The Last Decade

Ten years ago this November started the whirlwind of growing our newfound Savoye family.  After getting pregnant at three months into marriage, I spent the first five years of our marriage either pregnant or nursing.  It was a tremendously difficult year after the birth of my third child.  He was born with severe asthma, had acid reflux and food allergies (unbeknownst to me at the time).  He was constantly in pain.  I was literally nursing him every 1 ½ hours around the clock to assuage his pain and comfort him.  I was stubborn and did not want to give up the benefits of nursing. 

When he was two months old, I nearly had a nervous breakdown from sleep deprivation.  It took another eight to ten months until I was able to sleep through the night and be less anxiety-ridden.  Since then, I have had one health issue after another and have been diagnosed and misdiagnosed multiple times.  I was beyond fatigued, felt sick (flu-like) all the time, was losing my hair, had dangerously low blood pressure, experienced low body temperature and had developed severe food allergies along with brown spots all over my face.  I jokingly told my husband that Obama passed a new law that he could trade me in at ten years without any penalty. 

I could write pages and pages of all the trials that we faced as a family because of my poor health.  I refuse to focus on the hardships right now and I tried not to center on them during that long season.  There were plenty of times where I did have pity parties and wondered if God was going to rescue me on this side of Heaven.  I knew that I wasn’t right and something was severely wrong.  From the outside, it looked like I was having bouts of laziness, was extremely moody, depressed and being mellow-dramatic.  But I knew in my heart that I still had joy, was not depressed and could not just “muster up the energy” to push myself further.  I spent many days and nights crying out to the Lord for help.  My family grew in their independence as they could not rely on me when I had weeks of feeling sick at a time.

This past August I was diagnosed with Addison’s disease.  All of my ailments fit the description perfectly.  I went on medication that I will most likely be on the rest of my life, unless God chooses to completely heal me.  I feel normal again!  I have normal energy, normal moods, my food allergies are starting to heal and even the brown spots on my face are dissipating. 

Over five years of suffering, God has taught me a lot.  He has given me compassion for those who suffer with chronic fatigue or another disease.  He has given me an unbelievable respect for my husband and what he has had to endure as we raise three children together.  He has shown me that nothing is impossible with Him.  He has shown me that I do have limits and need to be wise with how I spend and conserve my energy.  He has taught me how to eat healthy and feed my family in healthier ways.  He has taught me how to rely on Him more.  Even in the midst of a really long illness, He was my ever-present help.  He continues to teach me and reveal to me all the amazing life-lessons that I would not have learned without being sick. 

“…but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4

Warmly,

Jill