No one should go broke for life-saving cancer treatment. 
 
SUMMARY: 

~ My mother Mimi Gates is a 64-yr-old pre-school teacher, and a devoted, loving mother of 5, grandmother of 8, and greatgrandmother of 1. 

~ This is her second bout with endometrial adenocarcinoma, first time in 2011. 

~ She is currently recovering from her 2nd cancer surgery through UnitedHealthcare; 3rd and 4th follow-up surgeries are just around the corner. There are potentially cancerous masses in her breast that need to be biopsied, which will likely result in a 5th surgery next year. 

~ We do not have the funds to match the lost wages from missing nearly a year of work, pay the copays and out-of-pocket fees, and keep up with bills, rent, and insurance. 
 
(if you want to donate another way, this is my mother's venmo: @Mimi-Gates-1 ... your name will be added to the donations list as an "offline" donation) 
 
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MIMI'S STORY: 

13 years ago, my mother Mimi Gates, was diagnosed with endometrial adenocarcinoma cancer in the uterus, cervix, and colon. The tumors were the size of a 6-month pregnancy. For years prior to diagnosis, her doctors ignored her requests for testing, chalking it up to "hysteria," even prescribing maximum levels of psych meds. If it wasn't caught by a second opinion, three more months and she would have been terminal. In 2011, she had a partial Pelvic Exenteration surgery* (scroll to bottom for definition) and Radical Hysterectomy to remove the tumors, and it almost wiped out our finances completely. 
 
This year, the cancer returned.
 
It took EIGHT MONTHS of attempts to get an appt to address her symptoms, even as a prior cancer survivor. On July 31st, my mother underwent a full Pelvic Exenteration, even more invasive and life-threatening than the last. This surgery has a 5-year overall survival rate of 35.7%. There was a serious concern for blood loss considering the large portions of her colon, bladder, reproductive systems, and surrounding tissues that needed to be permanently removed. She pulled through the surgery (with an Ostomy) and we thank the three surgeons and their teams who stayed on their feet for several hours to achieve this feat in saving her from the immediate threat. 
 
Now, 4 months in, we are faced with complications of the Ostomy, more surgeries to reconnect the digestive system, dodging infections, and what will be a fifth surgery to remove a serious threat of breast cancer on top of everything else. My mother is unable to work, and my father has had to take unpaid leave to take care her, also losing income. 
 
Note: My father Andrew was the victim of a heart attack on July 13, 2023, and was forced to go back to work 3 days later just to make rent. We are still paying off the bills incurred for his ambulance ride, hospital stay, treatment, and medication.
 
Our family has been making every effort to gather together and help, but alone cannot support the extra costs incurred. 
 
We have gathered the raw numbers that have determined our goal, beginning with out-of-pocket medical expenses for the years 2024 and 2025 of $13,800 which does not include lost wages (5 months already lost plus at least another 6 months) other medical expenses not covered, and meeting monthly bills. 

2024:

Lost income $14,056.24 

Insurance out of pocket $6,900.00 

Medical supplies not covered $750.99 

Totals $21,707.23 for 2024 

2025:

Insurance Out of Pocket $6,900 

Lost income $9,564 to $19,128. (6-12 mo.). 

Totals $16,464 to $28,028. 

Our total takes into account the low end at 6 months of lost 2025 income.

This leaves the goal at 38,171.23 
 
No one should go broke just for taking the only available option: fighting the cancer. Thank you all for your helping hand. EVERY little bit helps.
 
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My name is Scott Gates. I am a 32-year-old professional bluegrass musician who wouldn't be anywhere without the support and encouragement of my parents and the collective helping hand of our community in music. Our family was never wealthy, and as long as I can remember, we've been paycheck to paycheck, as so many others are in this country. And, as so many others must do when wages are lost due to a medical emergency, we must turn to our communities for a helping hand. Thank you all endlessly for understanding. 
 
*(A pelvic exenteration removes reproductive organs, the bladder or rectum or both, and lymph nodes in the pelvis. Sometimes part of the colon and anus are also removed. The female reproductive organs removed are the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix, and vagina.)

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