Author: Melissa

Feb 7

1240 finally starting to get sleepy. In Jesus’ Name We Press On repeating in head. Whole body aches aches. Periodic sharp stabbing pain in rt side head or lft side neck. Hands swollen and achy. Lft elbow itches. Tongue has raised lessions again. Headache. Low back and rt hip throbbing. Leg lower lft tourniquit tighten feeling with some numbness. Took benadryl for itchy. Cheeks feel flushed.

0600 too early. Must get up to take Jordon to work. Joe & Rae hunting this morning. Praying they get something. I have such a headache! Lights bothersome.

0711 They got something! Praise the Lord for meat for freezer.

I’m slowly working on packing up Jakob’s stuff he left behind so it’s not in Jordon’s way. Have to push myself in moderation bc I’d rather just go back to bed. Things get done at much slower pace these days not because I don’t want to do it but bc my body hurts and wears down much more quickly. Learning to set small goals. And I definitely have to remind myself not to compare myself to other moms bc that’s a downward slope I don’t want to slip on and definitely not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12).

0800 found mold in boys window. Ugh! Surprised I’m not sick. Spraying it with tea tree & water. Allow to sit few minutes then wipe off. Ended up accidentally knocking blinds down then sat on floor cleaning blinds. Back was hurting anyways.

0900 I’m plumb exhausted and hurting. Time to rest a while and apply heating pad to lower back.

0430 Fell asleep in livingroom for hour or so. Still have bad headache. I think its possible migraine. Felt Joe checking my forehead couple times to see if I was okay.

1050 whole body aches. Bad headache won’t go away. Made same dent in boys room but not get much else done.

Low back and rt hip throbbing. Calves burning. Sharp pins and needles pain in shoukders. Skin itchy. Center of chest hurts. Exhausted. Night rx taken plus migraine rx & muscle relaxer.

 

Feb 8

0800 woke with headache. Center chest rt side hurts.

0121p still struggling with walking much curious if cycling would be a possibility? Need to try to loose weight. My limited mobility is affecting me greatly.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/387574-which-is-better-exercise-walking-or-biking/

0400 helping Joe prepare dinner and cutting veggies for the chicken soup. Have two stalks left. Think I’ll prep them for dehydration later tonight. No room on counters right now.

Ouch! I tried to get dehydrator off top of fridge without asking for help and dropped it on my head. Now my head hurts!!!

0600 face started flushing during dinner. Cheeks got to feeling hot like on fire and they look sunburnt. Don’t know cause…just remember it started after LS.

1150p I have such a headache. Oh, bother! I almost forgot about turning dehydrator on for the celery. Must get up and go turn it on.

Headache. Face hurts. Ears ring periodically thru day. Low back and rt hip throbbing. Lower lft leg & ankle tourniquit tighten feeling with some numbness. Feet cold, achy, and tingly. Center of chest hurts. Arms ache. Hands swollen and achy. Whole body feels swollen. Shoulders burning aching. Eyes sensitive to lights & periodically watery thru day. Tired. Short breath.

 

 

Feb 4

9:30 woke up late. Apparently I needed the sleep. Crazy dreams (bit by tick & got lyme.

https://blog.radiantlifecatalog.com/the-5-supplements-that-healed-my-acne?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=77922038&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–UXwjzEzSgTQuuJqVym3zk_FeTJm8tplvQYnNdt9GS4KyrhJiIiIhmQuHegf3tf6c-LsTibtkIhutGx-FgBlT3Kdv2sQ&_hsmi=77922038

Today went smoother than yday though I had trouble staying focused on one task. Brain seems to think I’m so far behind in all my tasks that I need to make up for lost time (2.5 yrs). I know it’s not possible…I’d hurt myself. Still learning where my balance is between doing enough and too much without overdoing it.

Rt hip throbbing. Low back aches. Headache. Tired but wired.

Feb 5

0700 woke tired. Hands tingly.

