05/01/2022
Yesterday was a all day hockey tournament where Jo Jo for the first time was able to stay at the rink all day from before 8am to 8pm this was not easy as he has a hard time with loud noises but two things are certain he loves his brother and he loves hockey! Aside from the excitement of hockey Jo Jo was blessed to meet his first fellow trach-y! He looked at him in wide eyed wonder as if to say wow you are like me we have something in common and gave fist bumps of solidarity. Little did I know this man was fairly new to trach life and navigating the challenges of this new medical complexity. What I hope this man took away from the interaction was doctors definitely do not know everything, keep fighting until you get your dream team of doctors who believe in you and never give up recovery is possible. When Jo Jo was around 5 months we had a doctor push us to put him in a medical facility that would have been hours away from us. She quoted statistics that statistically speaking trach patients do not thrive or have longevity of life. I looked at my husband as we left that hospital and told him we have to do whatever we can to get him the hell out of this hospital and to a hospital that believes in our boys ability to fight and recover from this. And that is what we did before leaving that meeting I told that doctor we won’t be placing him in a facility, he will come home with us, we will learn everything we need to learn to take care of him and you evidently don’t know our God and his power to heal! Still today it brings tears to my eyes because I knew from day 1 that Jo Jo would overcome this without a doubt! God just placed a peace in my heart and I knew he would survive after all his name God chose to give Steven in a healing church service was Josiah - God has healed or Fire of the Lord! Whatever you are going through know God has already seen you threw it. It may not be easy but he will make a way! Josiah is now 23 months old he has surpassed the average life expectancy of a trach patient. Not only that but he is off the ventilator full time now and on his way to getting rid of this trach for good! I just want people to realize statistics are real but so is God and miracles do happen everyday! Whatever battle you face chose to defy statistics and achieve your goals! Be the exception to your statistics and claim victory over your situation. To the doctor who predicted my son would not live I say stand back and watch what my boy can do! He is walking, he is talking and he is a miracle child who has a great purpose placed on his life. 💚
