With joy and thanksgiving

It is with GREAT JOY that we announce our goal of $125,000.00 has been raised for Keith's Stem Cell transplant!!!  So many people prayed, believed, and donated, and it happened. In one month. What an awesome God we serve!

Looking back at all the emotions we had over the last several months....what a ride!  From hearing the diagnosis, the hope of a transplant, the relief of getting into the transplant trial, the defeat of denial by insurance 3 times, the humility of fund raising, to the thrill of meeting our goal. Whew! We could feel God leading us the whole way, He is so faithful.  It's almost crazy to know that He is that close to us all the time.

We could not have met that goal without the help of so many.  Family, friends, our Church family, our deacons, co-workers, neighbors, and even strangers worked so hard to make this all happen.  We are so blessed to be living in West Michigan! How wonderful to feel the love and support of the entire community.

There are still a few fund raisers out there that will help with additional medical expenses that arise along the way, as well as travelling costs, and the fact that Keith is self-employed and will not be working for several months. *Please Note:  The Lasagna Dinner and Pie Auction scheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 21, has been cancelled.*

On December 22-23, we will be going to Northwestern Hospital in Chicago for pretesting.  They need to make sure that Keith is healthy enough to go through with the transplant. On Jan. 5-16, we head back to Chicago for chemo and harvesting Keith's stem cells.  Then on Feb. 3-21, more chemo and this is also when Keith will get his stem cells back.  So exciting to finally have dates on the calendar!  Now to figure out the kids and grandmas schedule. :)

We are so humbled and thankful for everyone's prayers, acts of kindness, and generosity. I have hugged more people in the last 2 months than I have hugged in my entire life.  And saying "thank you" never seems like enough.  So please know that we are truly grateful for each of you!!

FUNdraising

So many good times were had at our fund raising events! We are overwhelmed by the generosity of this community!

Total raised at these events was around $30,000.00!!!

Norwex Products fund raiser October 26 

Community Restaurant Event - October 29 - around 350 people served

Johnny Cash - November 6 - 170 tickets sold

Skeet Shoot November 7 - 60 registered participants

Pizza fundraiser November 7 - 270 pizzas sold

Pedaling for Pledges - Chad Glass rode his bike 150+ miles 

Please join me in giving thanks for these tremendous acts of kindness!!

Upcoming Fundraisers

We have been blown away by everyone's support these last few weeks!  As soon as I posted that we were fundraising for the transplant, my facebook messenger lit up with people wanting to help!  We have been amazed at the generosity of our family, friends, church, and community!  The "family of God" remains strong!

 Here are a few of the flyers of our upcoming fundraisers.  Getting so exciting!!!

And also our GoFundMe link: www.gofundme.com/py55rxgk

Remember:  Community Restaurant accepts CASH ONLY.

Pumpkins....and done!

We grow pumpkins and gourds as a family.  And it is hard work!  But it is so fun to do together, (at least I think so!)  Each night after supper we would pick pumpkins til about 8pm. Then we would drop Jaden and Josiah off at home to do homework and get to bed.  Then Jake, Luke, Keith, and I would go and stock our 4 stands.  We were usually back home by 9 or 9:30pm.

Keith drove the skid steer through the field while the rest of us picked the pumpkins and put them in these boxes. So thankful Keith was still able to be out with us!

Then the boxes were loaded onto the trailer to bring to our stands.

Our stand at home. We pulled all our wagons home now, so this is our only stand still open.

    

 Our pumpkins were not as good this year; we didn't have as many and they were smaller in size.  But we still had a great year!  And are so thankful for all our buyers!

Fundraising!

Well, it's official, we will be fundraising for Keith's Stem Cell transplant.  We received our 3rd and final denial letter from our insurance.  But our hope and savior is not the insurance company! Our hope is in our Lord, and our savior is His son, Jesus Christ!!!  So we move forward in faith.
Here is our fund raising letter.  Feel free to share it or pass it on!

Dear family and friends,

I am writing on behalf of Keith, my sweet husband and wonderful father to our 4 boys: Jacob 19, Lucas 17, Jaden 14, and Josiah 10. We enjoy a busy family life, I work full time at Family Research Council (FRC), and Keith works hard as a farmer raising hay, straw, rye, pumpkins, and he also makes bead board in his shop which he sells to the local lumber yards. He also tackles a lot of the stuff at home like laundry, cooking, and running kids here and there. Recently, we noticed that a lot of his work and everyday life was becoming more and more difficult for him to do.

