Help Mary walk again

It's the time of year for sharing, and thankfulness.  


It's wintertime now, and I'm homebound again.    

It has been a year of small gains, which I am so grateful for.  Still, I can't wait to regain my mobility.  The powered wheelchair has been awesome for doing everything!  Sadly though, it does not do well in wet weather or snow, so I am once again 'snowed in' for the time being.  It does give me a lot of time to work on therapies and strength building.  I want to be in good shape when I receive the stem cell therapy.  It's not easy to manage your health when you can't get enough exercise, and I am not getting used to this new way of life.

  
Thanks everyone who has shared this before!  I am extremely grateful to have you in my life.  I think of each and everyone of you as a messenger from God, telling me I am on the right path with your encouragement and support; thank you sincerely.


You truly don't know what you got till it's gone. 
           
I would love to take a walk or a hike,
                or even run or ride that bike! 

                        Ha!  I AM a poet.

I am wishing everyone a peaceful and restful holiday season, and I hope you are surrounded by people you love in health and joy.







Here's an update to my story.  I have spent a lot of time adjusting to the new normal of keeping off my feet,  just to save my abilitites until I can get the stem cell therapy.  I have acquired and am now using a powered wheelchair (I'll try to get a photo sometime) and it has been quite useful for going to the store or library, or just about anywhere!  The local transit bus service has a lift, so they can pick me up and take me about town to run the basic errands of everyday life.  Outside those hours, though, I am confined in my house, unable to go outside much.
My family and I, over the last several months, have been doing everything we can to reduce our spending and scale down our monthly bills, so that we will be closer to getting this therapy I need.  We were able to purchase a used stairlift for inside the house to help me with getting upstairs.  We still need one more, but it will come in time.
On the farm, we are down to just the rabbits, and the coyotes have been seen checking out the menu.  I also noticed a lot more insects around the house, like spiders, crickets, and grasshoppers, now that the birds are gone.  It made me realize just how much good the birds do around here.
I have been playing music more often, since I am immobilized, and as soon as I figure out how to record and post video here I will give you a peek.


Remembering the goats of fall.













Hello all,  I am Mary Acker and I have been struggling to heal  Rheumatoid Arthritis for 36 years.  I have been through just about every treatment available during that time, and have had very little lasting success.  Most of the treatments come with severe side effects, and those can last forever or cause  death.  After 15 years of giving myself injections of medications three times a week, I dropped that treatment option after suffering many of the listed side effects, some of which continue today after 12 years of leaving the medications behind.

Recently, my illness has taken my freedom of movement away, by limiting my ability to walk, and that has also led to other physical impairments as a result.  I have lost significant weight, mostly muscle tissue, and have become very weak.  At this time I anticipate using a wheelchair to get around.  This is not acceptable to me, as I feel I should be able to walk and function in this world in a healthy way.  I have a lot of living yet to do, and I don't want to be a burden on my family and friends to help me get by in everyday living.  I have this disease in every joint in my body, and it would be a dream come true to eliminate the constant pain and inflammation it causes.

There is now a treatment available that can help me regain my mobility and free me from constant pain.  It is Stem Cell Therapy.  I know some of you may think this is an unethical choice, but the stem cells in this case would be extracted from my own bone marrow.  I have done the research and have found that this may be the treatment I have been waiting for.  There is no surgery, and no harsh medication to be used after the treatment.  More or less a natural therapy, derived from my own body, Stem cell treatment seems to be my best hope for living a full, unhindered, pain free life.  This treatment is now available in Michigan, where I live, but although I have excellent insurance, this treatment is not covered.
  So, I am asking for help, from my friends and family, and any who would be inclined to support my quest for better health and a better life.  I know it is a lot to ask, but after a recent doctor visit, I was warned that the arthritis affects more than just my joints and can cause problems with my heart, lungs and liver that can lead to death.  I have avoided any and all pharmacy drugs, because of their ill effects that linger with me today, but now is the time I must try to take action before I am put down forever.   I want to continue to do good in this world, as long as I can.

Transportation to and from medical treatment is also desired, if someone local can help in that way.  I am in Northern Michigan, and treatments may be in Grand Rapids.  I have not started the therapy yet, as I await funding sources.

I am forever grateful and thankful for this life and the opportunity to help others find that place in gratitude.
Thanks for listening and for helping me with my quest.


UPDATE

I was thinking about the fact that this downturn in my health and stamina is probably the result of a year of loss, and the stress that is associated with that loss.   Two years ago, I was a lot more  healthy, and raising goats, chickens, rabbits and ducks.  I had no trouble walking with the goats, until last spring when the downturn began.
We used to walk to the lake, and the dog would come along and swim.

Last year, in April, we had a snowfall of 14".  It was kind of late for that much snow, so it was wet and heavy.  There was already a stubborn bit of ice on the winter goat shed, and when that snow on the main roof fell onto the goat shed, it just collapsed with 6 goats inside.  Luckily, we had dog kennel gates and dividers in there that kept the metal from falling on the goats (a metal shed).  This happened as I was going to bed and doing a final check for the night.  That was really stress.  We quickly got them out to another shed away from there, to safety with no injuries.  Hey, that's just one of the things you have to deal with when raising animals, and there are many more.  

Soon after that calamity,  my dog, Maggie got really sick and we had to put her down.   Enough said.




Earlier in the year, in January, our outdoor wood boiler went down.  We found it had water in the firebox, which means it's dead until we can take it apart and weld something, I guess.  Not done yet.  Fortunately we have a wood-fired cookstove in the kitchen, and a fire place in the living room, and a few hydro-electric baseboard heaters, so that got us through so far.

Also in the Spring, right after kidding, one of my mama goats got very weak and sickly.  The vet said it was a deer type of worm, and gave me injections for all the adult goats.  He failed to find out if this was a medicine ok for food producing animals and as a result, long story short, I had to get rid of the goats and could no longer use their milk.
It was about that time also, my health really started going downhill, and my son Rich had to pick up all the slack around the farm.     Thankfully, I was able to find loving homes where they would be useful.  And we did a lot of
trading.

 

In the summer, we had predators of every variety that took our bird and rabbit populations down.  No dog there to protect them, they were ravaged by raccoons, wesals, ospray, eagles, hawks, falcon, horned owl. . . I think that's it.  Out of 20 ducks we were left with 3.  Chickens went from 15 to 1.  So, we harvested those for the freezer.  I don't plan on adding any animals to our flock for now.  We were left with 3 rabbits out of 9.  Right now one had a couple of babies.  We are keeping them inside for now.




Anyway, you can see how all that happenning very close together would cause a tremendous amount of stress, besides all the general stress in the world these days.   And that's why I am having such a serious flare up of RA.

I know this is going to take a while, so if you can't help me right now, I understand.  But, I will be here doing every therapy I can think of, until I have what I need to move forward.  If anyone wins the lottery, try not to forget about my plight.  I will be selling prints and paintings this summer, also.  



Please share this far and wide, so even a small donation can have a big impact.  Thank you for your compassion.