On August 19, 2008 Josh went home to be with the Lord after a valiant fight with cancer. We'll miss you Josh!
Check out his other site at:
www.frog4life.com
Josh's Story:
When eleven year old Joshua Holm of Eau Claire, WI arrived at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee at the end of January, doctors didn't know what was wrong with him. He had arrived with symptoms of the flu, then he was subsequently diagnosed with undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver; an extremely rare, highly aggressive cancer that occurs most often in children.
According to medical journals, during the past three decades there have been only about 150 documented cases of the disease worldwide, and Josh is believed to be among a handful of people in the United States with the affliction. The odds of his contracting the condition are somewhere around 1 in 50 million.
The diagnosis was a death sentence of sorts. Average life expectancy after diagnosis typically is about two months.
Josh's case was problematic even for this difficult disease. The tumor surrounded most of the left side and part of the right side of his liver. The rapidly growing cancer had spread beyond the liver and filled his abdomen, surrounding major blood vessels, stomach and other organs.
On Feb. 27, a team of physicians overseeing Josh's case presented his parents, Pete and Darla, with a seemingly hopeless choice: Let Josh die peacefully during the next several days or perform an exceedingly risky operation where he had an 80% chance of dying on the table.
The Holms opted for the surgery. At 8 a.m. Feb. 29, Dr. Arca began the procedure. She knew it would be dicey.
The surgery was a success. Arca and Josh had beaten the odds. The boy was alive. She had removed nearly twenty pounds of Josh's forty pound tumor. But Josh wasn't out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.
With the removal of the tumor and subsequent fluid, Josh's weight plummeted. The procedure and his illness had left him extremely weak. The subsequent chemo treatments left him and his immune system even weaker. Yet...
"He's doing things nobody expected he'd be able to do," Pete said, his pride in Josh evident in his voice. "He's bound and determined that no matter what, he's going to beat this."
People are literally all over the world are praying for Josh. We believe that Josh will be completely healed of this cancer. He's already beaten the odds that have been stacked against him. We thank the Lord for the people that have supported his family financially and have prayed fervently for him!
frog MySpace Layouts Gallery!
Create Your Own Layout Here!
