Sunday, September 26, 2010

Quick rundown of Seattle

The appointment went GREAT. We love the doc- she is awesome. She told us numerous times that Clay will be fine. Looks like we need to go to Seattle in a month again, then every two months after that, for 3-5 years. She said this is a marathon, not a sprint...but she said the only way to come out of this successful is to take this VERY SERIOUSLY. She compared it to Cancer- saying that a cancer patient would NEVER miss their treatment- she said we need to live that way. That missing a treatment will completely mess everything up- and trust me- we are planning on doing everything she says for however long she says. Oh and just to calm anyone's worries- Clay SHOULD be able to work and live a normal life during everything. So that's a relief.

Sooo we are gonna be on a bit of a different diet. Doctors orders are NO WHEAT and NO SUGAR. Apparently, Lyme thrives on it! She said Clay can have some "fun days" every once in a while where he can eat something yummy- but he doesn't want to do that. It'll be interesting trying to do the no wheat thing. Wheat is in everything! Clay didn't quite understand what it meant at first, so he was excited that he didn't have to eat wheat! He was like- SWEET, no more healthy stuff...buuuut yeah. Wheat is in lotsa stuff. Like Doritos :)

Seattle is a crazy crazy city. To give you an idea, Clay almost ran over someone. In fact, I saved her life! Cause I saw her, Clay didn't. The crazy thing is- Clay is seriously the best driver I've ever known. I'm not just saying that because he's my husband...he is seriously the best driver I know. So it was a little crazy that happened. He was so stressed.

We went to Pikes Place and I LOVED IT! Clay thought it was boring. HAHAHHAA- I am not surprised AT ALL. He said- "It was a bunch of weird people and weird shops." Oh dear.

We honestly didn't have time for anything else! The appointment and testing took basically all day...and we were so exhausted by the time it was all done.

We decided we are pretty sure we're gonna be flying more. The drive sucked. Especially in such a short time frame. We are both really impatient and tired and it's already a stressful situation...so flying will just be easier. We'll see.

Oh yeah...probably the best news of all...we asked her if it's possible that Clay will be pain free after all is said and done. She said- she has had patients come out as competitive skiiers, marathon runners, and more. There is an 18% chance that he has a gene that causes him to get rheumatoid arthritis from this, but all of the idiot doctors he saw before tested him for that and he never tested positive or anything...so we are pretty much ruling that out as a possibility...meaning we are already getting excited about things we want to do when this is over. Of course we are still hesitant just cause you know...what if? But the doc seems to have high confidence in him having a completely normal life back after this. Amazing.

I left my purse at the last gas station we stopped at which is a few hours away. When I realized I bawled my eyes out. We tried calling a bunch of gas stations with no luck (we hadn't been printing the receipts and it was a random gas station and we couldn't remember where it was at). It had my wallet- which included check book, debit card, credit card, it also had my zune, ipod, (to which clay said- WHY did you have those in there?!?! and I said...I dunno...) and my PLANNER- which basically keeps me sane. Sooooooo yeah. I have never done that in my life. I have never left anything anywhere or lost anything. Of course I had to do it then. We decided to say a prayer. After probably 20 more minutes I said we should just go to bed because we had to GIVE TALKS in church the next day...so we did. This morning the manager of the gas station called and said she found my purse and is sending it tomorrow morning. I felt Heavenly Father's love a lot right then.

We got to church and got the program and it said "Testimonies" sooo you know- I asked the bishop what was up and he was like.."oops- I must of messed up big time!" so we didn't have to give talks- which was really quite a blessing. We prepared them earlier this week, but we didn't have time to review them or organize them and we were both so stressed about them.

Basically- sometimes it feels like everything is coming down and you are stressed out of your mind and then all of a sudden it feels like Heavenly Father is blessing you left and right. We feel so blessed right now. Everything is going to be okay. This next year is probably going to be a tougher one, but I know we'll be fine.

I guess this wasn't so quick after all. But trust me- I left out a bazillion details so really, this was quick.

13 comments:

AMY AND MIKEY said...

WOW danielle, 3-5 years, that is such a long time, but I am so glad that you are doing this. This does sound alot like cancer, I wodner how he will feel after the treatments he receives, the food- for how long will he have to have no wheat and sugar? You know what, it was probably inspired that you didn't do sugar for 6 months, or howwever long you did, because that means clay had all the less sugar that the lyme woudl have fed off of, adn who knows how worse off he would have been had you been eating sugar those 6 months you know? We will pray for him, and let us know if there is anything we can do and keep us posted on everything ofcourse. This will be one of hte hardest years- these things are stressful on a marriage, physically, emotionally, financially, in so many ways- but you two are strong and are very capable of doing this. If mike and I could, then you two certainly can. You will get into a rhythym, you will figure out the best way to do things, it will just be hard at first figuring it all out, but it will be so worth it, becaues Clay will some day be full of energy and health like me! I woudln't trade my treatemtns for anything, as awful as they were, it saved my life, and I know Clay will have the same outcome. It will be so wonderful. What a light at the end of teh tunnel, i am so grateful you looked into this and pushed for this. I love you so mucha dn am so proud of the both of you.

