Hi everyone! As most of you know Ben Snyder was diagnosed with Crohn's disease a few years ago. Ben started getting sick about 4-5 years ago and spent the first few years with many different doctors figuring out exactly what was going on with him. Since being diagnosed it took another year until Ben got into a specialist who started trying different drug treatments with Ben. 2016 was a very, very tough year for Ben, he took a pretty severe turn for the worse at the end of the summer until his specialist and a surgeon finally decided it was time for surgery for Ben. At the end of December, Ben had surgery to remove 15" of his large intestine and parts of his small intestine. Ben's recovery has been going really well, he's healing as he should and starting to gain his weight back which is awesome! Everyone is extrememly hopeful that this is the start of Ben being able to return to a level of normalcy, start working again, and keep his Crohn's at bay. 

I've started this fundraiser for Ben for a few reasons. The first and most needed is that Ben will still be on drug therapy for Crohn's. This medicine is extremely expensive but thankfully most of the expense is covered by government funding. But Ben still has to put a 'downpayment' of about $4,500 each year to cover the expenses. I'd love to be able to cover one year for him. Ben hasn't been able to work for about 9 months and probably won't be able to go back to full time work for quite a while. General living expenses have been tough when you have no means of income. 

The second reason this fundraiser is important is because Ben's condition has put his life on hold. Not only his work, but his friendships, relationships, his hobbies and interests. I know Ben has been a great friend to all of you at some point and I think it would be awesome to show him some love in this small way.

Lastly, I'd ask that everyone keep this private for Ben's confidentiality sake. He has been so incredibly strong and positive throughout this, he hasn't really told many the struggle he's had so I'd like to respect his privacy. 

Thanks everyone!!! Thanks for all the well wishes and thoughts you've sent his way, please keep them coming! For anyone that doesn't know, I'm Ben's sister Kate Snyder and I live in Vancouver BC. This money raised is going to go directly to Ben to cover the cost of his medication for a year. If anyone has any questions please feel free to shoot me a message.
xoxo