I’m organizing this fundraiser to support my brother, Nathan, who is undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) brain surgery in just a few days on Monday, March 30th.

What is happening: Nathan was diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson's Disease in 2020 at the age of 34. Parkinson’s is the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain affecting motor control like muscular rigidity, slowness of movement and resting tremors and affecting a whole host of non-motor areas of life like cognition, sleep and senses.

Nathan has kept a positive outlook throughout the process and has been working hard to stay as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, the disease has advanced more quickly than was hoped, and he has been having substantial difficulty lately.

To relieve some of the worst symptoms, Nathan has decided to get Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), a surgical implantation attaching electrodes into targeted areas of the brain. DBS modulates electrical impulses to the affected areas of the brain, helping relieve motor symptoms and improving quality of life.

There will be two surgeries, one to plant the electrodes (March 30) and one to implant a battery in his chest (April 6). The first surgery involves an overnight stay in the hospital and the second is an outpatient procedure. If all goes well, the device will be turned on in late April / early May and will hopefully allow him to regain some of the function he has lost.

The Financial Impact: While Nathan has health insurance, this complex surgery and the required recovery period come with heavy out-of-pocket costs that are not covered. We are trying to raise $11,600 to directly cover:

How you can help: We want Nathan to go into this surgery with peace of mind, focusing entirely on his health rather than medical debt.

Thank you so much for your support, messages, and thoughts. We will be posting regular updates here and at GiveInKind once he heads into surgery and throughout his recovery.