POST SURGERY UPDATE ON ASHER (Friday, May 3rd, 2024)

The shunt surgery, spinal tap, spinal MRI, and feeding tube insertion procedures all went successfully and without a hitch. Praise God!

Asher has woken up from surgery and has been in some pain and is not too fond of this new nasogastric tube coming out of his nose. He's quite groggy and sleepy, but we are so grateful that he's awake, responsive, and able to communicate to us his needs. 

Also, our neurosurgeon, Dr. Nagib, met with us post-surgery this afternoon and reported the intitial findings of the spinal MRI which looked very promising, showing no signs of metastasis from a radiology standpoint. The results of the spinal tap, which analyze Asher's spinal fluid for any metastasis, will most likely come back in 5 days or so.

We are not out of the woods yet related to the spread of cancer in Asher's central nervous system, but we are definitely headed in the right direction!

Praise God for these victories! We receive each of them with incredible gratitude and humility! 

To Jesus be the glory.

PRAYER POINTS

• Pray that Asher would be cancer free and fully restored, spirit, soul, and body!

• Pray against any metastasis of the cancer into his central nervous system or spine.

• Pray that these aspiration issues are quickly resolved and that Asher can get back to eating and drinking normally again without coughing!

• Pray that his brain and body will start reconnecting the dots again and that he will regain full mobility, balance, coordination, and all swallowing capability. 

• Nicole and I will be needing to make some very critical and major decisions related to Asher's treatment plan in the next week or two, so please pray for wisdom and guidance as we evaluate and decide upon the best treatment plan for our son. We are exploring all options (proton radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and other alternative methods), and we would love any insight you have into best outcomes related to pediatric brain cancer treatment regiments. 

• Pray for Asher’s spirit to rise up in faith and experience the peace and nearness of Jesus during this traumatic time.

We feel like a broken record here, but sometimes, when we've been weak, YOU have been strong. When our faith has been lacking, your faith has soared to new heights. Your faithful intercession, constant prayer, and courageous faith have inspired our own... and that is priceless. Thank you for lifting us up when we have not had the strength to stand. The trial we are enduring right now has been such a beautiful picture of the Body of Christ helping and healing the parts of its own body that are hurting and broken. We are truly humbled and grateful.

             in all these things we suffer, we (together as one Body) are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37),

                             Joey & Nicole

PS: In the picture below, I am holding the type of shunt that was inserted into Asher's head and body today.