Jenny Martin's Hope for Healing

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 This verse has become very real to me in the last month as I’ve been given hope that there is treatment that will bring lasting results and I may once again be able to live life to the fullest with renewed health and vigor. The road of chronic illness has been long and challenging and at times hopeless. In 2010, watching my life, my future plans, the very core of who I was crumble before my eyes, I had no idea just how long and hard the next 8 years would be. Or how severely I would be tested and tried as life as I envisioned and planned just continued to fade away as my physical health declined more and more. During a 3 month stay overseas, extreme stress and trauma along with Dengue Fever in 2010, pretty much wiped out my white blood cell count and was the beginning of a slow but drastic decline in health. In 2012, I suffered a severe gastritis attack from which I plunged into the world of debilitating fatigue, unexplained weight loss and severe brain fog. In the spring of 2013, I finally received a positive Lyme Disease diagnosis. I began treatment that lasted for about a year. While I noticed significant improvement, I didn’t fully recover. Fatigue, brain fog and insomnia became constant companions. The downward slide picks up speed: In 2016 I moved to Baltimore to work in a daycare center there. About 2 months after beginning to work at the daycare, I suffered severe insomnia and slipped into a deep depression. Two months of working full time with very little sleep brought about debilitating fatigue, extreme air hunger, and increased brain fog. One afternoon I collapsed with severe dizziness for about 5 hours. My life hasn’t been the same since that time. Unable to work, I moved back to my parents. I began treatment for a Lyme Disease co-infection. After 2 months of treatment I was not recovering. Anxiety, insomnia, fatigue was a suffocating cloud over my life. Hardly able to do more than lay in bed and the very basics personal care, I was sure I was dying. At that time, I began working with a functional medicine practitioner who put me on a multitude of supplements and a very strict diet. I began to see some improvement. Spring of 2017, 6 weeks in North Carolina and 3 months in Colorado brought about significant improvement and I rejoiced and thanked God for healing.  In September I began a full-time job, but within 2 months I was so fatigued I had to leave the job.  The beginning of 2018, I tried a part time position but after 10 weeks of working I was beginning to sense that I couldn’t even handle 12-15 hrs. of work per week. At that time, I was exposed to an air freshener in a car and that chemical exposure sent me right back to where I was the fall of 2016. Hardly able to function. Plagued with insomnia, anxiety and debilitating fatigue once again. The last 10 months have been long and difficult. There have been some improvements and steps forward along with many set backs and steps backwards. I’m still unable to work. At times in the last 2 months I could hardly do more than the basics necessary to get through a day. I became extremely hopeless. Will I ever be able to work a job or be involved in ministry again? Dreams of doing foster care or being involved in a girl’s ministry; of working in a coffee shop or running a bed and breakfast; of doing more discipleship training; everything looked impossible. Every sense of improvement was dashed by a major set back and I lost hope that I will ever recover and again be able to live life to the fullest. As I cried out to God about where to go and what direction to seek help next, He graciously brought several people across my path who have similar journeys and have received stem cell therapy and immunotherapy treatment at Rubio Cancer Center in Tijuana Mexico. Hearing their stories of healing has given me an anchor of hope to grab hold of that there is treatment available with lasting results. The medical doctor I am currently working with knows of this center/treatment and supports my desire to get this treatment. So, with some trepidation and a whole lot of hope I move forward into this new course of treatment.  As I understand it, the immunotherapy targets the viruses/bacteria that have worn my immune system down. The stem cell therapy heals the damage done by the diseases. The treatment is designed to empower the immune system to do the job it was created to do. The clinic has approved me for treatment and I am planning to go March 25. I will need to stay at the clinic for several weeks; It could be anywhere from 3-6 weeks or more. When I return home, I will continue with a home treatment plan for several months. My estimated cost for the stay at the center, travel costs, blood work, procedures and supplements/home treatment could approximately be anywhere from $35,000-40,000.  Treatment is customized per individual so I will not know for sure until I am there and know what my treatment will involve. The cost is overwhelming and is not covered by insurance. It feels impossible, but I serve a God who delights in impossibilities! I ask for your prayers, and help if the Lords leads, as I pursue this opportunity that I believe has opened up to me.   I thank you in advance for your help to find healing and a renewed lease on life to work and serve the Lord with energy and strength that comes from Him. May God bless you abundantly for participating with me on this journey. If you prefer to mail a donation: Jenny Martin 26982 Day Spring Road, John Day, Oregon 97845 Please share my page with your networks. Thank you! Edit: My treatment at the clinic ended up being for 4 months, much longer than expected. I am home now and continuing with a partial home program at this point.