Bdnf deficiency?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32222968/#:~:text=Deficiency%20of%20activity%2Dinduced%20expression,differently%20across%20ages%20remains%20unclear.

 

0616 vision blurry and some dizzy. Cheeks burning feeling. Feel flushed. Upper back & middle of shoulder blades burning. Stressed over getting info ready for cpa. Thankful we have someone certified to do it. I’ve forgotten how

 

Dizzy. Tired. Whole body aches. Thunderstorm caused anxiety to flare but I think I managed okay. Center of chest costo hurting. Shoulders & in between shoulder blades burning. Hands swollen and achy. Rt hip throbbing – chose to walk behind grocery cart in grocery store for few items. Headache. Skin itchy.

Attempted to brain my own hair for first time. Got it done. Bit messy but doesn’t look too bad. My arms and hands are burning & cramping something aweful. Mixed emotions…I want to cry  bc it hurts so bad and it lets me know that I’m not there yet, but it make me proud  of my progress and glad that I have a daughter who knows how when I want it done next. (Pst I had to google proud emoji. Most of them make no sense to me. Lol).

Current P.T. goal is to work up to 2 reps of 5 each exercise (Chin tuck? Knee rock, Half squat to chair, Clamshells, Bridges, Marker, X to X, Hand to knee push, Rows w/ theraband, & Cat/camel). Feels like a heavy duty cardio workout to me. I’m exhausted, aching, & out of breath by session end but I’m making progress.

Friend shared video of her children singing in church this past Sunday. They were singing “Press On”. I enjoyed listening to uplifting message. I sure can use it from time to time.

It really gets hard to press on towards the mark when you feel all alone in a battle that not many understand nor do I know how to express it in words. How do I help others when or put into words what I’m going through? I just know without the help of my Almighty Father who is with me each step of the way and the loving support of my family I couldn’t have progressed as I have. I lean on the everlasting arms of Jesus. I meditate on His Word. Listen to uplifting, soothing music. I pray a lot. I’m thankful and humbled that God would use me to be a vessel for His glory. I pray that my story will help others to press on and maybe someday the medical field will be interested enough to study this phenomenon out to help others who are experiencing the struggle of surviving being struck by lightning.

 

“Press On” Lyrics by Selah

 

• When the valley is deep
• When the mountain is steep
• When the body is weary
• When we stumble and fall

 

• When the choices are hard
• When we’re battered and scarred
• When we’ve spent our resources
• When we’ve given our all

 

• In Jesus’ name, we press on
• In Jesus’ name, we press on
• Dear Lord, with the prize
• Clear before our eyes
• We find the strength to press on

 

• In Jesus’ name, we press on
• In Jesus’ name, we press on
• Dear Lord, with the prize
• Clear before our eyes
• We find the strength to press on
• To press on

 

1100 still wide awake

 

Feb 6

0700 rough night. Awake every couple hours. Whole body aches. Hands and arms numb and tingly. Lower legs and feet tingly. Strange dreams. Low back throbbing. Rt hip throbbing. Headache not easing up. Ears ringing periodically. Legs & ankles burning. Stomach aches. Tired.

1230 just finished gathering items for CPA. Just need two more items. Brain tired and foggy. Vision blurry. Neck hurts. Its thunderstorming now. Away from electronics for a while. Body tensing. Need a break.

0400 letting Jordon drive for practice. Heading to pickup rx before heading to church. Forgot it’s begin of go home traffic. Too stressed to handle it. Jordon doing good job but explained I can’t handle it right now. Took over after pick up rx.

0630 Mom talked about her Chiropractic apt today. Dr did a cranial adjustment. Asked if she could tell difference. She said she felt more clarity.

https://www.lifesystemschiropractic.com/services/cranial-adjustment-therapy/

https://www.back2health4you.com/cranial-therapy/

0725 brain too fogged and blurry to focus on piano. Flubbed horribly but managed to push through song while yelling in my head help Lord I just want to run and hide.

