Services

Hi everyone, I want to let you know that we are all dealing as well as we can. We are keeping busy preparing everything for the services. We look forward to the celebration fo Josh's life, and we hope to see many of you there.

If you have a rugby jersey, please feel free to wear it!!!

The viewing/visitation will be Thursday evening from 5-8pm (with a rosary starting at 7pm). This will be at Desert Sunset Funeral Home (3081 W Orange Grove Rd; on Orange Grove, jus west of Shannon, but east of I-10; 520-297-9007).

The memorial service will be Friday morning at 10am at Calvary Christian Fellowship Center (3850 N Commerce Dr; Prince & I-10; 520-292-9661)



Directions from I-10 heading "West":

1:Take the exit- exit number 254- toward PRINCE RD. 0.3 miles Map

2: Stay straight to go onto N FREEWAY RD. 0.1 miles Map

3: Turn LEFT onto W PRINCE RD. 0.1 miles Map

4: Turn RIGHT onto N BUSINESS CENTER DR. 0.5 miles Map

5: Turn LEFT onto N COMMERCE DR. <0.1 miles Map

6: End at 3850 N COMMERCE DR TUCSON AZ Map

Our Giant!

I am so sorry to those of you learning this for the first time. I write with a very heavy heart today.

This morning at 10:20am, Josh became the angel that we all knew him to be.

I'm sure this comes as a great shock to many of you, as, in a way, it did to us. We saw Josh this last week and we knew things weren't right. He just didn't feel good. It became apparent that the cancer quickly and viscously attacked Josh's lungs. The doctors told us yesterday that Josh probably wouldn't make it much longer, despite his valiant efforts.

So, in those final hours, we encouraged Josh to go with God, to go home. Josh was surrounded by family and friends, and may now rest peacefully as he flys above us, cancer free. We know his work isn't done yet. He'll be watching over us always, making sure Gretchen and the kids are taken care of.

We thank you all so much for the prayers. We saw a few miracles these past 10 months, but now we can focus on the real miracle that we had with us: Josh.

We are planning for a viewing/rosary on Thursday night and a memorial service on Friday morning. I will update when I have the details.

Pray for our strength to get through this day, and all the days to come.

No chemo yet

Josh's body isn't quite strong enough to endure chemo at this time. He's feeling very nauseous and he sleeps to get through it. We pray that he will get stronger.

Still there

Josh is still in the hospital, and I think it will at least be a few more days until he goes home. He had the ascites from his abdomen drained today and slept most of the day because of his medications. He was supposed to get chemo today, but when I left at 7pm he still had not received it. Hopefully he will get it sometime tonight or tomorrow morning.

Please don't forget about the pancake breakfast on Nov 6th. If anyone has a connection to get groceries/giftcards please let myself or Nicole or Sherrie know. We would greatly appreciate it!!

Not Quite

Josh got the other lung drained yesterday, without problems. He spent most of the rest of the day playing Fable on Xbox.

Josh didn't have a very good day today, and his hospital stay is to be extended. He should have chemo in the hospital tomorrow. He was feeling very nauseous, and we aren't exactly sure why.

Don't let up on those prayers yet!

Plan of Action

Today we got the new plan of action for Josh's fight.

Josh moved up to the 4th floor today (not the ICU, but they closely monitor patients). Hopefully he will have the other lung drained tomorrow, and then head home on Wednesday or Thursday. Then he will get the next round of chemo asap. This chemo is going to include an extra drug: Erbitux. This drug came out at the end of February, and is supposed to work with the current chemo regimen.

The kids visited Josh at the hospital today. Of course, that really put a smile on his face!! The were both very excited about getting to lay with Daddy!

Good news and bad news

Good news first: Josh is off of the ventilator. They drained 1.5 liters of fluid out of the pleural sack surrounding the left lung. He was breathing better already and, as you can imagine, he was able to breathe a bit easier after all of that fluid was drained.

Bad news: We got the biopsy on the fluid. There is cancer present. I really can't go into further detail, because I really don't know it. I'm not quites sure where the fluid is coming from, but it is expected to come back. There are procedures to prevent this, and that will be looked into. Also, the right lung now needs to be drained.

Overall it is a very strange situation. We've got the "bad news" and then you look at Josh, and he looks so good (all things considered). He's been playing video games and watching football. Now that the tube is out he is doing some talking.

Thanks for the prayers, keep them up!

Also: "Happy Birthdays" go out to Bobbi (yesterday) and my dad (today)!

