Hello Everybody!

I know it's been a long time since we've posted up on the website, but, everything is well. Joshua does not need to thicken his drinks any more, but he has to use a straw. He went to the hospital today to do some check-ups I assume. But everything is going great. Thanks so much for all of your support, your prayers, and love. We appreciate it so much. Again, thanks!
Sandy

It's been a while since the last update, but Joshua's surgery went very well. He came home on Friday and his surgery was on Wednesday. Talk about a fast recovery! His face is swollen though, but he looks like Russel from UP. So, that's pretty much all the news. He should be going to school in a while. Thanks for reading!
Sandy

Hello everyone,

I know it's been a while since there has been an update, but I have an update now. Joshua is going into surgury tomorrow, but he has some testing to do today, so they are in Salt Lake now. His surgury is going to be tomorrow around 11 or 11: 30. I'm pretty sure everything will be okay, and he can finally sleep in his own bed, which he has been wishing for since he came home. Keep him in your prayers, and thank you so much for all of your support and love. We truly appreciate it.

With much love,
Sandy

Hello everyone,

Some news. My mom called a while ago and told me that Josh is in the hospital again because he is running a temperature. So, they will have to do some blood tests and other stuff. His appointment was at 2:30 and it's 6 now. But I think that everything will be okay.

-Sandy-

Joshua's Account Information!

As you can imagine, the costs involved with Josh's recovery are immense!! If you are wondering how you can help, an account has been set up for his medical bills at Wells Fargo.

All you need to do is go into any Wells Fargo location and deposit your donation under the account name of "Joshua Stevens Journey Recovery Account." No account number is needed!

Click the link below for locations in Utah County:

https://www.wellsfargo.com/locator/atm/search?txtAddr=&txtCity=&selState=&txtZip1=84601&rdoDisplay=both&txtZip2=&submit=Search

This might be a great opportunity to teach your little ones about the spirit of giving this Christmas.

The Stevens Family are so grateful for your prayers and your support. Such wonderful miracles have happened, and will continue to happen, because of all the angels here on earth and beyond the veil who are supporting the Stevens family. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as he prepares for his next surgery on November 18th.

Thank you so much Aunt and Uncle Loel Stevens!!!

Uncle Loel is hooking up the Stevens family with musical instruments! This is a wonderful new digital piano for Shelby and Sandy. They are thrilled!! Josh is going to get a guitar. So, by this time next year they can put on a concert for us, eh?

Josh's favorite physical therapist, Lisa.

She really knew how to work with children, especially Josh. What a wonderful woman!

Future Primary Children's Employee, Rex

The doctors wanted Josh to take his medication. Josh didn't want to!!! So, to bribe him they told him that if he finished his medication he could have his own security I.D. badge! He took the bait, and took his medication! He chose the name "Rex." Because dinosaurs are cool. Now, he feels pretty cool because he can pretty much do anything at the hospital, right?

Getting his I.D. Badge picture!

Who says doctors don't know how to have fun? Halloween '09

No NECK BRACE! FREEDOM!

Dreaded Staff Infection...

Josh's surgery to reaattach the skull has been postponed because he has come down with a staff infection. Here is a link to his specific diagnosis: https://health.google.com/health/ref/MRSA

Because he will not be having the surgery for at least 3 more weeks (to finish his antibiotics), he will be coming home soon. Which is good news in some ways, and bad news in others. The virus is very very contagious, and the Stevens family is very worried about visitors, and keeping their home sanitized. It is also exhausting trying to imagine the supervision that will be required 24/7! Rebeca said she is happy to have him come home, but very very worried at the same time.

We will find out more information later on today, and at the end of the week. We will keep you posted! For now, if are looking for ways to help out, a few suggestions may be leaving some disinfectant wipes, spray, hand sanitizer, gloves, or other things that would help make his homecoming special(but also sanitary!).

-Amy Hunter

The Great Pumpkin Visits the Steven's Home!

Late last night a wonderful ding dong ditcher came to the Steven's house! When Rebeca opened the door, she was surprised to find this adorable pumpkin full of candy. Upon further inspection, she started looking and thought, "what is that green stuff?" Then, she realized it was MONEY! She immediately started crying! How wonderful! It took her a few minutes to start counting the money because she was so stunned. Shelbi said, "Well, count it!" It was $71.00!! Thank you thank THANK YOU, whoever you are!!!!!

Goodies from Germany, Thanks to Brother Johnson!

