Update on Jenn's dad

Well, it's over and done with. Jenn's dad had his lower calf and foot amputated on Monday. His options were to spend 3 months hooked up to IV antibiotics, unable to walk at all, then go through another joint replacement surgery with a very high risk of infection again and having to go through it all again and ultimately ending up with an amputation anyway. He's home now and glad to be there, doing well he says. He'll be fitted for a prosthetic in 3-4 weeks depending on how he heals.  

When it rains, it.....

pours.  You know that saying?  Well, I think it's hurricane season. 

In addition to what's been going on with Jenn's health and her Dad's, now Andy is in the ER with a deep vein clot in one leg that goes ankle to groin and one in the other leg behind his knee. Thank goodness he listened to Jenn and went to the ER. They will be letting him go tonight, but he'll be put on heparin injections and blood thinners. He'll most likely be on blood thinners the rest of his life now. They're prescribed a week of strict bedrest.  We'll keep you updated.  

Finally an answer!

Ok, so some of you already know that I(Jenn) have not been in very good health for the past few years. I was diagnosed with diabetes, was doing well, but would get ill often and suffered from bouts of  chronic fatigue. At the time we were placed with Jordan, I was doing great, then I developed severely painful arthritis in my hands and wrists. I was in the middle of seeing specialists to address that when I herniated and ruptured a lumbar disc requiring back surgery and a month spent mostly in bed. 

The back episode may have been a blessing in disguise. The MRI revealed that I have arthritis damage in most of my back and neck. Further imaging diagnostics revealed damage in my hands, knees, ankles, and sacroilliac joint(where hips connect to sacrum). It turns out that I have an autoimmune arthritis disease, a spondyloarthropathy. It is much like Rheumatoid Arthritis, but affects my back, knees, ankles, etc- more joints. The joint damage my father has is most likely related to the same condition(it is genetic). I am now on immuno-suppression therapy to quiet my immune system so it stops attacking my own body and hopefully halts the progression of joint damage.

We've not been very open about just how sick I have been. We had to hide it from social workers at first due to the looming threat from the Indian tribe(we didn't want to give them any more reason to remove Jordan if his birth-father did come forward and paternity test), but now that is no longer an issue. It's been a hard six months or so and we're hopeful that this new therapy will work within a month or two and I'll be back to my busy, crazy, healthy self. 

Jenn's Dad

Jenn's dad had an ankle joint replacement surgery about 8 weeks ago. It did not heal well. His ankle, foot, and leg have a massive infection that goes down to the bone and to the appliance. He may be looking at losing his leg below the knee if they can not get the infection under control. Please join our family in sending out positive thoughts and vibes that he will recover and not require an amputation. Thanks.

        

After much anticipation, worry, stress, and fear, Jordan Russell Bosch was officially adopted into the Bosch family on September 16, 2008.  A few months after he was placed in our home, his birth-mother came forward with his birth-father's name.  He is 1/2 Native American and the Indian tribe wanted Jordan placed with an Indian family once paternity was established.  Thankfully his birth-father refused to come forward for testing which guaranteed Jordan's place in our family forever. 

These pictures are to commemorate his first birthday which we'll be celebrating on October 29th.

We finally have a picture of the whole family. Thank you for taking it Allan.