Christa Medical Update

This is Morgan providing an update on Christa and the family. As I type we are both in our room at a beach rental house in Oceanside. Christa is resting on the bed, and I am sitting the in the recliner we brought from home (to make sure there was a comfortable place for her to rest when we got here). We decided to make a last minute spring break trip to the beach in California with the kids and some extended family. We were originally going to come to the beach in June, but after some disappointing news the last week or so we decided to move the trip up.

Prior to the appointment last week we knew there may be something bad happening. Her body had become progressively weaker and more tired. She had to start using oxygen to supplement her breathing and was experiencing more pain. We were using a wheelchair whenever we had to go anywhere that required walking. We were worried, but hopeful about what we might hear at her upcoming doctor’s appointment.

Basically we were told at the appointment last Wednesday by Christa’s Oncologist that the chemotherapy that she has been taking for the last 9 months or so had stopped working. In addition, it appears that the chemo she was taking since December to specifically fight the cancer in her brain was also not working. We really only had one other chemo option available to us, but we had been putting it off since it is a very harsh medicine compared to what she has been on. Unfortunately her body had become so weak that the doctor felt that this other chemo was not an option either.

We were reeling from this news, especially after some further testing confirmed what the doctor had said. We were told to consider hospice. We came home and talked about how to tell the kids and family what we had learned. We met with them that night and talked them through what had happened. We then invited both sets of grandparents, who we are blessed to be living very close to, to come over and help give blessings to everyone in our family. Hands were laid on heads and blessings of comfort, peace, and faith were given. The spirit was strong in our home, and I was so grateful for the priesthood in our lives.

We decided last week to get away and come to the beach because of all of the great memories we have made here, and because it has always been a place of peace and healing for us. We invited some of our extended family, and through too many miraculous events to talk about here, we have made it to the beach as have many of Christa’s family members. We are joined by both sets of grandparents, Christa’s oldest sister and her kids, and by her brother and his life. We are so blessed to be surrounded to such good people and to be at such a beautiful place.

Her lungs continue to struggle and she is very tired, but she is endlessly graceful and too considerate. We have to keep reminding her that is okay that we need to help her around and that we are just so glad to be here with her. We don’t know what the future holds, but we have faith in blessings to come. Thank you all for the prayers and kind words. They have been felt and appreciated more than you can ever know.  Love – the Johnson’s