I wanted to get back to all of you as to how Joshua is doing. His headache was pretty bad all last night until this am. with his strongest pain meds Dilaudid not helping at all. I remembered the Dr. saying he could take Advil (and thinking that would be useless if the other didn’t work), I thought what do we have to lose? Well, to my surprise it worked!! And we’re thinking it was probably because of the anti-inflammatory aspect to it. So that makes us think that maybe the physical therapy he had the day prior to the headache may have been a little too much and irritated the area causing some swelling. Then he went to pool therapy the am. he started getting the headache and said there were exercises he did that seemed to immediately make his head hurt more. We’re assuming he’ll have to take it a little slower with the physical therapy. But I’m just thankful it’s gone and there is some reasonable explanation other than the cancer spreading to his brain. So I breathed a sigh of relief…at least for a few hours. I was in the kitchen and he was napping, as was Naomi. All of a sudden I hear a moaning sound coming from him almost exactly the same as when he had his seizure. Now this has been my biggest fear and the hardest thing to get over…the recalling of that moaning. I flew into the bedroom to see him smiling and I asked him what in the world had happened? He said he’d had a bad dream and in it he was moaning and that woke him up. I couldn’t believe the timing and ‘coincidental’ similarity to his seizure episode. That one took me a lot longer to come down from. But of course I am very thankful and happy that there seems to be nothing, outside of the ordinary issues, wrong. So thank you for praying.
As for me, I am scheduled to see a counselor next week who specializes in post traumatic issues and uses a technique that has proven to be very helpful in enabling a person to get beyond the bad memories and reduce the anxiety associated with them. I’m looking forward to it. Whether it’s because I’ve been dealing with the same kind of crisis for 2 yrs. now or there are aspects to Joshua’s situation that are more difficult for me to deal with on a daily basis, it seems I need some additional help in order to continue to give him the stable support that he needs. So please pray that this counseling will be very beneficial to that end. Again, thank you so much. It’s very reassuring to just know that you are all out there supporting us and praying.
With love,
Kristi
We will pray for your time w/ the counselor next week. It was good to read today’s update. Signed, two Internet lurkers who rarely comment 🙂
Just sent a donation to Josh. Tickled to think that it’s going towards juicing supplies, as I myself am a big fan of juice! Hoping and thinking positive thoughts for Josh’s recovery.
Thinking of you and continuing to pray for your whole family daily.
Hi Josh, Kristi.
The address above came back from the Post Office as invalid. Is there a correction? Thanks.
Eli
Hi Eli — The address above is correct, but I have retyped it below: 285 34th Street SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403. Thanks! – Rebekah
Dear Joshua,
If all the people praying for you were gathered together, we just might fill a sports stadium. I had a crowd of similar size praying for me when I was awaiting a kidney transplant. There was no miracle in the sense the word is most often used, but I had the sense of being somehow upheld by prayer, like a sail being filled by a steady wind. Candle lighting remains a significant sign of prayer in the Orthodox church. We’ve not only been praying for you every night before going to bed but on Sundays lightning a candle for you at our parish in Amsterdam (www.orthodox.nl).
Are you able to read? Reading became one of the main consolations during sessions of dialysis in my own case, though it was tricky holding a book in a hand that had a couple of large, long needles inserted not many inches away.
much love,
Jim
Eli, Sorry it’s taken so long to comment back. We’ve had so much going on I haven’t been on the site at all. The above address of: 285 34th St. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403 is correct. You might try again or ask them if there is another address on file. I’m not sure what the problem might be. Call us if you continue to have problems. (Home 319-363-7171 or Kristi cell 319-350-1221 or Josh cell 319-360-6935) Thanks, Kristi