0730 feeling flushed. Cheeks burning. Headache. Rt hip throbbing. Vision blurred. Neck hurts.

1100 lft elbow itches like crazy

Feb 1

0130 woke in a sweat. I’m so hot! Had to change clothes but struggled keeping balance

0800 read Romans 5&6 on my Bible app. While it is good that I have learned to adapt by reading my Bible on the app on my phone. Took me long while to figure out why I could do that but struggled reading in a Book I could hold. Due to my eyes skipping from TBI it made difficult to focus let alone keep eyes on same page. Too much reading causes blurry vision and dizziness even today. Praise God I can read little longer now. I sure do miss holding my actual Bible and being able to read it. Goal to start being able to read hand held Bible for few minutes at a time.

1150p wonder if there’s correlation between overtaxing brain and back pain. Only been able to stand maybe five minutes at a time before excruciating pain in back too much. Been sitting on heating pad off and on all day.

Entire back throbbing!!! Headache. Periodic ringing in ears. Hands swollen, achy, & tingly. Skin itchy. Legs ache. Feet freezing. Abdominal pain. Grouchy. Easily frustrated. Blurred vision. Dizzy. Unstable feeling. Lethargic. Left palm itches. Lft inner ear itches. Center of chest hurting.

 

Feb 2

0600 read Gen 12-15

0630 need to get up to print bulletin. My back is throbbing! It hurts to move.

Putting lunch together in crockpot. Can’t find recipe and can’t remember how to assemble it. Ugh!

0645 printer keeps wanting to jam. Frustrated. Rt hip paining me something aweful! Headache.

0700 oh bother! I just remembered that I still needed to download and print SS lesson for adult class. I’m running out of time. Brain blurring. Leave me alone devil. I’m resisting so flee.

0835 on way to church. Light flashing in between trees are bothering my eyes today…too bright or something.

0900 forgot to pack my music paper. Wrote offertories on it now gotta try to remember them…something about consecration?

Don’t have that book at church? Thought for sure I did. Asked Jordon to go check SS bldg. Asked Rae to help finish getting lunch in crockpots.

0905 Jordon found similar book. Yay! Now to see if something clicks. Finally locate song picked…Zion’s Hill. Brain more blurry & dizzy. I need a rest.

0915 sat down at desk and remembered I need to put SS lesson together. Lord, help me get through this bc my brain is overloaded. Some of papers didn’t copy right. Need to copy back sides. Need to copy whole book and give to teacher to do.

1230 Joe asked me what was matter. Took me a bit to spit it out…I’m so overwhelmed and confused. Not remembering things correctly and it’s upsetting me. Feel like I’m losing grip on hold I did have. Too much stress. Not enough rest time. Don’t need to take on too many monkeys.

My abilities are severely challenged at the moment. Need to rest more. I’m exhausted going to take a nap. Brain swimming.

0350 had alarm set for 3p but I was so tired needed more rest. Laying flat on stomach seems to ease my hip pain some. Suddenly woken by loud chainsaw noise and thump of tree limb hitting ground. Scared me. Hands swollen and painful numb and firey tingling.

0500 worked on writing scripture journaling devotional for blog. This month’s challenging one for me…Peace.

0600 good services and sweet spirit amongst people. Rt hip starting to throb again. Wish I could figure out trigger and learn to adapt better.

1145 rt hip throbbing. Low back throbbing. Lower lft leg tourniquit tighten feeling. Rt ankle throbbing with some numbness. Toes tingly. Hands swollen, achy with lft hand tingly. Upper back aches with some burning sensation. Brain cloudy.

 

Feb 3

0745 had rough night. Yrobule getting this morning. Need more sleep. Woke with lftcarm and hand numb and tingly. Center of chest hurts.

1000 started putting dinner in crockpot.

1030 Joe asked to run errand for him when I go to bank. Decide to take soup to couple widows in church.

0500 stop at store to get milk. Chicken on sale $2.90/10lb. Got 2.

