I may not have been expecting it, but God knew all along, and He is the only way I’m still going to make my home run! I found out in January that I have early onset dementia, which was a total shocker, but explains a lot of things over at least the last year and now we are questioning even longer. So with having fallen in love with the medical field since 2018 when I began getting involved with my Dad’s Pancreatic Cancer diagnosis, I enjoy researching and learning all I can when someone close to me has been diagnosed with something life changing. Little did I know that this yearning to research and paying attention to every detail of my own body would allow for immediate diagnosis once I finally admitted I needed the help from my functional medicine team!! So after 4 months of obvious signs and intentional awareness of my changes and taking note of them, I saw my Dr and on This first visit he told me I had early onset Dementia. We believe my thyroid was the biggest contributing factor in creating my spiral. I have had hypo-thyroid since I was 10 yrs old, always was on prescription thyroid for 25 yrs, then I transitioned to a natural pork thyroid hormone for 6 years until inflation hit and the cost of my hormone tripled at the same time we were low on cash so I switched to a natural beef thyroid hormone and turns out-it did not work with my body. I had taken my bloodwork before beginning the transition so I could have a marker and my bloodwork looked good and I knew how I needed to feel so I made the switch. Well it was as if my body had zero thyroid for 18 mths by the time of my diagnosis. And the last 4 mths before the diagnosis were the most obvious signs and when things finally caught my attention.
So I began brain therapy right away and am coming up on my 6 mth mark where we will see if things are holding or have progressed. I’m curious and nervous because things are emotional, but everytime I get down-I simply remind myself that God is in control and He can use me for His glory in this too!!! I don’t need to understand how or why, just be willing.
Psalm 119:105
I forgot the reason I wrote this post so I’m following up a few days later. Since I was diagnosed, it is so unbelievable because I’m only 43, I just have a hard time admitting to the label, but the symptoms are very real. So since being diagnosed, I have been telling people one by one and letting them know how much they mean to me just to be certain that I had told those who really mean something special to me so I am confident I have told them before I’m unable for whenever that time comes. Well a HUGE blessing happened the other day as we attended the graduation party for one of our sweet foster girls, all the family-without knowing my condition-thanked us as they always have all these years. But this time, the kids were mature enough and are adults and they also expressed their own personal graditude and it was so beautiful, not that they thanked us, but that they have not let what happened in their life define them, but that they are working hard to be good people in this world! Such an amazingly beautiful story that we are still so honored to be part of! We love their entire family and continue to pray for them and look forward to all the invites we hope to continue to get into their lives!
