Rick and Brenda's little BIG steps

First of all, thank you for taking the time to be here.  Just by simply reading this post we know that you are there for us.  As some of you already know, on Wednesday, November 18th 2020, my Step-Father Richard Jensen suffered a serious injury to his C5 vertebrae.  We are not 100% sure how this happened and are completely perplexed.  He was walking in the morning and complaining of pain and then all of a sudden the numbness and paralysis traveled all over his body.  He was taken by ambulance and had emergency surgery that day at St Elizabeth's Hospital in Appleton.  The neurosurgeon cleaned up the fragmented C5 disc and it was replaced with an implant or bone graft and fused to his C6 vertebrae.  While getting the update from the surgeon that evening he referred to it as a "Christopher Reeves type of injury".  Definitely not something any of us wanted to hear and it really took us all by surprise!  The surgeon reassured us that he did everything he could to fix the injury to his spinal cord and the rest will be up to Rick (and God!).  We are not sure if Rick will ever walk again.  Nerves are so tricky and everyone is different.  Rick was recently transferred to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee where he will begin the fight of his life.  He has been assigned this mountain to show others it can be moved!  Each day we hope for little BIG steps in his recovery, so that he can return home to his family and feel some sense of normalcy.  

 
Unfortunately, this is not the only difficult news that was dealt to our family this year.  My Mother, Brenda Jensen, has been recently diagnosed with liver cancer.  She has had liver issues for a while now but the lesion on her liver has grown to a size where Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee will approve bead radiation to treat it.  So far the cancer is contained within her liver only, and it better stay there!  She has been added to the liver transplant list and is working closely with the transplant team at Froedtert.  We were surprised to hear that a liver transplant is one of the most complicated transplants that can be performed and requires the longest recovery time, even more than a heart transplant!  Being diagnosed with liver cancer bumps her up on the waiting list (could be a blessing in disguise) but she needs to be cancer free in order to have the transplant.  Therefore, she will be traveling to Froedert a few times in the next few weeks to get her liver mapped and to have radiation.   Our family is working hard to ensure that Mom takes care of herself too and we are praying that this radiation works and kills those cancer cells!

 
If you know my Mother you mostly likely know that she is a giver.  She dedicated the last 38 years of her life to working as a registered nurse.  She gave everything she had to make sure that I, our family and those that she cared for at Brewster Village were taken care of.  She always puts others in front of herself.  Now it’s time that all the love and care she has given out over the years is reciprocated back to her.  We are hoping that we can raise enough money for Rick and Brenda to help ease the financial burdens they are experiencing.  Unfortunately, there are so many bills that health insurance doesn’t help with and that pile is starting to grow.  Your generous gift can help with medical bills, purchasing adaptive equipment for Rick, making home modifications, paying for gas and travel accommodations, getting a wheelchair accessible vehicle, possibility of having to purchase a more handicap accessible home, and many other financial repercussions of these unfortunate events.  Your kindness and charity will help lessen these burdens and it will allow them both to focus more on their recovery and wellness.   Thank You!