Joe's Medical History....part 1

Elder Jonas Webster

October 1994

I was going to blog the next "exciting" episode of our love story, but those who know me well, can tell you I have always had a hard time staying focused on one thing at a time.  Now that my life has turned completely upside down,  it's even worse. So today you get some medical history....and you will just have to wait patiently for the next episode of "True Love in Bloom,"......that's the thing about writing your love story when you don't have your "other half" to remind you of what "really" happened. You can make it as exciting, romantic, and wonderful as you want!

When Jonas was on his mission in Bahia Blanca, Argentina he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He had been serving in the mission field since 1994 and was diagnosed in 1996. He came home just two months before his release date. I remember him being very skinny and looking really pale when he came off the plane. He had been so sick while he was in Argentina! He later said how "scary" the hospital was over there. I remember that I was hiding behind his friend Ryan Furness (who has also passed away) when Jonas came off the plane, (this was back when they let you wait at the gates)......I was so nervous to see him! Oh my goodness. I remember that first hug. It was awesome.

Elder Jonas Webster August 1996

He had a rough couple of months trying to get his diabetes under control. He came home from his mission on his birthday, August 21st. I remember it was at the end of November that he finally started feeling better. He tried just using insulin shots in the beginning, but his glucose levels were always all over the place. He got a diabetic pump in November and that is what finally helped him to get feeling "normal" again. He stayed in the hospital for two nights so he could learn how to use his pump. Little did I know that would be the first of many many hospital stays for my honey. Getting diagnosed with diabetes at age 21 was really hard for him. Jonas was very athletic during his school years. He was the captain of the Taylorsville swim team and loved to go rock climbing. He had always been able to do and eat what he wanted without giving it another thought. Diabetes changes everything. The adjustments in his lifestyle were hard, but he pulled through and kept his diabetes very well managed and under control.

Jonas didn't start having any other major health problems until 2005. He had a few bumps in the road through the years......he would get sick easily, was always coughing, had "the runs" quite often (not a very "public" matter to blog about, but it becomes a major part of his sickness in the later years). But we just figured it was due to his lower immune system since he was a diabetic. He did have one diabetic seizure around 1999 when he was at work. I remember getting a phone call while I was at work from a nurse at St. Mark's hospital. I was so scared and crying the whole way there.  He had bit his tongue really hard when he went into his seizure. The hole in his tongue was really gross! But other than that, he was ok. Whoosh. What a relief!

Jonas, Sam, & Ben
March 2005

So 2005 comes along and one month after I had Ben, Jonas had an appointment with his diabetic doctor.  The labs he got that day showed that his white blood count was really low......seriously low.....she told him to go to the ER because the doctors would need to do some testing to figure out what was going on. Since I was home with a three week old baby and a 21 month old, he told me he was ok to take himself and his mom and dad met him at the hospital.

He was there for several hours and I wasn't hearing much from him. I remember being so worried and wishing I was there. It wasn't until he got home that evening that he told me what the doctors had been testing him for. When he walked in the door and saw me, he started crying. It is heartbreaking to see your husband cry. The doctors had been testing him for cancer (which came back negative), but he had been so scared. I was so upset that I hadn't been there with him, but he said he was glad I wasn't because he didn't want me to feel as scared as he had been that day.  That day really changed Jonas. The thought of having cancer had terrified him.

I am going to end for now. I am getting to "the good the bad and the ugly" years of Jonas' mysterious illnesses. So this too, will be continued.

Jonas and Brittney Webster
August 2002