As many of you know, Mark had a brain bleed on July 11, the day after we celebrated his 74th birthday. He was airlifted to Kelowna for surgery, which didn't end up taking place because by the time he arrived the bleed had stopped and amazingly he was becoming coherent and able to communicate and even walk! They sent him to recovery but a couple days later he ended up back in ICU because they discovered he had Hydrocephalus. (July 17th) They immediately did an intracranial drain, hopeful this would resolve the problem, which it seemed to be doing but then he developed ventriculitis (a brain infection) from the drain and we almost lost him to high fevers/cardiac episode. Again he pulled through, they removed the drain hopeful it had solved the hydrocephalus, and he was sent to the critical care ward. There, down 20 something pounds with a stage 3 bed sore, he struggled to gain back cognition, weight, and mobility. There were noted improvements for a time but then regression and a CT scan again showed the hydrocephalus had not resolved. Around August 28 they performed another surgery called an Edoscopic Third Ventriculostomy (ETV) to try and bypass the brain fluid and allow it to drain. This was again unsuccessful which led to a final, more risky surgery that just took place Sept 24th where they put in a permanent shunt that drains the fluid into the abdominal cavity. Time will tell what the outcome will be. We don't really have a timeline or even an estimation of where he will physically or cognitively come back to. He's been in an out of ICU and critical care for 2.5 months now and it's been pretty horrible. It seems to have mostly affected his short term memory. He still knows us all and retains long term memories, speech ability, and mobility and even his sense of humour, at least in the moments where the pressure seems to be less from the hydrocephalus. He's had some awful times of paranoia, pain, and in-and-out of reality, but he's also had some beautiful moments where his love and care for others and devotion to his family shine through. YES, HE CAN EVEN STILL FIND SOME CHORDS ON HIS GUITAR!

Vicky has been a rock. Her love, care and devotion to her husband of 46 years has not wavered. She has spent long days and nights at his bedside. On the home-front our "family team," along with a few neighbors, have managed to keep Dad's chickens, cats and garden alive. Adam and I, as well as some of Mark's siblings, have been down to Kelowna several times to be with them and to give Mom some moments of respite and support. She has not been home to Creston since the start, but has been staying at JoAnna's house next door to the hospital (an available accommodation for families of patients receiving advanced medical care). While this is a relatively inexpensive option for her, it is still an unexpected drain on funds, as well as the cost to eat out in Kelowna - she doesn't have much time to cook so is having to buy cafeteria food most of the time. She has, of course, had to take a leave from work so her income is also lacking. Not that she would ever complain, as most of you know, she is a most giving, selfless person. She will likely not be impressed that I am even setting up this Gofundme, but we would like to bless her with not needing to worry about finances over the next few months. (She might not be home until after Christmas even, we really have no end date in sight, or even any idea if Mark will be able to return to their present home.)

Funds will be used to pay for Vicky's accommodations, food, medical and travel expenses.

To all of those who have been praying for us, offering words of love and encouragement and just checking in with us through this time, we are so grateful for you!