Jeff Klose and family

Jeff was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Mantle Cell Lymphoma on April 9th, 2020. Jeff had been ill for the previous year but had been taking care of his mother who passed away a month before his diagnosis and was busy focusing on her care. After a trip to the ER on the 9th, Jeff was rushed into emergency surgery having part of his colon, intestine, appendix and 67 lymph nodes removed. His spleen was 18x the size it should be and was cutting off the function of other organs. All 67 lymph nodes were positive for cancer. The type of cancer Jeff has is slow-growing but is not curable. It can lie dormant in a person’s marrow. He likely had this cancer for years before being diagnosed. As of August 2023, he has had 2 ½ years of chemotherapy, 9 bone marrow biopsies, major surgery to remove digestive tract and lymph nodes, surgery to remove multiple pre-cancerous lipomas, and a stem cell transplant. Jeff’s recovery from the stem cell transplant has been up and down and slow. His blood cell counts have yet to recover, but he feels he is on the mend. He is positive and very optimistic about his recovery.

Jeff was diagnosed 2 weeks after Covid lockdowns had been in place. His daughter, Hannah, was a junior at the University of Minnesota and was attending school online but on campus. His oldest son, Ethan, was just about to graduate from high school and planning to go off to college. His two younger sons, Connor and Carter, were in

9th and 8th grade and attending school online as well. This was incredibly challenging but the kids are now doing very well. Hannah has graduated and has a great job, Ethan is a junior at North Dakota State University, Connor is getting ready to graduate from school and exploring universities and Carter is getting ready for his junior year.

He had been diagnosed just a couple of weeks after working at a new company and had not yet signed his insurance, disability, and benefits package when he was diagnosed. He will qualify after he is 5 years into remission. For the first year and a half, Jeff wasn’t able to work due to his intensive treatments. When he was ready to jump back into work again his industry had significantly slowed. Jeff is currently hoping to make headway in another industry. Story to be continued!