Jack Johnson and family cancer fund

My name is Deb Hansen. I am a close personal friend and coworker of Jack and Paula Johnson. Jack and Paula have two daughters, Courtney and Erika. Courtney recently became an RN at St Agnes and is getting married in December. Erika, my Goddaughter, just graduated from high school earlier this month.

In February, Jack got sick with what he thought was only a virus going around. After nearly collapsing, he was taken by ambulance to St. Nicholas ER. He soon learned that he had cancer. At first the doctors thought it was Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, but that was soon dismissed. After four months of biopsies and tests, the doctors at Froedert have narrowed it down to being a hybrid of two rare blood cancers. Since it is something they have not dealt with, there is no standard protocol to follow. After not being able to continue with chemotherapy, due to blood counts being too far below normal range, Jack’s spleen was recently removed. The doctor stated that the normal fist size spleen had gone from the size of a football to a watermelon in just over a month’s time. Unfortunately, the cancer has chosen a new organ and that is the liver. Jack was forced into an early retirement after just turning 50. He has just started an intense session of chemotherapy at Froedert in Milwaukee. They plan on keeping him there for a month to monitor him since the treatment is known to be hard on the liver and kidneys. A group of us coworkers decided to put together this “Go Fund Me” account for Jack and his family. The money raised will be given to the family to help offset medical bills, travel expenses, lodging and meals since they live approximately 60 miles away from where he is receiving treatment. I’m sure there are so many expenses that they will be encountering throughout this journey that we are not even aware of at this time. We are hoping that people find it in their hearts to help show support to this family. Our goal is to raise $100,000. It would mean so much to us to be able to reach this goal. Anyone that knows Jack personally will be the first to say that this great guy would be the first to give his shirt off his back to help someone. Jack has been a volunteer fireman for many years. In that time he has also been a CPR Instructor and a Veterans Court Officer. We are hoping to alleviate some of his stress knowing that financially his family will be okay now as well as after his treatment. We would like to thank you for any donation that you are willing and able to make. It is greatly appreciated by all of us.