Bracelets

Bracelet sales have been spectacular, thanks for all of your support!!

I have added new designs and a bracelet perfect for guys and girls, and it's only $10!

Please take a look!

Cancer Awareness Bracelets

The fight continues...

Josh continues to fight from home. To me it seems like every day is a new battle, but Josh shrugs it off. Whatever it is that is blocking the intestine has yet to clear. Nothing is coming through his ileostomy, and anything that exits his body does so through his mouth. Please pray that the blockage clears and that the vomiting can subside.

Josh will be having chemo again next week, and it may be stronger this time. He seemed to do well handling the side effects of chemo and those stubborn tumors seem to need an extra push.

Of course his strengths continue to shine through. Josh even went to watch some of Jake’s soccer practice today. You can only imagine how Jake’s face lit up when Josh said that he wanted to go watch.

So, keep those prayers coming.

Thanks!

I just wanted to say "Thank You!" to those of you who offered and gave a wheelchair. We truly appreciate all of your help. Josh now has one that will work well.

He has chemo again this week, today, tomorrow and thursday. Also, he will be "tapped" for ascites (see July 4th entry for more details).

Please continue those prayers!

Thanks

New Pictures

Along with the new update, I want to point out the new pictures!!
 
May - July 04 Pictures

Believe it or not...

For the first time since May 10th, Josh is actually going home!!!  Today!!!  Yea!  Josh should be back at home in a couple of hours.  This is an exciting day, but at the same time a little scary.  Gretchen has become quite the nurse and she will be in charge of administering things for Josh through his IV (because he can’t take anything by mouth).   
 
Josh got the NG tube out (yea) on Thursday, and we need to pray that Josh does not need that tube again.  There is a possibility that if he were to need it, then he would have to have surgery to have a tube placed directly in to his stomach to allow it to drain out side of the body.  We pray that this does not have to happen.  Hopefully his intestines will function well enough to allow him to live comfortably, without severe nausea/vomiting.
 
We have a request:  Does anyone out there have access to a wheelchair (preferably light weight) that Josh could borrow for a while??  The insurance company only pays for either a walker or a wheelchair, and he already has a walker.  Josh is able to walk around with assistance from the walker, but a wheelchair would make things much easier while Josh is going back and forth to chemo.  Hopefully, Josh will not need it for very long.  If you have one, or know of someone who does, please let us know ASAP (email or call).  Josh has chemo again on Tuesday and we would like it in time for that. THANKS!!
 
You all have done such a wonderful job offering prayers and support to us, and I want to let you know how you can offer this support to others (if you would like).  There is a website called “Make A Child Smile”  (www.makeachildsmile.com) and it highlights 3 children each month who could use extra prayers and support, as they all have life-threatening illnesses.  I think it is such a great idea, and I plan on sending a few cards this week.  So, check it out if you have time.
 
BTW, those pictures I promised will be coming soon, I’m just waiting on a few things.

Last Monday-Wednesday Josh received a dose of the much anticipated chemo. This is the same regimin as he had previously (Oxaliplatin, 5-FU, Leukovorin), only the dosage is reduced by 30%. This should prevent the complications that arose last time.

Not too much has changed since the last update. Josh is still in the hospital with the NG tube. His advancements in physical therapy are doing very well, and his strength is increasing. Nothing new with the ascites from last week, hopefully that fluid is not returning, but that is a possibility. I'll let you know when I have more information.

Chemo will take place again next week, for now hopefully things will go smoothly.

Jake joined a soccer team, and I promise pictures by the end of the week, so check back!

Nothing's easy

I think that we’ve all learned that nothing comes easy these days. This has not changed. Not only does Josh have some sort of a blockage, he also has fluid buildup in his abdomen. This is called ascites. The amount of fluid that was present required drainage through a large needle inserted into his abdomen. This produced 2.5 liters of fluid. As you can imagine, that is a lot of fluid, and Josh felt great relief after the drainage.

We still don’t know for certain why all of this fluid was building up. We also don’t know the exact nature of the blockage. There are a lot of “ifs” and “maybes,” but we are living in a world of unknowns. He should be starting chemo very soon (we are hoping possible tomorrow or the next day). From the information we know now, Josh will be in the hospital at least another week, we pray that it won’t be much longer than that.

Please pray that the blockage clears without any further action.

Also, Kevin (a friend I told you about back in February who had surgery with Dr. Sugarbaker) is headed back for a second surgery. This is common for Dr. S to perform an exploratory surgery following the BIG surgery, plus there have been some new developments and chemo will be involved in the surgery. Please pray for Kevin as he has surgery on Tuesday at 9am (EST) and for his recovery.

Clean!

I just wanted to let you all know that I got my biopsy results and my appendix was clean! Simply "dilated." The surgeon congratulated me (he's been involved with Josh's surgeries), so that is finally some good news for us.

Things are about the same with Josh. We've just got to give it some more time.

I forgot to mention this before, but Josh's tracheostomy was removed on Monday. He now has a little hole (which is healing) with a gauze dressing to cover it. This has helped his voice to recover a lot, and he basically sounds normal. Also, Josh has been adding weight and he weighs around 200lbs, which is great to hear.

BTW, Josh isn't on the 4th floor anymore, he's down at the 3rd.

Enjoy your long weekend!

another bump in the road

Days before heading home, things changed, as they always seem to do. We found out yesterday that Josh has a partial ileus. This means that his small intestine is partially blocked. This seems to be the reason that Josh has been experiencing lots of nausea and pain. So, last night Josh moved back over to Northwest hospital, this time to the 4th floor.

In order to relieve Josh’s pain and hopefully alleviate the problem, an NG (nasogastric) tube had to be placed. You may remember this tube from before it is a tube that passes from the nose into the stomach. Josh knows it as a little taste of hell. Fortunately, Josh was able to convince the doctor to have it done under sedation. The tube has already given Josh’s abdomen some relief, and hopefully it will continue to do so.

The hope now is that the NG tube will allow this blockage to work itself out so that his small intestine can get back to work. We’d like to get past this setback, and get Josh home.