Expenses of A Brain Tumor

Hi, my name is Elizabeth, and my husband’s name is Jonathan. Jonathan was a pastor at Oakdale United Presbyterian Church and is currently a pastor at Worden Christian Church. Jonathan cares deeply for our community.

On November 27, Jonathan had a seizure in the pulpit right before he was about to preach. The church members surrounded him and called 911. After a minute or so, he got up and preached. “I have a message from God, and I’m going to preach it,” he said when others tried to tell him to not preach. The ambulance arrived when he had finished preaching. They recommended going to the hospital, so we did. Pinckneyville Hospital sent him to Mount Vernon who sent him to Barnes in St. Louis. There, they found out he had a brain tumor.

Through this entire trial, Jonathan has said he’s felt God’s peace. Though it’s been a challenging experience, Jonathan has used it to proclaim God’s glory to his church, his family, the nurses, and the doctors.

On December 21, he had brain surgery; the neurosurgeon removed 90% of the tumor. We are still awaiting the pathology report, which will help us know what the next steps will be—radiation or chemo or both.

We aren’t sure what the final total will be and how much insurance is going to cover, but we would appreciate any help we can have for these growing medical expenses and other expenses during this time.