A Josiah Update - Thursday Evening July 9th

Hi Everyone

Josiah was discharged today from BC Children's. He will be continuing some antibiotics at home, and we are hoping that it won't interfer with our holiday plans. Thankfully, Marie & Josiah's stay in the hospital was a happy one: lots of visiting with friends!

Josiah's bloodwork came back fine, now we're just waiting for chest infection to fully clean up.

As you pray for his health, could also pray for his skeletal structure: we're trying to figure out what to do next with posturing and developing etc, and have some concerns for might happen if his spine continues to worsen.

Thanks for the prayers.
- Andrew, Marie & Josiah

A Josiah Update - Noon Wednesday July 8

Hi Everyone

A quick update: Josiah's lab results will come in this afternoon. If they are positive, Josiah may have to stay in the hospital until Tuesday. Of course this would put a serious dent into holiday plans for July.

Josiah's on a constant IV, which means he can't leave the room and Marie doesn't leave often. Other than the boredom that comes from being stuck in a room for days, Josiah is doing fine. He's even taken to the new trache alright.

Please pray for a speedy recovery, that these antibiotics will completely remove the illness, that we'll find the rest we need this week and still be able to make our holidays happen.

Thanks.
- Andrew, Marie & Josiah

A Josiah Update - Evening Tuesday July 7th

Hi Everyone

Just to pass along, Josiah is going to be hanging out at BC Children's for a couple of days. Last week he had started antibiotics for a chest infection and it appears that the antibiotics weren't strong enough and the infection has passed into his bloodstream. So he's going to be taking antibiotics via IV for a while.

Thankfully, Josiah's been a pretty good mood about it all. There were a few days when he couldn't get off his ventilator because had so many secretions, but he's been doing very well the last couple of days. We are also trialling a new trache: it doesn't have as long of an extension so it should make it easier for him to breathe when he's not on his ventilator.

If you could please pray that Josiah would get better soon that would be very appreciated!

Thanks everyone.
- Andrew, Marie & Josiah

A Josiah Update - Thursday June 18th

Hi Everyone

Just a short note that you can pray about. Josiah's had an ear infection again for about a week now. We've been extrememly fortunate that we've been able to keep the pain to a minimum by cleaning it 4x a day (which he isn't so excited about it!). The swab test took longer than usual process because - well, to be blunt! - there's a lot of bad stuff in his ear right now.

Josiah's current ear infection is a combination of staph infection, MRSA (that's "staph on steriods" a strain of the bug that is super-resistant), and strains of the pneumomia and strep throat viruses. Thankfully he doesn't have symptoms of pneumonia and strep throat, but it is a concern that these bugs are taking up residency in his ear right now.

We received our antibiotics today (they don't look very nice: "may cause burning sensation, must keep on his side for 5 minutes" - yeah right!), and so we're praying that this will clear up all the bugs that are creating this infection. We need this medicine to work because Josiah is allergic to the preferred medicine for these infections. Please pray also that we'd be able to get on the same page as his ear doctor. We would really like to see his ear tube removed since (in our opinion) it is causing more harm than good, but the doctor is insistent that the tube must stay.

Thanks for everything you do for our family!
- Andrew, Marie & Josiah

A Josiah Update - Friday Afternoon June 5th

Hi Everyone

Just a quick note that our BC Children's Hospital Miracle Weekend interview will be on Global TV on Saturday June 6th @ 9:44 PM.

Another quick blurb: Josiah is CHOWING through his food, now sometimes turning down the bottle because he wants 'big boy food' - very cool! So far in the last couple of weeks he's had pears, apple-plum, apples, and butternut squash!


Have a fantastic weekend!
- Andrew, Marie & Josiah

A Josiah Update - Morning Monday June 1st

Hi Everyone

Just a few things to post and highlight here in 'Josiah-Land'. To start things, 2 weekends ago we returned to Aquadel Golf Course (Cultus) to do a short interview for the BC Children's Telethon that is coming up next weekend (June 6-7). Global and BCCH were interested in doing a follow up story with Josiah since he's been home for just over a year now. We didn't know this, but they even used Josiah's bio for the main story that weekend (I've uploaded a scan of the pamphlet below - click the image to expand and read). We don't know yet when Josiah little promo will be shown during the telethon, but when we know we'll post the info here.



In other news, Josiah got a new chair last week. The new chair is great in a couple of ways: first, it's an actual chair and not a 'lazyboy' like his previous chair was. It keeps him in proper sitting position (90 degrees) and he is absolutely loving the freedom that comes with it. Second, the chair can detach from its base and can be attached to a regular kitchen chair - this is huge because we can take it with us and have him join us at the table for meals.

Josiah is also taking baby food in large quantities - yay!! We've been able to pick up a few new techniques from his occupational therapist, and Josiah is thoroughly enjoying the new sensations. For the week he was only take food off our finger (maybe he didn't like the hardness of a baby spoon?) but last night he confidently took food off a spoon for the first time - woohoo!

Lastly, Josiah was having a lot of fun in his bathtub last night. For the first time, Josiah was splashing with his hands in the water! While he has always enjoyed his baths, Josiah has always resisted playing with his hands in the water, but his willingness to explore and play last night speaks volumes of his confidence.

And for your viewing pleasure, I've uploaded a short video of Josiah eating some apple-plum baby food yesterday!


Josiah Eating Baby Food (May 31 09)




Have a great day everyone - thanks for all your prayers and cheers!
- Andrew, Marie & Josiah

A Josiah Update - Tuesday Morning May 19th

Good morning world.

It's been almost a month since we last posted, but there isn't much tell in the way of Josiah News. At the beginning of the month we had our first "family vacation" by heading out to Harrison Hot Springs for our church conference's Pastor & Spouse Retreat. We didn't get much sleep (hard to pack a nurse along!) and Josiah was dealing with an ear infection (needed a lot of hands-on time since the noise bothered him), but it was such a great accomplishment to say that we actually did it! :D

Josiah has come completely off Dilantin (seizure med) and is maintaining his seizures well. He's also needing much less diuretics, which is very encouraging. He also spends most of the day off the ventilator, 10+ hours on his 'nose' - such a blessing!

Last week Josiah had an ECG and echo exam for his heart. Everything appears to be functioning well, despite his anomolies. The remaining 'hole' he had in his heart has closed up on its open, which is a big answer to prayer. There are still a couple of oddities (such as a VERY large artery, a small tissue 'flap' that is forming) that the cardiologists would like to keep their eyes on, and so he'll had annual heart check ups from now on.

Josiah continues to deal with ear infections, and this last one has been a doozy. In addition to his ear woes, he seems to also be fighting a bug or something: diarrhea for a couple of days and now this morning very wet lungs. You can pray that he gets healthy and doesn't require a hospital visit/stay.

Prayer Requests:
~ (Permanent!!) Healing from ear infections + wisdom as we work with his doctors about this
~ On-going development: motor skills, communication, and positioning
~ General health, well-being and comfort
~ Energy + wisdom for Marie & I

Thanks for all you do for our family! :)
- Andrew, Marie & Josiah