A JOYFUL NOISE

So today I had my appointment with my pituitary specialist at UVA, Dr. Mary Vance. She's a very sweet and kind older doctor and she really spent time with me. She looked over my medical history and my past MRI and told me that she could say with confidence that I do not have Addison's Disease which can cause GI issues. She really believes many of my stomach issues has to do solely with GI and my gastoperesis. She explained that since earlier this year, I received cortisone shots for my painful shoulder back in Feb/April there could be a possibility that some of the cortisone leaked out of the bone.into the bloodstream. She explains that this causes the pituitary glad to temporarily "shut down" thus not producing cortisol. So when blood tests were run while I was sick in the hospital, the hormone ACTH will show as low and give a reading of low cortisol levels (which leads to Addison's disease or adrenal insufficiency). Now, she's not com...

Disclaimer: These are just thoughts that are in my heart as I struggle through my sickness. We are all called to love one another and care for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Please read and give me an opinion/thought if you wish to share "The steadfast Love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your Faithfulness" Lam 3:22, 23 I have often had this memory verse pop into my head during the moments I need this reminder the most. I love the song that goes to this verse and of course I love the verse itself. It's so comforting knowing that no matter what trials we face in our Christian walk, God's love is abundant and unfailing....He is always faithful to us and will never leave us. Trials come to our lives in any moment and in many ways. During this time, Satan will take every opportunity to lure you far away from God's open arms and try to convince us that we are not loved by our F...

I have had a time stop in my insurance. My former employer had sent me information back in the end of May/beginning June regarding paperwork to fill out for continued insurance coverage. I elected to go ahead and receive COBRA only because I have been sick a lot lately and I know that I have many more medical tests and doctors' visits to go. I had sent in all the necessary paperwork to TaskForce (my former employer's COBRA vendor) and payment for the first month was sent in as well. I await some time and realized I still had not have any insurance coverage. I was a bit frustrated not understanding why there was a delay in the coverage. I tried to call Task Force and found out that my employer no longer works with them as the vendor!! I was very very frustrated and ended up calling my work place. I then realized I received a letter telling me about COBRA coverage through Infisource (the new vendor) but it was not clear it was a new vendor; it just said Cobra coverage...

I often get the comment that the name of my blog is good and really describes me. I find that a comfort and see it as a positive note. I have always loved singing. I remember being really young and pretending my hairbrush was a microphone and that I was this hot well known singer. I took an interest in music as a young child, probably due to my sister's influences and her taking piano lessons. I never had the opportunity to take piano lessons only because when I was younger, my eyesight was really bad and even glasses wouldn't help me learn to read notes. I remember my sister practicing her piano and I would just make up any song to sing at the tune to what she was playing. As a child, I played by ear/sounds of notes. I never did learn how to fully play the piano well but I didn't care...I was just glad I could play a tune. Now, I can read music somewhat but still mostly play by ear just because I have done it all my life. I'm teaching myself guita...

For the Fourth of July weekend (Saturday-Monday), I decided that I wanted to go to DC/Baltimore and my parents thought it was a good idea as well. We left EARLY Saturday morning to head over to Baltimore. We stayed at Baltimore and arrived there around 10:30am. It was a fun time and a good way for me to get out for a while and try to enjoy myself. The whole trip was fun and I did fairly well....yes, I endured some stomach pains and shoulder pain, but I still enjoyed my time in Baltimore/DC area. After we checked into the hotel on Saturday morning, we rested a little then headed out to the Baltimore pier. I wanted to go to the aquarium since I haven't been there for over 11 years! Boy, has the surroundings changed! For those of you who didn't know, I'm a big fan of marine life and think it is so spectacular and wonderful how marine life lives and takes care of itself. Truly a picture of God's handy work. I love seeing the different kinds of ocean life,...