#TEAMJOJO

On Tuesday November 8th JoJo collapsed while at work as he suffered a Hemorrhagic Stroke. Jo was taken to Fairview hospital and later transferred to Regions Hospital. JoJo was put on life support because he is in a self-induced coma. After many of tests and surgery to relieve pressure from his brain the neurosurgeons discovered Jo Jo’s brain hemorrhage is in the worst possible place on his brain stem. Jo has a brain shunt on his head to drain fluid and keep the pressure down as the brain usually swells for 5 days. The bleeding has stopped but blood still remains over Jo’s brain stem. This is the worst possible spot for there to be blood on the brain as the brain stem controls your breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, your speech, swallowing, hearing and eye movements. As of late Tuesday night Jo’s wife Darla was told that JoJo will never pull out of this. No words can describe Darla’s devastation, absolutely heartbroken. Darla is now experiencing what she would hope is just a nightmare. The thought of having to tell her children about their daddy is the most devastating feeling she has ever felt. Darla and Jo have been together for 33 years and married for 21 years. JoJo and Darla have had many ups and downs throughout the years. After many miscarriages, and the loss of triplets and a little help medically they were blessed with their beautiful  miracle daughter Jolyn in October of 2004. After being told they would never be able to naturally conceive and carry a baby full-term were blessed with a surprise miracle baby boy Jaxten in April of 2009. These children are so loved and mean the world to Darla and JoJo. In 2015 Darla was diagnosed with breast cancer. This was another huge devastation to the family. Darla can proudly say she kicked cancers butt and is now cancer free! In 2016 Darla was permanently laid off from her job, after missing so much work while battling breast cancer this was another major challenge this family had to get through. After months of not working and unemployment running out Darla was finally offered a position as a Dispatcher for the Sherriff’s Department. Darla was so excited and worked so hard to get this job. Then as Darla gets ready for her 4th day of work at her new job she got the most terrifying phone call that JoJo had a stroke. Darla at this time didn’t know the extent of the stroke nor did she know any details. Darla soon got the horrific news that Jo wasn’t going to be able to pull out of his coma. As family and friends rush to see JoJo we all try to remain as positive as possible for the Matteson Family. Every doctor that’s comes forward with information has only bad news for all of us. The waiting room is packed daily with love and support for the Matteson Family. On Thursday November 10th Darla and a friend theirs were both by JoJo’s bedside and their friend suggested to Darla to ask for a sign as Darla has been told she will eventually have make the worst decision in her life. She told Darla if he can’t give you a sign maybe God will. After this conversation JoJo was holding thier hands as tight as ever. This was different, Jo was moving a lot more and wouldn’t even let go of their hands. They were so confused. Darla decided to call the nurse in at this time. They nurse continued to give them the same old story that is all involuntary movements but they just didn’t agree. As a few more friends walked in the room along with Jolyn and Jaxten, everyone decided to go talk in the waiting room. Next thing you know the nurse walked out and all of a sudden JoJo is trying to sit up, everyone yells for the nurse to come back. JoJo continued to move and try to sit up, as everyone let him who all was there and cheered him on, he then opened his eyes. At this time it seems as though there is a miracle happening! His Doctor came to see as well. Everyone was so emotional including the nurse who tried to tell them that everything was the same. The Doctor got Jo to follow a few small commands. At this time the Matteson Family and all of their friends feel there is some hope or possibly even a miracle. The Doctor tells Darla that they definitely need to let Jo rest and give this some more time. The next morning Jo wakes again, this time he opened his eyes and shook his head back and forth. Everyone now has hope that Jo is fighting. Over the weekend now Jo is showing less movement again and Saturday he didn’t wake up for anyone but was breathing a small percentage on his own. Doctors have now gone back to the original call that people just don’t recover from this type of stroke. No one is ready to give up on JoJo, he is fighting and we are all going to fight with him! Go #TEAMJOJO! JoJo’s Family and friends are all so heartbroken and confused, this is an emotional rollercoaster for everyone especially for Darla and her two beautiful children. This Family seriously can’t catch a break, please keep all of them in your thoughts and prayers. With all of this being said this is going to take a toll on this family emotionally and financially so let’s all help them out as much as possible. If anyone can financially help them through this tragedy they are experiencing right now, the Matteson Family will be so thankful! Every little bit helps considering they have no source of income right now on top of spending day after day at the hospital and next will come all of the medical expenses. If you can’t help financially please at least keep praying! Thank you in advance from the Matteson Family.