I’m Coming Home!!!

First off: It’s the end of WEEK 6!! LET’S CELEBRATE!!!

ALSO…

I GET TO COME HOME!!! I am leaving here in 2 weeks. I already have my flight booked and I’m ready to be out the door when they give me the all clear.

Some symptoms that have left from my body are fatigue, low energy, and my acne. I am still healing and it will take time, months to even a year for some of my symptoms). I am just happy to return home to my family, friends, and especially my amazing fiancé.

***So, if you have been sending cards please don’t send anymore. I am SO appreciative to all who sent cards but they do take about a week to get here so I don’t want them to be lost in the mail or stuck here in Arizona after I leave. The cards you sent have encouraged me and lifted me up more than you’ll ever know. I am beyond thankful!

What do the weeks look like and what treatments am I getting at Envita??

So many of you have asked and some are probably wondering, “What exactly is Rachel getting done there in Arizona.” Well I am glad you asked…let me tell you (and remember everyone’s treatment looks VERY different). This is a lot of information to take in so I am going to break this up into two different blogs.

Monday Treatment:

On Mondays I have what they call a detox day. This day I don’t get any antibiotics but three different detox supplements administered through my perm-a-cath. Those are:

“Glutathione is a substance made from the amino acids glycine, cysteine, and glutamic acid. It is produced by the liver and involved in many body processes. Glutathione is involved in tissue building and repair, making chemicals and proteins needed in the body, and in immune system function.”
Ala (Alpha Lipoic Acid) is a naturally occurring compound that’s made in the body. It serves vital functions at the cellular level, such as energy production.
Mitopure a postbiotic clinically shown to energize cells, increase muscle strength and improve endurance.

Mondays are a pretty calm day for me. Each supplement is administered at different times through my perm-a-cath (port) and it takes about 3 hours I am sitting for this.

Tuesday Treatment:

Tuesday is IRAD day! Honestly this was told to be one of the worst days and it really isn’t that bad…for me. Others definitely have a different option. But what is IRAD you might ask…

I.R.A.D. (Insulin Receptor Antibiotic Delivery)

“We use IRAD to kill the pathogens, which cross the blood-brain barrier and attack your central nervous system. Simple oral medication typically is not strong enough to penetrate the blood brain barrier, but IRAD, our proprietary treatment, is deployed intravenously to help shuttle the antibiotics past the blood brain barrier into the central nervous system. When patients manifest psychological or neurological symptoms, such as brain fog, memory loss, or neuropathy, we generally use IRAD, along with other targeted treatments, to tackle their condition.” -their words from Envita’s website.

During IRAD it addresses disruption in brain chemistry, caused by these neurotoxin releasing pathogens. Balancing out the neurotransmitters can heal inflammation and improve sleep cycle, paving your road to recovery.

During IRAD I am getting three antibiotics through my port:

Rifampin- treats bacterial infections
Daptomycin- treats bacterial infections
Ceftriaxone- helps kill bacterial infections

Benefits:

Deeper delivery of selected antibiotics to target infection
Potentiates the antibiotics to kill infection
Passes the blood brain barrier
Fights viral, bacterial and fungal infections
helps the immune system stabilize and target infections
Agents enhance with photodynamic therapy and excitation
facilitates detoxification of the liver
Massive immune modulator (with heavy recruitment of natural killer cells)

They start me out with:

Daptomycin-is a cyclic lipopeptide antibiotic derived from the organism Streptomyces roseosporus.
Ceftriaxone–It works by killing bacteria or preventing their growth.
Rifampin–This medication is used to manage and treat diverse mycobacterial infections and gram-positive bacterial infections.

During this I usually sit for about 2 1/2-3 hours. I am always finding things to do whether coloring and watching movies, talking to other patients around me, resting, or reading sometimes.

They give me 6 units of insulin which is based on my size and how much my body can handle. My blood sugar is usually around 90-105 starting out and then they get it to drop down to 40. We are watched and monitored the whole time but your body does start to feel weird. Once the blood sugar gets to 40 or around they tell me I can eat and have certain foods to bring. Usually I bring 1 cup of blackberries or raspberries and a cup of pecans. Now this isn’t supposed to fill me up, it’s just a snack. The nurse then gives me a sugar pack into my perm-a-cath and checks my blood sugar every 5-10 minutes until it’s back up to above 70. After most of my treatments I am pretty tired and just want to lay down. Once my blood sugar is above 70 I have to then wait about an hour and a half and then I am free to leave.

Wednesday Treatment: (Wednesday has my favorite treatment)

Heliobosh and IV Treatment Day

Helio was my first treatment I had where I felt “better.” For so long I would tell people I felt exhausted and could feel it under my eyes. After this first treatment that went away. Helio is where they take a cup of my blood through my perm-a-cath (port) and mix it around with O2 (Oxygen 2). It takes about an hour for the blood to come out then mix it with the O2 and put it back in through the perm-a-cath, but after I always gain a bit more energy from this.

Possible benefits:

May improve cytokine response
Supports oxygenation of blood which improves blood circulation, delivery of oxygen, and elimination of toxins from tissues.
May induce activation of the immune system and enhance the release of growth factors
May stimulate the neuroendocrine system and activate the neuroprotective system.

After Helio I get another IV treatment Ceftriaxone (same as the one I got on Tuesday). I am here for about an hour and a half before getting to leave.

Things to be Praying for:

I have been dealing with immense back pain. This has been ongoing for the past year but was only on one side and since starting the antibiotics has spread to my whole lower back. I am going to a chiropractor so hoping that will help.
Prayers for my last 2 weeks here that I can stay focused and continue to get better.
For when I get home to adjust well to my life changes that will need to be made.
Some of the symptoms that are still bad are joint pain, brain fog, random waves of being tired which is normal with how many antibiotics I am taking and sitting around and also the heat here in Az. (It’s gotten up to 112 degrees-no thanks!)
BIG prayers for August 10th-Our new wedding date!! 🙂
Mia comes on Monday!

Praises:

I’M COMING HOME!!-if you can’t tell I am very excited!
I am starting to feel better, I would say still 35% but that is better than 0% better.
My sister is coming to hangout 🙂
My eyes are a lot better and I have been able to read books again without my eyes being blurry.
I also have been walking every morning for about 20 minutes!! PRAISE God! Haven’t been able to do that since I got here without being completely out of breath.