Support Josh’s Battle with Stroke and Cancer

Story

Hello All, I am Meagan, a friend of Josh and Jennifer’s. Many of you know Josh through his time in EMS in the Central VA area. Josh moved out of the EMS field and had been driving a truck for some time when he suffered his first stroke. (Thankfully, he was at a local mill and the medic on the truck was his old partner, so his “normal” was noted to be off.) That stroke wasn’t typical and was completely unexpected. But from here, it just seemed to spiral into what one would say is “too much to handle.” His first stroke left some lingering issues and, of course, put him out of work indefinitely. Since the first stroke, Josh went on to have a second larger-scale stroke, which left him with more severe deficits and months’ worth of hospital (ICU & Rehab) stays. Some answers came, but still more unknowns. Suffering two strokes and still coming back from them to somewhat manage his own day-to-day life has been miraculous. Josh had a port placed for treatments he was receiving due to the blood disorder he was diagnosed with and had been complaining of nipple pain for some time (9 months to be exact). Making mention to his provider again, they noticed and felt some things that didn’t quite seem right, so he was sent for a STAT mammogram, with findings that concluded he has Stage 2 breast cancer. He will have a full mastectomy next week and hopes of it being contained to just that area, but they still face the unknown as to if a lumpectomy will be needed, and if so, the use of his right arm could be affected. Josh already suffers deficits to his left arm from his previous stroke. I know that this has been long-winded, but trying to paint a full picture of the complete medical roller coaster he and Jennifer have faced in the last 3 years is a lot. I have firsthand watched as Jenn tries her best to keep up with the multiple appointments a week for the last 3 years, swapping shifts to make the appointments, leaving when needing to be there for Josh’s appointments. As they face yet another hurdle in his medical journey, helping take some of the medical debt load off could really help them. If you can’t donate, we understand and ask above anything, please keep Josh and Jenn in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate this latest diagnosis.

Organizers :

Meagan Padgett is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Jennifer Toliver.