Help Susan and Scott Pay off their Medical Bills

Hey friends and family, as some of you may know, my dad, Scott McDonald, has gone through some severe health issues in the last 3 years that have shaken our world. (If you would like to know more specifics, I'll write a bit below). In the last year, my father has been forced to quit his job and sell his company and my mother is trying to support the family and his care on her meager teacher salary. They have paid off nearly $20,000 in medical bills, but are still behind on the last few from his surgeries with no additional income to keep them afloat. She has one more year until she can retire and take out social security, so in the meantime, please consider donating to help them pay off the last of these bills. Any little amount helps, so thank you in advance!

P.S. My mother and father do not know I have started this gofundme, so please keep this our little secret for now!

Here's a little update about my Dad. Around 2021, Dad was starting to lose his balance and began needing a cane to move around. After being told by several doctors he was just "getting old" (at 65?!) we finally saw a neurologist who took an MRI and told us he had something called Non-Communicating Hydrocephilus, basically too much spinal fluid in his brain. He needed a brain surgery to put in shunt to assist with the draining of that fluid in December 2022, and what should have been a simple, 24 hour procedure turned into almost a full month in the hospital. Overnight, he lost his speech, he lost his sense of time and place, and he couldn't move without a walker. With no answers from doctors as to why his reaction to this simple surgery was so severe, we underwent months of physical and cognitive therapy in hopes that this shunt would begin to work. Around 6 months after the procedure, when nothing was working and things were in fact getting worse, the neurosurgeon finally ordered another MRI only to find that the shunt has broken apart in his brain. So in May of 2023, he went back into surgery to place another shunt. Things did not improve, in fact, they began to decline rapidly. (We think he may have even had an unreported stroke). Scott was no longer able to even use a walker, needing a wheelchair to move around. He started showing significant cognitive decline as well and after months of trying to get a referral to another neurologist, in December of 2023, we finally saw a new doctor who told us he had been completely misdiagnosed (those surgeries were not necessary at all) but instead, he may have a degenerative disease called Spinocerebellar ataxia. His brain is shrinking, specifically his Cerebellum, and there is no cure. We are currently waiting on some test results to come in to tell us more about life expectancy, but needless to say, this entire process has left my mother, father, and family pretty emotionally and financially drained. It has been heartbreaking to watch my father who is so smart, funny, and independent become completely dependent for everything in his life and barely able to move or communicate with us in only a 3 year period. We are doing our best everyday, and Dad is still smiling and trying to make jokes through it all. He is so wonderful and we are thankful every day to still have him around, however much longer that may be. Please keep my family, and more specifically my mother Susan in your prayers as we try our best to navigate whatever lies ahead.