What is a "biofilm" anyway?

Well, that's a tricky question. Basically biofilm (in the sense of my situation anyway) is a cluster of cells that can hide and protect various bacteria and viruses. Some bacteria and viruses are able to create their own biofilm in your blood. This is when they are "in hiding" and your immune system can't see them in order to attack them. The weird thing is that even bacteria and viruses that are unable to manufacture their own biofilm as a weapon of defense are sometimes just welcomed into another biofilm community. It's odd. And now I have a picture of the biofilm living in my blood.





The head of a lab in Arizona is doing some reasearch with trying to locate parasites in the blood by using some sort of flourescent DNA staining. My doc here worried I might have some parasites so she had the doctor in Arizona run my blood with this special stain to see if he could find anything. Luckily, no parasites were found, but he said he was able to get one of the best pictures of biofilm free floating in blood during my sample. I'm including the picture here:









Now I know that looks like something from outer space or maybe just a poorly developed picture of some fireworks from the 4th, but it's not. The mass you see where the yellow arrow is pointing is free floating biofilm community. The flourescent dots you see outside of that mass are my regular red blood cells. So if you can see clearly in this photo (not sure if you can) you can see that there are some of my red blood cells living within the biofilm. It's all very scientific and somewhat confusing.

However, it is also very telling. This would explain how they were able to attain a picture of Bartonella in my red blood cells, yet every blood test I've had is negative for every strain of Bartonella. Basically I have Bartonella but's hiding out so well in this biofilm stuff that you basic blood tests won't come up positive for it.

The doctor was very excited to show this to me because it can help explain why none of the other physicians were finding anything in their lab work. Now, my only concern is that if the lab doctor was so easily able to find "one of the best pictures of biofilm" in a smear of my blood, it makes me wonder how much biofilm I have and how long it will take to break it all down. I take pills everyday that are helpful in breaking up biofilm so that's good. I also wonder what else is hiding in that biofilm besides the Bartonella? The tests they are running now are coming up negative for certain viruses and bacteria but I wonder as we chip away at this biofilm, how many infections will we find?

The other news was that I have Parvovirus B19. Yes, it's like the Parvo virus for dogs, but apparently the Center for Disease Control says this is a human strain. I don't believe much of what they say anymore anyway though. Also, my cortisol level was extremely high in the middle of the day signifying that my adrenal glands aren't working properly and we're trying to get that under control.

I am so thankful to be here though. So grateful to God for leading me to this doctor whom He has gifted with such vast knowledge of how the human body behaves - or in my instance - misbehaves. She has been nothing short of wonderful to me and I appreciate every test and every poke, prod or scan she sends me in for.

Oh - that's right, I am VERY LOW in Vitamin D (you should have anywhere from 32-100 to be considered in the "normal range" and I am an 8.6. She also saw where I was low in Potassium and put me on a medication that had my levels back to normal within 10 days. I am also having clotting issues with my blood as I stated earlier but she has doubled my dose of Heparin and my PICC line & I seem to be doing quite well - Thank you Lord!

I will be going in for another colon cleanse sometime this week. I will also be having a bone scan done sometime soon since my calcium levels are off and my Vitamin D is so low. Now, if you're wondering why all of this couldn't be done by the doctors I was seeing. Well, here's the most basic answer I can give you. If a doctor wants to be on an insurance provider's "Preferred Physician List" they have to agree to use only the laboratories that the insurance provider deems okay. Any of these tests could have been done at home - in fact many I had requested to have done and was told there was no need for them. That's because the doctors aren't allowed to pick and choose what lab tests or rather, what labs, they can send specimens off to be tested. In fact, if it were up to the insurance company, which will of course not be paying for at least 60% or more of these treatments & lab tests and will pay NOTHING for the many supplements, I would still be in my bed at home wasting away and just waiting for my heart to give out.

Oh, I tested negative for Rocky Mtn. Spotted Fever and H. pylori and that's good. But the doctor has told me that as we start breaking down these biofilms and getting rid of the smaller infections there's a chance that many things I previously tested negative for will start to show up as positive because we will have removed their hiding spots.

I'm sorry that I couldn't update you all sooner. This has been a lot to grasp and my body is so very tired. I cannot seem to sleep enough and just making it to treatment twice daily is almost more than I can handle. I come home and sleep for ahwile right afterwards. Also, this is a lot of stuff that I like to wrap my brain around before I try to share it all with you. I know my brain isn't as sharp as it once was, but if I can understand what I'm finding out better, then I can of course explain it all to you better.

I trust that God has good plans for me here. I trust that I will find healing in this place. When I start to question, "How long?" or "When we will start seeing results?" or "When could I possibly begin treatments with just oral medications and be at home?", I remember God's time plan is perfect. He is over seeing everything and all these things that some people might call coincidences are really His hand pushing M & I closer to Him. We aren't putting our faith in the doctor here, although she is quite brilliant! We are putting our faith in God sending us to her and we are praising God for the brilliance that he gifted her with!

I cannot tell you how much each day takes out of me, but I can tell you how excited I am to think of the life I have ahead of me. I invision how much better it is going to be than the life I had been living up to this point! Thank you Lord for all you do - thank you for being The Great Physician and divinely sending me to a place for healing. I pray that you give me the strength to endure the treatments and that you work in every cell of my body as I try to regain my health. My hope continues to lie in You and You alone.

OH - yesterday my calendar's verse was:
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 (NRSV)
So, of course once again I find myself singing that song and rejoicing in all that the Lord has done for me.

And as I reflect on God's perfect timing I think of this verse that we all know so well:
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." Ecclesiates 3:1 (NRSV)