Ken Turley Stroke Relief fund

Dear friends,

It is difficult for me to ask for help. But I'm not asking for me, I'm asking for Ken, who is not in a position right now to ask for himself. . As many of you know, on February 4, my beloved husband of nearly 40 years, and a friend to so many of you, suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke, a "brain bleed" on the right side of his brain. We are grateful that the stroke did not affect his language or his cognition. He is still the Ken we know and love, but sadly, he has lost all use of his entire left side. He has been suffering violent involuntary muscle spasms which the medical team have yet to get entirely under control. While he can speak, his speech is slow and labored. He cannot stand on his own, cannot use his left side at all. For those of you who know Ken, this is a devastating loss. He had just begun teaching guitar again, and had several students who were enjoying taking lessons from him and he was enjoying teaching them. His main joy in life, and what has always driven him, is our family and his music... playing his guitar, wailing away on those "blues" and jazz electric leads, renewing his first love of playing the classical guitar, or playing the cello in the community orchestra. And of course, he told me often that our playing together as a jazz/folk duo was one of his greatest joys and he was delighted that we had several performance gigs lined up and were working on promoting ourselves to get more in this coming year. Overnight, all of that has been taken away from him, and right now, he is lying in a hospital bed, just beginning the long journey of physical and occupational therapy to regain whatever use of his left side that he might be able to achieve. We will get through this together. I will be at his side as we learn to navigate this new life. But the financial costs of gasoline for the 2 hour round trip for me to travel to and from the hospital every day have been mounting, as well as the looming home renovations we will need to make to accommodate his being wheelchair bound. Combining extra expenses with the sudden loss of income is daunting, as we have both had to give up teaching private piano and guitar lessons to focus full time on his medical needs. Sadly, we have had to cancel the upcoming gigs that we had been planning as a performance duo, as it is clear that Ken will not be playing guitar again any time soon, if ever. Ken is motivated to work with physical and occupational therapy, and I will be at his side every step of the way, as together we navigate this new life. Any help you are inspired to offer to help us offset all the extra expenses that we are encountering and will continue to encounter to make our home a safe place for Ken when he is finally able to come home, will be appreciated immensely. We thank you from the depths of our being. Laurie