TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
When Justin and Elizabeth (Engel) Bloch learned they were pregnant with their third child in 2020, they could never have imagined how the end of that pregnancy would unfold. In early December 2020, Elizabeth became ill.
This came on the heels of ongoing medical issues with their second daughter, Raina, who had come down with a bad case of the chicken pox and then a lengthy three-month bout with ecoli that doctors think began when she fell face down in a creek near the family’s home [alongside a cow-pasture], likely causing her to ingest bacteria that caused the illness. Even in December, Raina was still struggling to recover.
But Elizabeth’s illness wasn’t ecoli. On Dec. 15, 2020, a rapid COVID-19 test came back negative, but Elizabeth was diagnosed with pneumonia and the COVID culture was sent out for further testing. Two days later, she received the news that she was positive for COVID-19 and she was told to stay home until she couldn’t breathe.
Hospitalizations, and the fight for Elizabeth’s life, begin
On December 25, now in her third trimester, Elizabeth was taken to Aspirus Wausau Hospital’s Emergency Room by ambulance. The following day she was transferred by helicopter to Meriter Hospital Madison and put in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). She had difficulty breathing, severe back pain, a high heart rate, and a high temperature.
Kim Engel, Elizabeth’s mother, documented the journey of her daughter’s illness and her granddaughter’s birth. “Baby Jennifer started flailing in the womb, so an emergency C-section was performed, and she was delivered at 31 weeks [gestation], not breathing, at 11:56 a.m. weighing 4 pounds, 1 ounce, and measuring 17.5 inches long.” Medical personnel were able to get Jennifer breathing and immediately moved her to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Elizabeth has no recollection of the birth. “I was put on the ventilator on Dec. 29th. Jennifer Lynn Bloch was born on Dec. 29th at 11:56 a.m.,” Elizabeth said. “Born c-section while I was on the ventilator.”
“Justin first was able to see and hold Jennifer on Dec. 30,” she added.
Baby Jennifer’s story is a positive one and seemed to unfold more smoothly than her mother’s. While Jennifer was in the NICU “from the day she was born ‘til the day she came home” on Jan. 18, 2021, “She never had COVID or any health issues,” Elizabeth said.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth continued to fight for her life and family, friends, and the Merrill and Athens communities Elizabeth and her family called home wrapped Elizabeth and Jennifer in equally strong prayer battle for their lives and health.
On Dec. 29, the day Jennifer was born, Elizabeth was transferred by ambulance to UW Madison Hospital to be put on an ECMO machine, Engel said. “There she was found to have blastomycosis, as well.” Baby Jennifer remained at Meriter Hospital in the NICU.
On Jan. 8, 2021, baby Jennifer was transferred to the NICU at Aspirus Wausau Hospital, closer to the rest of the family. And on Jan. 18, her daddy brought her home.
Elizabeth’s journey continued and involved a tracheotomy and ultimately the removal of the ventilator. On Feb. 25, Elizabeth was transferred to Select Specialty Resources for rehab in Milwaukee, which coincided with the removal of the ventilator. She still had her trach until Mar. 9.
Mar. 12, 2021, the family celebrated Elizabeth’s homecoming when she was released from the hospital. But that didn’t mean she was completely well. She continued numerous prescription medications and required constant oxygen. She had not yet kept any food down.
Elizabeth attended her first doctor appointment as an outpatient on Mar. 15 with weekly visits scheduled through the end of April. Then on Mar. 16, she was hospitalized again, at Aspirus Wausau Hospital, for several days, during which time she had an ultrasound on her liver and gallblader and doctors discovered she had an infected gallbladder. She was treated for that and released to continue recovering at home.
On Mar. 22, Elizabeth attended another doctor appointment and reported she was still unable to keep food down. The next day she was again admitted to Aspirus Wausau Hospital where she had an endoscope and gallbladder scan and ultimately had gallbladder surgery on Mar. 25. She was released from the hospital on Mar. 26.
It was not to be her last hospitalization on this road to recovery.
On Apr. 16, Elizabeth and Justin’s wedding anniversary, she was again hospitalized in Wausau to be treated for dehydration and low magnesium where she stayed until she was released Apr. 19. Just two days later, she was again taken by ambulance to Aspirus Wausau Hospital where she was again treated for dehydration and low potassium. She was able to come home again the same day.
Elizabeth celebrated a win on Apr. 22 when she was finally able to keep food and drink down, but that was a short-lived celebration because she was again hospitalized the following day where she remained for three nights.
Despite her release from the hospital, Elizabeth remained on oxygen and medications as she tried to recover at home. It was not until June 30 that she could go half a day without supplemental oxygen. She had been trying to ween herself, and she continued to do that during the day, except during the night while sleeping.
Eventually, as the summer wore on, Elizabeth was able to come off the oxygen completely and now only uses an inhaler as needed. “We pray she will eventually get complete healing and be taken off her medications,” Engel said.
Engel tried to document her daughter Elizabeth’s journey but “there were so many set backs and hospital trips and visits, not all may even be included here,” she said as she shared her notes.
Elizabeth is equally foggy about the specifics because there were so many. “I had roughly six hospital visits after I came home,” she said. “Two of them were a couple-night stays. She is more focused on regaining her complete health and looking to the future than documenting the past, very difficult 10 months.
Family and friends plan benefit
All of those hospitalizations, ambulance and helicoptor transports, ICU and NICU, and ongoing medical appointments and treatments, have left the Bloch family with a mountain of medical bills, not to mention the difficulty maintaining stable income with all of the health issues, a brand new baby, and one of the family members in and out of the hospital for months.
Family and friends have organized a benefit to help the Blochs with those bills. The Medical Benefit for the Bloch Family will be held this Saturday, Oct. 9, from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Town of Merrill Community Center, W4594 Progress Ave., Merrill. Music will be provided by Mobile Music, and there will be food, beer, and beverages, along with gun raffles, 50/50 raffles, gift baskets, silent auctions, a cornhole contest, and more. All are invited.
Prayers answered
More than anything, Elizabeth and Jennifer’s family want the community to know: “We continue to give all glory, honor, and praise to God for all of our answered prayers and for bringing Elizabeth and Jennifer home to their family.”
“We especially are so very, very grateful to all the hospitals, doctors, and all medical professionals who so skillfully, compassionately, and willingly gave their committed, exhausting, hard work, love, and care for our daughter, Elizabeth, and her baby, Jennifer, during their stays with you,” her parents wrote. “We will forever be thankful to all whom had a part in their survival and healing and we will keep you all in our prayers.”
“Lastly,” the family said, “we graciously thank each and every one of you powerful prayer warriors who were right there with us continuously keeping us in your thoughts and prayers and getting us all through this with your Godly loving support! May God bless you as you have blessed us.”
“We love you all!”
