Josh Ferris’s battle with CJD

Hi, my name is Dianne and I am starting this Go Fund Me campaign because we need your help.

 

My nephew, Joshua Ferris has been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare ( 1 in a million) neurological disease with no known cure.

 

For those of you who don’t know, CJD is similar to mad cow disease, only in humans. It takes a person on a terrible journey through dementia, disability and devastation. Because it is so rare, CJD is a hard diagnosis to arrive at. CJD is a rare terminal brain disease and a very short life expectancy after diagnosis.  At the beginning we were confused by the increased memory issues, repeated conversations and confusion that Josh was experiencing. Then we found out that with this disease, patient’s display rapid deterioration of mental functioning, severe dementia, loss of muscle control, spasmodic movements and vision and speech impairment. All prion diseases are incurable and highly progressive. To find out more about CJD  visit this website: https://CJdfoundation.org/

 

First, let me tell you a little about Josh. He is 42 years old and has a wife and four beautiful children. Josh and Leighann’s four children are Alyssa, Isabelle, Josh and David. Josh has been the sole provider for his family but is now completely unable to work leaving his family with no income to provide their basic needs for the last several months. Josh has always been a hard worker who loves his family and always made sure that they had what they needed. Now this tragedy has happened and he is quickly declining. Doctors have estimated he may have 6 months to live.

 

While we are hoping and praying for healing, we are asking that if you can help in any amount please do so. Please help us take the burden off of Josh and his family so they can stay focused on things that really matter at this time in their lives such as making sure that he is getting the best care they can provide and simply just spending time together as a family.

 

Thank you so much for visiting this go fund me and taking the time to read Josh’s story. Please share this with anyone you’d like.