Leah B.
Servant of All
First off -- and praise the Lord -- my appointment with the neurologist yesterday went very well. It looks to me like the results of her exam are going to help me get that jaw orthotic, which I am convinced is the final piece of the puzzle to getting me well again. [As an aside, please continue to pray in Jesus's name that the dental specialist does give me this specialized orthotic.] But back to point: It looks to me that drugs or quarterly botox injections for the rest of my life are NOT in my future and for that I am beyond grateful. In addition, I had a very happy surprise: See, I have COPD because I was a heavy smoker for years, having quit in ###. At yesterday's pre-exam, the nurse took my oxygen saturation. In spite of the fact that I was wearing fake fingernails and three coats of nail polish, it came out to 96%. That puts me probably with an actual reading of 98%. That is AWESOME. I am thrilled. Okay, all this being said, I want to share another piece of good news about my brand new adjustable bed, namely, that it is indeed helping! I did wake up last night a few times to use the bathroom, but I was able to get right back to sleep. I had my first full night's sleep in literally years and woke up alert and wide awake like I remember from when I was a little girl. I believe this is a combination of cutting my caffeine intake drastically and also the use of this new bed. Amazing. Alright. All this being said, I am still having some symptoms of caffeine withdrawal -- and I'm not even halfway done with my taper -- as well as withdrawal from my taper off the other rx med. [Oh, and as an aside, the neurologist was very supportive of my efforts in both these areas.] I woke up alert and rested but with a headache. I believe that's from caffeine withdrawal and from the TMJ. My point in telling you this is to also ask for prayer in Jesus's name for these symptoms to abate. I think part of the answer here is to just stay in touch with myself. One thing I'm figuring is I should not cut back any more on either thing for about a week, maybe even two. Thank you so much for your prayers and emotional support. Amen.