Joshua

Our only son, Joshua, was diagnosed with Leukemia on October 14, 2008. This was probably the worst day of our lives. It was so very difficult to hear those words from the doctor, “He has cancer.” We did not know what to do or where to go from there. Luckily, the doctors and nurses at Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital were fantastic and truly made us feel like family. I remember totally “losing it” the morning after Joshua’s diagnosis and a nurse came up to me and gave me a big hug and without her saying a word I knew that she cared.

I am a very spiritual person and I know that God has a plan for our son. I thank God everyday that Joshua continues to do very well and is responding to the treatment plan. During the first month of treatment Joshua was receiving chemo once a week and he was also taking steroids. Our little skinny boy with the great athletic body gained 12 pounds in one month. He also went through very violent mood swings and was eating virtually 24 hours a day. It was a rough first month, but we made it through! At the end of the first month of treatment Joshua had another bone marrow aspiration done to see if his cancer was in remission and it was! That was probably the best news we had ever gotten. We cried tears of joy and knew that although this was a long road, God would guide us and give us the strength to get through it.

Joshua is an amazing little boy. We tell everyone that he is our “miracle”. Before his diagnosis Joshua was attending Kindergarten at Royal Palm Charter School in Palm Bay, Florida where we live. He is quite popular in class despite the fact that he is extremely shy. It has been difficult for Joshua to continue going to school due to the fact that his blood counts are low, and we are having to travel to Orlando at least one/two times each week. Before Joshua was diagnosed with Leukemia Joshua was starting to get outside more and play all of the things that he used to.

Since I am a school teach, it was very difficult for me to continue to provide consistency to my students and to also be a “mommy” to my son and take him to all of the weekly clinic appointments and stay with him at the hospital when he had the 24 hour chemotherapy infusions. My husband and I decided that it would be best for me to take a leave of absence from work until Joshua’s treatment was more under control and he would not have to be in the hospital so much. Unfortunately only having one income has been very straining on our finances. We have fallen behind on many bills, and we are having to pay many hospital and doctor expenses associated with Joshua’s illness.

I know that although things seem extraordinarily difficult at this time, things will get better. Our whole family looks forward to the time when we can look back at this and say, “We are glad that this is over.” I thank everyone, our family, friends, co-workers, and organizations who have helped us either with prayers or financially, they have made our journey much easier to bear.