Jeff's neurological symptoms finally went away and the headache that lasted 9 weeks. Then came the swelling of his joints accompanied by constant, excrutiating pain. He was finally diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. He has been on 5 different drugs and none of them have worked. Jeff has decided that come January he will stop all meds. Not only are they very expensive and aren't working for him they have pretty scary side effects such as heart failure, cancer and kidney failure.

Nancy has discovered hyperbaric oxygen therapy and has found it to be a successful treatment for MS. Unfortunately it is not covered by insurance and is expensive. Nancy has seen quite a few improvements in her health since her 22 treatments. It is amazing how insurance companies are willing to spend $25,000 per year for my ms drug that doesn't prevent flareups or heal the body in any way, but won't pay for "HBOT" that will only cost them $5,000 per year and heals the body! There is something seriously wrong with our health insurance system. We are hoping come February Jeff can have "HBOT" and hopefully it will be the treatment that improves his health.

On a lighter note, nancy just finished reading, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and it was fabulous! It is a must read. For my book club meeting next week I have ordered a hijab and a burqa. Now I'm hoping homeland security doesnt show up at my door :)

New year not to good start

Dec 31st I (nancy) woke in the middle of the night with excruciating chest pain. jeff took me to the er and at 8pm that night they found 2 100% clogged spots. I have a genetic form of coronary artery disease. I was in the hospital for 3 days.

On Jan 30th Jeff developed a migraine, nothing unusual. But now it has been 20 days with headache of fluctuating pain level. Since onset of migraine he has fainted 3 times, developed pins and needles in his legs and feet, a burning on fire sensation in legs and feet, loss of memory, urinary incontinence (ooops, he probably doesn't want any one to know about that symptom) uncoordination in his right hand and he fell yesterday.
An MRI of his brain showed a spot near his hypothalamus. No one has determined what it is yet. An MRI of his spine is also abnormal, but again no explainations have been given. He is scheduled for another MRI tomorrow night at 9pm(Friday).

Jeff and Nancy met in 1997 at Washington State University and married Feb 28, 1998. Jeff graduated with a Bachelor's in Agricultural Economics and Nancy in Microbiology. Jeff's first job was in Prosser, WA as operations manager trainee. That job allowed him to see that he didn't want to be an operations mgr after all. Allison Kate was born at Kennewick General on Aug 2, 2000.
Then off to job #2 in SLC as a produce broker for a world wide company. We lived in Layton and then West Jordan. Nancy worked as a Technologist for Associated Regional and University Pathologists up by the U. That was a fun job for Nancy testing body fluids for various sexually transmitted diseases and as the fecal technologist. That job teaches two things: 1. If you're not celebate, use a condom, 2. poop comes in many beautiful colors!
Jeff then took a job near Salem, Or as a salesman for a produce company. With this job he got to travel to Mexico. While in Oregon Nancy's MS flared up really bad. It was scary for several months. She was pretty much bed (couch) ridden for that time. We are thankful for the women from church who brought in meals 3x a week for 4 months. Life got better and we purchased our first home in Salem. On April 8, 2005 Natalie Page was born at Salem Regional Hospitals beautiful new family birthing center.
Then off to a new produce company in Pasco, WA. We bought a home in Kennewick and have now been here for 3 years. We love the area, Nancy hates the excessive summer heat and the wind. Does the wind ever stop blowing here?! Jeff loves his job as sales manager. He has a great boss who treats him good. He has traveled to Houston, San Diego and will be going to Orlando in October. This past February Nancy got to accompany Jeff to Phoenix, though she spent most of the trip with the bosses wife since this was a golfing trip for Jeff and his boss.
May 10, 2007 Tanner Merrill graced us with his presence. Our blue-eyed, almost blonde boy. Do you think the hospital got babies mixed up? No. He looks like our family, just the wrong colors.