Tag: healing

Pneumonia and Gratitude!

November 24, 2023

Pneumonia and Gratitude!

The end of October was supposed to be so exciting!  Gym had an employee & family fall festival scheduled – I was super excited about that because three of my family members are also coworkers and the girls had planned their goodies and costumes.  Our church had a Trunk or Treat – the first one Christina didn’t have classes on and was actually able to decorate her trunk (the back of the 4Runner).  Two weekends after was to be a concert at our church I wanted to attend. 

There was a stomach bug passing around in the local schools.  I ended up with that and usually I don’t get sick, but that tossed me out.  I was throwing up and had a really high fever.  Our O people didn’t really get sick, or if they did, it was sniffles and no fever.  (Louis is totally convinced that the blood type has a huge impact on how you are sick – after this last two rounds, I’m sure it has a factor.)  Kimberly and I were down two days (one feeling horrid, and 24 hours after the last fever).  It was fighting the fight of “stay hydrated” and “make sure I’m putting something in my stomach” when everything was coming back up! 

Done, that cleared everyone.  Got back to work (ended up missing all of the events, sadly). 

I got it again!  The following weekend the bug came back!  I had a high fever and all the stomach issues Saturday morning, starting about two in the morning this time.  It was faster to the finish (fever broke about 14 hours instead of fevers back and forth for a full day), but I was so worn out!  Then I started feeling my lung.  I was coughing and it hurt so bad to lift my arm.  It felt like the pneumonia I’d had back in 2018.  In brief, I’d ended up with “asthmatic allergic reaction to black mold” at the same time as pneumonia and it took about 4 doctor visits before I ended up in the hospital fighting that – I’d been told by the pulmonologist back then to be careful that it would be easier for an infection to turn into pneumonia. 

I went to a clinic.  Yes.  Pneumonia, but the scan showed something really amazing!

**Back up about three months when we got our property** (Oh, yes, we are clearing land!!)…

I was out working, dragging limbs and clearing brush like the workhorse I remember being back when we had our farm.  No getting winded after a little workout, no coughing, no stopping to make my body take deep breaths.  I thanked God for healing my lungs!  It felt so great! (back in 2018, I had been told the scarring on my lungs would probably not heal: “never be back to 100%”)

**Back to the story**

The doctor said the scan showed that the “secondary damage” was completely gone! (Scarring of my lungs)  The tests showed full use of my left lung, the only reason the right was low was because of the pneumonia!  I was so excited!  Even though I already “knew” it was nice to be confirmed! 

God is amazing!

I’m so grateful for the way He made our bodies so they heal with His touch!  I can workout!  (I had started trying to after Thea was born in 2019, but it was slow going and I’d feel my limit fast – I had to bicycle “slowly” and stop to take deep breaths to make my body stop “panicking”)  I’d been doing slightly more in workouts in the last three or four months and had last used my inhaler just before Laud’s birth.  

Thank you, Jesus, for healing my lungs!  It’s so cool that two infections ending up with pneumonia cumulated with a confirmation that my lungs are healed!  The doctor was like, “usually pneumonia is treated in the hospital if you are allergic to these antibiotics (yes, the two “outpatient” drugs I’m allergic to), but we can try two days of outpatient with these” (some “stronger” antibiotics that he warned were harder to control because they both cause dehydration & you have to keep eating probiotics because they “clean your gut out”)

Daily probiotic protein shake, check. It contains iron so had to be four hours after and before the every twelve hour pill.

Greek yogurt on the other twelve hour window, check.

Super focus on hydration, check.  (When I’m fighting something, I log medicine, vitamins, liquid intake, and food intake because it helps me not forget to eat and drink.)

Managed to not go to the hospital this time, check!! – And I’m all done now.  No coughing, nothing!

God, I am so thankful for Your healing!!

Thank You for the wisdom you gave the doctors.  Thank You for the miraculous way You designed our bodies.  Thank You for health and restoration in my body!

Thank you for reading,

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

Powerfully Thankful!

Have you ever been so overwhelmed with thankfulness that it makes you cry? #AwesomeBirthdayPresent #HealingMiracle #JesusTheGreatPhysician #Reflection

February 23, 2022

Powerfully Thankful!

