Surely, you’ve heard the joke… young or young-minded people referring to Valentines Day as VD-day, referring to venereal disease.

(Seriously? you’re wondering. Ok, Erika, this had better be good.)

But it IS good, I promise you. It’s better than good. It’s flipping fantastic.

Human Herpes Virus (HHV) is one of the most persistent and trouble-causing virus families on the planet, tiny little invaders that prefer human hosts above anything else out there, and they are damn difficult to get rid of if you catch one. But did you know there are at least 6 strains? Everyone is familiar with HHV 1 and 2 — when stressed, they show up as cold sores on the mouth or lesions around the genital/anal area, respectively.

Yes, they are horrid. The stigma around them is even more horrid, as a high percentage of the population actually carries them and has absolutely no idea, because they are symptom free.

But I’m not talking those guys. I’m talking about HHV-6, an almost unknown guy, yet he’s a guy who infects nearly all infants, that’s right, the vast majority of us, and nearly 100% of children in developed countries such as Japan. He infects through the nose, and from there he takes the express lane to your olfactory system. There, he can make a decision: activate, or hang out indefinitely as a latent pathogen. If and when conditions are right for activity, he sets up base camp, multiplies, and travels throughout your central nervous system. From there, he can infect organs at will. Yes, he can infect the brain, causing all sorts of problems. Yes, he can infect the bone marrow, causing bone marrow failure. Yes, he can infect kidneys, causing kidney failure. He’s also been indicted in several autoimmune diseases… MS, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and many others.

Are you thinking: Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, yet?

As I read the symptoms of active infection, I realized they fit us perfectly: the stuffy nose I’ve not been able to shake since pregnancy, that Adahlia shares. The frontal and cerebral headaches I get when on my chinese herbs and it’s supposed to be clearing it out. My autoimmune-like symptoms and signs: The mysterious slow degeneration of my spine that a number of practitioners (massage therapists, acupuncturists, and even an extraordinary tai-ji instructor) has noticed and I’ve been watching since 2008. The heat, throbbing, and pain that flares up in it also most notably since taking the herbs, to such a degree that there have been nights I can’t sleep. The feeling like my kidneys have sandpaper in them (inflammation) and progressive loss of function, which shouldn’t have happened to my left kidney at all, and not even to my right, if it was simply swollen from occlusion to the ureter. The drop in 2 of 4 complement proteins that are the markers of many autoimmune diseases. The other infections in my body that have cropped up recently or in the last several years, because, well, my poor body is overwhelmed. And the list goes on.

It can cause bone marrow failure.

It gets better.

Or maybe worse, but better if its true, because then everything is explained.

HHV-6 can integrate into chromosomes.

That’s right. The little devil can work himself into your chromosomes and be passed from generation to generation, along with all the other genes.

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!

Yes, it explains that angle too.

Wanna know the kicker?

It’s treatable.

Yes. Antiviral therapy can knock it out.

(Keep breathing.)

Oh wait, there’s more.

More???

Yes.

You don’t need a bone marrow biopsy to discover if you have an active infection, or in my case, a kidney biopsy.

It’s diagnosed thru a blood test.

A complex blood test, but a blood test nevertheless. Just a little needle stick.

Digest THAT, my friends. For it could not get any better than that!

At this point, I could get upset at how many times I’ve insisted to our doctors that there is a connection between Adahlia and I’s conditions. That I know she’s fine, that I feel in my bones she’s under attack, that she has an infection (including the first time we rushed her to the hospital near-death.) That a surgery won’t fix my left kidney and other strange symptoms. That the Chinese herbs aren’t hurting me, that they aren’t a threat, that they are doing something helpful to a latent infection… stirring it up, trying to change the terrain so it’s not happy in my body anymore, and kick it out.

I could get upset at myself for not investing this virus family more thoroughly earlier, because it was they I originally first suspected, and they I have kept coming back to. For needing the nudge from another DBA mom, who said to the DBA group in reply to a completely unrelated post (and I’m paraphrasing), “There’s this virus called HHV-6 that I’m investigating on behalf of my son.”

But oh, when I read that, did my heart skip a beat! And how my heart leapt when I began to read about the virus online.

I’m so grateful that I read that post… That for whatever reason, I chose to skim all of the many comments posted to that particular thread, which is something I almost never do.

Yes, I could get upset. And maybe a teensy part of me is upset at myself for not trying harder, not researching more. For how much we’ve endured, how much we’ve lost.

But you know what?

I think it had to be this way.

And for all my spiritually and mystically inclined friends, and all the countless more people out there who want to believe in something, but just can’t seem to find anything, let me relate a quick story to illustrate.

Last year, about this time, I did something I have only done on one other occasion: I conducted a First degree Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Attunement for just one person. She was a friend of a dear friend, and for some reason, I felt I should do it. I told her nothing of my daughter and I’s conditions until after its completion. As we sat at the dining table, her mouth fell open and she asked if she could consult her sprit guides.

Now, everyone has gifts. Some start amazing businesses, some lead armies, some are mathematical geniuses, some are virtuoso artists, some are incredible parents.

In the past couple years, I have realized I have some rather extraordinary gifts myself.

Talking to spirits, however, is not one of them.

But, who am I to say that someone can’t be gifted in it?

So of course, I said yes. She closed her eyes, looked off to the side, and said that Adahlia could make her own blood.

Yes, I know that, I said. And she has, just not enough of them.

She will be cured this time next year, she said.

And she said other things, the majority of which either rang true, or I didn’t want to believe, or I already knew, either on a conscious or soul level.

It was nice to hear confirmation that Adahlia could heal from this, but a year was so far away. My heart sank. Surely, I could cure her before then?

My friends, I’m not surprised that I’ve been pointed to this virus at this particular time. We think we control all sorts of things… even the whim of what posts and threads we read. But we don’t. This is when she would be cured. Things had to happen between then and now. There are bigger things at stake than our own desires.

There are no accidents.
E
Friends, this is it. This has to be it. This is the final hill. We can do it. The 3-year marathon is coming to an end.

And I can’t be upset because I’m giddy, I’m laughing, I’m hugging Joe and patting his face, who keeps himself contained because his poor heart just can’t stand more roller-coaster hope that ends in more bad news. He won’t celebrate til we are tested, treated, cured.

I admit, I’m not looking forward to fighting the battles that will be necessary to convince someone to test her, and myself, for this damn virus.

But this is it. This is the battle to end all battles. This is when we paint our faces and make an extraordinary speech and charge.

This isn’t just VD-day.

This is V-day.