Josiah is going home today!  This is such a blessing from God just proving that He can make the impossible, possible.  I can manage Josiah’s pain at home, I have oxygen at home (although he hasn’t been needing it very much since he had the drain put in, PTL!), and I will have a hospice nurse coming to our home to help with anything I need or don’t feel comfortable with.  He is so excited to be in his house again!  We will not be bringing the kids home to live right now.  I know I can not take care of all Josiah’s needs and the children’s too.  They are happy and settled at my parent’s house and so they will stay there for now.  Both Ava and Lincoln were able to come for a visit yesterday afternoon and that was just what we both needed!  I am hoping that we will be able to see them more when we are home.

Josiah is so excited to be able to go home!  It will be so nice to be in our own house again!  We don’t know if Josiah will die today, tomorrow, next week, next month…but none of us know that.  Each day is a gift and we are thankful for it.

Please pray for me.  This is not my first time to bring someone home that needs care…I’ve done it more times than I care to count.  I know from experience that it will be overwhelming at first.  I will need strength, patience, organization, endurance….I need prayer.  I will have lots of help, but the responsibility of certain things rests on my shoulders.  I am more than happy to do this.  It is my priviledge.  It is my act of love.  And God has given me the grace that I need in the past and I am trusting that He will continue.

2 Corinthians 12:9 – …My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness…

The roller coaster continues around here.  Since Josiah has been here in the hospice house, along with everything else, has experienced some severe shoulder pain.  The doctor here did not feel like it was anything to do with his shoulder, but refered pain from the pressure on his diaphragm from all the fluid in his lungs.  Josiah was taking all kinds of pain meds and it wasn’t even touching the pain in his shoulder.  The doctor here wanted to put a drain tube in to relieve some of that pressure and hopefully help with the pain and shortness of breath.  After much discussion and prayer, we decided yesterday to go ahead and do it.  Josiah was transferred to the hospital for a few hours to have it done and then brought back here to the hospice house.  The procedure went well and they drained three liters of fluid off Josiah’s right lung.  He had several hours of very intense and exhausting coughing trying to get his crumpled lung re-inflated.  Draining off the fluid completely took care of the shoulder pain, PTL!  He is having significant pain around the site of the drainage tube, but he is breathing easier and his color is much better.  There always seems to be a trade-off.

This procedure was not done to prolong his life.  We are NOT trying to play God…I know we couldn’t do that even if we wanted to.  We made this choice to give Josiah some relief and comfort.  He was in so much pain he could find no relief in any position.  We are praying that there are no complications as his lung re-inflates and for more precious, memory-making moments.