Two Journeys: One Heart – Memoirs May 30-31, 2022
LS & BC Memoirs – March 25-27, 2022
Treasures in Trials by Amy Sapp
Lightning Strike Journal Entries – July 1-3, 2021
Lightning Strikes Journal Entries 26-27 May 2021
Lightning Strikes 4-6 December 2020
Dec 4
300 woke in extreme pain!!! Sharp stabbing pain in center of chest generates thru to back. Arms & hands burning throbbing.
Applied Vicks to chest & pain eo roller. Took pain rx. I just want to cry loudly :(.
Heated up heating pad to apply to chest. It hurts worse to lie down.
Sinuses acting up too. Took Tylenol sinus. Rt ear throbbing. Thunderstorm not helping either.
Took me over an hour for pain to ease enough that I could get comfortable to lay flat on belly to fall back asleep.
830 overslept but needed the sleep. Low grade fever gone. 98.3
1100p had decent day as long as I didn’t try to lift my hands/arms above my heart. Back on anti-inflammatory meds to ease Costochondritis again. Guess it’s going to take longer than I thought this time. So not the direction I want to be going in.
Started feeling hot around 6pm. Took temp around 8p. It’s. 99.7 – low grade for me.
Could stress be a factor?
Headache, neck aches, back aches, mid back rt side feels seized up and crampy, st hip throbbing, legs ache, legs keep moving, skin itches, hands swollen and throbbing, feet tingling and throbbing. Tired. Upper back stinging. Muscles in back randomly jumping/spasming.
Dec 5
900a our family delivered blessing bags to our local police & fire dpts. Have to make 12 or 14 more bc the one fire dept much bigger than last year. The last we delivered to was also hosting a car show and bbq plate fundraiser for a local resident that has cancer. We walked around looking at the cars, talking with the people, and passing out tracts. Joe did most of talking.
12p Wore me out. Thankful we could buy bbq plates bc I was exhausted and hurting.
Lazy day mostly rest of say. Did manage to jell my marmalade and can it. Tastes scrumptious.
600p bout of runs with tummy hurting. Not sure what caused it.
11p exhausted, tired, and hurting all over. Had to be careful to not move upper body too much or it’d hurt worse. Rest is important but so hard when my mind says I have too much to do.
Let’s just say I hurt from head to toes. Headache, neck hurts, rt ear hurts, hands swollen & throbbing, back stinging throbbing, chest hurts – mostly deep pain with periodic sharp stabbing pain, legs ache, muscle spasms randomly, feet stinging throbbing.
Dec 6
700 woke from strange dream but I can’t seem to recall details. Slight headache. Neck hurts. Whole body aches. Feel blah be humbug today. Need to shake it off.
Joe offered to get lunch prepared for today. Thankful bc I’m moving slow today.
Decided to curl my hair. Had to ask Dezirae for help about 3/4 way through bc my arms tuckered out. That’s progress.
115 lunch was delicious. Ate one plate and I’m stuffed. Tummy feels overfilled. Exhausted and chilly. Feet cold. Put socks on.
300p have lots to do but I’m so tired. Need energy.
Had Jordon help me hang the garland around baptistry & put poinsettias on corners.
430 choir practice made my brain and vision start to go blurry and almost double. Bad headache.
1100 in lots of pain and exhausted
Lightning Strikes – November 5-6, 2020
Nov 5
530 apparently I set my alarm bc I didn’t know when I was suppose to wake. I’m tired. Need deep sleep.
Oldest having financial woes and isn’t handling it too well. This in turn is grieving my heart and stressing me into a headache. May have to show him some tough love. I have such a headache! Took two Tylenol and drinking Stress Relief Tea.
700 decided to take shower to see if it’ll help. Forgot what a chore it is. I’m exhausted, out of breath, arms fatigued and throbbing, whole body throbbing. Tingling burning in legs and feet. Headache still bad. Ears ringing. May have to take a margarine relief. Need to rest a while.
830 two loads clothes washed & hung. One load folded – still need to put away. Cat fed.
1030 Meeting with TBI coordinator, Krystal, went well. Very friendly. She’s coming back out in two weeks. Wants to start working with me on memory & comprehension.
TBI testing rescheduled for January 6 @ 8am. Mtg was about an hour. Headache worse. Chilling tingling sensation down spine. Feet cold. Back is icy to the touch. Tingling sensation in top & center of brain.
1033 need to put dinner in crockpot.
100 exhausted. Heart beating hard and fast. Resting on couch. Head pounding.
300 friend dropped some pecans off for me. Yay! Elliotts.
