Ivan fell ill suddenly in July 2014. He had been fully functional and working 60+ hours each week on the road. Heavy labor, exterior building work doing what he was really good at....
He came home from several months on the road unable to bare any weight on his left leg. Melissa spent a week watching him slowly decline while he was being told it was a hip strain. By the end of that first week he was sleeping 20 hours per day fitfully and sweating till the sheets were soaked at night. Melissa took him to the ER and they admitted him right away. That first week Melissa stayed by his hospital bed side as he began the slow recovery from the first surgery to remove the massive infection that had settled into his hip joint. 
But when he returned home the fever didn't subside. Melissa checked his temperature several times a day and was in regular contact with the Dr.'s. Several weeks go by with a constant fever and he got refered to Infectious Desease Specialist. A change in the IV antibiotics was made promptly and his 6 week treatment started over again. After another MRI found the infection had settled into his leg muscle we were told to return to the hospital for a second surgery. 
Finally with a stronger IV medication and the mass of puss removed improvements became steady. The fever finally faded and physical therapy three times a week began in ernest. 
After about three months the central line that was used to supply the IV medication 24/7 was finally removed. We have been told that for every day a person is bedridden it takes three days healthy to compensate. That would leave him as recovered as he will be by spring, nearly 9 months from the start of his illness.

Today he is continuing to rebuild his energy, it is a very slow process. We have been told that it is expected for him to have reduced energy till spring. But things have improved enough at this point that he has returned to a limited level of work. He is having more "Ivan style" days in the past two weeks than he has had since last summer. Though the hip joint has been permenantly damaged by the infection he is hopeful and optimistic that he will continue to see improvements into the future.
He has missed his Starwood home for several years. Every year missed he has taken time to make a fire on the burn night and make space even if from a distance to remember Starwood and the community there. 
Please help him pull out of the financial hole that being out of work and so sick for so long has left him in. He looks forward to "Ivan style" days in the future ;-)