Support Jeff Walters in his Battle with hMDS

UPDATE: Please keep Kay and their son, Joseph, in your prayers during this extremely difficult time. Also, important to remember his mother, father, sister and brother.

We are all longing to see Jeff again, but until that day, in addition to your heartfelt prayers, any financial assistance that you can send during this time will be greatly valued.

Thank You!

Friends of Jeff and Kay

(Job 14:15; John 5:28,29; Revelation 21:3,4)

If you can help, even in a small way…

Our long-time friend, Jeff Walters, has just been diagnosed with a very rare illness called Hypoplastic Myelodysplastic (MDS). In a healthy person, bone marrow makes new, immature blood cells that mature over time. Jeff’s bone marrow is failing. This disease, hMDS, actually disrupts this process so that the blood cells don't mature. Instead of developing normally, the blood cells die in the bone marrow or just after entering the bloodstream. Over time, there are more immature, defective cells than healthy ones, leading to problems such as fatigue caused by too few healthy red blood cells, infections caused by too few healthy white blood cells and bleeding caused by too few blood-clotting platelets. Some can live with this illness for many years, without even knowing they have it. The long term effects, though can become critical. Unfortunately, in Jeff’s case, he’s already in that very critical phase.

He and his dear wife, Kay, are currently admitted at Duke hospital. They have no idea how long that he will be there. It could be weeks. It could be months. The treatment that he is currently undergoing is very aggressive. The doctors have stated that this treatment is his only option. Otherwise, they will just try to make him comfortable. Without disclosing all the medical details and out of respect for their privacy, we are asking for financial help for Jeff and Kay. If you cannot assist, at least please share this Go Fund Me with your friends.

-Ron, Pam, Joe & Michele

This GFM is a group effort from several of Jeff and Kay’s friends. I have volunteered to organize it. So, on a personal note… Jeff and Kay have been my personal friends for almost 40 years. Jeff is also an artist like I am. In fact, I used to work for Jeff when he owned a sign company. He actually taught me to “letter”. We have so many great memories working together! We argued a lot, but isn’t that what siblings do? Jeff is really like a big brother to me. When I started dating my husband, Joe, Jeff and his wife, my friend, Kay, were one of our main “go to” couples. Jeff and Joe quickly became great friends. Actually, no one makes Joe laugh like Jeff! It was the 4 of us together for a long time… then we started our families and our kids grew up together! Through the years, life got in the way, but Jeff and Kay are still like family to us. So please help in any way you can!

-Michele