My Brother's Medical and Living Expenses

I, Rachel Georges, am raising funds on behalf of my big brother, Jaysen Bechtel, who needs assistance with medical expenses and basic cost of living expenses. He can no longer work due to a sever degenerative osteoarthritis in his spine which requires surgery.

We are a prideful and stubborn family. We are a very private family who doesn’t talk much about struggles, and we refuse to ask for help. We were raised that you can achieve whatever you need or want with a little hard work. Unfortunately, my brother’s body is no longer cooperating with these ideas.

A little about my brother; he has worked hard all his life since the age of 16 doing mostly manual labor jobs. He has always been a rock; someone you can rely on. He’s especially fond of wood working and building things like furniture with his hands. He is a wonderful, dedicated husband and father who has always done what is necessary to provide for his family. He has a very sarcastic and dry sense of humor which we share and terrorize our mother with. He has a habit of taking in too many stray dogs and cats, also a shared family trait.

For the past 10+ years my brother has battled with degenerative osteoarthritis in his lumbar vertebrae. He’s managed to grin and bear it in order to make ends meet, kicking the can down the road so to speak, because he’s had no choice and lacked the means or insurance to investigate medical solutions. Last year he and his wife were excited to open their own business that she ran while he continued to work, but unfortunately, they were forced to close the business after a short period of time due to my sister-in-law’s sudden and unexpected medical issues. They still do not know exactly what the cause of her health issues are, and doctors still need to run more tests that they simply cannot afford. She’s currently unable to work. Additionally, my brother started experiencing a shooting pain down his back all the way down through his left leg. Now his right leg has started shaking so bad that he can barely walk. He recently went to a neurologist who ran him through a battery of tests concluding that the cartilage in his spine has shrunk to the point that his nerves from L2 to L6 are pinched. His L5 vertebrae is fractured from the stress and due to weakness in the bone. The pad between L5 and L6 has cysts and has bulged considerably. His lower spine has almost completely lost its curvature. He’s been to a Neurosurgeon to see what can be done. Essentially, there is no real solution, just temporary pain relief in the form of surgery to add rods and bolts through the vertebrae that are symptomatic to fuse them together. The doctor also believes the uncontrollable shaking in his leg is unrelated to his spine, which means more tests. Regardless, his estimated recovery time for the spine surgery is 6-12 months, after which he will likely no longer have full mobility. If the surgery is successful, his pain may be reduced 50% to 80%. This also will not prevent his other vertebrae from being affected down the road. Because of all this, it’s clear he can no longer work, and he has the very long road of surgery and physical therapy to focus on.

Currently, my 16-year-old nephew is working and donating his entire pay check to help keep food on the table, and I know it breaks my brother’s heart to accept this. It’s especially difficult in this economic climate. My brother has an appointment to qualify for assistance, but they will not see him until September. I’m hoping to raise enough funds to carry his family until he can receive some assistance, but realistically I know the process is typically painfully slow. Any funds donated will go directly to my brother to help with costs not covered by insurance and to help with living expenses.

My brother will never ask for the help himself, so I’m doing it for him. I hope you will consider donating whatever you can, or at the very least share his struggles with others and keep him and his family in your prayers. I thank you for your kindness.