Thank GOD For the Hives!

February/2016

In the early 2000s I struggled with bouts of chronic hives that lasted from a few weeks to months.  My body would be covered with a varied array of torment: raised flat wheals, little red blisters and swollen red hot areas…some spots would become endemic as fluid got trapped in body tissues.  There were times when my whole face was so puffy that my eyes were just slits.  Everything ITCHED!! A red-hot deep-down itch!  Ice packs, antihistamines brought sometimes a temporary relief, but not always… For years I was under the care of a top UofA allergist.  Because of his accent, my best guess was he was from South Africa.  He had the kind of voice that would get higher as he was wanting to get his point across. For instance, when he insisted that my condition was NOT due to an allergy.  I can still hear him: ‘Yew do NOT have an allergy!  Yew do NOT roll in the grass and get hives!  Yew do NOT have an allergy!  Yew do NOT eat strawberries and get hives!’ When I asked him, how do I get hives?  He said, ‘I don’t know!’ 

One day a friend asked if I had tried a dermatologist.  I thought, “Why not? It was worth a try.  October of 2009 was my first appointment with Dr. Orlick.  I was covered with the raised flat wheals version of hives.  The doctor said that she would like to have one biopsied.  This had never been done before.  The test proved it to be an inflammation of the small blood vessels.   Now, my condition had a name: “Urticaria Vasculitis” … but not a cause.  However, Dr. Orlick had a treatment!  She creatively prescribed Colchicine, an oral medicine for the treatment of Gout.  “You do not have Gout, but in some cases it works.”  It didn’t seem to have any serious side effects and for me, except for “Foggy Brain”, it seemed to be pretty innocuous… Within three (+-) weeks I had almost complete remission.  It changed my life!                                                                                                          

Colchicine came with a bonus, as it had been around for so long it was very inexpensive, the lowest tier drug.  Over the next few years, I was able to periodically wean off it, giving my body and “foggy brain” a rest.  I’d be clear for maybe a few months or even a year or two.  However, whenever it came back, it was sudden and virulent.  There was a time that I had to have continuous refills.  If I remember rightly, the cost for a 60-day supply was about $24.00 or $.80 each, 2x a day.  It was around Christmas that I put in for a refill when Charley, my pharmacist of many years called to tell me of a price increase to happen in the new year. The same 60-day refill prescription would be (about) $330.00. What a shock!  How could that be in such a short time?  As best as I remember, this was how Charley explained the sudden increase.  Colchicine was a niche drug that at the time had no generic alternative and one that targeted a specific medical condition.  A company bought up all distribution rights, then took it off the market.  After a period of time, they released it as a new drug, now with a new name and price tag.   Though it was the same formulary, they cited price increases were due to testing, research, etc.  While this practice was not illegal, it certainly hinted of being unethical.  Interesting to note that while visiting family in Canada during the summer 2009, I ran out of Colchicine. After having my prescription verified and transferred to the Canadian clinic, not only was Colchicine available, but I was able to buy it cheaper than the original US prices!

It was in 2016 after the intense process of successfully selling my Oro Valley home of 16 years, that the finding and moving into a suitable rental coincided with negotiations for the property to design and build a new custom home. By the way, I didn’t have to find the land, it found me!  (Now, that’s an incredible story for another time.  As of this date, it hasn’t been written; nor does it have a title, but I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s completed and posted on my website www.thesegoldenthreads.org.)  An architect, design plans, contracts, contractors, budgets, approvals, and decisions…lots of decisions…everything from doorknobs to building materials and beyond.  When you consider I was the Lone Ranger having been a widow since 2008, it was quite the undertaking.  It was at that same time unrelated to building the house, there was an unexpected downturn in business at the frame shop.  Due to a glitch with the store’s website that had gone unnoticed for about 6 months, my income dropped dramatically.   I guess my body had had enough stress and I broke out in hives…all over!  As it had been many months since an outbreak, I needed a new prescription of Colchicine which required a visit to my dermatologist.    

“WHAT IS THAT??” Dr. Orlick said, pointing directly at the right side of my face. “THAT is not in my notes!  It needs to come off now.”  “THAT” was a 6.1 x 1.45 x .5 cm dark flat mole that lay along my jawline.  Looking at me full faced or from the left, you couldn’t see it, but it was very visible approaching me from the other side.  As her concern in the examining room had always been my hives, and since I couldn’t see it except with a mirror, I was never concerned…. Besides, it had been there “forever”.  (Erin was always after me, “Oh Mom! You really need to get that thing off your face…It’s ugly! “) So, that day there I was covered in hives and with everything else in my world swirling around me… now?? surgery??   Plaintively I’m sure, I requested if we could put it off until the hives were somewhat under control. Reluctantly, she agreed.  That was on Tuesday or Wednesday.  Later in the week, I received a call from Dr. Orlick’s assistant.  She was relaying a message… Seems that Dr. Orlick had been having some disturbing thoughts about me and my mole that had been keeping her awake.  Her assistant was calling to let me know that Dr. Orlick had already made an appointment for me on Monday with Dr. Olson.  He was a highly regarded facial plastic surgeon with whom she shared an office. (You’ll notice I didn’t say he was a podiatrist, osteopath or any other kind of doctor, but a facial plastic surgeon.)

