Dear family & friends,

 

My brother Joshua was recently diagnosed with a pituitary adenoma. This is a benign tumor in front of his pituitary gland, behind the eyes, and under the brain.

 

Joshua was hiking a few weeks ago when he noticed that he could not see properly out of his right eye. It wasn’t just blurry, it was faded, and hard to make out the next steps in front of him. He went to the eye doctor that week and after much testing, it was recommended that he get an immediate MRI.

 

This led to the diagnosis and began a rapidly unfolding process of preparing him for brain neurosurgery to have this growth removed. It turns out that 1 in 5 people have this condition, doctors say the cause is random and unknown. A small percentage of people require surgery to remove them because they grow large enough to pinch the optic nerve, leading to a rapid loss of vision.  If nothing is done, the vision loss becomes permanent.

 

The surgery will stop the loss of eyesight from getting worse, and there is a strong possibility that his vision will improve. It is however a serious procedure, and he will have 4-6 weeks of recovery time with many follow-up visits to specialists after, and monitoring into the future.

 

Currently, Joshua can not see well enough to drive, and many of his usual daily activities have become limited or not possible.

 

Thankfully, he does have insurance to cover some of his medical costs, but out-of-pocket costs will be high too. In preparation for this, Joshua has received multiple MRIs, a CT scan, and many trips to the lab for blood work. He will have recovery time in the hospital ICU, then weeks of recovery at home.

 

This GoFundMe is to help cover what insurance does not, and to help the support process of his recovery & rehabilitation at home.

 

All the professionals tell us to expect a positive eventual outcome, with restoration of eyesight a real possibility.

 

Please keep Joshua and our family in your hearts and prayers during this time.

 

If you are able, please donate & share this GoFundMe.

 

Big love & many thanks,

 

Lauren ✨

If you would like to stay up to date on Josh's recover visit our CaringBridge site Here