Support Becky & Mark Schoepp

Hello community, family & friends,

Let's support Mark & Becky Schoepp through this time of intense recovery after Becky's heart transplant!

You know them as Becky and Mark Schoepp, (maybe Mother and Father Fitz), but I (Nica Halula) know them as Mom and Dad, so I'll write the rest of this note referring to them in that way.

On Nov. 7, 2022, Mom was fortunate enough to be matched with a heart and she came through the surgery well and over the past 3 months has experienced incredible progress - as well as several "bumps in the road."

Mom is currently back in the hospital for a short stay while I write this, with a surprise & intense "bump in the road" problem (oh, you know, not much.... just Covid, and C-diff, and lungs collecting fluid for a mysterious reason. No big deal!)

Mom & Dad are both doing incredible work of recovering /healing (Mom) and caregiving (Dad).

And that is full-time work. But not full-time pay.

Dad was able to take some time off work initially to care for mom full-time, but as we go along this process, we are realizing it would be incredibly helpful if dad could have more time to continue this care before he has to go back to work.

We are grateful that the insurance they have in place seems to be a really good match for this situation and is covering most of the expenses (from what we can tell so far).

We are grateful that there seems to be a good plan in place and Mom is a trooper through it all. And Dad is doing incredible work being there for her. Advocating, supporting, communicating, making sure questions are answered, pain is addressed, food is appetizing and available.

It has been a very lonely and hard time for Mom and Dad I think, the nature of this recovery means that they stay really isolated to protect Mom. That will get better after this year, we hope (as her immunosuppression goes down).

I live nearby and can provide solid back-up support for Mom and Dad, but when Mom ends up in the hospital and we are trying to catch doctor's meetings (you never know when they'll show up in the hospital, through no fault of their own, it's just hospital reality!) I have a limited capacity to be there 24/7 while I have my own family, even setting aside my job (and praise God my work has been very accommodating).

We'd love to raise $10k:

- to keep dad at home for 3 more months (We anticipate and hope that by month 6-12 months out from the transplant, life will be more "back to the new normal" for Mom and Dad)

- for medical (including pharmacy) costs in the immediate future.

- for those extra "little" expenses that add up so quickly when you're living out of a hospital room and driving back and forth to the clinic all the time.

- Any additional funds would be used for these ongoing costs.

We know many of you have asked what you can do. And it's taken us a while to get our feet under us and figure it out. Your prayers and messages have already meant the world to feel not so isolated in this hard journey. While we would love to accept meals, with mom's immunocompromised status (which includes a high risk for food bourne illnesses), we have been advised it is wisest not to do that at this time.

Instead, we offer this incredibly vital way to help. And we are humbled by your financial support.

Thank you,

Jenica Halula on behalf of Mark and Becky Schoepp