On Monday, I thanked Dr. Olson for getting me in so soon.  He replied that when someone smarter than him tells him to do something, he does it.  He was in agreement with Dr. Orlick that the mole needed to be removed.  He wasn’t expecting any problems, but it was best to get it done and sent into the lab for analysis.  On Wednesday Dr. Olson called to tell me the results were not what we had hoped… There was a small melanoma in the bottom edge of the mole that had been removed.   Additional surgery would be needed to excise enough of the area around the removed tissue to ensure that it would be clear.   Surgery was scheduled in his office for Monday.

This was to be the first surgery I had to have done that could have such serious implications. It really hit me Sunday night as I was lying in bed… awake.  In the still darkness, I felt so alone it was almost crushing.  I began praying for comfort…Then these words; the lyrics to a song I’d been working on…” You are not alone. You are not alone. I will go before you.  I will never leave you.  You are not alone.”  Comfort and peace seeped into me, and I fell asleep…

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

And when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you pass through the fire,

you will not be burned;

The flames will not set you ablaze.

                                                                                    Isaiah 43:2 (NIV)

While my house was under construction, I had moved into a rental that was just perfect for my early morning walks.  It was in a small development adjacent to Catalina State Park and close to the Pusch Ridge Mountains.  The neighborhood’s outer streets were so that each would have its own cul-de-sacs of five-six homes. So when I walked the neighborhood’s perimeter, including streets and cul-de-sacs, it would be at least two miles.  I did this for about two years, averaging five times a week.   

                                                  “Broken Rock at Majestic Ram Place”

It was cold that February and many of the vehicles had remote starts.  The early morning would find them in their driveways, chugging away waiting for their drivers.  Rested and encouraged from the night before, I was walking my usual route around a cul-de-sac when I passed by a familiar big black SUV that probably had been remotely started and left running in its driveway.  This was not unusual, until I was on the opposite side of the cul-de-sac when I realized I could hear music.  I had never heard anything like that before or since.  Coming from that apparently empty SUV, it was so faint that at first, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Then I was stunned!  Tears flowing, I recognized it was the same song that had been so comforting the night before.  Wow!! You know, there are a lot of songs that could have been playing that morning…

Later in the day, the result of the follow-up surgery with Dr. Olson proved to be a clear lab report. I was told that if I had waited for as little as two weeks, it might have been a different story. “Thank God for the Hives!”  AMEN!!   

“Joy Still Comes in the Morning”

Reflections of Golden Threads

About Mary…

I could hardly wait to see and tell Mary about the amazing “coincidence” that had just happened. I met Mary when I moved into the neighborhood to wait out the construction of my new house. We both walked early, before the sun came up. I remember the first time I saw her; she was so far in the distance that I could hardly see this little figure walking with a big black dog that was almost bigger than she was. We never set a time to meet but kept running into each other. I had been curious as to where she lived as we would show up at the same time in various parts of the neighborhood.  Turned out she lived just across the street from me! From my house I could see the back wall of her house as her house faced the opposite direction.  Very soon we found out we were both Christians and as believers we had this common bond. Boy! That morning, did I ever have a story for her!  Sure enough, looking across to the other side of a wash, there she was with her dog Harper. I gestured for her to meet me at the bridge. That day, reaching out as we did, our friendship went into a place where deeper spiritual things are shared and continues to this day.  

“So far…”

Subsequent regular checkups with Dr. Orlick (to date) have been “so far” without any more melanoma concerns. Also as of late, breakouts of hives have been fewer and fewer.  This, without having to take medication except for an occasional antihistamine and application of ice.   

“I Am Not Alone”

I had wondered why the lyrics “You are not alone” were so perfect for that night, yet they didn’t quite match the song that I had been singing. Then it dawned on me…The song title was not “You Are Not Alone”, but “I Am Not Alone”.  I can sing it for you! Just ask me!

“Morning Has Broken”

PHOTOGRAPHY by Patti McBride

“I AM NOT ALONE” Words and Music by KARI JOBE, MARTY SAMPSON, MIA FIELDES, BEN DAVIS, GRANT PITTMAN, DUSTIN SAUDE and AUSTIN DAVIS