Support the Dykstra Family Through Jim's Recovery

On August 28th, his 67th Birthday, my dad Jim went to the hospital with an excruciating headache and vomiting. After many tests and a transfer to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center, it was determined that my dad had a mass in his brain that was causing swelling and infection. Emergency brain surgery was performed overnight to remove the pressure and drain the infection. It has now been determined that my dad has a Streptococcus infection in his brain, likely linked to a bout of bacterial pneumonia that started in May. He has spent the last week in the CCU on intense antibiotic therapy to hopefully cure the infection. He is making progress but has lost quite a bit of cognitive function due to the brain injury. My mom has been by his side to advocate for him almost continuously for the last week, and due to the state of COVID in our area she is the only one allowed into the hospital to be with him. We are realizing and learning that this is going to be a months-long process of first ridding his body of the infection, then a variety of different therapies for him to re-learn basic functions such as walking, speaking, memory, etc. We are anticipating at least a 6 week hospital stay, then after that potential around-the-clock care.

My parents are unable to run their business at this time, and I have created this Go Fund Me to ease the burden and worry on my mom while she is unable to work. It is imperative that she is with my dad as much as possible because the hospital is so short staffed and my dad needs constant help with basic functions-most of which he can’t communicate. She has an exhausting amount of pressure on her and I would like to relieve the financial stress as much as possible.

My parents are hard working, kind, and thoughtful people and this season of trauma is definitely the hardest our family has been through. My dad is the backbone of our family, my mom's best friend for the last 38 years and we miss him dearly. We appreciate all of the prayers, thoughts and positive energy you can send our way.

Any questions or communication please direct towards me so we can allow my mom to concentrate on my dad’s care.

I will be sure to add any updates here.

Courtney