Family Update

For those that don't know. Matt went to the ER on April 2nd after having some blurry and double vision. He had an abnormal MRI showing multiple brain lesions and he was diagnosed  with MS. He was admitted for 3 days while they administered large doses of steroids to reduce the inflammation. The past couple weeks have been an emotional roller coaster as we have been dealing with all of the unknowns. We are content now. And here is the updated prayer requests / praises. The photo is of our Easter at the hospital.

Thanks everybody for all of the support and prayers. Since so many have been asking for updates, here it is....
1) Work -Matt was released back to work full duty. NO restrictions! Such a relief.

2)Financial - This is still a struggle,mainly the expense of the diet and supplements. But we have learned about several MS related discounts (i.e. electric bill). We have also been blessed by some donations from friends and family. Because Matt's sister is a chiropractor, we can get almost all the supplements at wholesale cost. And my little business, Sonshine Alley is slowly gaining customers...every little bit counts and we know that God is faithful to provide.

3)Diet. We met with a Nutritionist / Naturopath that specializes in auto immune disorders, and she has healed herself of MS and has been having success with her patients. Pretty amazing story. The diet is really strict, Gluten-free, yeast-free, dairy-free, sugar-free. No potatoes, corn, vinegar,oats and a few more restrictions too! Plus organic whenever possible. The first 3 months are the most strict, then a few things get added back in small amounts. There are also a lot of supplements. I am slowly figuring out how to menu plan with all of these restrictions. It requires a lot of planning, especially when Matt has to cook his meals at work. I'm already getting creative and finding ways to save our budget with this new diet. And hopefully soon, we will get our organic veggie garden planted :)

4)Treatment. All traditional MS drugs are home injections given anywhere from once a day to once a week and come with side effects, some of them pretty serious. It's pretty much like putting yourself on a low dose of chemo for life and suppressing your immune system so that it doesn't attack itself. The diet/supplement/excercise plan is designed to boost the immune system and allow the body to heal and function normally. We have decided to forgo any traditional drug therapy for the first 3 months. Then Matt will have another MRI. We have faith that God is our Healer and we would love to be able to give Him the glory without having any drugs. If the MRI shows an increase in brain lesions, then we will pray about starting treatment with drugs.

5)Praises. Matt has been asymptomatic. We feel at peace with where God has us. We were blessed to have Matt's sister, Rachel, stay with us for about a week and a half to help out with the boys. The guys at Matt's station have been really supportive with his new diet and they are trying to accommodate in whatever reasonable ways they can.

Unless something big comes up, the next update will probably be after his MRI in July. For now, we are trying to figure out a new way of normalcy! Thanks for the continued prayers.