Help Don & Berna Woods

Thank you to all our amazing friends and family who have supported and encouraged us as our father, Don Woods, has gone through some really difficult health challenges over the last couple months!  This site was setup because so many people have asked what they can do to help, and we wanted to provide an opportunity to give into our parents' lives.

They have been in Minnesota to visit the Mayo Clinic there since Wednesday, February 19th.  After the first blood test was done, they immediately admitted Don to the hospital.  He has been receiving excellent care at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, MN, and many tests have been done to try to determine the root cause of what he's dealing with.  A root cause hasn't been found, but he's been on various medications to correct fluid levels and other issues, and it's working slowly but surely!  At this point we don't know when he will be released.  His international normalized ratio (INR) levels need to improve before it's safe for him to leave.  For more details, see Cammy Cook's posts on Facebook; she was there with them for the first 6 days.

An MRI revealed that there was little damage to the heart muscle, so his chances for recovery are very good!  We're so thankful for good physicians, and our ultimate hope is in the Great Physician.  One of the things my parents were told to do to help with the recovery process is to limit all unnecessary stressors upon their return to Albuquerque.  One of the ways we're wanting to do that is by finishing a house remodeling project that our dad began last year and has been unable to complete on his own.  He enclosed their back patio to make a family game room along with a two-sided fireplace they can enjoy from their living room and the new room.  Through the generous help of some dear friends from church, that project is almost complete, so they should be pleasantly surprised when they get home.  The painting and trim work is being done on Wednesday, February 26th, and that will cost a little under $1,000 since some other family friends are doing that through their painting business and providing it at their cost.  In addition to that, our uncles and aunts have covered the cost of their trip to Minnesota.  So my parents are being well cared for, and we're so thankful for that!

So why are we raising more than $1K?  Well, they are not salaried, and our dad has not been able to work for the last 2 weeks.  It will be a little while before he can.  Don's doctors have asked him to wait on returning to work until at least a week after he's been back in Albuquerque.  The first miracle will be if we can get him to agree to that :)  He loves his work as a Christian counselor and truly sees it as his ministry.  So it's not just a job, and he wants to get back to it!

That means that they could use some financial help to get through this time so Don can just focus on recovering more physically before he starts working again.  If you would like to bless our parents in this way, we invite you to give to this cause.  We know they'll be more blessed by their friends' thoughtfulness and generosity than the actual money, but the money will help!

That's it.  No pressure.  Just an invitation to pour into Don and Berna Woods' lives like they have poured into so many others over the years :)

Thanks on behalf of their children,
John, Cammy, and Kyle