Megan and Greg said...

Wow, I'm amazed! Sounds great! I'm so glad there's a cure! I'm so interested in all the new details of what's in store for you. No wheat, holy mole. Thank goodness you have a wheat grinder, 'cause can't you grind other things? Maybe that will make it easier? Maybe not? I don't know. And no sugar? Maybe this is why you did that 6 months no sugar thing. To help you realize you can do it. Are you gonna do it too? Or just Clay? So many questions. Maybe I'll just have to call you tomorrow. I'm glad the trip went so well. I wondered if you drived. What a long drive.

Rebecca said...

I'm so happy for you guys. Real hope. No wheat meaning no healthy stuff, so funny. Is it just wheat or all grains. Maybe your no treats thing was in preparation. You know you can do it. Whole foods baby, that's what I've been doing. You can do it. Love you guys.

katy said...

I am so happy that your everything went so well with the doc. That is crazy that you have to go to seatle so often for so long. That should be crazy. You guys are always in my prayers since I found out about clay and what you are going through. I was so scared when my Doc said that I had a chance of having lyme disease because of the brain lesions. At that time I had know idea that your husband had it. How scary that must be. It really sounds like the doctor knows her stuff. I hate to be sexist but I love female doctors. They are the best. If you need any tips of cutting out wheat let me know. I know Jake is gluten free so that will be nice for you. Funny Clay thought it just meant cutting out wheat bread and healthy things. That made me laugh. The funniest part of your whole post was that clay almost hit a women. I know it shouldn't be funny but I was laughing. Keep us posted on everything.

Sharon/Mom/ Grandma said...

I am soooo happy! You wrote this about two hours after I read eveyones blogs. This is truly one of the more wonderful things I have read in a long time!! It will be hard food wise, but once you get used to it it will just be a part of life. You will definitely get to know Seattle! I'm so grateful he will be able to work and do life like normal. Heavenly Father is truly very kind. He watches over us! love you!!!

Sharon/Mom/ Grandma said...

Oh when meg said it's good you have a wheat grinder, that is true. It will be far easier and tastier to do wheat free with a grinder. My neighbor said she has a great recipe for gluten free bread and rolls. I will get it for you. You also have Jake as a great resource, he has been working on this for months now. love you!!!

Jenni said...

Holy Smokes Danielle- this sounds soo hopeful and I'm so happy for you guys! Keep us posted. I really hope clay sees benefits from this. And bonus- maybe you'll get to see more fun sights of Seattle. I love Pikes Place!

Oh man, when I read that you lost your purse- by stomach dropped, that is SO terrifying!!! I'm so glad you found it. Good luck with the Seattle Doc!

Penny Cluff said...

Wheat is in everything! How hard, but worth it to know he might heal. I love Seattle, hopefully, you can go and spend some quality time one day. I relate with losing your purse. I did that once, and it only takes once to become an absolute loon if you don't know where your purse is from then on. I lost everything. God really heard your prayers, getting it returned is very very rare.

Kayleen said...

That's wonderful news Danielle!! i hope the treatments really do help. I'm also very happy for you that they found your purse. I started imagining my panic if I had done the same. Good luck with all your seattle trips!!

Kayleen said...

That's wonderful news Danielle!! i hope the treatments really do help. I'm also very happy for you that they found your purse. I started imagining my panic if I had done the same. Good luck with all your seattle trips!!

Grandma, Nonnie said...

I am so happy for you, that things are going to get better, and things do get easier as time passes. There are lots of other things that don't have wheat in them, and have corn. You can use tortillas for lots of things. Check out things like glueten free cooking on the internet, which you have probably done already. Can you use honey??? or pure maple syrup, I think you could use that and things like rice flour etc. I make a really great waffle without any flour. Put 3 eggs, and one egg white in the blender, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, and 1/2 cup of oatmeal and a little vanilla, and bake in the waffle iron. The batter is thin so be careful to just put in 1/3 cup at a time. I whiz it all until smooth and use old fashioned oatmeal. These are wonderful with fruit on them and some vanilla yogurt. They are really high in protien. I love you and miss you I know what you mean about the traffic in Seattle, and people walk everywhere. I do not like driving in that city. Hugs and Kisses

HeidiT said...

wow, what a relief to finally have some answers. it's such a serious disease and it must feel so good to know that there ARE things you can do to prevent progression of it. i guess you get lots of time to explore Seattle! what a commitment that will have to be, I bet you guys are grateful that you found the right doc now instead of 10 years down the road when you have a family and less flexibility with traveling and stuff. can't wait to hear how much better clay feels after implementing everything -- I bet it will make a world of difference!

mandijwaters said...

I know this is random and has nothing to do with your blog...I had a dream last night that you started selling a ton of stuff that you had made. The funny thing was that I just kept seeing the tags. The name of your little company was "sew be it". Anyway, thought I'd tell ya. I loved the name...even if it was just a dream.