Real Life Fitspo: Joshua

My oldest son, Joshua, was four years young when he started showing symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. IBD is a chronic, ongoing disease with no cure. On the night before kindergarten, Josh had his first infusion at our local children’s hospital.

First hospital visit related to IBD symptoms, age 4

Josh is 13 now, and can’t remember what life was like before his disease. Regularly scheduled infusions are a familiar part of his routine. He often still feels stomach pain, headaches, fatigue, and even joint, skin, and eyeball issues.

9 years of monthly infusions, 4 colonoscopies/endoscopies, too many pills to count

There are a lot of things that are difficult and unfair when it comes to having a child with a lifelong disease. The constant worry about his health and future, missing work or special events when he is sick, spending so much money and time on his appointments.