Support Kenny and Emily Ward

UPDATE Tuesday, December 5: Kenny passed away this morning at 2:18 am with Emily at his side. We are deeply saddened by this loss and our hearts ache for the family he leaves behind.

On behalf of Emily and Kenny, THANK YOU to all of you who have donated, shared, prayed, and supported the family in any way. Your generosity and love will never be forgotten.

Kenny's passing brings new challenges to the family, and we appreciate anyone who is still moved to give on their behalf. Thank you!

UPDATE Thursday, December 7: Thank you, thank you, thank you, to EVERYONE that has donated so generously to the Ward family. Emily has expressed many times how grateful and overwhelmed she is by the generosity you all have shown her.

Please know that regarding the "goal" of this fundraiser ... there is no set number in mind. Kenny's fight in the hospital and passing are going to bring countless challenges (financial, and otherwise) to the Ward family. So as long as people are generously giving, I will continue to slowly creep the goal upward. Again, your impact on Emily and her kids cannot be overstated and she is beyond grateful for everything you all have done.

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Hello family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and good people who have never met the Wards and are wanting to help. Thank you for being here and for your desire to support Kenny, Emily, and their family.

The Wards have had countless people reach out wanting to do something to help them. Thank you to everyone who has offered meals, cleaning, childcare, prayers, messages of support, and so much more. Emily and the family are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from all of you.

We are starting this fundraising effort because the Wards have a long, difficult road ahead of them. There are still so many unknowns at this time (Monday 11/27/23) and the ultimate outcome of Kenny’s battle will likely not be clear for several more days or weeks. Regardless of the outcome, we know that there are going to be numerous financial strains on the Ward family. We hope that this fundraising effort can provide some help to Emily and Kenny moving forward.

Thank you in advance for your generosity. Emily and the Wards and those that love them love you for your willingness to help.

With that said, here is a review of where we are as of today. I will update this post periodically as there are substantial updates to Kenny's status.

- Friday-Saturday, November 17-18: Kenny seemed to have caught a harmless fall/winter bug that was going around the Ward family with some congestion, coughing, etc. He was taking it easy at home, and the family was excited to get him back to normal in a day or two.

- Sunday, November 19: Emily woke up and was very concerned as Kenny’s breathing was irregular and his coloring was not good, suggesting that his oxygen levels were worse than normal. I should mention here a critical part of Kenny’s story, that Kenny has Myotonic Dystrophy (DM) and has been gradually experiencing the onset of the symptoms of this disease over the last decade. Some symptoms have accelerated in the past 18 months. So while the Wards were accustomed to Kenny having some issues with his breathing, this Sunday morning seemed particularly bad, so Emily took Kenny to the hospital.

Kenny was admitted to the hospital immediately and the medical staff started doing test after test to see what was causing the respiratory issues.

- Monday, November 20: During the very early morning hours on Monday, after trying unsuccessfully to control and improve Kenny’s oxygen and CO2 levels, doctors made the decision to intubate Kenny and put him under full sedation.

- Monday, November 27: While there are hundreds of details and updates for what has happened in the past week, suffice it to say that Kenny has been in the ICU in this intubated and sedated state since Monday 11/20. Doctors have determined that he has fluid and pneumonia-like symptoms in his lungs, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and the flu. All of these diagnoses give doctors things to “work on” but are also presenting major hurdles to Kenny’s overall recovery. Additionally, Kenny’s DM condition exacerbates the gravity of these respiratory issues, and heightens his hurdles to recovery.

Doctors have attempted to reduce sedation several times for Kenny, but his body quickly becomes agitated by discomfort of intubation, and since his body is not prepared to try and function without the help of the ventilator to maintain proper oxygen and CO2 levels, the sedation has been promptly restored to allow his body to try and rest, fight the various illnesses he is facing, and try to recover.

And I can’t let an update for today pass without mentioning that today is Kenny’s birthday! He is turning 41 years young today. Happy Birthday, Kenny! Today, we all wish for strength for Kenny’s body, comfort for Emily, joy for Kenny’s children, and peace for all those who love Kenny.

- Tuesday, November 28: After some success on Monday of lowering Kenny’s levels of oxygen and the percentage of work his ventilator is doing, today has brought some new hurdles as doctors have discovered several blood clots, including a clot in his lungs. Kenny continues to fight!

- Thursday, November 30: On Wednesday, Kenny went into surgery to remove his blood clots. Doctors were able to remove some, but not all, of the clots as his heart was starting to have some distress during the procedure and they did not want to continue. He will continue on blood thinners to try and remove the clots. He is still fighting infections and fluid in his lungs.

- Friday, December 1: This morning, Kenny's oxygen levels dropped to lower levels than before, so doctors increased his sedation to try and let his lungs rest and allow the ventilator to stabilize his levels. So far, this has been unsuccessful and they are struggling to elevate his oxygen level. The staff is trying to explore all other options to improve his status. We are hoping for things to take a turn for the better soon. We have not had much good news recently.

Thank you again for your concerns for the Ward family. Your generous contributions to this fundraiser will help bring peace of mind to Emily and the family so they can stay focused on helping Kenny during the battle of and for his life.