These are gifts from Brother Johnson, who brought them back with him from Germany! An erector set, an amazing little chocolate egg with a toy inside, and Josh's first Subway sandwhich! Pure Bliss!!!

Josh's first outing, first CuPcAkE, and Panda Express!

Josh is pretending he's in prison. Let me out!

Panda Express! Josh's pumpkin from the Hastings - so cute!

The helmet!

1st Cupcake!

Doing wheelies! Well, kind of...there's a metal guard there to prevent it.

Josh's surgery to have his skull reattached is scheduled for Friday October 30th. Keep him in

your prayers! Your prayers have worked miracles! It's still unsure whether he will have to have surgery on his neck. We will keep you posted.

Hi everyone,
It's Sandy. In my government class, we are going to see if our bills that we came up with can go through the State Legislature and my bill was to put fencing on busy streets to protect the pedestrians. Does this sound familiar? It should. :) So, I just wanted to let you guys know that a bill could possibly be passed in Josh's memory. Josh can go home in 2-3 weeks. We are so excited! Thanks for all you guys do!
Sandy

hello everyone! josh had his first cupcake today! i would have to say he is still a very messy eater!! today the doctor let us take josh out for a little while. so we went to the planetarium and to temple square. He also had some panda express. he was really happy today!

In one or two weeks, the doctors will put Josh's skull back in place. On Monday, they will do a scan to see if the swelling has gone down. They did a test on the neck, and it looks like that he will still have to wear the brace for a few more weeks. We don't know if he will still need the surgury. It looks like that Josh will be home in 2-4 weeks. He got to eat his first cheeseburger and fries, but did not finish it because I ate it(Sandy). He was going to eat his first cupcake today, but there was none in the machine. :(
Thanks.
Sandy

So, yesterday, my mom asked Josh what he wants people to know. So, Josh said, and remember, this is not about me, Josh said this about himself, "I'm lazy." I just forgot to put that up yesterday. It's great to have your humor back buddy. So, I just wanted to update you guys. Thanks!
Sandy

3 Weeks

So, today is the 3 week mark since the accident. The feeding tube is gone. The doctors gave him permission to take it off. So he did. He's walking faster, and his speech is improving. He's understanding more and more and I want to thank you guys for the support.
Sandy

Hey everyone,
As some of you guys know, Josh is doing really good. So good, that he will probably be home for Thanksgiving. That will definitely be something to be grateful for. He has his humor back. He says that I'm (Sandy) weird, he says, "Try to convince the nurses that I'm strong enough to go home." And he said this to me on Friday, "Try to convince Mom to paint my room black." He's been saying things like, "It's a free country" if he doesn't want to do something. He's getting stronger and he's talking so much more. Thanks for the support. Oh, and one more note. The hospital can only have 2 visitors at a time. This is because of the Flu season, and it's for the health of the patients. So, it will be like this until the season is over, which is in March. Thanks for all you guys do.
Sandy

October 8th, 2009

(Greg Johnson) I was able to spend about forty-five minutes with Josh and Rebecca today. What sweet words to hear when I walked into the room and heard Josh say "Johnson." From the last time I visited Josh, I can see so many changes. I want to report to everyone that Josh was up and walking, and smiling. Although he didn’t walk far, it was walking. (I think he was trying to get away from the nurse that was helping him with his physical therapy.) He was also hitting and catching a ball that was thrown to him. Rebecca was very excited seeing him progressing. She said that on Monday he was barely able to walk and now he is mostly doing it by himself. The hospital is keeping Josh very busy. While I was with him, he went to physical therapy and was starting speech therapy. Following that, he had therapy to help him start to eat again. All of this happened before 10:00 AM. What a schedule! I forgot to mention that in between all of this, he finds time to flirt with all the nurses.

There is one request from Josh. He needs some really cool stickers to put on his helmet.

I'm a SURVIVOR! Pictures of Josh!

The super-hero helmet!

Josh's super sidekicks, frog and bear.

Joshua's walls!

Getting comfy sitting up.

Josh's bedroom. He is "re-powering."

A little smile. There are squeeze balls for him to exercise with above his head.

Going for his first ride.

A handsome smile.

Thumbs up!

Rebeca: "Thank you so much for your love and support, and all the wonderful letters! He wouldn't have made this much progress so quickly without all of your prayers."