No new info

I just wanted to let everyone know that we have not received the pathology reports from the fluid. So, we still do not know what the plan of action is. In the mean time, Josh is very alert. Even with the ventilator in, Josh is awake enough to play video games! Can you believe that? Now we need his body to catch up to his mind, and just get better!

Just when things were looking up

As you know, things were going really well with Josh last week. Similar to past experiences, cancer and its effects have hit hard again. Josh was having difficulty breathing last night (short of breath). He ended up going to the hospital via ambulance late last night. They did some x-rays and CT-scans and it became apparent that Josh needed the ventilator again.

So Josh is now in the ICU sedated,on a ventilator (same ICU at NW). He has fluid in the lining of his lungs. Not sure exactly what this fluid is, but it's obviously not good. They drained one lung today and are biopsying the fluid. We should know more tomorrow. His vitals are holding stable.

We need some major prayers again. They worked last time and we have faith that they will work again. Please also say a prayer for our friends in the ICU.

Special Announcement

Let’s Eat!!!

In honor of Josh Allen and his love for pancackes we are hosting an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.


Saturday November 6, 2004

Between 8:00am – 12:00pm

Marana Community Center

13251 N. Lon Adams Road
Marana, AZ 85653

We are preselling tickets for $6.00 a plate and they will be $8.00 at the door! Kids 5 and under eat for free.

We are also looking for prize donations for a raffle that will take place during the breakfast.

This is a great opportunity to support Josh and the Allen family.

Let’s get together and have a good time!

If you are unable to attend and would like to contribute a gift in support of the Allen Family,

Please contact:

Sherrie Ketchum 404-7966 for tickets fantazmik@earthlink.net

Nicole Scoles 907-0220 for raffle/donations nicole@cpuman.net

Donations may also be made at any Bank One bank by making a deposit to account #661644807 or by writing a check to the "Team Giant Fund"

Birthday Celebration

Thank you for your prayers and birthday wishes. Josh was able to have a wonderful day. As you can see, Josh got to blow out the candles on the cake Crystal made as Gretchen and the kids watched.



We had a small gathering of some close friends at Josh and Gretchen’s house. Josh was feeling well, and was able to mingle, laugh and watch some football with friends. Check out the new photo photo album for the rest of the pictures.

Unfortunately, Josh has a fever today, which usually means infection. This is very common with TPN and central lines, but still something we would like to pass quickly. Pray that there are no complications and that Josh is able to get chemo this week.

Happy Birthday, Josh!

All things considered, Josh is having a great week. This is another “off” week from chemo, and he has some energy back. It has been so nice to see him walking around, going outside, playing with the kids and using the computer. It’s the perfect week for his birthday, which is tomorrow, by the way. He will be 26!

It is also nice to know that Josh has come down on his pain medications significantly. He no longer uses pain patches (these are patches placed on his back to keep a constant stream of medication into his blood), and he has decreased his IV pain meds. Obviously, this is a good sign and means the tumors aren’t causing extreme abdominal pain (hopefully because they are shrinking by the day!!).

Keep those prayers coming. Pray for Josh to have a great 26th birthday tomorrow.

DVT

As if Josh hasn’t had to overcome enough in this ongoing battle, another obstacle has been thrown his way. We found out the other day that Josh has DVT or Deep Vein Thrombosis (blood clots in the leg). These are in his right leg, one in his thigh, one in his calf and a third clot in the leg that is not in a deep vein. Click the DVT link if you would like to read more detail about the risks of DVT. Now Josh needs an injection each day of an anti-coagulant along with taking the blood thinner coumadin. For now, Josh remains lying down (still at home) in order to avoid knocking any of these clots loose. Please pray that they pose no further problems.

I know this is a long way off, but I want to remind you all about the Climb to Conquer Cancer. Many of you were there when we conquered “A” mountain this year, and we hope next year will be even better! I am on the planning committee this year, and I hope to make it another wonderful experience. I know the $40 registration fee is a lot of money, and that is why I am reminding you now. The climb will take place on the morning of Saturday March 12, 2005. We need to have our team registration for Team Giant turned in the first week of February. That is why I’m setting a goal for you all to have the $40 by Feb 1st. To break it down, try to put aside $0.27 a day (beginning today) OR $1.89 a week OR $8 a month. If you do this you will have the full registration fee! Team Giant is a crucial part of Josh’s battle, and we look forward to having a GIANT team next March!! I’ll give you more details as the date nears.