John Lewis and the fight of his life!

Hey everyone..... it's taken days for me to decide to create this page because things are happening so fast and answers were so few to start.

My dad, John Lewis Sr., was born May 12th, 1964 in Reno, NV. Loved sports and rollerskating and racing his VW Bug against dirtbikes in the dunes. He graduated from Hug High and was on his way to college where he was to play football and attend classes on a sports scholarship in hopes of maybe going pro one day. Unfortunately this was all brought to an abrupt halt when a doctor diagnosed him with hip dysplasia after an injury and ended his possible future sports career.

Fast forward a couple years and he decided to move to Central Oregon, where his parent's had built a house, and eventually met my Mom, Helen Howe. They fell in love, got married and had their first child. That's me, JJ.

We lived in Redmond while I was growing up and my dad participated in Cub and Boy Scouts, the sports I played and hunting and fishing in some way all of my childhood. He decided at one point to go back to college and achieved his degree in Criminal Justice! Then a second child, my sister Kiley, was born into the family (one of the best times of our lives) and then life got a bit rocky. The 2008 housing market crash affected so many people, including my family. Unfortunately, things have been mostly rocky up and downs since then, but our family has always fought through things together... even if that meant a bit of frustration and misunderstanding between ourselves. We are still family and as the old adage goes, "You don't always have to like family, but you have to love them".

Fast forward to the last few years and then months. COVID... nothing more needs to be said. Disrespectful tenants, lost jobs, gained jobs, Kiley graduating High School, etc. As of three weeks ago, my family started the process of coming back to Oregon starting with my dad. Great! Process of cleaning up the home and property that was so desperately needed and then BAM! This last Sunday(Mar. 31,2024), John fell and hurt himself badly. Ever the "man's man" he of course refused being taken to the ER while stating he'd go "tomorrow". If only we had known that every minute counted already by that time. Tuesday morning comes along and he is still in pain and basically can't move and refusing still to go to the hospital. We should have forced him to go, but anyone who knows my father knows he isn't very much about being told what to do or forced. My mom has a terrible feeling going through Tuesday night and begs me to check on him first thing in the morning. Upon entering the house on Wednesday morning, I call out to my dad and he yells back that he needs help. He had fallen sometime during the night and couldn't get back up. The moment I walk into his room, I know to call an ambulance right away. He does not look good.

Since him arriving at the hospital things have just become more and more bleak and worriesome. We quickly find out that it is not a hurt hip in the way we think. His body is also fighting an infection called MSSA. Over the last 48 hours it isn’t just a hurt hip, to the knowledge that he is battling septicemia (an aggressive form of staph infection) and needs to have both hips prosthesis removed so they can scrape the infection out. He's also battling encephalopathy, possible kidney failure and more. His chance of survival, depending on the hour, fluctuates between 20-75%......... so 1-4 out of every 5 people dies from this and if they have internal prosthetics they are usually at the lower end of the range... about 3-4 of every 5 people battling this don't survive it.

This has been incredibly hard on my mom and sister. Being totally honsest, this has been really hard on me also. Dad's can be bullheaded and ridiculous sometimes, but he's still our dad/husband. My family has been super helpful and fortunately, my mom and sister were able to drop everything and make it up here on Thursday night to spend time with him and I.

So now the reason for setting up this donation site. My mom and dad are both out of work for the moment (Mom to take care of Dad and Dad becuase....obvious reasons) and Kiley is preparing for college and needs to save for that. At the moment, I find myself the only one with a full time income and I already know, I won't be able to save our family home and spend time with my Dad while he heals.. The worst case scenario just isn't an option to any of us. He will heal. Doctors have already informed us, that no matter what happens from this point on, John will need at least 6 weeks of onsite physical rehab and possibly much more. My mom works to pay for the place in California that they are working to leave and move back up here as soon as they can, but they still need to tie up loose ends down there. My dad and I were working to pay for the house here in Central Oregon and get all the updates needed to make the house livable again for my mom who has major allergies and some medical stuff she has been dealing with for a long time.

Based on my income from the last 3-6 months and the fact that we just cleared out all renters... I can't afford this mortgage payment solo and we can't lose the house while my Dad fights for his life. It is the house his parents (my grandparents) built and what brought him to Bend where he met my mom. The very roots of our family.

The stress of not knowing he will make it through this is already more than too much, but the idea of also missing house payments and losing the house is just insult to injury. Also I'd love for my mom to be able to stay longer than a couple of days because she is also stressed about finances and money shouldn't be the reason to not be there for a sick loved one, ever!

We understand so many people are worried and working hard to keep afloat these days, so please remember that we'd never want anyone to to feel bad for any reason. If you can't donate, just sharing or sending this post.

We love you all so much! Thanks for all the good energy, love and prayers!