Joshua’s Story

Site created on November 3, 2021


Joshua was recently diagnosed with a pituitary adenoma. This is a benign growth 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 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.  


We are going to use this site to for updates on his recovery.  As you can imagine it is exhausting to respond texts and calls to multiple people and repeat the same story and news over and over.  Anytime we have something to share we will do it here so we can focus out energy on his recovery.  We very much appreciate your support and care.   - Lauren and Jaima   

Newest Update

Journal entry by Lauren Sandstrom


Closing out 2021 with one last update.  There are not words to describe our gratitude for your prayers and support to see all of us to the other side of this.  What a year of blessings and lessons in faith 💫✨. Thank you 🙏 - Lauren 💕


From Josh December 7, 2021: 

VISION: To see… behold… perceive… looking into a future of possibilities, we chart the course of our lives 🧭 

Every moment brings a fresh opportunity to look again, deeper, with more presence, more trust, more surrender… a little less pushing, forcing or manipulating… A lot more allowing, relaxing, and aligning with the creative force giving life to all things ☀️💦🌱 

It is now one month since my surgery, and two months since I discovered something was seriously wrong with my eyesight.  

Here we are already on the other side…

Life is finding a new and more sustainable rhythm.

I feel really good overall. Grateful for the opportunity to put down my doing, and see it all get done around me. To pause the pace, and rest into new possibilities.

I am deeply grateful for modern medical expertise, and in awe at the technology and possibilities that exist now to help people.  

With the balance of our own holistic lifestyle approach, and the deep love & support from family & friends, I was able to sail through this ⛵️ 

Some recent big milestones:

1. All of my post surgery follow up visits have gone really well, nothing out of balance with the tests or how I feel.

2. My eye sight has improved 3x and I am all clear to legally drive.  Though not perfect, I can see so much better!

3. I recently had to renew my drivers license and passed the eye exam (without glasses).  

Two months ago I was facing the possibility of losing my vision forever…

This weekend I drove up into the mountains  for a hike, it feels really good to be getting outdoors and have this freedom again ☀️ 

Thank you all for your positive energy & support, this has been a very transformative couple of months… 

I appreciate you.

Looking forward,

Joshua
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