Golf Tournament and Help Mark Fight Foundation

All details for the Inaugural Help Mark Fight Foundation Benefit Golf Tournament is on the new Help Mark Fight Foundation website: www.helpmarkfight.org. Please join us in continuing Mark's battle to find a cure for Adult A.L.L.! 

Thanks for all your love and support!

In Loving Memory...

Jonathan Mark Benson, 41, was born March 11, 1967. He passed away in the LDS hospital in Salt Lake City, UT on July 9, 2008 after a lengthy battle with Leukemia. He was the oldest of seven children born to John and Kathleen Benson. Mark married Michelle Griffin in the Logan, UT temple April 1, 1994 after serving a full-time LDS mission in Raleigh, NC. Mark and Michelle have three beautiful daughters: Madelyn, 12, Mackenzie, 9, and Megan, 5.

Mark graduated with a BA from Brigham Young University, a PTA from University of Indianapolis, and was completing his MBA at Troy State University. He worked as an athletic trainer, part-owner and manager of Mountain Land Physical Therapy clinics in Las Vegas, NV.

Mark committed his life to the service of those around him. His affection for his family, life, and Father in Heaven was apparent in all he did. He was actively involved in his community as a fund- raiser for the Special Olympics and Nevada Diabetes Association. He was an Eagle Scout and held numerous callings in the LDS church including service in the bishopric, young men’s presidency, and as a youth teacher.

He is survived by his wife, parents, three children, six siblings and their spouses. Siblings names are Robert (Marcy), Brett (Lacy), Rebecca Stowers (Ryan), Joseph (Heidi), Deborah Lines (Stephen), and Suzanne Subaitani (John).

Funeral services will be held Monday, July 14, 2008 at 12:00 noon in the Lehi East Stake Center, 900 North 1200 East, Lehi, UT. Friends and family may call at the Wing Mortuary, 118 East Main, Lehi, UT, Sunday evening 6-8 pm and at the church Monday 10:30-11:45 am. Interment, Salt Lake City Cemetery.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 12:00 noon in the Southern Highlands LDS Ward chapel, 10970 S. Bermuda Rd, Las Vegas, NV.

Online guestbook and directions at wingmortuary.com. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at the LDS Hospital in memory of Jonathan Mark Benson through the Deseret Foundation at 8th Ave. & C Street, Salt Lake City, Ut, 84143, (801) 408-1775.

Special Announcement

We, Mark's family, sadly announce his passing just hours ago at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. We are sure you would be pleased to know that he was a fighter, making jokes with his eyes, and smiling right up until his last moments.

Michelle was fortunate to be at his side and everything indicates that he waited to take his final leave until she arrived to be at his bedside.

Funeral and other arrangements will be posted on this blog as soon as they are finalized.

Thank you for your love and interest in Mark. His obituary will also be posted here when ready.

With much love,

Parents and siblings of Mark

p.s. - We are sure Michelle would appreciate any feelings you would like to post on this blog about Mark.

New Report on Mark

Mark continues to fight cancer and a fight its turning out to be. He is healing from his second abdominal surgery to remove devitalized tissue and cysts from his pancreatitis, which we hope has settled down for good, and we also hope his bowel function will return. But as of yet, he has a secretory diarrhea and gastroparesis (dysfunction of the motility of his gut) which is holding him back in healing, nutrition and progress toward a Bone Marrow Transplant.

The lead doctor Julie Asch, MD, has contacted a super-specialist in gut motility syndromes in Kansas, and has received advice and recommendations which the doctor team is discussing right now and trying to implement in the best way. He has a variety of complex problems which are intertwined and difficult to manage since some seem to exacerbate the other and visa versa. Success, the past two days, applying the recommendations of the specialist in Kansas seem to be having positive effects in reversing Mark’s g.i. problems. We and the doctors are hopeful that that progress will continue.

We all are continuing to support Mark through fasting and prayer while the professionals continue searching for the best possible solutions to his problems. His doctors are optimistic on the protocols that they are now following. We are still hopeful that we can get around these roadblocks and somehow get him to a healthy enough point to receive BM transplant.

Progress Report

Mark's illness takes yet another turn. The fluid collections in his abdomen have been persistent and keep him from progressing. Meanwhile, his Oncologists are getting nervous that they cannot keep the Leukemia at bay forever, and a relapse would be catastrophic. On a CT scan today, the radiologists and surgeons saw some signs on the description of the fluid masses that gave them concern--concern enough to decide to take him back to surgery tomorrow to try to excise the cysts and clean out the abdomen with the hopes that the healing process will be jump-started and he can at last get his bowel function, nutritional status and general health back on track in order to be a recipient of a bone marrow transplant. During the last few weeks as the specialists have been chasing his various signs of infection, it appears one of the antibiotics gave his kidneys a small insult causing his Renal Function tests to rise, which is an early sign of kidney dysfunction. This needs to resolve, his abdominal process needs to stabilize and he needs to get a lot stronger before he'll be ready to go to transplant. All we can do is hope and pray that the doctors provide the best chance for Mark's body to make it's best effort to overcome this illness and it's complications. We're still praying for miracles.