Hi everyone,
It's Sandy, and I have an update.
As all of you guys know, Joshua has been speaking. He talks a lot at night to the doctors. And he is also polite. Which is weird. The speech therapist asked him, "What do you do when you are cold?" Josh said, "Ask for a blanket and say thank you." The speech therapist asked him who that lady was(my mom) and he said, "mother". Note that he didn't say mom. He is in a wheelchair, and he did good on the swallowing tests. He can have thick things, but not water-like consistencies. So he is improving so much. And it's been almost 2 weeks. Wow. Keep praying, and when he comes home, my family is going to throw him a welcome home party. Our goal is to have him back by Christmas.
I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me.........
Thanks guys!

A Josh email update from Elizabeth Feil 10.05.09

I was in SLC this weekend, so I stopped by Primary Children's to visit Josh before I came home. He was sleeping when I got there, but woke up when the nurses came into change the dressing on his pic-line/port. Rebecca and Guy were both there and seemed to be in good spirits. He is off the respirator (which is probably old news--I'm behind the times) but still has a food tube. Josh didn't say anything while I was there but his dad said he'd been talking a bit earlier. He's asking for water because he is so thirsty, but the doctors say "not yet." When Josh woke up, he showed off how strong he is getting by squeezing my fingers. His right hand is strong than his left, which is consistent with all the reports that his right side in general is doing better. Rebecca says he understand what people say to him. For example, she told him to hold very still when they were putting the new collar around his neck and even though he wanted to move, he remained as still as he could. The swelling on his head has gone down a lot and Guy told me that as soon as it has gone down a bit more they'll put the piece of skull they took out back in place. Rebecca said they'll probably take the staples out of his head (more than 60 in all) tomorrow. I told him we want to see him back in the neighborhood and riding his scooter as soon as possible and he gave a "thumbs up" sign. He said to tell everyone "hi" at mutual on Tuesday.

There you have it. He's looking good--especially considering all he's been through in the last 10 days.

Elizabeth

An extra note from Diane Anderson, who went with her family and some youth to see Josh on Saturday: The goal for Josh coming home is Christmas. It's a big goal, but that is the hope. Let's all pray that he can come home for Christmas.

Hi everyone,
It's Sandy. One thing that my sister forgot to mention was that Joshua is starting physical rehabilitation today. I'm not quite exactly sure what they are going to do, but I know that they are going to see if he can swallow. Thanks so much for prayers and we know that it is by you guys and the Lord that he is healing at such a rapid pace. Thanks for everything!

hey everyone! its shelby. i just wanted to let you guys know that they took the breathing tubes out and he is breathing well on his own. he is trying to talk but his throat hurts. he is doing alot better! thanks guys for all the prayers!

10.01.09 One week mark.

I just got a phone call from Scott Haymore, who went to go visit Josh and Rebeca this afternoon. He wants to make a HUGE disclaimer that he is NOT A DOCTOR and that any information he passes along may be completely false. :) But, he did his best and I think I got the gist.

He said that Josh is looking great. He actually looks like Josh now. One week ago today, my husband Eric said that he would not have recognized him. That, in itself, is amazing. The plastic surgeon thinks that Josh's scar, which extends from the top of his eyebrow in a half moon shape around to the tip of his jawbone, is going to heal very nicely and probably won't even be visible.

They are waiting for more information about some ligament damage in his neck. They will do a scan, moving his neck little by little, to see the extent of the damage. Until that is done, his breathing tube will remain in. When the tube is removed Josh will have to relearn how to talk and swallow.

The left side of Josh's body is still responding at a slower rate than his right. His left eye remains shut. The pressure stunt that was positioned in his skull has been removed.

Rebeca is looking healthy and well-rested. She is planning on staying up there for the weekend at least. She is taking care of herself, which relieves a major concern because she has been through so much. She sincerely appreciates the support of everyone. She loves the visitors, the well-wishes, the care packages, the meals, everything. I really think it is keeping her going and thinking positive knowing that her family is so supported by angels here on earth, and in the heavens.

If you are interested in bringing a meal to the Stevens family, you may contact Tammi Johnson. She is coordinating all of that, bless her heart!

9.30.09 Update from Guy

Guy stopped over right before work tonight to let us know that Josh is continuing to improve. He has been squeezing Rebeca's hand today, watching cartoons (with his right eye. His left eye is still swollen shut), and communicating through thumbs up/down. He had an MRI today, and they found that there was a slight fracture in one of his vertebrae, so they are going to keep him in the neck brace. He is still on the respirator for safety's sake, though he is breathing more on his own. Guy and Rebeca are very pleased with the progress they are seeing. They feel a lot of support from friends, family, and their faith. Tomorrow it will be one week since the accident.

