Ron's road to recovery with an AVM

Hello everyone and thanks so much for taking the time to be here. My name is Jocelyn and I am here to help raise money for my good friend Ronald.

Anyone that knows Ron, knows that he is an awesome human. He would do anything for anyone and has a heart of gold. I hope we can return the kindness he has shown to everyone his whole life. Let me explain how we got here...

Ronald has always been an extremely hard worker and loves what he does. If he's not working he's usually out on his snowmobile or tinkering around and fixing something. That was before he got ill earlier this year.

It all started this past May of 2022. He was feeling lots of chest pain and began missing time at work. By the first week of July, Ron then had his first stroke. Followed by 4 more in the same week! He was sent for an MRI to see the damage. It was then the doctors discovered the AVM in his brain. An arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is an abnormal tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins, which disrupts normal blood flow and oxygen circulation. Arteries are responsible for taking oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain.

The biggest concern related to AVMs is that they will cause uncontrolled bleeding, or hemorrhage, strokes, seizures, or paralyzation.

AVMs can occur anywhere in the body however BRAIN AVMs are of special concern because of the damage they cause when they bleed. They are very rare and occur in less than 1% of the general population.

Ron has been off work since the first week of July and has been battling sickness and poor health since then. He has been progressively declining since then. His mobility is extremely limited now and his quality of life has been severely impacted. Not only can he not work, but most daily living tasks have become difficult. He has difficulty walking and uses a walker to get around. His energy level is extremely low, he has a poor appetite and has lost a lot of weight. He has numbness and weakness all over his whole body.

Ronald's mom Ruthanne, has been his primary caretaker in all of this and his steadfast rock. Ruthanne is not in the best of health herself and has suffered 2 heart attacks in the last 2 years. Ronald had been the one helping to care for his mom prior to his illness and now they do their best to help one another.

The prognosis is not looking great for Ron at this time. Major brain surgery is likely in the future which will be a long road to recovery.

The biggest concern at the moment is Ron's steady decline in health and mobility and doctors are puzzled as to why this is happening. More tests need to be done to see what else is causing this decline.

With all of this being said it will be a very long time before Ron will able to get back to work and provide for his family again.

Please consider helping me to lessen the financial burden and bring a smile to Ron's face. I know he will be so greatly appreciative of any and all help.

Thank you.