*My siblings and I put together this fundraiser for our brother, Richard Gatt. Please consider helping him and his wife during this very trying time. Richard Gatt has been a nurse serving his community since 2018 - and loving it! He has been married to his devoted wife, Amanda, for the past 12 years. Together, they have a small zoo of beloved pets of all shapes and sizes, each of which Richard has lovingly and intentionally named after his family members to keep them close to his heart. In September of 2024, Richard took a bad fall causing severe and nearly debilitating pain in his sciatic nerve. In spite of the pain, Richard continued working, but by January it was becoming increasingly difficult, and he was having to cut back more and more on his work hours. By the end of March, the pain had escalated exponentially, and he had another fall due to the pain as well as the loss of having full function of his left leg and foot. At this point, his boss sent him home, not to return to work until the situation was remedied. Since that second fall at the end of March, he has lost ALL function of his left leg and foot. When Richard fell in September, none of the doctors considered looking beyond the problem of the leg, as that was where the pain was localized. So for next couple of months, Richard was going to Pain Management while continuing to experience increasing symptoms, including severe pain in other areas and high levels of confusion. Then at the beginning of June he fell a third time while at his Pain Management session. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital where they began running various tests at which time they discovered he had masses all over his body. In short, on June 3, our 67-year old Richard was diagnosed with high grade carcinoma that originated in the bladder and had metastasized to the pelvis, rectum, liver, abdomen, lungs, bones and lymph nodes. He has been in and out of the hospital a few times since this diagnosis, and just finished a round of palliative radiation to his pelvic area for some relief, in addition to heavy pain meds. To say it’s been a huge challenge to keep the pain levels under control would be a gross understatement. Because Richard hasn’t been able to work for the past few months, their mortgage is near default, they are getting cut-off notices on utilities, and they are behind on their other bills. Amanda is an American citizen from Brazil who loves this country and loves her husband; while she works full time (for the state), her level of pay doesn’t even come close to matching her level of dedication and hard work. Furthermore, Richard has always managed ALL of their household bookkeeping/finances. So, while Amanda has been taking care of Richard for the past few months, dealing with this devastating diagnosis, and advocating for him with doctors, hospitals, and insurance, she has also continued to work her job, in addition to tirelessly attempting to unearth this world of finances and household management. With Richard’s income having been cut completely out and Amanda having to miss work frequently to care for his needs over the past few months, Richard’s family is working to raise support to help make this journey more manageable and ease some of the financial burden from Richard and Amanda’s shoulders — from overdue household bills, catching up on the mortgage, and everyday expenses, to the rapidly increasing medical bills. Please consider helping ease some of this financial and mental stress from their shoulders by giving a monetary gift. You can give a one-time gift or you can pledge to give on an ongoing basis — every single cent will be so very appreciated and will go towards Richard and Amanda’s very practical needs. We realize that behind every gift is a gesture of love that reaches out to them, letting them know they are not alone and that they are valuable, easing some of this heavy burden from their minds and hearts. We are extremely grateful for your reading this and for any and every amount given. We sincerely thank you so very much. We also would be so grateful for your prayers — prayers for peace, joy, strength, provision, and health. Also, please feel free to send an encouraging note to them. Every gesture will be worth at least a dozen hugs!
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