My blogging has been off a bit, and here’s why…

My wife and I are care givers for our grown son, Jon.  And recently his health took a turn for the worse.

Jon suffers from a host of ailments, with chronic fatigue, chronic pain, severe muscle spasms.  And the recent loss of muscle control of his legs tops the list.

It wasn’t always this way.

Jon earned two advanced degrees, Computer Science and Industrial Engineering. He enjoyed life in Seattle as a software tester/developer with a large firm.  He was living where he wanted and doing what he wanted.

Unfortunately,  Jon had to resign from his job a little over  a year ago when his health declined enough to force him to return home. He’s been living with my wife and I since, a time filled with doctor visits, tests, treatments, more visits and tests, and on and on. He is still unable to work due to decreased mental functions from chronic fatigue and chronic pain.

Everything changed again on February 10th.

Jon lost the use of his legs February 10th after a session of physical therapy and yoga. Why his legs aren’t working is a medical mystery, as is the source of his chronic fatigue, mental fog, chronic pain, and the intense muscle spasms.

Since them, he spent one week in the hospital and almost three weeks in an acute inpatient physical rehabilitation center.  The muscle spasms have increased in frequency and intensity as well, resulting in one more trip to the emergency room.

A ray of hope.

On March 3rd, the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix agreed to take his case.  This past Sunday, he made the trip to Phoenix, and yesterday had his first appointment.

The neurologists he saw are great and ordered up a new battery of tests and consultations.  As a result, it looks like we will be here for a couple of weeks, maybe more.  I will be working and blogging from my temporary quarters here in our hotel.

The silver lining

This has been a challenging time, and the outpouring of support from family and friends has been overwhelming and incredible to experience.

Jon has been upbeat and positive since he was a child, and that hasn’t changed since the onset of the medical problems. Indeed, he has been a source of hope and joy for many of the patients and people he has met during this time with his relentless good humor, guitar playing, and positive attitude. If you want to know more, visit the Facebook “Like” page he started, which chronicles his journey back to walking with videos, posts, and, yes, guitar playing.

Jon’s sister, Marabeth, also started a GoFundMe campaign to help with the costs of travel, medical bills, and the cost and challenges of home modifications for a person in a wheelchair.  Jon is so grateful for the help – it has given him the means to keep moving forward when he most needed it.

Please feel free to share either of the above links.

As for blogging, I’m hoping to do some most days, but I’ll have to sandwich it between work and caring for Jon.

P.S.

About 3 weeks from now marks my 3rd anniversary of serving, collating, training, coaching, and video interviewing the top people for  all of you living in the FileMaker world. I do this for the love of FileMaker and the success of my fellow developers. I haven’t asked for anything for myself as I help and promote others. But for the followers of FMProGurus, if you can throw any little support Jon’s way – I know he’ll feel the love.  So thanks in advance for helping find his footing. And a heartfelt thank you from me personally for caring!