- “Nightmares are dreams that are threatening and scary. For trauma survivors, though, nightmares are a common problem. Along with flashbacks and unwanted memories, nightmares are one of the ways in which a trauma survivor may relive the trauma for months or years after the event.”
https://www.veteranshealthlibrary.va.gov/142,41554_VA
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/how-trauma-can-affect-your-dreams
1120 very tired. may fall asleep. Hurtingball over. St side cramping. Neck & head hurt. Feet freezing.
Nov 6
700a woke from nightmare. It was awful.
My arms are throbbing. Whole body aches. Feet feel like I’m standing on broken chards of glass. Low back throbbing. Sporadic muscle spasms thru torso & legs. Skin itchy.
930 met ladies at church to decorate for the church photo op tomorrow.
500 body starting to tell me that I did too too much today. Enjoyed being with the ladies though. Headache. Chest throbbing so much it hurts to move. Muscles spasming greatly in middle of back. Had Joe feel it. Hands and wrists swollen and throbbing. Legs throbbing. Feet hurt and tingly. Neck throbbing. Chest feels as if elephant beat me up and sat on me.
1045 getting really sleepy. Drank chammomile tea. Skin feels like ants crawling. Dizzy. Stinging pain in back.
Lightning Survivor Journal Entries 4-6 Dec 2018
Dec 4
10:00 tbi mtg (therapeutic recreation svc- Suzie , Bunny, Misty)
Played apples 2 apples
1:00p – recvd upsetting letter from mtg co. Joe trying to get me to make decision about going to Jackson with him. It’s stressing me out.
2:11p – my brain hurts. I’m exhausted.
2:50p – weird icy sensation inside both ears and head
6:22p- its 72 degrees inside but I’m freezing!!! Not feeling very well.
10:00p – Joe came home gave me kiss said that I feel warm and look like I don’t feel good. Told him I didn’t.
Dec 5
10:30a- not feeling well. Muscles twitching randomly thru body. Fingers throb and tingly. Legs ache.
If I turn too far to the right or left too far my sides cramp up painfully.
1:00p- Joe was sweet and stopped by store on his way home from hunting. He got sprite and ramen soup for me. He got a deer. Yeah!
7:50pm – starting to feel like I’m freezing again!!! Must have a virus or something. Not done much of anything today. Goose bumps everywhere. I’m still in my pj pants, fuzzy socks, & a sweater – still freezing.
10:23pm – painful chilling sensation in center of chest – weird bc I’ve done nothing today. Second thought the only productive thing I’ve done was print and cut letters for bulletin board.
Decided to post to blog today. Every time I work on it my eyes get blurry and I get a headache.
I have mixed emotions looking back. I’m glad I heed advise to journal my days bc I don’t remember alot of things. I’m sad because I wish I could remember without the journal. I’m thankful for the support my family has been to me.
Current medications/supplements:
Propranolol, Zyrtec, Calcium, Magnesium, Probiotic, Turmeric, Naproxen, Flexeril, Melatonin, Edarbyclor, Alpha Lipoc Acid, B Complex, MSM, B12 melt tabs.
11:33p- still awake-even after taking Melatonin. Center of chest throbbing. Headache. Body aches. Fingers hurts. Low back aches. Rt hip aches. Shoulders hurt. Trouble getting comfortable.
Dec 6
8:48a – rough night woke every couple hours. Dream of lost things…last lost thing was my keys. I just had them to open trunk of car, but when I was done they were no where to be found!
Joe woke me up at 5am because he couldn’t find his uniform pants. I wrote note and put it by coffee pot. He didn’t see it yet. Didn’t know it’d take an hour for them to dry. Ugh! So much for trying to be nice. I think he thanked me for trying to take care of him.
Woke to feeling like my skin was crawling with ants on top of head. Not a good feeling. Whole body stiff and hurts. Neck aches. Headache. Stuffy nose. Face hurts. Muscles in legs twitching.
5:00p asked family to help with decor at church. Joe helped me with taking bulletin board down. He also help me put up red foil for backdrop. Traced manger silhouette onto poster board and cut it out. Bulletin board finished just in time for church to start.
7:23p- I am hurting!! Center of chest throbbing pain with center tingling. Neck throbbing and tense. Eyes blurry. Brain foggy. Chest feeling icy. Exhausted.
10:43pm – skin itches all over almost feels like ants crawling all over me. I hurt all over
Journal Entries 25-27 November 2018
Nov 25
6:54am- woke the first time at 5am went to rr and back to bed.
