Josh's Medical and Care Support

On Saturday, December 9, our Josh suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. He was taken to Dell Seton Hospital at the University of Texas in Austin where he underwent brain surgery to address a ruptured AVM and large hematoma.

He has been kept under various degrees of sedation since that time. He battled pneumonia from some debris that got into his lungs during his stroke. The medical team has cleared his lungs as best they can and his pneumonia has almost completely resolved.

There is still a lot we don't know.

For now, Josh is resting and his body is healing. Jaclyn and Mom are at his side and report that he is receiving excellent care and the medical team is patiently communicating all that is known at this time.

Here is what we can now say with some degree of certainty:

Josh will breathe on his own again, but it may take time and it may even take another surgery to achieve.

Josh will likely remain in the ICU through Christmas. When he does leave the ICU, and we have faith and confidence he will, he will not be headed home.

His first stop will be a rehabilitation facility. The level of care he will need will be determined by several factors, the most important of which is whether he is breathing on his own without support.

Eventually, if not immediately upon his exit from ICU, he will be in a place that focuses specifically on regaining any of his physical abilities that may have been compromised by the stroke—we’ve been prepared to expect some degree of aphasia, we just don’t know the degree.

There is a lot of reason to hope that Josh can make a full recovery, but his outcomes will be measured in months/years not days/weeks.

He will be out of work for a while. He will have medical bills from his hospital stay to address and he will have ongoing therapy needs for the foreseeable future.

Many of you have asked how you can help. We need and appreciate your continued prayers, healing thoughts and encouraging words. Additionally, the best way to take action, if you are moved to do so, is to make a donation here on GoFundMe.

Josh is considered underinsured at this time, and a donation of any amount will help support his recovery and go towards these expenses and would be such a blessing to Josh and to us at this time!