Prayers for Siheng Josh Lawson

[Charles David]

Thinking of you, Josh, and wishing you all the best for an expected swift recovery.

Yours,

Charles

[Mark A]

Updates

Dear Molly,
Thank you for the updates about Josh, I am sending blessing to him and his girlfriend. And yourself for all that you are doind.

Peace

Mark

[Grimlock]

I was happy to read in the latest gofundme update that Josh's tumor is shrinking! Go Josh

Dear Molly,

Thank you so much for everything you are doing for Josh (and us). You are an inspiration!


Dear Josh,

Some of Christina's and my fondest kung fu memories involve you. The January 2008 special kung fu intensive, Vegas, Dragon Strength... We look forward to many more. Get better soon!

[psychvet]

Prayers and love continuing for Josh.

[Mark CH]

As always many blessings to you brother Josh

Best wishes
Mark

[Charles David]

For those of you without access to Molly's Facebook feed. Here is her latest report:

"Hi Gang,
I've kept mute while we've been trying to work through our next steps. Josh is a fighter and so far he has made a valiant effort to beat this cancer. I don't know how he can do it. If I was in his shoes, I'd fold up in a minute in a half.
Sadly (which seems like the biggest understatement of my life), this tumor is smart and nasty and has stopped responding to treatment. Chemo stopped working a little while ago. We tried a last-ditch immunotherapy effort which doesn't seem to be working either. I'm not sure how much longer he has, but he's fading fast. He may have a few more weeks. We may have a few more weeks to have this wonderful man in our lives.
I'm not going to go into sentiment. I'm torn apart in a way I've never experienced and words don't seem to express it. Josh is my oldest friend. He is one of my closest friends. I never could have imagined how large the piece of my heart that is being cut out is.
I can't thank everyone enough for all of their support throughout this. The funds we have remaining will go to final arrangements and any remaining medical bills. I know Josh loves all of you and thanks you for everything you have done. I know you all love Josh. People like him are one in a million. I feel extraordinarily blessed to have him in my life, even if I don't get to keep him here as long as I'd might like.
Thank you everyone with love.
Molly"


Please join me in sending blessings to Josh.

[drunken boxer]

Thanks Charles and Molly for the update. It's really saddening. Couldn't meet a nicer person than Josh. Just hoping for a miracle here still, as I'm sure we all are.

[Joel]

Couldn't meet a nicer person than Josh. Just hoping for a miracle here still, as I'm sure we all are.

Although I haven't met Josh it is clear he is loved by everyone. I'm at a loss for words.

Love and blessings to all.

[veenie]

Thank you for updating the thread Charles Siheng.

Sending my prayers and blessings to Brother Josh and his family. May he be protected and guided by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, may he recover swiftly and may he be at peace.

OM MANI PADME HUM

Love & Blessings to you sister Molly.

Parveen

[Nessa]

My prayers and blessing for Josh at this time, as well as for those supporting him.


Best wishes,

Nessa

[LeeWeiJoo]

Sending good thoughts and prayers to our dear brother Josh.

With Shaolin Salute,
Lee Wei Joo

[yasminejade]

Namo Guanyin Boddisatva,

may Boddhisattva make situation easy for brother Josh to take.

OM Mani Padme Hum.

[Andy]

May Josh and all those close to him be supported and comforted at this time.

With blessings,

Andy

[Molly]

My time is limited, but thank you to those who have taken the burden of communication off my back. Although Josh has been in great discomfort, hospice has gotten pain and nausea control. Chris and Christina flew up here and Christina transmitted energy to him (can't thank you enough). This at least allows him some energy to do the practice prescribed by Sifu and probably most importantly, gives him the will to fight. I have to be prepared for both outcomes, but if he can somehow be stabilized, he still wants to go to KL for qigong healing. He is a tough dude. I'm so proud of him.

[Grimlock]

Josh is not done yet!

Dear Family,

After reading Molly's update about Josh last Friday morning, Christina and I decided it was time to fly up to see him. We can't thank Molly enough for helping us coordinate our trip at what was clearly both a busy and trying time for her. And we can't thank Christina's parents enough for taking our boys in on short notice so we could go.

When we went to see Josh, he had just moved back from the hospital to his wonderful girlfriend Mary's house. We knew he had been sleeping a lot, and that there was a chance that he might not be awake during the few minutes we expected to be able to visit with him, so we went with no expectations, just happiness in our hearts to see our beloved brother.

Sure enough, when Mary let us in, Josh was sleeping. But instead of being in a hospital type bed, he was dressed for the day (wearing a quintessentially Josh shirt that read, "Don't JOSH with me"), gently napping across a normal bed. We sat down around him and started chatting. Mary told us that a recent change to his drug protocol had helped, and that he had been up and active for a good chunk of the morning. A few minutes went by as we continued to chat, and just when I thought that he might not wake up for us, he popped up, gave us each a big hug, and then sat with us for an hour chatting, joking, and reminiscing.

Josh has a tough fight on his hands, but his spirit is STRONG! Sometimes when people are in rough shape, you can feel that their spirit is dull or not fully present, like it has withdrawn or has already started moving to some other place. That was absolutely not the case with Josh. His spirit was as present and strong as it has ever been when I've seen him, and his eyes were clear and sparkling. He told us he's not done yet, that he wants to stick around for a while longer and help more people.

Christina gave him a nice treatment towards the end of our visit, then he and Mary walked us outside, where in a fitting grand finale, Josh and Christina did a little sparring! That annoying monkey paw even made a few appearances I wish I'd taken pictures or a video, but I was too busy enjoying the moment.

It was so wonderful to be able to visit with our dear friend and brother. Even though all of us were physically there, it felt like it was our spirits that were most present enjoying a happy reunion.

It's true that Josh has expended all of his western medical options, but we in Shaolin Wahnam know that that is actually a blessing. Western medicine is fantastic at many things, including the impressive surgeries to remove Josh's tumor, but it also has its weak points, many of which happen to be strengths of the Chi Kung paradigm.

Now think for a moment about the people who love Josh who don't know anything about the Chi Kung paradigm. To them, expending all western medical options means that there is nothing more that can be done. It is understandable if they are scared and devoid of hope. If you are one of these people and you're reading this, the absolute best thing that you can do is to not give up on Josh and to support him in whatever choices he makes. He will get the best results from whatever he has the most confidence in, and he happens to have tremendous confidence and skill in his Chi Kung. You don't need to have that same confidence in his choices, you just need to have confidence in Josh. There will be plenty of time to grieve him after he dies (hopefully a long, long time from now). While he's alive, let us back him fiercely and unconditionally!

To our Shaolin Wahnam family, I say that Josh, Mary, and Molly need our support now more than ever. They are the ones on the front lines of this long, exhausting fight. They need our collective strength to help power them through and to constantly show them that they don't have to do it alone, that they have a massive army behind them, ready to support them however they need.

I could write an entire post about how amazingly everything fell into place on our trip. I'll just say that what is most amazing about our trip to see Josh is that in HIS hour of need, he opened OUR minds again and we sailed home with lightness and joy in our hearts - as is usual when around Josh!