Have you ever had a day that blew you away with the power of God and made you cry because you are thankful?

I’ve had quite a few since December 1st. God keeps doing amazing miracles and making me thankful – like December 10, 2021 when God saved Louis from being crushed in an accident on the interstate and December 11, 2021 when God saved my sister from dying in an accident.

Today, I’m just so thankful! A young man my family is very close to got sick on Monday – we all prayed for him. Last night (actually early morning today just after midnight), Louis led us praying that when the doctors went to do surgery, they’d find that he was healed. He asked God to touch his body and heal him completely as He is The Great Physician.

This morning, we were told he was waiting for final testing and would go into surgery. It made me so sad – I could only think of how my heart would be ripped apart if this was my Kimberly I was praying for. I love this young man and have seen God constantly work in his life. I know God can heal everything – he made the entire universe with words he spoke; He can touch a human body and repair it. In His will. That is the toughest part for me as a mom; my mind and heart fight over why God would think that my baby sister dying or a child being seriously injured or a young man slowly withering away because of a genetic disease is in God’s will.

Faith. Trust. Hope.

My faith reminds me that if I can trust God for salvation, if I can trust that the gravity and physics he set up will remain, then I need to trust His will in my life and, yes, my children’s lives and my friend’s children’s lives. Trust and pray in everything.

I have hope in that I know I will see my baby sister in heaven. I know I will see Gideon and my Daddy running and jumping and playing dodgeball and kickball in heaven. (Hey, those were favorite games so why not?) My hope is in Jesus.

When the report came back, this young man’s test came back with healthy! No surgery. Healthy on other tests for other organs! I was so happy! God, what an amazing, perfect birthday present!

I’m so thankful for healing, for life, for love, for family, for friends. So many things God has given us to enjoy – beautiful days (I bicycled to work Monday morning, we finally hung the Christmas gift swing yesterday), discovery (finding shoes Lucas hid because he prefers being barefoot), goofy games (trying to keep assorted Thea birthday balloons in the tiny square made by the couches and the wall by batting them with longer balloons), amazing gifts (homemade sugar-type m&m cookies are my favorite and I LOVE roses), traveling mercies (thankful Louis and Becca are alive), late night giggles (my favorite sounds even though I have to say, “girls, go to bed!”), healing (too many times to list!)… this list is endless.

Thank you, Jesus, for your amazing miracles!

Today, I’m so thankful, I cried.

Reflect on what amazing miracles God has done in your life and that will surely make you smile too!

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

Miracles!

May 25, 2019

Miracles!

 I haven’t been writing for my blog often.  I’ve been very busy lately!  (And yes, the picture is an old one, like 4 years ago, but it’s one of my favorites of Becca & Anastasia.)

This past week was totally amazing in how God just orchestrated things to work out for good.

If you’ve been reading, you probably know my little sister has been going through some rough medical challenges.  Read this if you don’t know about it.  (Okay, she’s always going to be “my little sister” to me, even though she’s a very competent adult.)  On Wednesday, my Mom texted me at work (she was playing taxi for Becca) with awesome news!

God had closed up one of Becca’s varicose veins!  But she was already prepped for surgery and had prepaid for it so the Doctor said they’d do the worst vein on the other leg.  That was so amazing!  Actually, they scared her to death before telling her it was good news.  The nurse with the Doppler says “stop talking” and moves the Doppler around with a serious face.  Becca’s heart jumped into her throat.  Then she sets the wand down.  “Let me get the Doctor.” And then Becca had to find her calm place and bite her tongue as they both moved the Doppler stuff around and made comments like “I see it” and “yes, that’s odd.”  Becca said finally the nurse says to the Doctor, “shall I tell her, or do I?” and then they told her it was gone.  They offered, since she was already prepped, to just start in on the other leg (the worst, largest vein) so of course, Becca said yes.

The second miracle happened two days later.  Anastasia has been severely allergic to eggs all her life.  Like so allergic she needs an EpiPen and can’t touch anything that touched eggs.  We have chickens, so you’d think our house was a definite no-no, but we are very diligent about keeping her away from our eggs and washing everything (hands, countertops, etc) to keep any contaminates from her.  And we bake cookies, breads, ice cream, and cupcakes without eggs anytime she’s over.  She’s really good about asking if it has eggs in it.  (Louis picked up a cookie snack from Aldis when she was shopping with us & she asked, “does it have eggs?” so we put it back and Christina made eggless cookies instead.)