2nd Update 9.29.09 More good news!

Josh met with the neurologist and was able to answer her questions with a thumbs up or thumbs down. Rebeca is thrilled! She can now touch and communicate with him! He is more alert. Today they are going to try him on another new respirator to see if he will be able to breathe on his own. It is just an experiment, so we will see. But, this is all good news. Blessings from Heaven.

9.29.09 Update from Rebeca

Rebeca called this morning and left a message on my phone stating that Josh is starting to move in a "less mechanical" way. He is touching, squeezing, and reaching for his cables to find out what he is hooked up too. His right side is still stronger than his left, but his left is doing well and moving. He is still under a lot of pain medication, so he is extremely drowsy. They are going to be giving him more fluids over the next few days. This will begin to drain the medication from his system to wake him up a bit more.

Rebeca says, "Oh, I am just so happy to see him moving!" She is encouraged. Your prayers are working!

An outpouring of love...

The young men and their leaders met at the Stevens' home on Saturday morning to show how much they cared. The yard looks great! Thanks guys!

Josh Today 9.28.09

This is a Josh report from Greg Johnson via Eric and Amy Hunter:

Today Josh is:

1) moving a lot more.

2) he is irritated at being touched.

3) responding to sounds, noises, and touch. This is a good sign.

4) his swelling is going down.

5) he was changed to another respirator, and he is attempting to breathe on his own.

The family just wants to remind everyone of how grateful they are for the well wishes!

Hi everyone,
This is Sandy. All that I have to say is thank you so much for the prayers and fasts that have been done. I also want to thank the people who have came to the hospital to visit Joshua. And there have been so many people who have came, 29 people in 3 days, to be exact. Thanks so much! We appreciate it. We love you guys and ask that you continue to pray for my brother.
Thanks a ton!
Sandy

hey everyone! this is shelby, i just visited josh. he looks like he doing much better. when i said that my sister and i were here it looked like he tried to smile. it was kinda hard to tell because he still has a tube in his mouth. he was moving his right arm. He looks alot better! thanks again for all the support!

Update 9.27.09 1:06pm

Rebeca called and left a message with Shelby stating that Josh is waking up and moving his arms and fingers. He is still being assisted with his breathing, but he is trying to breathe on his own. Good news.

9.26.09 Update from Rebeca

I (Amy) just spoke with Rebeca. She is doing as well as can be expected. She has so much faith and is trying to be strong. She confirmed what Sandy told us in her letter, but had some more information to add. The doctor's still don't know yet precisely how much damage there is. It will be hard to tell until the swelling goes down more, and as Joshua wakes up. They are going to try to start waking him tomorrow morning. There is hope that because Josh is young and healthy, that other parts of his brain can "take over" the damaged parts. We will all continue to pray for miracles and pray for Rebeca and Guy to have peace in their hearts.

We are hoping to set up an account in Josh's name so that donations can be made to help with the immense expenses. Stay posted for information if you are able to donate.

A letter from Sandy

Hey,
As some of you guys know, Joshua(my brother) got hit by an SUV on Thurday and was knocked unconsious. He was life-flighted to Salt Lake City and did surgury on his head. His brain was swollen, so they had to remove some of his bone in his head. He is in critical condition. And I just found out that the cells in his front part of his brain are dead. This controlls the movement. So, what he can move in the next six months will probably all that he can move. PLEASE, pray for him, and on Sunday, fast for him. He needs all the prayers he can get. Thank you so much for being supportive.
Love,
Sandy

The accident

On Thursday, Sept 24, Joshua Stevens, a deacon in our ward was hit by a car as he was coming home from school. He was treated at Utah Valley Medical Center and then was life flighted to Primary Children's Medical Center. He is in critical condition and suffered a severe head wound.

His family truly appreciates the outpouring of love and support they have received. They have gotten many calls from concerned friends anxious to find out how Josh is doing. Because Josh is still in intensive care, the hospital has asked that friends not call the hospital or the family while they are at the hospital. Instead, we have set up this blog where you can get updates on Josh and leave your comments of love and support.

A work in progress...

This blog is currently under construction. Please be patient and check back often! We will post information about Josh and his family as soon as possible.