Hello! We are Peggy and Steve and we pray that all who read this are doing well. as for Peg and I, we are each in our individual recovery periods however long that is. Let me start at the beginning, May 19th , 2021, I suffered a stroke. Drs, removed a blood clot from the right side of my brain. Going into the surgery I weighed 264 lbs and coming out I weighed230 lbs. Not the ideal way to lose weight but what a load off my mind! Ok... corny I know but I'm not going to let this thing bring me down. I have no sensation in my left hand and my fingers on the left hand not being coordinated like my right hand and having a hard time holding onto something and have to visually make sure I am continuously holding whatever it is and watch as my hand makes contact with a doorknob then make sure I get enough fingers on it to squeeze and turn it. But it It could have been much worse. To compound things I have heart issues too. So now I have to retrain my brain and relearn things which was very evident the first time I put on my gym shorts. I walked into the den and my wife told me she liked my mini-skirt (had both legs in one side of the shorts but said I was missing the stilettoes. Now picture that if you will. Suffice it to say didn't lose my sense of humor and am taking each day as it comes. I am on disability leave from work and am not sure when or if I will be released to work. My job does require typing which at this time is difficult to do with any acceptable speed or accuracy. My wife has some concerns she has noticed as has my daughter, which will be brought up on my next visit to my neurologist . I love to cook but now my wife has to chop the onions , tomatoes(anything round since I can't get a good grip on it so it could be a little dicey for me if you know what I mean . Peggy has been so supportive, so encouraging, she has helped me, pushed me to get to where I am. She really saved my life due to her quick timing in calling 911. She is my hero. So a week after leaving the hospital, my wife is given the results of a CT scan she had scheduled and she tells me cancer was found in her right lung. My heart fell. I'm not usually at a loss for words but I was just stunned. This when you hit your knees. At this point we didn't have a clear direction on where this was going to go. There were options... surgery or chemo/radiation She was scheduled for a PET scan which which would tell us if the cancer had spread and a decision which option to choose. Thankfully the cancer had not spread . The Drs. gave their opinions but Peggy was told the choice was hers to make. She knew she was going to be in pain for some time after the surgery and if she chose chemo, there was a greater chance of the cancer returning. Peggy took the harder way in my opinion because that's her. She tackles the difficult things head on and gets through them. which she will do again this time. She's got the love and support of so many people pulling for her but especially God. She is indeed in much pain and her incisions itch so much but she does not dare scratch them. I know the hardest thing for her is not being able to physically do as she has done all her life. We worked as a team in managing manufactured home communities and many a day she was out on property working along side me and our maintenance staff.. But right now she just needs to take it slow and build herself back up and I will be right beside her encouraging, helping and pushing her not to work hard but to work hard at not overdoing things. Since neither one of us are able to work now we've had to depend on her SSI an my disability checks from work to survive financially and the food pantry for some staples . This I think is just as hard if not harder to get through than what we've gone through health-wise. It's been 3 weeks since my last check which was only for two days since I am transitioning from short term to long term disability from work. My family and her family has helped with what they could as has our daughter and we are so grateful for the help but we can't depend on them each month as they have health issues as well but we have gotten behind on things like internet which is how we pay our bills, TV, house insurance, a few credit cards and medical bills and if I don't get a check very soon, my car payment too and we have yet to receive any bills from my wife's Drs. or surgeon and the hospital where she had her surgery and there is still our medications that will need refilling and scheduled Drs. appointments for the both of us and to top it off, we need a battery for our car. I've tried obtaining local assistance but there has been no reply either via email or return call. I have more calls to make to try to get assistance as I can't give up. My wife is depending on me. I don't know whether it is a guy thing or what, that makes it hard for me to ask for help but I have to . We don't and in our 39 years of marriage have never lived a lavish lifestyle, pretty simple folks . We've worked hard all our lives and care for others and do what we are able to for others. We don't keep all the food we get from the food pantry but share it with one of our long-time neighbors ,whose husband has had his share of health problems and is in an ongoing battle with his health. We are happy that out of our own issues we are able to do something for them. Thank you for taking the time to read our story and hope you will consider assisting us with a donation. God bless