Anyway, so much for backstory… at the end of school, the school gives back all medications to the parents.  Normally, that’s on the last day, but they almost gave Anastasia’s EpiPen back on Thursday instead.  Her Dad wisely didn’t take it; he told them her Mom would get it on Friday.

So her EpiPen was at school for the party day.

And that was when she needed it.  She misunderstood somehow and thought the cupcakes were eggless, so she ate one and two bites into it, her body rejected it and it ended with her in anaphylactic shock.  Although she had to go to the hospital, my brave 5-year-old niece recovered fine.  Becca raced from work to get to her.  The paramedics let Becca drive her to the hospital and she was admitted with a “severe level 5 reaction” so the doctors had to observe her in case her reaction returned as the medicine wore off.  (It didn’t.)  The Doctor was extremely helpful and handed Becca his card, which had John 3:16 written on it!

God lined everything up so that Anastasia would have her medicine and get just the right care.

Our family has felt the love of God and amazing miracles in the prayers, support, and love from all of you!  Please continue to keep Becca in your prayers!  I just had to pass along how awesome our week had been in the way God had been letting Becca feel His presence through these challenging moments.

God always has our best.  We give Him our lives with all of our stuff and He blesses us with His constant love and care.  He shows us love and grace and we are the hands, feet, and arms of Jesus on Earth.  Sometimes we are the givers and sometimes receivers.  And sometimes God shocks everyone with something totally unexpected like healing something in our bodies!

Thank you God, for Your warm arms gathering my little sister and her baby in Your tender care!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Fighting the “Silent Killer”

My little sister has a big fight ahead: Spreading her story is one way I can help.

May 6, 2019

Fighting “the Silent Killer”

For the past few months, we’ve been praying and hoping as Becca, my sister, went from doctor to doctor, clinic to clinic, and eventually the hospital over an unknown infection that was bothering her on her leg.  They said it was ringworm, an infection from “dirty water at work,” a spider bite, etc.  She heard everything but none of the treatments seemed to help; most only caused severe pain where there hadn’t been pain.  Her main complaints were a growing discoloration, open wound that wouldn’t heal, and itching.

Last week, on Friday, May 3, 2019, she finally had a serious answer.  A wound specialist here in Saint Augustine told her for sure (results of several tests) that what was causing her leg problems was a condition that usually affects those over 55 – burst varicose veins causing blood clots.  This is often called “the silent killer” because there aren’t any painful signs.  If left untreated, the blood clots begin to travel.  Once a blood clot reaches a vital organ, it causes death.

Doppler tests (like a sonogram) showed several blood clots.  Three are already traveling.  The specialist stressed immediacy.  Becca was glad to have an answer, but she had no clue how she could pay for the six (6!) surgeries needed as soon as possible.  Without counting medications, aftercare such as dressings, lack of income from missing work, and the looming bills from previous misdiagnoses, she will need $18,000.

Then a series of God-orchestrated tumblers began to fall; family volunteered to help, Becca found she could “cash in” her vacation time for an emergency, and her credit card limit increased – she was able to gather enough funds to start one of the six surgeries.  Her first one is scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, 2019.  We are praying and believing God will guide the surgeon’s hands, heal Becca, and cover medical costs for her.

Several of us suggested using “GoFundMe” as I always help when I see one local.  Becca didn’t want to ask; so we decided to do it for her.  We love our sister and although, yes, I’m sure over time she’d make it work – she needs this now.  Without having a big enough fund to grab into, we have each other.  Each of us, giving what we can, helping as she does for us, we can all pull together and help Becca.

The reason we like “GoFundMe” and local networks that ask for help is because it shows the power of each of us in our community.  One woman needs help moving – pretty much has the whole job packed and moved in a weekend.  My midwife is constantly letting us know about moms, babies, or families in need: I always try to give.  Becca always gives.  I find hope in seeing people help each other.  I enjoy helping at food pantries and raising money for charities.  I love these because everyone’s little bit helps to make big things work.