0600 burnt the soup!  Joe came to my rescue and cooked chicken in air fryer with mashed potatoes and mixed veggie.

0730 I’m plumb exhausted. Feel crash oncoming. Short of breath and feeling weak. Muscle in body burning. Brain tired and foggy.

0930 apparently I fell asleep in livingroom. Joe woke me up to go to bed. My whole body hurts. Realize I forgot to take morning meds. Probably one reason I conked out early. Lethargic. Hurting from head to toe. Stinging needle pain thru body. Just want to cry.

Skin itchy. Upper back stings. Calves burning. Thirsty. Abdomen crampibg. Headache. Hands swollen and achy.

Jan 30

1230a heard strange noise out back of house. Sounded like someone shooting an air pistol. Woke Joe & told him. It happened again. Joe goes to check things out. Didn’t see anything nor hear noise again.

0200 Joe woke me bc I was keeping him awake. Ugh! Awake most rest of night.

0600 finally fell asleep

0700 alarm went off. Don’t want to get up…need sleep.

0800 decide to get up. Whole body hurts. Low back throbbing. Muscles in body very tight.

0154 finally sitting down for lunch break. My entire back stinging needle pain. Brain fogged. Vision blurring on edges.

0715p difficult to focus & see music notes. Look up and away from piano and see two of Joe! Woah! Not good. Need brain rest.

0720 upper back & shoulders throbbing. Short of breath. Actually getting warm.

Worried about my mom. She has migraine like headache. Gave her list of things that help me. Think she may be having allergy reaction to flouride. Praying for healing. Debilitating pain no fun.

Headache, sinus congestion, eyes hurt and sensitive to lights. Loud noise cause my jump. Tongue feels swollen and is lumpy. Sensitive to things touching my skin. Skin itchy all over…getting worse as I’m attempting to relax before sleep. Hands swollen and achy. Upper arms ache & crampy. I’m exhausted and sleepy. Bloody nose slightly. Stinging needle pain in back. Feet cold. Legs ache. Muscles randomly twitching thru body.

1000 I’m plumb exhausted.

JAN 31

0800 entire back in much pain hard to move. Bad dreams. Rt hip hurts. Hands swollen and achy. Feet little stingy. Hands and lft arm numbish upon waking. Hands, legs, back, and toes stinging needle pain.

0830 attempt to work a wordsearch puzzle. Able to find about five words before vision starts blurring. Now have headache.

0900 decide to fold load of clothes. Arms hurt. Hands ache and tingly. Back throbbing. Laying on back to help ease pain. Tired.

1100 bp at pt 112/78. Tis good. Pt apt review exercises to make sure I’m doing them correctly. Checked vestibular with exercises that would make me dizzy. Walk with head to side then turn head to opposite side. Walk forward with bars doing same. Walk backwards. Side in between bars holding try to stand heal to toe while alternating feet…then add turning head side to side. Had difficulty following instructions. Also eyes didn’t want to follow with head – eyes kept wanting to stay forward. Too too dizzy eyes very blurry on edges. Instructed to rest a while til dizziness subsides but don’t close eyes. My brain was telling me it had enough and just go to sleep. It was hard keeping eyes open. Tried fixating on one thing but eyes didn’t want to cooperate. Told that keeping eyes open while dizzy will help the brain to learn to readjust – which in time will help me somewhat overcome the tbi.

0130 think pt was a little intense today. I’m plumb wore out. Chest hurting. Feel crash oncoming.

0500 apparently fell asleep for couple hours. Still tired. Joe ready to go eat.

0600 ate at Newks. It was nice not having to worry about what to cook. Went to Academy’s to window shop afterwards. Rae volunteered to push me in wheelchair. Guys went one way & us girls went another eventually meeting up in hunting section. In clothing section, I saw a woman’s shoe was untied. I was about to let her know when I looked up and realized she had no head – it was a mannequin!

We had good laugh over it.