Help Mark Heal After Life-Changing Surgery

On July 25th, my husband Mark underwent major colorectal surgery to remove his entire colon. While we are deeply grateful that the surgery caught his cancer at an early stage, Mark has faced ongoing complications since then. He has lost 40lbs (down to 155), he is currently getting his calories through a pic line. He has been in the hospital 42 days and counting, struggling with issues related to nutrition and hydration that make it unsafe for him to come home or return to work.

As his recovery continues, we are preparing for the difficult reality that his sick leave will soon run out, and we may have to switch to costly COBRA insurance. In the meantime, I’ve been doing my best to hold everything together—paying the bills, running our household, and supporting Mark as he fights to get stronger. But soon with only one income and mounting medical expenses, we will barely be scraping by.

We’re asking for support during this difficult time to help cover medical bills, insurance costs, and day-to-day expenses while Mark focuses on healing. Any contribution, big or small, would mean the world to us and would bring us one step closer to getting Mark back home where he belongs.

Thank you so much for your kindness, generosity, and prayers.

Update 9/15

Mark has been in the ICU for about a week now due to ongoing complications. He has staph infection in his blood, blood clots, and a bacterial growth on his heart valve. He will be undergoing a heart procedure today to try and clear the bacteria from his valve. Usually they would do a heart surgery to remove bacteria and replace the valve but he is to weak for such a surgery as of now. Which means they have to go through the veins instead. This will inevitably weaken his heart valve and he will need a heart surgery in the future to replace the weakened valve. He will be on intravenous antibiotics for a long while to clear all infection from his blood stream.