Becca started crying tears of gratefulness when she realized people donated shortly after we set it up.  Thank you for showing our community’s heart.  This is how we fight the silent killer.

Please pray for Becca now and if you can, please consider donating.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Spring Blessings

March 24, 2019

Spring Blessings

March 20th was the official first day of spring.

I live in Florida, so “Spring” as we see it means beach weather – at least for those of us who don’t consider 70 degrees too cold for sand, surf, and sun.

The flower bulbs are coming back.  The songbirds are singing and making nests.  The woodpeckers in the Maple tree are arguing about who gets the best insect hole.  My baby Thea is a month old (on the first day of spring & two of her aunts’ birthdays).  I’m shifting from part time to full time at my office job.

This job is a God-sent blessing anyway (read that story here); increase of hours = increase of income and that is super sweet!

Anyone seen White Christmas?  Bing Crosby sings “Counting My Blessings” and that became a theme song in my head.  Songs will pop into my head when I think certain things… I’m just musically wired… auto-correct tried to put in “weird;” maybe weird is the right word!

So, I’m “counting my blessings” this spring:

Job with a growing company where I get to take my Baby Thea to work with me! (Thank you, Jesus!)

Dream job where I get to teach and encourage young athletes while working out and having fun.  (Thank you, Jesus!)

Health, (finally!) as I’ve found a technique that works to keep my black mold allergy from turning to throat-constricting asthma. (I can keep it at just a post-nasal drip, which is irritating, but not debilitating.)

Family.  I live for family.  (Why I haven’t been writing for a bit… busy with jobs, helping sisters, and spending time investing in family.)

Finding a church we hope to be able to call “home” as our church closed.  (Louis’ cousin and several friends attend there.)  We’ve been three times and most of the kids like it so far.

Spiritual growth in my girls.  Watching that bloom is the best!

Provision.  We have a house to rent, food to eat, and gas to get us to and from work.  Paying back debt and then shifting focus to our long-term goal of saving for our own house.

Thank you, Jesus, for the blessings in my life!  Thank you for healing, love, family, and life!

I’m enjoying a jolt of energy from counting my blessings, what about you?

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Looking for Positive

April 18, 2018

Looking for Positive

Sometimes it is hard to stay positive. I’d like to believe that I’m always thinking about how whatever I experience is working toward God’s glory and find a positive attitude, but that just isn’t reality. It is still a struggle for me to not drop myself into negative thoughts, worry, and the downward, hard-on-myself spiral that leads into depression.

For instance: I just got out of a three-day hospital stay for what I consider the silliest thing ever – an asthmatic allergic reaction to black mold.

History: I’d been sick since the day after our van was busted in (February 19, 2018) with what I originally thought was a cold. March 1, I went to the clinic, transferred to the ER, and diagnosed with pneumonia. Major allergic reaction (common for me is body-covered-in-chicken-pox-like-rash) to my antibiotic after 9 days led to another clinic visit because it appeared to be affecting my breathing too. They did a breathing treatment and gave me an inhaler. April 3, I went back to the clinic because I was not being able to breathe again. Breathing treatment, felt great, finished my responsibilities for that evening and woke up on the 4th almost unable to breathe. ER again. New diagnosis – no pneumonia, mild upper respiratory infection. New antibiotic, steroid, and same inhaler with orders to use it more.

On April 12, I’d finished the antibiotic, the steroid, and the inhaler. The next afternoon, I went to the clinic because I was struggling to breathe again and was, for the first time, coughing up colored (infected) mucus. They did two breathing treatments and reissued the inhaler.

On April 13, about midnight, I was unable to breathe again. I could feel there was space, but the air seemed to get “caught” just at the base of my neck. I felt my heart rate racing. My head kept trying to make me panic. My mind and lungs felt like I was at the bottom of a wave underwater with the air in sight but no way to get to the air. I kept praying for God to open up my lungs. Louis came home and instantly took me back to the ER. This time I almost fainted getting to the door; I almost passed out several times but kept forcing myself not to because I thought it was “mental” and I should be able to “handle it.”

