Setbacks and Sparks of Hope (2019)

Chapter Seven:

The year 2019 began with momentum.For the first time in years, I could feel life moving forward, not just in inches, but in strides. My body, fragile as it still was, carried me into moments I once thought impossible.

In April, I drove my daughter and her friend to San Diego for the weekend and back. That trip, ordinary for most, was extraordinary for me. Just a few years earlier, I couldn’t walk across a room. Now I was behind the wheel, carrying my children toward adventure, a taste of normal motherhood that I had ached for.

By May, the scale read 130 pounds. Another milestone. Another victory. My doctors decided to try a new challenge: vitamin D3 in its purest compounded form. To everyone’s surprise and relief, my body accepted it. Drop by drop, I was able to tolerate one milliliter… then three milliliters per day. A simple nutrient, something most people absorb without thought, felt like a miracle coursing through me. It was as if my body was slowly remembering how to live again.

But then came, water damage above the front door of my apartment. A leak. An intrusion. A reawakening of the very thing that had nearly destroyed me before: mold.

The setback was swift. Triggers returned, medications increased, and the stability I had fought so hard for began to slip. Still, I fought harder, smarter, with the lessons of survival etched into every breath.

And then came a test unlike any other.

In August 2019, I sustained second- and third-degree burns on my face, neck, arm, and hand. For most patients with Mast Cell Disease, this kind of trauma would have triggered a catastrophic cascade of reactions, flares, possibly even death. My doctors braced themselves. They expected the worst.

But something unexpected happened.I healed.

Not only did I start to heal, I healed quickly. Miraculously. At a rate that baffled my care team. Minimal scarring. Rapid recovery. For the first time, it seemed that my mast cells, usually my greatest enemies, had stepped aside. I was in a fragile state of remission, and the burns became proof of it.

From one of the top four “worst” cases my specialist had ever seen, I was now his number one most improved patient. A transformation so dramatic, it was almost cinematic.

For a moment, it felt as though I had stepped out of the storm.But storms have a way of circling back.

And in June of 2021, the mold would return, dragging me back into decline, and forcing me to face the fight all over again.

The year 2019 began with momentum.For the first time in years, I could feel life moving forward not just in inches, but in strides. My body, fragile as it still was, carried me into moments I once thought impossible.

In April, I drove my daughter and her friend to San Diego for the weekend and back. That trip, ordinary for most, was extraordinary for me. Just a few years earlier, I couldn’t walk across a room. Now I was behind the wheel, carrying my children toward adventure, a taste of normal motherhood that I had ached for.

By May, the scale read 130 pounds. Another milestone. Another victory. My doctors decided to try a new challenge: vitamin D3 in its purest compounded form. To everyone’s surprise and relief my body accepted it. Drop by drop, I was able to tolerate one milliliter… then three milliliters per day. A simple nutrient, something most people absorb without thought, felt like a miracle coursing through me. It was as if my body was slowly remembering how to live again.

But then came water damage above the front door of my apartment. A leak. An intrusion. A reawakening of the very thing that had nearly destroyed me before: mold.

The setback was swift. Triggers returned, medications increased, and the stability I had fought so hard for began to slip. Still, I fought harder, smarter, with the lessons of survival etched into every breath.

And then came a test unlike any other.

In August 2019, I sustained second- and third-degree burns on my face, neck, arm, and hand. For most patients with Mast Cell Disease, this kind of trauma would have triggered a catastrophic cascade of reactions, flares, possibly even death. My doctors braced themselves. They expected the worst.

But something unexpected happened.I healed.

Not only did I heal, I healed quickly. Miraculously. At a rate that baffled my care team. Minimal scarring. Rapid recovery. For the first time, it seemed that my mast cells, usually my greatest enemies, had stepped aside. I was in a fragile state of remission, and the burns became proof of it. Ehlers Danlos, Mast Cell Disease had healed me like super human fast. My treating doctor was amazed at the daily progress and how fast i healed.

From one of the top four “worst” cases my specialist had ever seen, I was now his number one most improved patient. A transformation so dramatic, it was almost cinematic.

For a moment, it felt as though I had stepped out of the storm.But storms have a way of circling back.

And in June of 2021, the mold would return dragging me back into decline, and forcing me to face the fight all over again.

Written By

The Original "Girl In A Bubble"