So What Now...

I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything since Mom and Dad returned home...We're in back-to-school preparation mode down here, and with kids going into kindergarten, second grade, fifth grade, and seventh grade, I am slammed with lists of things to do and buy.

Thank you all so much for your comments, both on this blog and to me and my family in person.  It means so much to all of us, and I encourage you to become a follower of this blog and leave your comments, questions and prayers for Mom.  Several people have asked me what happens now.  So I thought I'd fill you in as best as I can...

Dr. Karam, the doctor in El Paso who did the stem cell treatments on Mom last week, has sent her samples and results to some heavy metal expert doctors at Emory University, as well as to the CDC.  They are studying Mom's metal exposure, comparing it to other patients and analyzing it, in the hopes of finding the source of her contamination.  They are particularly interested in the cadmium, since it is the third most toxic element in nature behind plutonium and uranium, but they are also looking at the lead and mercury.  This may take weeks or months to learn anything, and the fact is that we may never know where all of this came from.  One theory is that Mom growing up in Schenectady and Glens Falls, New York, near several factories, may have been exposed  to these metals at some point in her youth.  Dr. Cohn, the holistic doctor in North Carolina who first tested her for the metals and has been doing chelation therapy to remove them, has explained that some people just hold on to metals for some unknown reason. Mom could just be one of those people who was exposed at a young age, has been hanging on to them for all of these years, is now seeing the devastating affects of them, and needs help getting them out.  She will need a lot of chelation, 30 plus treatments, to rid her body of these toxins.  Mom will resume chelation therapy in a few weeks, once the stem cells have had a chance to do their thing. Our hope is that through the removal of the metals and the boost of good stem cells to target areas, this disease can be halted or delayed.

We do have a prayer request to share, along with the prayers I know you already lifting up on Mom's behalf.  Mom no longer has health insurance, and even when she did, the chelation treatments were not covered. The cost of it, along with the stem cell treatments last week, are exorbitant.  As of October 1st, Mom will be receiving Medicare coverage.  Dr.'s Cohn and Apgar will be helping Mom to get Medicare to cover these treatments, but it will probably be a fight.  Please pray that Medicare will immediately cover the expenses of Mom's treatments without question or delay.

Home at last...

I just wanted everyone to know that Mom and Dad made it home safely late yesterday afternoon.  It was a long day of travel for Mom after a long week undergoing the treatments in Juarez, so she was exhausted when I talked to her last night. She was happy to be home, and thankful for all of the birthday wishes yesterday!  Pray that she'll be able to rest and recover these next few days, that the stem cells will do their job, and that the doctors in El Paso and Atlanta figure out the mystery of the Cadmium and plot a course for how to get it out as soon as possible!