On April 16 our family’s life changed forever. Chad was diagnosed with a 4th ventricle brain tumor. For someone who just got diagnosed with a brain tumor Chad had the most positive attitude about the situation and trusted the plan of action. The following Friday Chad went into surgery to have the tumor removed. Due to some unfortunate complications only part of the tumor was able to be removed and because of this, Chad had a hard time waking up. There was swelling of his brain and he was airlifted to the University of Illinois Chicago where they performed an emergency craniectomy to relieve the pressure. The decision to transfer him was a life saving one. That night was the first time in 5 days that Chad was able to open his eyes and respond to commands. On May 5th he underwent his third brain surgery to fully remove the tumor and we are happy to say this surgery was a success. Chad is making small improvements each day, but has a long road ahead of him. Initial biopsy results are showing the tumor to be benign. Chad is a fighter and he is the strongest person we know. He has many challenges to overcome before he can be released from the ICU. Once he is released he will go to an acute care hospital followed by an inpatient rehabilitation center. As you can imagine the hospital bills are already pilling up and that is why we have started this Go Fund Me to help relieve some of that unexpected burden for his family.

For those of you who may not know Chad we want you to get to know him a little. Chad grew up on a small farm in Herscher, Illinois where he set his goal at a young age to become veterinarian. He studied all 8 years at the University of Illinois and graduated in 2015 with his degree in Veterinarian Medicine. He married his high school sweetheart, Becky, later that year and they had their son, Declan, in September of 2019. Chad is an avid sports fan particularly of Chicago sports which include, the Bears, Bulls, White Sox, Blackhawks and of course the Fighting Illini. He is currently a veterinarian at a 3 clinic practice in Taylorville, Nokomis and Hillsboro, Illinois and can’t wait to get back to his patients big and small!

Becky has been so strong, supportive and amazing throughout this extremely difficult time and no doubt Chad is where he is because of her! 

We want to thank you for any donation that you make and if you can’t donate at this time please help us get the word out, you can share the link to your Facebook Timeline!

#chadstrong