Help Jennifer get her hospital mattress

My name is Stefani Soltesz and I am creating this gofundme on behalf of my very ill mother, Jennifer Soltesz. Funds will be used towards a replacement low air flow hospital mattress for our home and diapers.

Jennifer has not had an easy life. A rough upbringing, abuse, and many other battles she faced before even reaching 18 years old. At 22, Jennifer had her daughter, Stefani, her only child. Jennifer raised Stefani completely alone, providing for her and going to night school to become a pharmacist. At 8 years old, Stefani developed health issues that continued to accumulate. This meant Jennifer had to miss tons of work to take Stefani to a multitude of specialists and testing appointments. The medications Stefani had to take cost a lot of money each month, even with insurance. Despite this, Jennifer stayed at work late, running on little sleep, to continue to support her daughter as a single parent. She kept the house clean and made all meals, which were sometimes challenging and expensive due to Stefani’s complex medical issues. But, she never once complained, at least not in front of her daughter.

At the tender age of 34, Jennifer was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Though there were many fears associated with this diagnosis, Jennifer was determined to not let it control her life, often stating “I have MS, but MS does NOT have me”. After 3 years, work became much too difficult and Jennifer had to go on social security disability. Still, she remained as optimistic as one could given the circumstances.

At 40 years old, Jennifer had to have her gallbladder removed. What is usually a routine surgery with little to no complications, turned into an absolute nightmare. During her surgery, the doctor sliced her liver. Without realizing his error he stitched her back up and sent her home. For the next week, Jennifer’s pain continued to increase and her stomach swelled up so badly she looked 9 months pregnant. Upon arriving to the hospital, we learned that bile from her liver had filled her abdominal cavity and poisoned all of her organs. She ended up in a coma and on a ventilator for a month, with every organ in her body failing. She had 3 heart attacks during this time and was given only a 10% change of survival. Stefani, only 17 at the time, begged and pleaded with God to spare her mother’s life. The two of them were best friends and neither could survive without the other. Those prayers were heard. With the help of God and the doctors and nurses, Jennifer was able to make it through. Unfortunately, this was still the beginning of the nightmare she was about to face.

Due to being in a coma for so long, Jennifer developed blood clots which now required life long blood thinning medication. Unfortunately, many of them were unsuccessful and Jennifer went on to get several more clots over the years, many of which almost killed her. She ended up getting a mesh put into her stomach which caused even more problems, including multiple hernias which needed surgically repaired. The heart attacks caused by the bile poisoning left Jennifer with Congestive Heart Failure and pulmonary hypertension. These diagnoses have led to multiple hospitalizations, close calls with death, debt, and depression.

Over the next few years, Jennifer’s health has continued to decline. Currently battling MS, Congestive Heart Failure, Pulmonary Hypertension, Interstitial Lung Disease, Meunière’s Disease, Osteoporosis, May Thurner Syndrome, and much more. In January of 2021, Jennifer developed a condition called avascular necrosis, defined as “The death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood supply.” It quite literally “ate away” her entire hip bone, now requiring what will be her second hip replacement. The excruciating pain and dying bone and tissue led to Jennifer requiring constant care from her daughter Stefani, including toileting and bathing, among other things.

Stefani has been Jennifer’s primary caregiver through all of this, but unfortunately with her own health issues still present. The lack of help from insurance companies has been devastating. Jennifer has now been in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation centers since November 2022, and cannot get her much needed surgery until she is hospital free for 3 months. But the rehabs continue to fail Jennifer by not giving her the necessary medical care she needs, resulting in rehospitalization and losing all progress made in therapy. This is a devastating situation considering how much time has been spent fighting with insurance to even cover the rehabs at all. Now, Stefani is going to have her mom come home and just take care of her bed bound mother, to ensure she’s getting the care she needs and deserves.

Years of more hospitalizations than can even be recalled, hours upon hours of fighting with insurance companies, blood sweat and tears, have led to this. Never would I think of asking for financial help, but my mom is more important than my pride. She is in need of a new low air flow hospital mattress, which she requires to avoid another bedsore. Her current mattress no longer blows up, and we have been fighting with insurance for too long for a replacement. I cannot allow my mom to come home and lay on a bed frame with pillows and cushions as her only support. I recently got a regular bed mattress from my dad, but unfortunately it is much too big for the frame, it won’t allow her frame to lift up (it is adjustable frame because she needs to sleep sitting up and also elevate her legs), and it also is not the mattress she needs to avoid a bedsore, but I thought it would be better than nothing.

My mom has always been my best friend and the most wonderful person I know. Independent, stubborn, funny, caring, and would give the shirt off her back for a total stranger. I remember one time when she first got on disability and financially it was tough, we encountered a homeless man on the side of the road. My mom gave her last $10 to this man. As we drove off, I asked her how we would afford gas as that was the last of what we had until pay day. My mom looked at me said, “he needs it more than us, boo. We are in a car and on our way to our home. We are much more fortunate than he is”. I remember this moment and how much my mom instilled in me to always give back because we are always more fortunate than we even realize. We may have very little, but someone else has even less. We should always appreciate what we have rather than dwelling on what we lack.

My mom, the most beautiful person inside and out, deserves more than this cruel world has given her. I wish I could take all of her pain and place it upon myself. I wish I could change it all. But I can’t. What I can do is get her the mattress she needs and take care of her to the best of my ability. That requires money that I unfortunately do not have. Most of these mattresses range anywhere from $1,000-3,000 dollars. I have found one a bit cheaper on Amazon which might be lesser quality, but will no doubt still be better than what we currently have. This mattress will cost about $700 after tax. I am also in need of adult diapers as my mom is completely bed bound currently, so any additional funds will go towards diapers. Insurance will only cover 2-3 in home therapy sessions per week, so this will be a long road ahead of us, but I am determined to keep her as healthy as possible so she can get her surgery and then be able to be even more mobile!

Any help at all is truly appreciated. Even one dollar is helpful. I also understand times are tough for so many of us, so I completely understand if you are not in a position to donate. Sharing this gofundme and prayers are also so helpful and appreciated.

If you have read this far, thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you all.

-Stefani