As many of you may already know, the Bence-Revord family has had a rough few years when it comes to their collective health and wellness, with 2024 coming and going as a particularly jarring year. Liz and Willie have dedicated their careers and personal lives to helping others since the day they met—literally; they started dating when they were both deployed to help communities impacted by Tropical Storm Debbie with the American Red Cross when they were both AmeriCorps members. And now it’s time for them to ask for help from their friends, family, and community (and if you know them, then you know this was done after much negotiating!).
For the past few years, Liz has been dealing with an unknown illness, resulting in chronic pain, fatigue, dizziness, passing out, and nausea, among many other symptoms. She has been in and out of the ER, doctors offices, specialists, naturalists, physical therapists, acupuncturists, and more to find answers. This year Liz dealt with slowly worsening symptoms from January to Thanksgiving, when she landed in the Trauma Center at Harborview Hospital in Seattle for emergency spinal surgery. Early in 2024, Liz was diagnosed with a chronic, degenerative illness that impacts her connective tissue and joints, not allowing them to work properly. In this most recent case, the vertebrae in her neck were compressed and ossified, putting pressure on her spinal cord, bruising it and causing nerve damage, pain, and dizziness.
The day after Thanksgiving, Liz underwent an “anterior cervical discectomy & fusion” surgery on vertebrae C4-C7. C6 was removed, replaced with a cage, and the entirety was fused together with a supportive brace. This whole procedure was conducted through an incision on the front of her neck! Her recovery will be long, but she’s been in high spirits and doing everything she can for a smooth and speedy recovery. Though this recent diagnosis and emergency surgery has proven physically and emotionally taxing, it validates Liz’s long-felt pain from this invisible, but very real condition. Because of her illness, and imaging of her lumbar and thoracic spine, doctors have prepared her for the possibility of future, similar surgeries. She will continue her recovery by working with her physical therapists, occupational therapists, a nutritionist, naturopath, spinal specialists, and pain specialist, along with others.
In addition to Liz’s continued medical issues, Willie was diagnosed with testicular cancer this past year. We are all lucky and grateful that due to a swift diagnosis and reaction from their local, rural hospital, Willie underwent a successful initial surgery. However, due to concerns of the cancer spreading, he had a more intensive follow-up surgery scheduled. If you followed Willie’s story on his Caring Bridge page, you’ll remember everyone being surprised by his remarkable recovery and sudden drop in tumor-markers, which allowed him to successfully dodge that 8-hour surgery that would have cut him open from chest to groin! The family has been very thankful for Willie’s response to the initial surgery, and remains optimistic now that he has transitioned into the monitoring stage (blood work and ultrasounds every 2 months, and CT scans every four for the next year and beyond).
Liz and Willie were very lucky to finally find a house to call home in October 2023. They have been working to create more affordable housing on their property, opening up their home and land to others, even amidst their own health issues. Between purchasing their home, and battling their surprise medical bills, the couple has drained their savings account and don’t have much of a cushion to rely on in case of (another) emergency. Liz has also had to scale back at work since June 2024, working limited hours, as her body allows.
The Bence-Revord family needs helps with their medical debt, which includes their travel expenses to and from specialists and hospitals (many Seattle-based), paying for out-of-network specialists (or those who don’t even accept insurance), lost wages, medications and mobility aids, as well as self-care and recovery services and procedures. At this time, Liz’s care team has also encouraged her to continue to reduce her hours at work. This means that she’ll only be part-time with no additional Paid Medical and Family Leave
support for 2025.
The past year has been a doozy, and while the whole family has felt the shock of these medical surprises, we are endlessly impressed with the strength, courage, humor, and vulnerability that Liz and Willie have faced their trials with. We are all so thankful for any assistance you, their friends, family, and community can offer at this time. We know that Liz and Willie have, and would do this for many of us, and we want them to know they are loved, cared for, and have their community in their corner.
Thank you all for reading this and supporting Liz and Willie!
Sarah Feyers (tolerated niece) & Michelle Braund (Liz’s bestie, and Sarah’s other Aunt)
