Life-Saving Surgery for Larry W. Gatten

Hi, my name is Brenda Schaumleffel, sister of Larry Gatten. My brother lost his job in 2021 and had no income coming in except a minimal amount from his local church. This amount was not enough to pay for insurance and his wife could not afford to add him to hers due to the overall decrease in monthly income. Larry has diabetes and it took what they had to pay for his medication. As time went on, Larry had no energy, went blind in his left eye and is about to lose vision in his right eye. He was depressed and forgetting a lot. Larry’s overall health continued to decline and he began to experience many distressing dementia symptoms. He was even diagnosed by neurologists with likely Alzheimer’s. He was sent to have an MRI to rule out other possible causes.

To the shock of his family and doctors, Larry in fact had an extremely large mass on his brain. The position and size of the tumor was the reason for the brain symptoms, health decline and blindness.

Larry’s neurosurgeon has made it clear that this mass must be removed as soon as possible to prevent further damage.

He has no insurance to cover the cost of the surgery that he so badly needs. Family has contributed to help cover the cost of MRI’s and needed tests - but funds are quickly depleting. We are pursuing every possible avenue to cover the costs of this urgently needed surgery. But we need more help! Please, find it in your heart to help Larry get the surgery and the chance to have his life back. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.