Trusting in God When Life Falls Apart | Part 3--Isolation and EMF Sensitivity

When I got to Mercy and Anthony’s home, I had already been struggling with dermatitis for almost three months. As we applied natural remedies and as I continued to go to my TMJ specialist for the adjustments to my splint, I noticed that rather than a continuous trend of improving symptoms, the symptoms seemed to just be changing.

My symptoms had begun with non-healing, non-painful areas of skin on my face.

Overtime, I developed unusual bumps over my neck that almost looked like white heads, except that they weren’t. They would come out very suddenly and were very painful if touched.

The neck then became extremely red and the skin very thickened, as if scarred.

The skin around my mouth would sometimes be just flaky and dry, sometimes painfully denuded, sometimes swollen, and sometimes so contracted and painful that I would have difficulty speaking. The symptoms would drastically change after my appointments with my TMJ specialist. Something was very weird about what was happening.

I’m usually a deep sleeper and have no problems staying asleep, but as my problem had progressed, my neck became increasingly uncomfortable at night and the pain and itching would awaken me in the middle of the night. The skin of my neck burned with intense pain and itching that would leave me gasping. I was grateful to learn about the ice from Mercy. Having a large bowl of ice and towels by my bed helped me to get through the intense symptoms, but the disrupted sleep was making it difficult for me to function during the day.

Discovering EMF Sensitivity

One day, after another sleepless night, I was resting in my room, sitting in an armchair that Anthony had brought to the room for me. I could not use any electronics, so I spent time reading and journaling. That day, as I sat with cold wet towels around my neck and head, I prayed for wisdom to know what to do.

My room was the only room on the second floor of the home and I could hear Gloria, a friend from Peru, preparing food in the kitchen downstairs. All of a sudden, I felt a jolt of pain and severe itching in the various places the rash had taken over on my neck and trunk. It was so startling that I immediately stood up, as if to question, what had happened. At the same moment, I heard voices coming from the kitchen. Gloria had just begun streaming a Youtube video (over the Wifi) on her phone at the same time my pain began. I was incredulous. Could it be that the wifi was contributing to my symptoms? As I began researching, it seemed that this was a likely possibility.

I had already been avoiding my phone and being in close proximity to the phone or electronics. That day, we decided that I had to avoid being around the wifi signal at all times. At night, we would turn off the modem and I would stay outside of the home for most of the day, coming into the home only for bathroom breaks or essentials.

The first night the modem was turned off, we had SUCCESS!! I was able to sleep in peace without an attack for the first time in weeks. Here is a video I took the morning after:

From that day on, I turned a corner; my symptoms began improving. But I had to figure out 1) how to live without technology and 2) how my host family could access technology while I lived with them.

I initially sat on the deck just outside of the home all day, but the wifi signal from the home still caused my face to burn with pain by midday. We figured out that the signal from the modem had a range of about 150 feet from the house, so Anthony placed a lawn chair outside approximately 150 feet from the home and I spent most of the day there. I was able to get a lot of sun exposure and do some grounding with my bare feet!

I was someone who had been on my phone constantly for emails, texts, research, and social media. I found myself at a loss to know what to do. In the evenings, after work, Mercy made time to read me my emails and to dictate responses. She would do this from the house and I would respond from the lawn.

After a week of this, Anthony had the great idea to order landline phone service for the house. We had a “dumb” phone with no electronic components and it made a world of difference. I was able to communicate with the world again!

EMF Solutions

Despite the pandemic and despite the surreal happenings in my health, life somehow continued. Mercy and I were still being asked to speak for meetings both real and virtual. While I had to cancel a couple of virtual engagements, I was able to use a combination of lighting and makeup to do what was needed for others, or Mercy was able to do some interviews on her own.

But of course, I couldn’t stop thinking about the future. What would I do now? How would I keep working if I couldn’t tolerate radiation from the wifi or even just electronics? How would I function in life? Since I had realized the severity of my electromagnetic frequency (EMF) sensitivity, I had become fearful of venturing out of the home to visit even my TMJ specialist. The Ballard home was out in the country with no cell phone reception and we were able to control our environment somewhat. This would be impossible were I to travel anywhere by plane. Driving a car was only slightly less problematic, due to all of the computers in cars and with all of the cell towers in close proximity. There was wifi in the TMJ specialist’s office and my parent’s home, which was also within a mile of a cell tower. I was praying for wisdom to know what I should do.

I was unable to research anything on my own, due to the EMF issue. Mercy got in touch with Roarke from a Sacramento website and he was kind enough to call and give me recommendations about what I could do to protect myself against EMF. One thing he recommended was that I purchase clothing that was more protective against EMF. I purchased a shirt, hood, and a blanket and found them all to be very helpful, especially for travelling. As time progressed, my symptoms began significantly improving and I decided that it was time to try to see my TMJ specialist again. With my EMF protective hoodie, hat, blanket, and meter, I headed for California.

This picture is from a later date, when I look a lot better—trying to save you all the details. I hope to share in later blogs about that part of my journey.

While We Were Isolating

Interestingly, it was during this intense time that we had formed an online Bible study group called Advent Truth on Saturday afternoons. With all the events taking place, we wanted a place to ask and learn about how to view current events in light of Bible prophecy. Emailing and calling all those participating in this Bible study took up most of our time during the week and having the landline phone was super helpful, since emailing was a joint effort for us.

On Saturdays, as we met together and discussed these important subjects, it made me forget about myself for a little while. When I realized that being so close to the computer during zoom meetings were intensifying my symptoms, I sat outside on the patio and watched while Mercy moderated inside the house. Later, when I realized that even that proximity was too much, I sat on the lawn and called in using my dumb phone to listen to the discussions. It was gratifying to see my friends discuss subjects that some had not had the courage to discuss prior to this and to hear the feedback from our participants. We knew that the discussions were changing paradigms and it gave me a sense of purpose during this time where my disability tempted me to feel useless and alone.

This is a more recent video that I was actually able to participate in (on natural remedies).

If you know my history, you know that I have dealt with various health issues so dealing with a serious problem was not anything new. But this problem was much more severe and life threatening. Usually very optimistic, Mercy was also very concerned about the possibility of me not recovering. My prayers to God were very real. In the mornings and evenings I walked, usually alone. It was my time time to talk to Him.

“God”, I prayed, “I know that if I make it out of this, it will be a miracle. If you don’t heal me, let me just keep on trusting in you. I want to be okay with whatever happens. But God, I would really love to have another chance to live. And if you do choose to heal me. I just ask that you would allow me to honor you. Please heal me in a way that people will know that it was only because of you. Please don’t let me go through all of this for nothing. Please bring some blessing through this. If you heal me, I want to be stronger at the end of it. I want to be better than I was before—just like you did for Anthony (Mercy’s husband who had had such an experience). Please do a miracle in my life.”

I hope to share in the next blog how God answered my prayer.