Is this Australia’s unluckiest family? Jesse, 32, thought he had a tooth issue – but learned he had massive clusters of cancer on his neck, shoulder, chest, abdomen and groin. Fate had more cruel tricks in store

Jesse Wendt thought fate had played enough cruel tricks on him and his young family when doctors told him he was battling stage four cancer – after two years of searching for answers to what was initially thought to be a dental problem.

But father-of-two Mr Wendt, 32, from Skennars Head on the NSW north coast, could well be considered one of Australia’s unluckiest people in the chain of events that followed.

Mr. Wendt’s condition – an aggressive blood cancer known as Advanced Stage Four Classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma – has forced his family’s once-successful property maintenance business to close.

The Wendts have subsequently found themselves in such dire financial straits that their electricity has been cut off three times – with Mr Wendt now requiring his wife, Renee, to look after him as his carer, while also raising two boys.

Now the family has learned they are about to lose their home, after their landlord sent them an eviction notice that will see them kicked out the week after Christmas.

Ms. Wendt said this will force them to “basically sleep in the car.” And to top it all off, that car recently broke down.

In an interview about their desperate situation, Ms Wendt broke down in tears as she described their devastating situation as ‘lonely’ and ‘exhausting’ – and something completely beyond the family’s control.

“We feel very defeated,” she said. “Just to lose everything very, very quickly… we’re about to lose everything and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

From a ‘dental problem’ to riddled with cancer

Mr Wendt had been visiting various GPs for two and a half years, but they repeatedly dismissed the lump in his neck as a dental problem.

They believed it was an infection stemming from an abscess in his jaw, something that required him to have a tooth removed.

But when the lump continued to grow to the size of a golf ball and his symptoms persisted, Mr Wendt sought further help.

On July 1, his dentist removed another tooth and advised him to go to the emergency department to have the bulging lump drained.

“The moment the emergency doctor looked at me he said, ‘Oh no, that’s not what you think it is,’” Mr Wendt told Daily Mail Australia.

The young father was taken to Lismore Hospital where scans and blood tests were immediately ordered.

Within three hours Mr. Wendt and his wife, Renee, were diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood cancer.

“I went to the hospital thinking I had a bad dental problem and was put in a waiting room where all the doctors were acting strange and we didn’t know why we were later told I had cancer,” Mr Wendt said.

“It was horrible.”

‘I just couldn’t ignore it. I had seen several doctors, but they didn’t pick up on it, and this one doctor just looked at me and knew something was definitely wrong.”

Jesse Wendt, 32, (pictured with his wife Renee) was diagnosed with ‘Advanced Stage 4 Classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma’ – an aggressive form of blood cancer

An emotional Mrs Wendt said she and her husband were in complete shock and disbelief at the diagnosis.

‘It didn’t seem real. We just sat there and cried because it just didn’t feel real.”

Mrs Wendt added that her husband’s PET scan revealed huge clusters of cancer running from the side of his neck to his shoulder, through to his chest, to his abdomen and ending at the top of his groin.

Doctors immediately started Mr. Wendt on a six-month treatment plan consisting of twelve rounds of powerful chemotherapy to tackle the aggressive cancer.

‘We actually sleep in our car’

While he undergoes intensive chemotherapy, his family has been served with an eviction notice from their rental home, where Jesse, Renee and their sons Ben, 13, and Liam, 10, have lived for three years.

“We actually sleep in our car,” Ms. Wendt said. “We are homeless if we have to leave on the agreed date.”

She explained that she and the property owner have a good relationship, and they even catch up over lunch and coffee. But a month after her husband started chemotherapy, Mrs. Wendt informed the landlord of their situation, hoping for understanding.

However, in an unfortunate coincidence, two days later they received messages from the home’s agent stating that the landlord was planning to move into the property.

Father-of-two Jesse (pictured with his sons Ben and Liam) was initially told by several GPs over the course of two years that his symptoms and the lump in his jaw were caused by a dental abscess. It was an aggressive blood cancer

“I wrote an email to the real estate agency … begging to stay in the house until Jesse finishes his treatment,” Ms. Wendt said.

The deportation order couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the family faces cancer treatment with barely any money in their account.

Mrs. Wendt started one GoFundMe fundraising campaign to raise money to help with their living situation and daily expenses.

“We don’t have any family support nearby as all of Jesse’s family is a 14-hour drive away,” Ms Wendt said.

‘Our electricity has been cut off three times, adding even more chargers to our bill and our car also broke down on the way to Jesse’s treatment.

“Now we’re about to lose our house and we don’t even know how we’re going to pay for a moving company. We have nothing left.’

Mr Wendt (pictured with one of his two sons) said he was shocked to discover the cancer had spread from his neck, shoulder, chest, abdomen and to the top of his groin.

A GoFundMe campaign was started to help relieve the Wendt family’s financial stress as they seek their cancer treatment, find a new rental home, pay overdue bills and daily necessities (Mr. Wendt and his two sons are pictured)

Mr Wendt said: ‘We weren’t even prepared for it, as if I had been diagnosed correctly initially, at least I could have prepared for this.’

A tearful Ms. Wendt added: “Who prepares for cancer at 32?”

“The worst part is that since I started my treatment, we’ve basically had nothing,” Mr. Wendt said.

“I’m trying to focus on my treatment and getting better, but the fact is that everything we deal with costs money and we physically can’t live without it.”