Trying To Thrive Not Just Survive

Welcome back to the next Thriving Not Just Surviving post, 

This post has two VERY different parts. I am going to give a recap to help fully understand so please stick with me (this is Maureen by the way).

We just passed three years from his initial cancer diagnosis. That diagnosis alone was a lot, bleak and he conquered it taking Thriving Not Just Surviving as an inspiration to keep fighting for a better life. One year after that diagnosis, he had a seizure which lead to an Epilepsy diagnosis and that part of our challenging journey through uncontrolled seizures for a time, medication changes and hospitalizations with an extensive surgery to save his shoulder. We left our “home” and moved across the state to be close to his doctors and have family support. In December he was diagnosed with severe and chronic migraines and has since battled a few viral things, shingles being one of them. During this time, he hasn’t been able to drive since February 2018, works remotely and hasn’t been able to exercise as he used to.

Through all of this Greg has continued to press on, taking each new thing and pushing on. He is a private person and has struggled to find a therapist/counselor whom he connects with. He has carried all of this.

On Wednesday, Greg willingly went to the hospital for a “Behavioral Risk Assessment”. You speak with a counselor and they determine if you’d benefit from an inpatient stay with full medical support to address emotional, mental, physical needs. Greg was admitted and he has been staying at a local hospital on their “Behavioral Health Unit”. We are not sure how long his stay will be, but don’t anticipate it being that long. We pray that he can be in a better mental and emotional state when he is discharged and can get back to the Thriving part that has always been so important to him.

On a different note, before the above occurred, we applied and were accepted to receive a seizure response service dog! We feel this will be an extra way to provide Greg with freedom, safely and peace of mind! A seizure response dog does not prevent seizures but is HIGHLY trained to assist him in the event of a seizure. They can pull him to safety (if he’s outside, on a hard surface, etc..) as well as bring medication, get immediate assistance and more. We have chosen a program that provides extensive training for the dog and us, as well as a program that comes right to us so we don’t have to travel. The training is ongoing and with someone like Greg whose health changes, we thought this was important! We are fundraising to meet the financial need and invite you to visit our page. If you are able to financially support us, we would be grateful. If you are not, please pray for us and please pass on this information! The process usually takes about 9-12 months but we’d like to raise the money as fast as we can!

Service Dog Link https://tinyurl.com/Not-Just-Surviving

We have received so much support from our communities and are so grateful you’ve walked this journey with us. None of us know where our path leads, and we know each and every one of you have your own challenges in your life. We are just grateful you continue to remain as part of our support system in so many different ways.

Here is a picture from when Greg was first diagnosed and he came up with Thriving Not Just Surviving- this is a good reminder of the hope we had. 

 Here is a picture from last summer, and a favorite for both of us.

Know that you are in our prayers and please, please pray that Greg and I can both get to a place of thriving instead of surviving.