The admitting doctor said I had “septic pneumonia” (this meant the pneumonia had gone “septic” and traveled in my body) and was reacting to the double breathing treatment & inhaler. (Side effects were listed as heart palpitations, etc.) He issued an IV antibiotic which caused a severe reaction (fever, my whole upper body went red, my larynx swelled, etc). That was scary! So I ended up in ICCU. That wasn’t accurate, but it was their first guess.

The final diagnosis was an asthmatic reaction to black mold. The pneumonia had been cleared in March, but a “small” infection was still “sitting” in my upper respiratory tract. The pulmonologist (lung specialist) said it was a reaction to something that had entered my “life” in or before December. New pet for Christmas? Nope. But when we turned off our Air Conditioning to save money in November, we discovered as we lost the A/C’s dehumidifying effect that we had black mold in the rental house. We’d saved for a few months to get a dehumidifier (in February, just after I got sick with the cold/pneumonia) and dried the house up. All the mold was cleaned and gone… except for our bed mattress. We’d attempted drying and cleaning it, and thought we’d done it, but it was a foam mattress and therefore didn’t completely dry.

I HAD BEEN SLEEPING ON THE ALLERGEN!

That made perfect sense. I’d always felt worse in the morning, it’d clear up some at work, if I laid down for a nap (trying to rest so I could get better) I felt worse.

Louis burned the mattress. (He was mad that something so stupid had almost “lost me” and I was like “just throw it away” but it was almost new and he didn’t want anyone to pick it up and use it.) He winked, “the Bible says you burn mold.” Boys… and I couldn’t argue with that.

As I was feeling better (actually, all through this sickness), I kept seeing dollar signs every time a CNA, nurse, or respiratory therapist came in the room to scan my bracelet with a new medicine. We have catastrophic insurance, but that means we have to find $15,000 before our insurance will pay anything. The clinic visits were $75 each, and we had only just started trying to pay from the first hospital visit (so far, $1200, but there may be another bill from March). We had to save for a dehumidifier… we don’t even have money saved to move to another home. (Although, we like our rental house, but Louis says we’ll drop it in a heartbeat if my breathing issue comes back.) So, it was hard to see positive while in the hospital.

I had to try to stay positive; I kept reminding myself that God says a cheerful heart does good like medicine. (Thus, outside of a gem of a Matlock show mentioned next to the Sunday paper crossword, I didn’t want to watch the TV.)

Becca, one of my sisters, brought a book I devoured. It was “In This House we will Giggle” by Courtney DeFoe. One of the volunteers on Sunday saw me doing the crossword and brought three word searches with blank white backs!

WRITING PAPER!!

One was filled with the outline for number five in “The Devonians” series (probably will be called “Convincing the Council,” but I haven’t decided yet). The other two became my journal pages with notes, quotes, Bible verses, and thoughts from or inspired by this awesome “Giggle” book. The whole idea of that book in a nutshell is this: Mom, release your worry, perfectionism, and expectations to God and learn how to choose to rejoice in everything so you can set a joyful example and cultivate godly virtues in your children. I loved reading about someone who was like me. I read that book from cover to cover four times before midnight.

On the way to pick up the girls from college the next day, I listened to one of my favorite Radio teachers, Chip Ingram. God must be making sure this message gets through because Chip’s message was about giving everything up to God, accepting that in whatever way God chooses to heal us, modern medicine (God taught us that), unexplained miracles (I’ve seen those too), or health and nutrition changes (that’s my lifestyle anyway), the glory is all still God’s.

God is more concerned with our attitude during our struggle than the outcome.

This reminds me of a character in “The Robe” (great movie): She’s a cripple who is telling the Roman “infiltrator” about her journey from bitterness to joy. He says, “but why didn’t Jesus just heal you?” She replies, “then I would be expected to be joyful, wouldn’t I?” BOOM.

God has shown us what the underlying cause for my continued illness. Thank you Jesus! I can avoid it.

God has shown me that my nutrition was fine. (The Dr said my body had enough nutrition it should have fought off the infections easily, even my iron levels were good.) Amen!

I met a nurse who has a 16-year-old homeschooled son and that greatly encouraged me in my family’s homeschool journey.

God has led us to wisdom and we’ve removed danger before it affected any of the children or Louis.

God will provide a way for us to financially cover this bill (even though it’s like a year’s rent – I can trust Him to provide us a means to pay it off). Just like we trust Him for day-to-day needs, He will cover this one too.

