On September 29th, Shawn started experiencing severe migraine headaches. He didn't want to make it too big of a deal as he and Jackie were enjoying the birth of their newest granddaughter. Over the coming days, the migraines persisted, with multiple trips to the ER. On October 5th, Shawn returned to the ER and was intubated. It was later discovered he had meningitis. Shawn was in the hospital for a week before being transferred to Barrows Neurological Institute in Phoenix. It was there that the doctors learned he had suffered 2 strokes in addition to the meningitis. He also was diagnosed with valley fever and pneumonia. The strokes caused swelling of the brain and pressure on his brain stem. His medical team was forced to remove a portion of his skull to alleviate some of the pressure from the swelling. The meningitis has caused significant damage to the left side of his brain. Unfortunately, only time will tell how much his brain will heal, if at all. But for all of you that love and adore Shawn, there have been a few glimmers of hope! Shawn's pupils have begun dilating... the respiratory therapist sees that he is taking more breaths than the machine is providing him... and the pneumonia is GONE!!! Also, he has a very strong heart, which we all already knew.

For those of you who don't know Shawn, many of us joke that he isn't for public consumption. Shawn is incredibly fun, always says what's on his mind, but has a heart of gold. You would never know it, but Shawn was a philanthropist. One Christmas, he went to the shelter and bought the homeless supplies and food, and did his best to find them work. He served food on Thanksgiving at a soup kitchen. He selects a child every year to gift a BMX bike to, as he is a BMX enthusiast himself. Shawn is an attentive and loving father and grandfather. He is a loyal and devoted husband to his incredible wife Jackie. If you've ever seen them together, you would agree, they were 100% made for each other. They work hard, play hard, and love each other even harder.

Jackie's whole world has been turned upside down. Not only did she have to meet the stringent IRS tax filing deadline for her clients, but she did it from a couch in Shawn's ICU room. She doesn't leave his side from 8am-11pm. She lays with him, talks to him, plays music for him... and waits for him to come back to her. As you can imagine, a medical event of this size consumes a lot of resources. So we are asking for everyone's help to give Jackie some breathing room during this time.