope that's helpful!

Au naturale

Most of us are aware of how many preservatives and additives are in our foods.  We're also aware that we breathe in a lot of toxins in the air.  But here's my question: how do we eliminate as many of these things as possible from our lives without letting the task consume us?

As many of you know, my dad has extreme adverse reactions to most additives and preservatives.  We all have these adverse reactions, but the symptoms manifest themselves to varying degrees.  Because of my dad's intense reactions, I have had a sense for years about the strange stuff they put in our foods and I have made minor attempts to change what I consume.  And then my husband got a tumor.  I am not saying these additives and preservatives were the cause of the tumor.  However, it made me want to purchase and prepare foods in the purest form possible and not be feeding my husband (or myself for that matter).  This extends to the cleaning products we use; the shampoos, conditioners, soaps, and lotions that we lather on our bodies; and the household items we buy like linens and containers.  Again, I am not trying to eliminate everything at once - that would make me paranoid and probably a little crazy.

I would like to use this space to share some tips along the way to help others eliminate all these unnecessary chemicals from our lives.  I hope you find these tips helpful.

Food: Obviously it's best to buy all foods in their purest form.  If you want applesauce, buy all the ingredients to make it instead of buying it in the jug.  If you want mac and cheese, avoid Kraft with the powdered cheese and buy the real stuff.  If you want something sugary, buy it with real sugar and avoid the fake sweeteners.  This is the ideal.  However, I understand that it's not always practical.  When you buy packaged food, here are a couple things to keep in mind: (1) The shorter the ingredient list, the better.  (2)  If you don't recognize an ingredient, then don't buy it!  (3) Some ingredient are obvious to avoid (MSG, high fructose corn syrup, all the dyes, aspartame), but some may not be so obvious.  Here are a few to watch out for: citric acid (sometimes it is natural, sometimes it is artificial - there's no way to tell from the label), carrageenan (watch out for this in tooth paste too), guar gum, gum arabic, sodium nitrite/nitrate, mannitol, sorbitol (pretty much anything that ends in -tol), casein, stevia, pectin.  There are so so many more, but you'll find several of these in organic food.

Household cleaners:  So many of the household cleaners are toxic.  One non-toxic solution that I have found is a hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, water mix.  For a big batch, do 1 cup hydrogen peroxide, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 15 cups water.  For a smaller batch, do 1/3 cup hydrogen peroxide, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 5 cups water.  This works great in a spray bottle and can be used for anything.

Also, my friend Sarah Bruss told me about soaps nuts.  These nuts are grown on trees in Nepal.  She uses them for her laundry, but the nuts can also be made into a liquid for dishes, shampoo, cleaning cloth diapers, among other things.  For more information, click here.

I am also about to try baking soda for shampoo (add water until it is a paste) and apple cider vinegar as conditioner.  I am not sure how I am going to like it, but I am going to give it a try this summer.

This should be enough to get you thinking for now!  Please feel free to chime in with ideas.  I will let everyone know how the soap nuts go when I try them and how the baking soda and apple cider vinegar do in my hair.

A Respectful Wife

This is re-posted from Nancy Wilson's blog (www.feminagirls.com).  I love her straight forward writing style.  She tells it like it is.  Let me know what you think!

A Respectful Wife

One of God’s clear commands to wives is to see that they respect their own husbands. One of the hard things to get wives to see is that this is not about their husbands. It is not a command to the husbands to be respectable (though they should). It is to and for the wives. And respect is really about the wives, not the husbands.

What do I mean by this? A wife is to see that she does something herself. Respect is a behavior that the wife is to display. Here are a few things that characterize a respectful wife.

1. She thinks right thoughts about her husband, contemplating his strengths and godly traits.

2. She shows gratitude to him for his work and provision and abilities.

3. She shows concern for his needs and wishes.

4. She speaks courteously to him.

5. She fulfills his requests, submitting to him in the little things and the big things.

6. She speaks highly of him to others.

7. She is trustworthy.

8. She goes to him for counsel first.

9. She prays for him.

10. She forgives him.

Now some women will say, “I refuse to do that. My husband is not worthy of such treatment.”  Then why did you marry him? Some husbands may say that they refuse to love their wives because they are not lovely or lovable. So why did they marry women they couldn’t love? They are still required by Scripture to love them anyway.

This is why it is so important for women to marry someone for whom they have great respect. Otherwise, this is a very high bar. If you have great regard for your husband, then you married the right guy. And respecting a respectable man is not too difficult after all.

But if on the other hand, you are already married to someone for whom you have little respect, the command is still there, but it will be much more difficult to obey. At the same time, if you begin to treat your husband with respect unconditionally, out of respect for Christ and His Word, it will be good for you and good for your husband.