Faith, Love, And Laughter: Mystery Diagnoses Unraveled

by Sherri Jonas

Overview

How do you stay in faith when the people you love the most are suffering and your life shatters before your eyes? How do you stay in faith when your family is hit with one crisis after the next with no end in sight? How do you stay in faith when you have a child afflicted with rare disease that the medical community cannot explain?  Meet the Jonases. We are NOT your average family.  My family and I endured sixteen surgeries over an eight-year period. My life and career changed forever. My husband, Doug, was diagnosed with a brain tumor ultimately requiring three brain surgeries. My oldest son, Jacob, had multiple rare disease diagnoses with a prognosis of a life of unending pain.  My younger son, Bobby, had a rare neurological condition affecting his optic nerve and his visual processing.  A legal battle ensued to get him a proper education.  I also experienced many medical issues.  How could so many problems plague one family? Just when we thought we were at the end of years of suffering, operations, and medications, we discovered a common denominator, and it wasn’t our water supply.  Our diagnoses may be unusual, but our story will resonate with those who struggle with faith when faced with devastating medical challenges. Life was impossible and traumatic all at once. Barriers were everywhere and bad days were unending. God held my hand, gave me peace when there should have been none, and ultimately restored health to our lives. Despite our problems, we recognized each day as a gift, and attacked our trials with faith, love, and laughter.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780997964318
Publisher:	BookBaby
Publication date:	09/26/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	258
File size:	901 KB

About the Author

I created a private blog to communicate to family and friends about my husband’s brain tumor, surgeries, and fight to return to normalcy. The blog went viral and people I barely knew would stop to talk to me about my life, and share how I inspired them to conquer whatever was going on in their own lives. It felt like my husband became a minor celebrity. Many people told me they laughed and cried, felt inspired, and motivated by our story and my faith. The response was unexpected, flattering, and motivated me in return. Friends told me I was the strongest person they knew, but what they actually saw was my faith in action. God was my rock, and I believed that all things were possible with Him. I was compelled to continue writing and share the rest of our insanity.

I am a C.P.A., on inactive status due to my family’s circumstances, and have obtained multiple degrees achieved with honors. Painting is my hobby and my original artwork appears on the cover of my book. Formerly in the field of structured finance, I embraced the need to marry pragmatism with faith. I utilized all my skills coupled with a strong conviction, optimism, and a passionate belief that all things were possible through prayer, action, and trust in God, to help my family through inconceivable times. More than one rare diagnosis, treatment, and outcome from my family’s research and persistence have sparked interest in publication in medical journals. It is important to me that something positive ensues from our experience.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Part 1 of the Brain Tumor Blog: Headaches Can Be from Stress-Unless You Have a Brain Tumor 5

2 Part 2 of the Brain Tumor Blog: Maybe This Time You Could Ge the Jumor While You Are in There? 13

3 Part 3 of the Brain Tumor Blog: Best Birthday Present-EVER! 27

4 Part 4 of the Brain Tumor Blog: Conclusion of the Brain Jumor Blog 39

5 Breathe, Pray, Relax-Palatal What? 49

6 One Rare Disease Was Not Enough 59

7 The Myoclonus Nightmare Continued and My Son Asked for a Bible 67

8 We Jumped to Try Everything 71

9 We Wanted the Cure Too 75

10 What Will It Take to Get on TEP? 81

11 Go Picked the Therapist 85

12 Go Away Tremors-No, Come Back! 89

13 There Are Always Two Ways to Look at Everything… 93

14 Waiting, Waiting, Still Waiting 97

15 While I Am Waiting, I Will Bless Someone Else 101

16 God Provided People to Help and Change Hearts 107

17 I Can Get Over Those Bridges 111

18 The Caregiver Needed Care 117

19 The Clicking Slowed Down! 123

20 Unnecessary Barriers-I Needed a Bulldozer 127

21 Disappointment Could Be Divine 133

22 Out of Resources 143

23 Testing Miracle-God's Favor Shines on Us 149

24 Perseverance Necessary! 155

25 Holy Anesthesia-Brain Surgery #3 159

26 The Nightmare Continued 163

27 One Moth Later 167

28 My Gallbladder and I Had Irreconcilable Differences and It Was Time to- Say Goodbye 171

29 Why Not? Let's Add a Life-Threatening Sphenoid Mucocele to- the Mix 185

30 Happiness and Peace Amid Turmoil and a Dream with No-Clothes 189

31 Eagle's Syndrome Causing Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia 195

32 Wrestling with Faith, I Held On 203

33 A Blessing on Your Head (and My Arm) 215

34 Unexpected Favor with a Twist of Lyme 223

Epilogue 233

Appendix: New Ring James Version of Bible Quotes 237

Acknowledgements 249