Help Gary Recover from Brain Lesions

Hello everybody. My name is Joel and I want to introduce you to Gary Edwards (pictured on the right). He’s an amazing guy who has done more in his life than most people I know. He’s traveled the world, lived in exotic places, achieved getting his master’s degree at the age of 56, and started a beautiful career surrounded by friends at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Recently, life took an unusual turn and a month ago, he lost some of his memory. He couldn’t remember his passwords, where he worked, or the people he worked with. Most people (including me) first thought he suffered a small stroke and a quick trip to the Emergency Room was in order. The closest hospital resulted in normal tests with no conclusions. The physicians stated that a small stroke usually corrects itself in a short amount of time, and Gary was feeling like his old self before the end of the night. He took a couple of days off from work to recover and was back at work the following Wednesday. It seemed like he was on the path to recovery until the next morning. He awakened at 4 am to get ready for work and bam… he realized that he lost his ability to read. Another trip to the Emergency Room was in order.

VCU in Richmond, Virginia was our destination this time. He was quickly admitted and remained there for 22 days. It was a long journey starting with continuous blood work, scans, and biopsies. Obviously, the first scan was on his first day, which was an MRI of his brain. It returned images of 2 brain lesions growing on the left side of his brain. They were affecting his memories, speech, and ability to read. Through much testing, including a nightmarish brain biopsy, they have prescribed medication to keep the lesions at bay, but it does not fix the damage. Testing still continues in an outpatient setting and will hopefully result in better days to come, but Gary needs our help.

Needless to say, 22 days in the hospital with countless tests and more to come results in medical bills that he can’t afford, and home expenses such as a mortgage, food, and utilities. His spouse’s employment will end in less than 2 weeks and the rest of his family have limited resources. During his time of healing, he is unable to work and needs our help to secure a future that doesn’t drive him to lose his home.

Gary has gone from traveling the world, speaking 4 languages, a master’s degree student from UT Knoxville… to a frail man with brain damage keeping him from reading/writing coherently, struggling in conversation, and unable to work.

Please reach into your hearts and help him with expenses to provide him a life with a little less stress than he’s experienced this past month.

Thank you all for your generosity.