Hello, friends. I’m here asking for help on behalf of some very dear friends who could really use it. I want to share a little of who they are with you first, then I will share why I am starting this campaign.

I’ve had the pleasure of having John and Becky Kuss in my life for the past 9 years. They are amazing people who have selfless hearts who love to serve others. This is evident by not only the career paths they chose for themselves, but also the career paths their sons have chosen as well because of their examples.
John is a retired veteran. He was retired in 2015 after 26 years from the National Guard. John has been sent to Korea, Bolivia, Germany, California, Panama, Arkansas, and many other places. He was even deployed to Iraq in 2004 with the 141 EBC. He returned in 2005. He could not deploy a second time as they would not medically accept him, so they sent him home in 2008.
Becky has been a Labor and Delivery nurse for over 25 years. The last 15 of which she has been here in our hometown.  I personally have had the pleasure of having Becky by my side through 2 of my labors and through the labor and delivery of our son. She stayed hours after shift change with each of them to be by my side. She even asked John to bring my husband and I supper while we were waiting for my labor to progress. I feel confident in saying I am not the only laboring Moma that she/they have shown such love towards. They truly have hearts for helping others. Now I’ll share the reason for this campaign. 

In 2011 John was put on flood duty here in Bismarck. During this time John started having severe back pain that at times debilitated him. After seeing several Dr.’s in Bismarck, and after flood duty had ended things did not start improving. In short he was told that there wasn’t anything anyone could do and that surgery was not an option.  After seeking expert advice elsewhere they were directed to the University of MN where John was then diagnosed with Schumerman’s Kyphosis. A hereditary condition that John was unaware he had, that was aggravated by the flood duty he was put on. Surgery was the only fix for this condition.
In Feb 2012, John had the first of what would end up being 5 spine surgeries. He has fusions in 5 areas of his spine... C 3-4, C 4-5, T10-L5, L5-S1, and his left Si joint. In 2015 John was deemed unfit to serve, and was retired. This was a very difficult transition period for him. After some of the surgeries he was able to walk with a cane and got a part time job as a courtesy driver, but as of April 2019 the pain has become unbearable and debilitating again and he had to quit. He is now scheduled for two more surgeries in Jan 2020. They will be taking previous rods and screws out from T10-L5, which will then be replaced with rods from T10-S1. After this he will then have his right Si joint fused. All of Johns surgeries have either been at the University of MN, or theMN VA in Minneapolis. The VA has taken very good care of John, but they are behind many months, so it’s been extremely difficult to recoup the loss of wages for Becky, as well as the cost of travel/food/lodging.  Also, the VA does not fully cover all the expenses. They do receive VA benefits but that only covers the cost of some of their living expenses. They are having to remodel some areas of the house due to John needing to be in a wheelchair, and they have to put in a chair lift for John to get upstairs.  I asked Becky to sit down and add up all of their out of pocket expenses that they have generated with past surgeries that accrued since 2017 and that will be generating with these new surgeries and the cost of the remodeling(this total did not include her loss of wages) her total was $25,000. I made the campaign for $30,000 because of any unexpected expenses that always seem to show up. I know this was a lot to read, so thank you for following. I just really wanted this to be very transparent  for you, so you knew their circumstances and the cost of it all.  I ask that you cover John and Becky in prayer, and share this campaign, please. Many hands make light work, and I believe this to be true for this as well. If we could all give a little,  we could really help out a family in need.

They also have a son at home still homeschooling and a freshly graduated daughter. In 2018 and 2019 they were able to welcome their first and second Grand babies into the world. They feel very blessed to have been able to travel to see their new precious additions before Johns pain made impossible for them to go. Through this all, John and Becky refuse to let this hinder their faith or their attitudes. Thank you again, and please share! ♥️