Day Nineteen

Monday, February 11, 2008
Yesterday was Suzanne’s mom’s birthday, and Suzanne was able to stand on her own two feet in her honor and memory.
Suzanne last stood, by herself (without a walker) at the podium as she spoke at her mom’s funeral almost five years ago, in May. She hasn’t been able to stand or walk on her own since that time unless she had a walker—and then only a few painful steps around the house. The extreme inflammation and pain in her knees and ankles, as well as new pain and inflammation in her wrists, arms, elbows, and back, has not allowed her to even be able to stand for well over a year now.
Today, she was able to slip down from the hospital bed in our room with a little steadying from me, put both feet on the ground, and she stood there for about 20-30 seconds with her full weight on her knees and ankles—and they held. They hurt, but she was able to do it. This is a sweet triumph for her--for us--for everyone who loves her.
It’s a wonderful thing to have the inflammation receding and to see more definition to her knees. They still look awfully sore and swollen, but they are getting better. We still see a lot of deformity of the joints and damage, yet she still has motion and is able to bend the knees, for which we are grateful.
Her most recent blood tests came back Saturday, and the doctor brought all three copies of the tests since she’s been here at the clinic, and laid them out on the bed, side by side. Since January 25th until February 8th, her potassium count was low (even though she’s been getting tons of potassium in her juices and diet) and sodium levels have been climbing (interesting, since she’s on a no-salt diet). In this last blood test both her sodium and potassium levels are finally both normal, showing that her cellular activity is nearly normal. Wow! Such a BIG thing! Truly the beginning of healing. Crazy, but it took a trip to Mexico to find out this simple, elementary, biological fact. Nothing works unless your cells do. Nobody heals unl ess your cells have a healthy balance.
What has happened since we've been here is that the huge amount of potassium going into her system (before she came and here at the clinic) has successfully entered and displaced a huge amount of sodium that has been accumulating in her cells, for years. When the sodium leaves the cells, the water that the sodium has naturally attracted into the cells with it, goes out with it; hence much of her swelling and edema all over her body is going down. So what is happening here is elemental biochemistry--balancing her system, and giving her a fighting chance to heal.
But our work is just beginning. Now to to properly strengthen her immune system allowing her to heal.
Today, in the dining room, Lynn Johnson, one of the other companions here wrote on the whiteboard where daily announcements are written, "And it came to pass, today Suzanne stood up."
More later. Thanks for all your prayers and love you continute to send our way. We’ll be on our way home, Thursday