Support Shawn Way In His Fight Against ALS

In January, our dear friend Shawn Way was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as ALS.

To help Shawn, Kathy and their family navigate their way forward during this difficult time, we ask that you consider a donation of support to help with the funds required for his care.

Below is a message from his children describing their journey at this time.

"As some of you already know, our dad, Shawn Way, was recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. This diagnosis came as a complete shock to us.

ALS is a terminal disease that attacks and weakens your nervous system and muscles. This affects basic tasks like walking, speaking, eating and eventually breathing. While most ALS patients see a gradual decline over the course of several years, our dad's symptoms have rapidly progressed. While the weakness in his limbs seems to be progressing slowly (hence the ability to golf and drive up until January), his diaphragm and lungs have weakened rapidly.

On January 19th, Shawn went into respiratory failure and spent 3 weeks in the ICU. He spent 2 weeks intubated before receiving 2 surgeries: a tracheostomy and PEG placement. He will be vent dependent for the rest of his life and will receive nutrients and medications through his PEG.

After 6 weeks in the hospital, we've met our first goal of getting dad back home. In addition to hiring nursing care, he will need to continue physical therapy to try to regain the strength that was lost from a 6 week hospital stay. We know that this is a terminal illness and there is no "getting better", but right now our dad is still with us. Each day he is with us is a gift, and our gift back to him is to work so he can continue to live life to the fullest.

Our dad has taken care of us our entire lives, and now we need to take care of him. We will do whatever we can to support him and our mom through this marathon of a journey, but we cannot do it alone."

Both Shawn and Kathy have given of themselves to our community thru Milestone, the Haven Network, our local hospitals, and Boylan. It is our opportunity to give back to them!

Thank you for your thoughtful generosity. Even if you are not able to give monetarily, we ask that you continue to keep Shawn, Kathy and their entire family in your thoughts and prayers.

God Bless All of You!