Please don’t miss your opportunity to support a friend in need! My name is Terry Morrison. I am part of the Pickers Auction team. Our dear friend and auctioneer, Larry Vaughan and his best friend and wife Kathy have received the diagnosis no one wants to receive. Cholangiocarcinoma. The journey to the diagnosis, as many of you may know, has been a long, hard and often painful journey for our dear friend Larry.

Let me take a moment to tell you about Larry. Larry is a man on faith. He was raised in and made his home in the Appalachian region of southwestern Virginia/Northeast Tennessee. He loves “picking” (searching for antiques) and running his auction company. He loves his wife, friends and family, country, people, and above all else God! Larry is loved and respected by many. He has been in the antique and auction business for coming up on forty years! About 7 years ago, in need of direction and income, Larry and Kathy prayed together for God to give them an idea to do something other than local, in-gallery auctions. God heard their prayer and gave them the idea to take the live, bid-call auction to the Facebook platform and they did! They were the first in the country (as far as we have ever been able to tell) to do so!

Being one of the very first small businesses to move their business to strictly online shows their trust and faith in God. Many people advised Larry and Kathy to not share their faith and the word of God in their business. They knew what was right and made the decision, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to do so any way and have been doing so ever since. . In the very early days of Pickers Auction, Kathy became extremely ill and had to be put on a ventilator to save her life. Larry was right there! Working the auctions and being Kathy’s best friend, prayer warrior and husband through her time of need. After her recovery, they continued building their business and sharing the goodness of God with everyone who would listen right from their Facebook page.

If you would like to get to see this in action and have not seen or taken part in our auctions, I highly recommend checking out our Pickers Auction Facebook page.

I want to stress the fact that these two run a very small business and get no funds from anywhere else. Going more than half the year so far without being well enough to work takes an extreme financial toll on anyone, but especially has on Kathy and Larry. The crushingly high cost of everything in Nashville, despite their frugal nature, is more than enough to put a burden on them and it has.

Almost a year ago Larry started noticing something was not quite right. He started having many challenging symptoms that interfered with his work, and daily life. He pushed through and carried on with his responsibilities. Thanksgiving weekend he realized he needed help and answers from medical professionals. After going through the local ER his mass and strictures were detected and they were given very hard and disheartening news. The local hospitals were not equipped to deal with this diagnosis so Larry was immediately referred to Vanderbilt, nearly five hours away from their home. It has been a long and difficult journey to get to this diagnosis that no one wants to receive but on August 1 (just 4 days ago) they finally got a positive diagnosis. Needless to say, after dozens and dozens of tests, this was another devastating and shocking blow-yet they hold steadfast and unwavering in their faith in the Lord.

Cholangiocarcinoma is the actual diagnosis. His consists of a mass in his liver and strictures in his bile ducts that cause his liver to not drain properly and to become compressed, making him very ill. It is inoperable, incurable and the size of the mass disqualifies him for a liver transplant or surgical intervention. The very nature of bile causes the drains (possibly two so far) and stents to become blocked repeatedly. Each time this happens, he must immediately get out to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville so his doctors can perform the corrective procedure as soon as possible to get his liver decompressed. It has caused him extreme pain and sickness. He has been through 12 of these procedures so far and will actually be having another one within the next day or so (the fourth procedure in less than two weeks!).

Larry has had 12 procedures (all under anesthesia) and has had one extensive exploratory surgery so far in under a year! I have lost count of the number and names of all the tests they have performed on him! Cytology, brushings, bloodwork for cancer markers, DNA testing, CT scans and MRIs are among a few he has had and will continue to have. He has to have bloodwork done daily to monitor his bilirubin and liver enzymes, as well as many other things and it’s becoming excruciating for him. Through all of this, Larry has continued to praise God, shown compassion to many, including hospital employees, patients, and doctors as he continues his amazing Journey of Faith!

You might be asking why we decided to start a Go Fund Me for Larry. To start with, Larry and Kathy have been working as hard as possible, trying to prepare for this possible situation. Our company was transitioning to both live bid call auctions and traditional online auctions with listed items so when Larry was not well enough to call an auction, they would still have an income. Unfortunately, the work that was done and the plan that was in place for that did not work out, leaving them unable to have an income when Larry isn’t well enough to auctioneer.

This year Larry and Kathy have spent 54 nights in Nashville (so far). Depending on the day, Kathy doesn’t know whether she can stay with Larry at the hospital or must go to a hotel.

We have lost over 3 months of work so far his year. But the bills still come in. Hospital bills, doctor bills, insurance bills, medical supplies and prescription bills are steadily flowing in. In fact, they are mounting, and they haven’t even begun treatment yet! Not to mention travel and lodging expenses in Nashville that seem to never stop!

While they may be able to do chemo in Kingsport, Larry will always have to go to Vanderbilt for drain and stent replacement as they are permanent and crucial to his very survival.

We (the Pickers Auction team) have received many requests for updates on what is going on and how you can help. First, I would like to request that you continue to keep Larry and Kathy in your prayers. We appreciate all the prayers and well wishes so very much. Larry and Kathy see each and every message. This is just the beginning.

Secondly, I would like to ask that if you have it on your heart to donate any amount to help Larry and Kathy through this very difficult time, it would be very much appreciated.

In the months and weeks ahead, they are not sure how much Larry will be able to auctioneer but the hope is that he will be able to for a long time! They are looking at options to either hire another person to help with auctions, in addition to Kathy and their two grandsons, Blake and Shane and granddaughter Summer when they aren’t in school. They will also, once again, have to have a new website built that will work and support timed auctions. Larry loves what he does and plans on keeping Pickers Auction going!

Even more importantly, Larry wants to keep his Journey of Faith ministry going and growing as he has a heart to minister and share God’s word with the world! He is obedient to the Holy Spirit and has a heart and love for the lost like no one else you could ever meet and is eager to continue and greatly grow that ministry as God leads him.

Larry and Kathy would never ask for help, however, as you might imagine, they definitely need it now and in the days and months to come as Larry battles for his very life. We hope you will share this message and do what God puts on your heart to do to help

them out. May you all be greatly blessed in all you do!

This truly is an opportunity to help two people who are very much in need and have a very long, difficult battle ahead of them-even though they have so much to do still to bless and teach others! Larry’s ministry is just getting started and WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!