On May 25th 2023, our family had to face devastating news, our dad and mom’s husband, John, was diagnosed with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The ALS Association defines ALS as a “progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.” This is a progressive disease, meaning it gets worse over time. People diagnosed with ALS slowly lose voluntary muscle function like the ability to walk, talk, chew, and breathe.

Currently, there is no cure for ALS and how quickly John’s condition will progress is also unknown.

Our family is preparing for what is to come. They call ALS the ‘bankruptcy disease’ due to the outstanding cost of care. It is hard to know exactly what the future will look like for our family, but we do know John will need these items in the near future:

- a new van with capacity for a specialized wheelchair (~$20k)

- adaptive housing (~10k)

- at home caregivers with eventual 24-hour care (~10k)

This is not the total cost of the above items, but small portions to get started.

We humbly approach the community we have built around the U.S. and the world to ask for your help in reaching our financial goal. Any amount helps. We thank you for taking the time to read this and supporting our family at this time.

Love,

Patty, Juanita, Sarah, & Tim