This week, our son Josiah, 15, reached a major milestone. Two years after surgery to remove a huge tumour, Josiah underwent extensive testing at Sick Kids Hospital and heard the good news that there has been no change! He is still on the same treatment plan implemented in Switzerland and will continue to be tested at Sick Kids every 4 months along with frequent visits to his naturopath doctors.
Looking back on our journey, we have seen God’s hand SO many times. We thank God that Josiah’s tumour burst on a Monday when he happened to be home, rather than bursting on the preceding weekend while Josiah was on a soccer field. We thank God that the oncologist who dared to operate when others didn’t know if the tumour could be removed safely was the Head of Surgery at Sick Kids. We thank God for the naturopathic doctor I found fifteen years ago for myself by flipping through the Yellow Pages. He introduced our family to the cancer clinic in Switzerland that has helped Josiah so much (in fact, he is starting a similar cancer clinic in Prague!). And we thank God for the incredible financial support of our church, family and friends that made it possible for us to go to Switzerland to receive treatment for our son!
A couple of months ago I learned that my girlfriend was pregnant, and I was inspired to look through a baby name book. For some reason I decided to look up Josiah again. I already knew that it meant "Fire of the Lord" but I got chills when the name book reminded me that Josiah also means “Healed by God.” Fifteen years ago we thought that this second meaning was boring and irrelevant. Now we see this second meaning as a hopeful sign that God’s plans for Josiah were already in play when he was born.
Times are still hard. Josiah goes through a lot on a daily basis. But we feel so blessed in so many ways on this cancer journey. We see God working all over this path, from our doctors, to the support of our wonderful family, friends and church community, to the meaning of our boy’s name: Healed by God!!!!
- Angie
Looking back on our journey, we have seen God’s hand SO many times. We thank God that Josiah’s tumour burst on a Monday when he happened to be home, rather than bursting on the preceding weekend while Josiah was on a soccer field. We thank God that the oncologist who dared to operate when others didn’t know if the tumour could be removed safely was the Head of Surgery at Sick Kids. We thank God for the naturopathic doctor I found fifteen years ago for myself by flipping through the Yellow Pages. He introduced our family to the cancer clinic in Switzerland that has helped Josiah so much (in fact, he is starting a similar cancer clinic in Prague!). And we thank God for the incredible financial support of our church, family and friends that made it possible for us to go to Switzerland to receive treatment for our son!
A couple of months ago I learned that my girlfriend was pregnant, and I was inspired to look through a baby name book. For some reason I decided to look up Josiah again. I already knew that it meant "Fire of the Lord" but I got chills when the name book reminded me that Josiah also means “Healed by God.” Fifteen years ago we thought that this second meaning was boring and irrelevant. Now we see this second meaning as a hopeful sign that God’s plans for Josiah were already in play when he was born.
Times are still hard. Josiah goes through a lot on a daily basis. But we feel so blessed in so many ways on this cancer journey. We see God working all over this path, from our doctors, to the support of our wonderful family, friends and church community, to the meaning of our boy’s name: Healed by God!!!!
- Angie
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