Joseph’s Journey

We wanted to give you an update on Joseph and ask for continued prayers. Since we last wrote some things have changed, some have not. Joseph had his 4 year old birthday and began Preschool in August. He LOVES school! The struggle remains with the endless amount of headaches he continues to endure. We took Joseph up to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion on his headaches. The doctors agreed that medication was the best route, however the dosages recommended were significantly higher than the dosages our doctors in Madison had prescribed.

These headaches vary in length and intensity; the really painful headaches can take up to 12 hours to pass and at times are accompanied by vomiting. It continues to be very difficult to watch Joseph suffer.

Our neurosurgeon in Madison is still considering that the headaches could be a result of an incompatibility between Joseph’s brain and the programmable shunt he has. We will be seeing our neurosurgeon in 2 weeks to evaluate the situation again. Until then we are trying two different medications (at an appropriate dosage for Joseph’s age and size).

Please pray for us as we once again discern the Lord’s leading for Joseph. We don’t want Joseph to have yet another surgery if the headaches aren’t truly shunt related. The problem is NO ONE really knows, and there is no true diagnostic way of finding out. Would you pray with us that Joseph’s headaches would be lifted from him? Pray that the Lord makes the next step for us extremely clear…should we consider a different kind of shunt?

This journey continues to be really tough. Our pastor preached on “Healing” this past Sunday. He said some people are healed, some are not, and we don’t know why God chooses it that way. Oh how I long to have my little 4 year old boy healed! But my deepest desire is to be steadfast to the Lord and to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1-2)

Thanks again for your love and prayers, Angela (Chris, Joseph and Grace too)