First let us introduce ourselves, for those that are not family or close friends, we are a small family of 4. My wife and I have two wonderful children, a 5 year old named Crystal, and a 7 year old named Anjela. My wife is Julieann and is an amazing wife and stay at home mother. My name is Steve and I work for an amazing small local IT company. In the evenings and on some of my days off, I can be found working on professional firework productions like River Cats and such.

Back in October of 2014 we found out our family was about to grow again, when we learned my wife was pregnant. We were very excited as this was the plan after we purchased our first house in July of 2014. So things had settled down with the new home, and we decided to try for another child. In October we learned that we had gotten what we planned for.

At a recent doctor appointment for a routine ultrasound we received very bad news that our soon to be born baby boy has a major birth defect known as, Spina Bifida. More Info 

This is a rare birth defect that affects the spinal cord of our baby by not sealing closed, leaving an open spine. This usually leaves a baby paralyzed from the waist down with MANY other complications and surgeries to go with it for the rest of their life even into adulthood.

We quickly began seeking the most medically competent doctors in the country. Lucky for us there is a world class Children’s Hospital just 100 miles away in San Francisco (UCSF). We have great medical insurance that agreed to let us look into fetal surgery. We got a referral from our doctors in Roseville to go down there.

My wife and I left our children in Roseville with family and spent almost a week down in SF at the Children’s Hospital. There we underwent many tests, MRI's, Ultrasounds, and countless meetings with doctors. Ultimately we decided the fetal surgery was too risky for too little return. Even the best outcome was not a cure for this birth defect.

However after talking with our local doctors they felt they did not have the expertise needed to deliver at our local hospital, so we all decided to move the birth (and post birth surgeries and care) down to UCSF because this is what they are equipped to do best. People come from all over the WORLD to get the best care for their child there. Plus our local doctors did not feel qualified to deliver our baby and do the needed surgeries after birth.

Today we got news from our local doctors that because we are going to have the baby in SF, they could not help us anymore and told us we must go down to SF for each doctor appointment. This was a crushing blow to us because the cost to drive down to SF 2-3 times a week for dr check-ups will be VERY expensive. As it will be having to live down there for a month or two before the baby is released from the hospital.

So why are we here on this website looking for your help?Even with good insurance, they don't cover it all. We don't qualify for any assistance programs, and even if we did, I would still have a hard time with hand outs from the state.

We have spent a small fortune so far with being down at UCSF and now all the bills are beginning to roll in for the things insurance does not cover. That with the news we got today that we will need to be in SF even more, we are in over our heads.

We need help to cover the massive costs insurance will not cover for the procedures and such. Our copay for just being admitted to the hospital is $200 per day and 60 days at the hospital is $12,000 alone. Then each procedure and other things add up really quick. As well as expenses for me trying to be down there as much as I can to have our baby and the immediate surgeries the baby will need right after birth.

All that along with lost wages at work for all this, we know we won't be able to make ends meet very soon. We can see this all coming, and felt it best to ask for help now before we get into serious financial trouble and start missing payments on bill, (which just makes them even more expensive when the payments are missed.)

Anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated. Even $10 will buy us a meal while we try to make the hospital our new home for a few months.

Thank you in advance from our family..
~The Ries Family~