Then & Now

Update & Summary of our year in Japan, 2010:

We have had many changes in our lives through this past year, especially the last half. We have not posted about the major ones yet, so that's what this post is all about.

Quick Summary: Wanda's health declined to the point of an emergency departure from Japan in mid-August. She stayed with Kendra in Indiana resting and trying to regain her strength, while Renae (her youngest sister) came to stay with John in Japan to help out with the children. However, Wanda was unable to make the early-October return date and it became apparent that her full recovery would be long-term, so it was arranged for the children to be escorted home, with John following later after he took care of duties and tied up loose ends in Japan. Where it stands currently, Wanda and the children are still in Indiana close to Kendra, and John is preparing to leave Japan on Dec. 14th to join them. After John gets the camera there, he can post some pictures for you from Wanda's camera from her last few months.

More Detailed Information: Wanda began to have health issues and new/unusual symptoms shortly after arriving in Korea in March 2008. She went to the doctor several times, ended up in the emergency room a few times, and they ran a battery of testing and monitoring on her each time, but could not find anything. A couple months after moving to Japan in June 2009, she returned to the States for a month-visit to empty our house there for sale, and then began full-time intense Japanese classes in Oct. From this time on, she began having progressively worsening erratic symptoms and was always fatigued. However, since many said how hard Japanese is to learn, she figured it was somewhat "normal" and so continued on with classes until Feb 2010 when she physically collapsed and could not return to class. From that point, it was pretty much a constant struggle to function just with every-day tasks. Since all her body (and brain) function levels were down, she had difficulty balancing work and rest and continued to over-exhaust herself regularly. The work waiting to be done was just too much a temptation for her!

This up and down yo-yo effect continued through till June. She tried getting rest, had more blood testing done, but nothing showed up or seemed to help. Sleep did not bring energy. By July, there was a steady decline. By August, she had bouts of difficulty with comprehension and speech. It was during one of these times that Kendra tried talking with her over Skype and grew so concerned that after talking with John, arranged for Wanda's return to the States. Immediately after arriving, the doctor found that she had hypophosphatemia, critically low levels of phosphorus. You may have never heard of this condition before because it is a very rare condition in the US secondary to all sodas and bags of snacks containing phosphorus.(Quick Info on Phosphorus: Phosphorus is one of the 5 necessary elements, like oxygen, to sustain life. All energy production and storage are dependent on phosphorylated compounds, like DNA, RNA, and ATP at the cellular level. A number of things like hormones, enzymes, and cell signaling depend upon it for their activation. Phosphorus also helps maintain the body's acid-base balance (ph), and affects oxygen delivery to the tissues of the body. Phosphorus is one of the electrolytes and long-term imbalances can alter the electrical equilibrium of the cells.)
For Wanda, as we were able to understand the doctor, the hypophosphatemia eventually affected the thyroid function, which in turn lead to adrenal fatigue. As the fatigue progressed, it began to affect her organs & brain in decreased functioning, eventually becoming severe enough that it started to affect her at the cellular level of ATP(adenosine triphosphate.) When this finally occurred and progressed, it began to lead to the body's shut-down...mentally, emotionally, and physically due to lack of the cellular energy needed to sustain life. After a few months of observation and ruling out other diagnoses, the doctor diagnosed her with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well. There is no real treatment for it except for symptomatic treatments. The prognosis is long-term at recovery 6-12 mos or longer.

Looking back, Wanda says that she hadn't even realized herself how bad she really was because her body had ceased to register the majority of the pain & symptoms. Over the past year now, constant & reoccurring nausea, lightheadedness, loss of balance, tremors, severe headaches, and various pains and other symptoms had simply become normal and she just learned to live and cope with them. After weeks of sleep, rest, nutrition, and starting to recuperate, her body is finally coming out of the numbness and beginning to feel much more of the pain. This has not been a fun time for her, and it is a day by day up-and-down hill battle. Overall, she is making progress--however slowly--for which we are thankful! At this point, the timing of our plans mostly depends on Wanda's health, but we hope to move back to the Washington, Illinois area in January if we can get things worked out.

The kids seem to be enjoying themselves back in the States. They have definitely had challenges of their own with culture shock, in addition to the struggles of being split between parents for the past 4 months. But, they are happy to be back. When asked if they prefer the US or Asia, they don't have a definite answer. There are many things they love about Asia, but right now they are also really enjoying things in the States that they did not even remember missing, so perhaps it's still a bit in the "honeymoon" phase! :)

And John is counting down the days to be reunited with the family! (and will likely be making a few more posts before he departs!)

For those of you who have known or heard about our challenges these past few months, thanks for your prayers, assistance, and encouragement! It's been greatly appreciated....God bless you!