Going Public - Oct. 22, 2008

First of all, I want to start off with an apology. A friend of mine this past week said something to me that made me realize I have made a mistake and I need to ask you to forgive me. I have been sick for about a year and a half. It has all been quite weird really---we are just the medical oddity family I suppose. Anyway, most of you are not even aware that I have been sick, and the few of you that do know I have been sick do not know the severity of it. My friend, Cathie Dalzell, said to me, "Anne, if I had lung cancer and didn't tell you, wouldn't you be hurt?" Yes, I would be devastated. I would want to know so that I could love her, help her and pray for her. So...that being said...I'm sick....and I'm sorry I have not shared earlier. I didn't share for a couple of reasons. First. denial is a very comfortable place to be. Second, pride. I don't like being the one in need. I am far more comfortable helping than receiving.

All that being said, I will explain: The ridge vents in our home were installed incorrectly. This resulted in a mold growing in our attic that we were completely unaware of. June of '07 my eyes started swelling and I seemed to be having allergy issues. Things continued to progress until in the fall my lungs were riddled with fungal growths and I had a whole host of other issues. We still were unaware of the cause of my issue until May of '08 when I went into anaphylaxis during allergy testing from aspergillus mold. This prompted an inspector to come to our home who found the aspergillus in our attic. We gutted the house. Literally. Insulation, carpet... you name it. Everything. We thought remediating the house would help me get better.

My diagnosis is Allergic Bronchopulmanary Aspergellosis (ABPA). I have the version called Farmer's Lung. Meaning that I was exposed or saturated at a high level over an extended period of time. We knew the disease was progressive and that I may need new lungs at some point. I have been taking many medications including high doses of steroids for a year and a half. For all you medical people, I'm on 60-80 mg. prednisone daily. Unfortunately, I continue to go into anaphylaxis and was in complete respriatory arrest 3 weeks ago. I am obviously highly allergic to aspergillus now...(that is kind of an understatement). Since it happened at church, the cat was let out of the bag and people started to find out that I was sick. I didn't like that very much. I still don't like it. But what Cathie said rang true in my ears. I would be so hurt if any one of you didn't tell me you were in need.

We really thought ABPA was the complete diagnosis, however my anaphylaxis has been so frequent and severe that it prompted a bone marrow biopsy to check for mastocytosis. That would indicate the mast cells had changed and my body was done for. Praise God that the preliminary results on my mast cells look good, but you guessed it....there seems to be problem with the lymphocytes. The Pulmanologist & Hemotologist/Oncologist think that it could just be a reactive response due to the extreme stress my body has been under trying to stay alive. We won't know for another week if we need to treat with chemotherapy or not. It will depend on what happens with my lymphocytes in lab I suppose.

My sister, Dawn, flew out here Monday. She is flying me to Indiana tomorrow. It is imperitive that I get somewhere with lower aspergillus spore counts. They begin to drop off here in WA late Nov/early Dec. and when they are low enough I will return home. Mike is driving the boys across country with Mike Dalzell. This gives me a vehicle while I'm in Indy too.

Yesterday was a frustrating day because the counts were high and I couldn't breath. After a close call with anaphylaxis in the morning, epinephrine shots and more drugs than should be allowed, I huffed and puffed my way to the hospital. What we thought was another pneumonia was only a really, bad asthma. So that was good. It is under control today and it is wonderful to be breathing and not panting.

So, that is the Reader's Digest version of the last 18 months. I really am sorry I didn't share. I didn't want to face it, and I didn't want people to know I was sick. It was wrong and I see that now. If you would like, I will keep you up to date with my progress while I am in Indy via e-mail, but I don't want to just send it to you assuming you want it. Reply and let me know, k?

Mike has been amazing. He has literally saved my life 3 times. He is, I'm sure in need of support and prayer. As are the kids. It has been quite traumatic for anyone who has seen me stop breathing, but especially the boys and Mike.