Jessica and her boys

Hi! My name is Jessica.

I know most of you know my boys and I and know that we've been through a lot in the past couple of years.

If you really know me then you'll know that it is taking everything in me to even start a GoFundMe. I don't like to ask for help or burden people but my children and I are in a tough spot and could really use some help desperately right now.

I'd like to give a little back story for anyone that doesn't know us.

Everything first started a couple of years back when my son Westin (2-1/2yo at the time) started showing signs of diabetes insipidus. My husband (Walter) and I took him to a pediatrician right away. It took quite a while to get him diagnosed because the pediatrician refused to diagnose him correctly. After battling with her for close to a year she finally gave us referral and we saw a specialist.

We waited months for the appointment but he finally got in to see an endocrinologist. She ran several tests and ended up diagnosing him with diabetes insipidus but told me that we need to get him in for an MRI right away because along with diabetes insipidus tends to come brain tumors. We got him in immediately and they found abnormalities. His pituitary stalk was 8 times it's normal size. After much testing and consults with other specialists they diagnosed him with Langerhans cell histiocytosis(a rare type of cancer in his brain). This was one of the scariest moments of our lives. Walter and I were lost at first but Westin has an incredible team of doctors and they've been amazing throughout everything.

We started him on chemotherapy and he did that for a year and completed all of his cycles. It definitely helped but we've still got major hurdles to overcome with him.

His skull isn't growing at the same rate as his brain and he will eventually need a craniotomy.

For now,,, he's a thriving 6 year old that doesn't let anything hold him back.

As of that isn't terrifying enough,, my husband Walter recently passed from Glioblastoma (brain cancer).

Around Thanksgiving of 2021 Walter started showing odd signs. He was slurring his words and he was forgetful (if you knew him you'd know that he never forgot anything,,, ever)but at this time we weren't exactly sure what was causing it. He went into the emergency room to be checked out and they found a mass in his brain. After several tests, biopsies and brain surgery we found out that he had glioblastoma. The diagnosis crushed us because we knew that there's no cure for it. It took a long time for us to accept the fact that he was diagnosed with a terminal illness especially since we have 4 young boys.

We weren't sure how long he had left with us so we tried to make the best of every moment. Over the months he got weaker and more sick. Radiation kicked his ass along with the steroids they had him on but he tried to stay as strong as he could through all of it. It was so hard standing by knowing that there was nothing I could do to stop him from being taken from us. Over the next few months him and the boys spent a lot of time cooking and watching movies together so they could make every minute with each other count.

It was beautiful to watch but heartbreaking at the same time.

In the summer of 2022, after being together for over 10 years we finally got married.

It was a very small wedding but it didn't matter,,, to us it was perfect. Just knowing that he was my husband made me the happiest woman in the world.

July 2 was our one year wedding anniversary and I spent it alone because Walter passed in September.

It's been complete devastation for the boys and I. We're trying hard to make it through each day but times have been extremely tough. I started working but I have summers off. I can't afford daycare so with all 4 boys home for the summer it's not easy finding a job that'll work around my hours. We're struggling really bad right now. With school coming up and just and day to day crap I can't seem to catch up or catch a break. I feel like everything is caving in on me. It's been one thing after the other for us and we just can't get ahead. I don't like asking for help because as a mother I should be able to take care of my kids and I on my own. It's embarrassing to ask for help so I wouldn't be asking if we weren't desperate. So please,, if anyone is willing to help it would mean everything to us. I don't want to lose everything that Walter worked for and I definitely don't ever want my kids disappointed in me.

I know everyone is having tough times right now so if you can't donate it's totally okay. Prayers, vibes, good thoughts and words of encouragement are always welcome and appreciated.

I'm horrible at writing stuff like this so please forgive me for rambling.

I just want to say thank you to anyone and everyone that took the time to read this the entire way through. I appreciate your patience❤️

Thank you and love you all.