This is my brother’s birthday and he’s coming down this weekend – and I’m so much better than I’ve felt since January! Thank you, Jesus! My throat is clear so I can sing, my ears aren’t clogged, and my nose is open so I can smell!

I am a vendor at the Family Fun Fest in downtown Saint Augustine on the 28th of April and I’m going to be feeling awesome instead of tired and run down! I have such a positive air of expectation about this show (have since we signed up in November) and want the girls to have fun! Thank you, Jesus!

I refuse to allow the devil to draw me down into depression this time. I will find blessings in this mess (there are many!) and praise God through it even when I don’t feel like it. Let the challenge to find positivity begin!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Double Break

Once upon a time, the princess had a double break

July 12, 2017

Double Break

Once there was a princess.  She was seven years old and she loved climbing in trees.

She had a pretty purse her aunt had given her for her birthday.  For four months, it had never left her arm.

She also had a favorite pair of shoes.  Not active, sturdy, outside shoes, but dressy magic boots so worn out that the bottoms were falling off (mom had tossed them into the trash can multiple times, but magically they appeared back on Jaquline’s feet).

It was the end of a long, fun day.  Mom called everyone in for dinner.  It was almost 7pm.  Jaquline, Jillian, and Kimberly decided to play one more game of tag.  Jaquline raced to climb up base (the tree) and got about 5 feet up before her shoes slid, purse got caught, and she fell.

Echoing through the neighborhood was the type of pain scream that Moms dread.

Within 5 minutes, Christina had gathered the other 4 kids into the SUV, while Rebeccah (with her awesome bedside calming manner) soothed Jaquline and Mom carried her into the vehicle.  We could see one of the breaks easily – it looked like a crumpled, tiny T-Rex arm had grown just above Jaquline’s right wrist.

Mom sped to the hospital.

Christina called Daddy so he could meet them there (he was at work).  Jaquline had her call Grandma so she could pray with her.  Rebeccah sang funny songs and told jokes while she held Jaquline’s body and arms still.

Jaquline had broken her right distal ulna and radius (within 2 inches of the wrist joint is “distal”) in a “closed break” (it didn’t break skin, but was “compound” because the break was completely through the bone – in 3 places on both bones) and her left distal ulna was broken, distal radius cracked, and scaphoid (a wrist bone) dislocated.  She told every doctor, nurse, and CNA who came in that as she fell she didn’t want to hit her head or neck, back, tummy, legs, so caught herself with her arms.  When they gave her some “funny juice” to make her not feel the pain while they snapped the bones back in place, she told us about unicorns, a palace in the clouds, and flying.  She told the doctor that “God is sewing my bones back together.”

She was limited (barely! she was still only for the first few hours) for a few weeks in two casts.  We had to keep telling her she was a princess and couldn’t get up off the couch (this was the first time she didn’t want to be a princess).  She had the right cast on for an additional three weeks.

There were many miracles during this time.  First, God put strong, capable medical staff in our path.  Several even prayed with Jaquline.  Jaquline’s bones started knitting back together quickly.  At her 6 week appointment (removal of second cast), her x-rays showed complete healing.  The doctor said “normal” regrowth would have been 1.5mm, Jaquline’s was over 5mm.  There was a bone “spur” (part angled out that wasn’t straight, it looked like a bump on the bone) but by the 3 month appointment, it was completely gone.  They were concerned about range of motion in her wrists, especially the right one because of being in the casts so long, but that was fine too – she did hand and finger exercises every day.  (She did all kinds of stuff every day!  We moved while she was in her casts!)

We learned a lot about our bones, how our bodies heal and grow, and about the various medical professionals who were part of helping Jaquline.  She is considering orthopedic medicine because “I want to help people like my doctors and nurses helped me.”

The picture is from the one week when she had matching purple and pink camo casts (the nurse even put glitter on one).

Although she hasn’t been climbing many trees lately, she’s back to 100% and has learned a lot through this adventure.  She taught us about her faith in God.  She never even considered that her bones wouldn’t grow back straight or that she wouldn’t be able to “work” her thumbs and wrists.  She always trusted God and never quit trying.

I learned about the faith and determination of my Princess Jaquline.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

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