The Silver Lining

I've always loved pine trees.  There's just such a feeling of peacefulness, communion with God, or being "at home" when I am walking through the pines on the farm, surrounded by tall trees that soar straight up to the blue skies, a soft carpet of rust-colored needles muffling my steps.  When the breeze blows, the needles on the trees seem to whisper into the air, a soft rustling sound that is pleasant to my ears.    When we moved to our current home, I was delighted to see a few stately pine trees in the yard.  While picking up pine cones is one of David's least favorite activities, I don't mind them at all!  (Guess which one of us mows the yard!)  I remember as a child, picking up pine cones to use in decorating for the fall and holiday season.  Craft time often involved gluing glitter on the tips of the cone, or creating pine cone "turkeys" by poking multi-colored construction paper "tail feathers" into the larger end....

12   The Chatty Sister Must Now Shut Up / SENTENCES As of July 20, 2018 So at last I had a definitive diagnosis. Let me share a little bit about that, to give a bit of perspective and information. Myasthenia Gravis is relatively rare.   There are many variances to the disease, which gives it the description of being a “Snowflake Disease.”   The particular variant I have is called Anti-MuSK antibody myasthenia gravis.   It is part of a subset group called Seronegative MG.    Seronegative means that I did not test positive to any of the initial blood tests.    In clinical terms, that means there are no detectable antibodies to the acetylcholine receptor. (Clear as mud, right?) The next step was a test for MuSK – this meant another blood test, looking for antibodies against muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) receptors.   These receptors are a surface membrane component that is necessary in the development of neuromuscular j...

July 15-20 Sunday morning.  We were supposed to be headed to the beach for a week.  We’d been planning it for months.  Normally, I would have already had everything packed but I hadn’t had the energy or ability to even collect my thoughts about it. Just as well. I wound up in an ambulance, going back to the hospital in full Myasthenic Crisis.  I remember the paramedic reading up on MG as we rode.  He continually monitored me, spoke soothingly to me.  I squeezed the pump respirator, trying to force enough air into my lungs to breathe.  By the time we arrived at the hospital, I was too exhausted to care much.  I don’t remember much about Sunday once I was taken into the ER.  I vaguely remember a chest x-ray.  David said I was nauseous but I don’t remember throwing up.  He also mentioned that the resident doctor I had been assigned in my previous visit checked on me but I have no recollection of seeing her.  ...