Wenth Family Medical Expenses

We are the Wenth's and this is our story: Many of you are well aware of the journey we have walked starting in early December 2020. It all started with our 16 yr old son (my bonus son) experiencing some chronic knee pain that progressively got worse. We sought medical attention and soon found out his knee pain was in fact bone cancer, specifically Osteosarcoma. During this time I was about 20 weeks pregnant with our 2nd daughter and 4th child for our family. Overall, besides extreme nausea/vomiting I was having a great pregnancy compared to that of my 1st daughter. We decided due to circumstances that we needed to move to a new place to allow for some space for the kids, specifically for the 16 yr old to get his own room during his treatments. Our church community helped us move into the new house on Feb 28, so thankful for them! I was feeling great at this time, 30 weeks pregnant and in the last stretch. No signs of anything wrong at this point. Just a house full of boxes that needed to be unpacked! At 3:30am on March 2nd I woke up to what I thought was pee, to be cautious I went to the hospital to have my midwives check and as I pulled into the parking lot and my water burst completely the minute I stepped out of the car. I was admitted to labor & delivery, given all the meds to stop any labor from starting to get baby girls lungs growing and strong if she came early. I was told that our goal was to keep her in until 34 weeks, but I was not able to leave the hospital and due to covid rules I was unable to see my toddler for all those weeks. This was major added stress to our family, and a shock to our core. We now had one kid with cancer that required almost around the clock needs and one trying to be come into this world early. Plus 2 others at home that needed us. Our stress was at an all time high. Long(er) story short, Jenevieve did not make it to 34 weeks, she came at 31 weeks and 4 days, due to a "brewing" uterine infection. She came via C-section, and we ended up having to stay about 31 days in the NICU. She was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and GERD (reflux). She came home from the NICU in early April. She has struggled consistently, crying most of the time she was awake, projectile vomit, no sleep, turning blue and choking etc. We tried different meds, different doctors, different diets of elimination for my breastmilk, nothing changed. She would cry for 6-9 hours a day, arching her back, never making it through occupational therapy without turning purple from crying. I ended up quitting my job because the idea of returning to work while she was in pain and no one could help was debilitating. Finally got an appt with a GI but even that was 7 week wait (all they had available), so we pushed through. At the beach she seemed to do better, but still had these crazy pain crying moments. Once we returned from the beach end of the July we took her to the GI who found some microscopic blood in her stool that showed she had MSPI (Milk soy protein intolerance), so again I would need to adjust my diet, but we also noticed that she hadn't gained more than 3 ounces since late May and this was not good. She was being labeled failure to thrive and in that nature we decided while I adjust my diet we attempt some hypoallergenic formula. The first night on formula she was projectile vomiting 3-5x after every feed and screaming non stop. She barely sleep for 10-20 min increments and only if we held her, she would not be put down. By the 3rd night of no sleep on July 28th and 4 hours straight of screaming, mom and dad on the verge of mental breakdown I drove her to children's hospital. She was admitted for weight loss, mild malnutrition, GERD, reflux and uncontrollable fussiness (colic). She was not well the providers said they needed her to gain weight or she would be given a feeding tube, trauma from our NICU experience was returning along with the weight of what another hospital stay would do. We spent 8 days in the hospital before finding a combo of meds that made a huge difference, she is a BRAND NEW baby, smiling, cooing and talking to us. She gained 12 ounces within 5 days of being home. She still spits up but no screaming or crying so we are on the road to recovery finally. I feel like I am finally seeing her thrive and grow. All of this is only a fraction of our journey, but the hardest thing to really admit is one of our biggest stresses is money. Insurance is a joke (don't get me started), between cancer bills, NICU bills, birth and now this hospital stay we are barely able to keep up. Due to the dynamics of my job before I quit, I was on a separate insurance then the kids and hubby, so I had my own deductible and out of pocket, EJ has his own deductible and out of pocket and so does Jenevieve. We have spoken to social workers, billing department etc. We have worked some of the costs down, but overall it is still alot, We make too much money for much of a discount, especially within the NICU (we have a go fundme for cancer bills that is helping a TON and is only being used for that), there is not many outside resources to help with NICU bills. The EOB's sent had about 300K billed to insurance and we are still getting bills for our portion. We haven't received the recent hospital bill yet but it seems with all of it put together from birth, NICU, hospital stay, plus therapy to process the traumas, appts for Jenevieve weekly we are looking at 18-20k out of pocket. We need help. That is just our reality, I am currently without a job (looking and planning to return), so we went from a 2 income home to a 1 income home with 4 kids and 2 dogs. We have had people ask us how they can help and this is what we need right now. We are beyond thankful for the intentionality of those around us to pick us up while we fight these gut wrenching battles. It is not always easy to see but God has been faithful during this time in so many ways. We plan to write out our story one day in full detail, when He tells us to ! This will only be used for medical expenses, travel or food for these medical needs etc. If you have any questions about our journey please feel free to ask. Again we are thankful for everyone's prayers and our sweet community of family and friends who have walked this journey with us the last 9 months! Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude.