Joshua Health Update - finally

April is Autism Awareness Month. While this post probably SHOULD be about Autism – since it’s the end of the month and I haven’t written one yet – it’s not. When Joshua was diagnosed, I was terrified. I didn't know what to expect and wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel. I knew that whatever the “right” reaction was, I wasn't having it. A year and a half later, I can tell you that Autism can be hard – but it’s no longer scary. It’s a day-to-day process of learning how my son’s mind works and trying to anticipate the situations that may occur. But the truth is that it took a long time to get to “diagnosis acceptance” and as of yesterday I’m starting over.

The doctor called yesterday afternoon. Not the nurse, the doctor. In our brief experiences with raising these kids I have learned one concrete fact: if the doctor calls you personally, it’s bad news. If the nurse calls, it’s either good news – or there’s a delay in your test results (that’s a whole different post). I much prefer talking to the nurses - obviously.  But no, this 4 pm call was personally from the doctor. Our test results are finally in after almost 6 months of waiting. The diagnosis is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It’s a big, bad, ugly diagnosis. It’s one of those where looking it up on the web kinda makes me want to sit in a corner and scream. The only bright side is that it is a long-term disease – and lots of research is being done to try to find a treatment.

We've been getting the “How are you doing?” question a lot lately. The honest answer is I don’t know. We’re holding it together and taking each day as it comes. Even as I type this I know that sounds like a cliche – but it’s the truth. Our world looks a lot like this right now:  1.Get up 2.Take a shower 3.What day is it? 4.Run around to get everyone wherever they have to be for that day. Emotional and mental falling apart is  somewhere around item 25 on the list. I’m sure I’ll get there eventually, but right now it ranks somewhere below doing laundry and washing dishes – and if you know me you’re aware that this is pretty low on the list.

If you know us personally, please pray. Pray for Joshua’s body to fight this for as long as possible and for us (his supposedly smart parents) as we try to make the best possible choices for him. Sleep would be awesome too – but once again, that’s a different post. If you DON’T know us, please pray anyway. I truly believe that God hears all prayers even the smallest and simplest. If you don’t believe in prayer, please send good thoughts our way – you wouldn't believe what my God can do with that. J

So this post turned into kind of a whiny rant, if you’re still reading kudos to you. Thank you to everyone who has shown us an amazing amount of support since this started, it’s been a roller coaster.