On April 7, 2015, Keith was diagnosed with MS, a neurological disorder that affects the central nervous system and disrupts the communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Unfortunately Keith's MS is progressing quickly and we have seen little success from the medication he is currently taking. Since diagnosis, he has been battling double vision, numbness and tingling in his feet, legs, and arms, fatigue, brain fog, nausea, and a lot of weakness all over his body. It's been hard to watch someone we love be over taken with this awful disease.

We are blessed that Keith has been accepted into Dr. Richard K. Burt's Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT), where high dose chemotherapy is used in conjunction with one's own stem cells to "reboot" the immune system. HSCT erases the immune system's memory and basically hits the "reset button". This stops the underlying MS disease activity and allows the body a chance to repair itself. This will take place at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and can take up to 2 months time.

Unfortunately our insurance will not cover HSCT because it is still labeled as a trial and not FDA approved. We will need to raise $125,000.00 before they will begin the transplant. Keith will need to be off his medication for 3 months prior to transplant. So we stepped out in faith and Keith went off his medicine on October 2, and we are hopeful to start the transplant process in the beginning of 2016!

To help raise these funds, a friend has started a GoFundMe page in Keith's honor: www.gofundme.com/py55rxgk  You can also send checks to our Church:

Faith United Reformed Church

Memo: Keith Nienhuis
8270 120th Ave

West Olive, MI  49460

For tax deductible donations, write checks to Faith URC with Benevolent Fund in the memo line.

As we travel this road, we covet your prayers, words of encouragement, love, and support. We are so thankful to be part of a loving family, church, and community.

"Now unto Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!-Amen."

Nichole Nienhuis

616-796-5949
nln@frc.org

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. Hebrews 12:2

Focus...
Don't lose hope...
It is so easy to become distracted, depressed, and anxious, when we lose sight of heaven. But if we didn't have trials on this journey, we wouldn't long to get home. We would be content to live on this sinful earth.
           

Last week we received a phone call from our case nurse, Carrie, that we were once again denied coverage for Keith's stem cell transplant. ugh....each time is like another punch in the gut!
I talked to Dr. Burt's nurse, Kate, and she is sending another appeal letter this week. If the peer to peer conversation between Dr. Burt and our insurance company was denied, I have little hope that this next appeal letter will do any good. But our God is greater!
Since it sounds like our insurance is not going to approve, we have started to discuss fund-raising options. This is hard. We much rather work for what we need. But, there is no way around it, we need help. As I see Keith losing strength each week, it is becoming more important that we get started on this!  We can't let days/weeks go by just waiting for answers any more. And, unfortunately, we need to have $125,000.00 before they will begin pretesting.
So that is where we are...staring at a blank screen...where do we start?

I will praise You in this storm....

I heard from our Case Nurse (Carrie) with our insurance company on Tuesday, August 4.  She gave me the status on where things were, and what the hold up was.  It had already been 2 weeks more than what it normally takes to get an approval from an insurance company.
Carrie told me that the insurance company forwarded Keith's paperwork to a doctor for review.  This doctor then lets the insurance company know if they should approve the transplant. Well, the insurance company sent it to the wrong doctor, they sent it to an allergist. When they received the review back from the allergist is when they noticed it was sent to the wrong doctor.  But Carrie said, they have sent it on again, to the right doctor this time.
Friday, August 7, we were packing and heading up for a week long vacation at a cottage in Howard City. The case nurse called at about 10 am and said, "we received the review back and it is not favorable. The doctor said the transplant is experimental, investigational, and not medically necessary."  Carrie said she already talked to Dr. Burt's office and they want to appeal.  Dr. Burt would like to talk directly to the doctor who did the review.  I felt totally defeated, but thank goodness Dr. Burt is willing to talk to that doctor to see if he can get the insurance to approve the transplant.
The news had taken all the fun out of our up-coming vacation plans. But then I remembered my devotions from that week.  To praise God in all things, big or small, good or bad. Praise Him! Concentrate on His goodness instead of your pain.
God help us to rest in You and wait patiently for Your timing is perfect.  Help us to let go of trying to do this on our own and trust You for Your plan is better than we can ask or imagine! -Amen