This fundraiser is set up by Erica Rivenburgh and Alex Koch for the benefit of Jacob and Diann Gothard.

As most of you already know, Jacob has been battling an unexpected brain tumor and is currently unable to work. We are attempting to raise money to assist him with medical bills, personal bills, and travel expenses for his many trips to see specialists in Winston-Salem. The details below have been provided by Jacob's mother, Diann.

Recently Jacob began experiencing sudden worsening issues with his vision and visited an optometrist for eye glasses on Monday June 17th. The eye doctor quickly saw that there was a serious problem, and referred Jacob to a specialist who fit him in the very next day. Upon examination, the specialist advised that he should go to his local emergency room right away for an MRI. Jacob went straight to Mission Hospital in Asheville, and upon seeing the results from this initial scan, his doctor immediately sent Jacob to Winston-Salem Baptist Hospital for more advanced treatment. They admitted him to Baptist Hospital late Tuesday night and on Friday June 21, Jacob underwent his first brain surgery to remove a tumor on his optic nerve. His surgeons removed as much of the tumor as they could safely manage, but could not get it all. He was discharged the following Monday and sent home to recover for a week. During this recovery week, Jacob began to have issues with his incision draining. The following Monday, they traveled back to Winston Salem for his two-week check-up and stitches removal, but upon examining Jacob‘s incision site and drainage issues, he was re-admitted to the hospital. He stayed there all week until it was eventually determined that he would require an additional surgery to have a shunt placed into his head. A shunt is a permanent implement which will help drain the fluid from building up in his brain. Although it will require lifelong upkeep, the shunt was necessary because the remaining tumor is blocking the path for fluid to drain on its own. The tumor itself is surrounds his optical nerve and extends into part of his brain. Jacob has yet to recover full vision in his right eye and it's still uncertain if he will ever get it back. The surgeons must wait until the swelling in his brain reduces before they can determine whether he will regain more vision. Diann and Jacob will be returning to Winston-Salem on July 31st for another two-week check-up and stitches removal from the second surgery. From there they will go over the treatment plan for tackling the rest of the brain tumor.

As for the financial repercussions, and the reason raising these funds is so important:

Jacob's first surgery was not covered by insurance because he was anticipating a new policy which was to go into effect just two weeks after his ordeal began. The total cost of an uninsured brain surgery and week-long hospital is, as you can imagine, astronomical. Even with his new policy in effect, the medical bills are staggering. Additionally, Jacob will require ongoing maintenance and further surgeries throughout his life to keep his shunt functioning properly. He still has more tumor to fight. There will be no shortage of regular CT and MRI scans in his future. And it is unknown how long it will take before Jacob will be able to return to work. His personal bills are quickly falling behind as he has been forced to switch gears from a normal life of full-time employment to hospital stays and brain surgeries. This all has put Jacob and his family under a huge amount of financial strain, with no end in sight.

Please give what you can to help ease their burden, so that Jacob can put all of his energy into fighting this tumor and healing fully.