Woke 2nd time at 6:30am. Taking shower was such a chore. Every inch of my chest feels really swollen and throbbing. Head hurts. Thought hot shower would help. I don’t think so…now I’m out of breath and chest feels tighter. Neck aches and sharp pain shoots down back if I move too far in any direction. Might have to ask dr for steroid shot if still hurting by Friday. So tired of hurting all the time. Right now just want to drop my sword and cry for just a while. 🙁
8:00am – I’m gonna have to find $ so I can go back on the propranolol. I’m tired of having headaches twice daily. I don’t like the potential side effects are but until I can figure an alternative I’ll have to take it for now.
Trying to find remedies for yeast overgrowth & balance hormones.
10:30am- Talina tagged me in a post about lightning strike survivors. Made me cry. The article explains what I have trouble explaining.
This explains what I have trouble explaining to folks about my lightning strike anomaly. Reading makes me cry all over again. There are some differences in my experience than what’s in the article, but it sure does help explain some of the after effects that I experience on a daily basis. I wish doctors would study it out enough to better help those who do survive.
I do thank the Lord that His mercies allowed me to live to tell the tale and that they are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
Questions:
How does one replenish the water that was zapped out of you?
11:41 rt foot itches like crazy!
6:15pm – my entire back is throbbing!!
Both hands and wrists so swollen that my loose bracelet iz making indentations in my skin.
Nov 26 – no entries
Nov 27
220a Found tiny bugs on floor by bed. Made me paranoid for a while. Can’t sleep
7:00am Took me long time to fall asle. didnt sleep long. Woke when Joe got in bed from working overnight. He was freezing! Couldn’t fall back to sleep.
Arms & hands were numb and tingly. Slight headache.
9:40am phone interview stressed me out. Lady seemed to be in hurry and didn’t want to give me time to write things down or ask questions to understand what’s going on. Have major headache now and don’t feel too healthy. Indigestion. Center of chest hurts.
11:00am started washing Dezirae’s linens, but had to wait for her to help exchange them between units. Had Jordon pull her bed away from wall so she could vacuum floor under bed. We put D.E. down. She’s been getting marks on her torso that kind of look like strawberry freckles. They don’t really look like bug bites. Precationary measures don’t hurt either.
4:30pm – have to take Jordon to basketball practice & play practice. I think I’ll take Dezirae with me to thrift store before we pick up items Joe asked me to get at grocery store. My favorite store is the bargain thrift store where it’s buy it by the lb!
Found some goodies. Went looking for materials to make door draft stoppers for our house instead of using our clean blankets. Found a dog bed I’m gonna upcycle. Dezirae found a Therapedic electric blanket throw. It’s every soft. Found a few other things too (material to use for homemade presents, binders, clip board, stainless steel mixing bowl, etc). Spent $15. I think we did pretty good!
7:01pm – Headache all day. Toes feel frozen periodically thru day. Center of chest hurts and feels icy periodically.
8:30 – took shower. That was a chore. Seems lately that most things seems to make me get out of breath. Chest is bothering me.
9:00p – decided to work on blog. Need to add couple more posts. I found yet another book I started journaling about my lightning strike in. Good thing I’m working on putting it all in one place. It’s too confusing to keep up with all.
Looking back at even a month after strike – I don’t even remember half of it all. My mind thoughts were sporadic a best. It’s amazing to make sense of it.
10:53p – just discovered I forgot to take meds last night.
Feet are freezing. Thankful for heating pads to warm them up. Neck hurts. Entire back aches. Fingers aches. Center of chest throbbing with sdporadic sharp stabbing pain on left side. Headache (just took migraine pill since others aren’t helping any – oh wait I don’t recall taking any rx pills today. Actually been scatter brained. Started to work on designing postcard invite for church christmas program and ended up finding a website that had christmas programs for free to download. Got 9 or 10 I think plus christmas color pages and activities. Probably saved over $300 for church. Yipee! I love saving every penny I can.
We wouldn’t have been able to survive this long without God helping me learn to live frugally. I’m enjoying the Proverbs 31 Bible study I’m doing with Dezirae right now. It’s pretty interesting.
Eyes are hurting. I have brightness all way down & night owl activated on my phone and phone is still too bright. Wish my headache would go away.
Probably should take a Melatonin and pain rx so i can get some shut eye tonight. Fingers aren’t working right…keeping hitting wrong button and habe to use spell correct. Ugh!
We have busy morning tomorrow. Oh wait I better set my alarm before I forget again dont wantvto wake up late. Need to change battery in key fob. one day I’ll get to it.
11:15 oh, bother. Indigestion has creaped in. Thankful for papaya enzymes.
1250a Joe & Dezirae went hunting. Got a small doe. Yeah! Meat for house.
Ache all over today. Random muscle twitching. Random muscle cramping in calves and thighs. Itchy skin. Hands numb and tingly when I awoke. Feet freezing ice cold for several hours this afternoon. Had to use heating pad couple times today.
