Jen's Fight Against MDS

Hello, my name is Hunter Piepenburg. I am Jen Lottman's oldest son.

I would like you to meet our family; my mom Jennifer Piepenburg Lottman, my dad Chad Lottman, my wife Chloe State Piepenburg, son Levi Piepenburg, brother Logan Lottman and his fiance Emily Trunkel all of Ellsworth, WI.

My Mom was raised in Central MN, Meeker County on a dairy farm. When she was 16 she moved to Brookings, SD where she graduated high school. She attended SDSU for a year and decided she wanted to go to a bigger city and moved to Sioux Falls, SD to attend South East Tech and at this time this is where she started her career with Menards in February 1994. I was born in January of 1997. Mom was raising me as a single Mom up until she met my Dad in October of 1997. They had Logan in December of 1999 and then got married November 10th of 2001! We moved to Ellsworth, WI in 2005 for my Mom's job to be the front end manager of the Red Wing, MN Menards.

In 2008, my Mom was diagnosed with Essential Thrombocythemia also known as ET. At this time the doctors did not do a bone marrow biopsy and were able to treat her with medication to lower platelets. With the treatment she was able to stay stable until 2022.

Then in 2010, Mom had optic neuritis which resulted in a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. She has been giving herself shots on a daily basis to manage the MS and keep herself stable.

In 2022, Mom went to see her oncologist for a yearly visit where she discovered her hemoglobin was very low. Blood transfusions and bone marrow biopsy followed the visit.

Bone marrow resulted in a diagnosis of Myelodysplastic Myeloproliferative Neoplasms with ring sideroblasts of 5-9%. This is a form of MDS.

https://www.cancer.gov/types/myeloproliferative/patient/myelodysplastic-treatment-pdq

April of 2023, my Mom was sent to Hematology in Rochester, MN. She was also referred to the Stem Cell Transplant Team for further evaluation.

She was informed after HLA typing and her sister being tested that there is no exact matches in the system and my brother and I can not be tested because of a high level alloimmunization. My Mom was scheduled for transplant end of May 2023. The transplant was stopped because her original donor fell through and bone marrow biopsies came back with high levels that would cause there to be to much graft versus host.

In the meantime she has had multiple blood and platelet transfusions. She left work on June 1st as she needed to start chemotherapy in Rochester and her immune system would be compromised. Fortunately now she is able to do it in Red Wing, MN with family and friends close by. She will not be able to return to work for at least a year if not longer.

Once the transplant is scheduled she will be on her way with a caregiver to live in Rochester, MN for 100 days or longer after transplant. My grandmother Mona Johnson Piepenburg will be the main caregiver with other people coming to give her a well needed break. She will be staying at the Gift of Life Transplant House in Rochester, MN.

I am setting this up along with family and friends to help with medical and lodging expenses. The bills are starting to pile up and I would like to work on getting Mom better and worrying about herself and what she needs to look forward to.

My Dad has been working hard on the road traveling to try and keep bills paid while Mom has been out of work going through her treatments. Although it's helping keep some of the financial burden at bay, Mom also needs her husband by her side during this difficult time!

Myself along with my wife Chloe, son Levi, Logan and his fiance Emily all appreciate the prayers, donations, and gestures no matter how big or small!

All donations will go directly to Mom. My Mom would never ask for help, but has always been willing to help anyone without hesitation. We would also like to pledge once her financial burden is lifted we will be giving remaining funds back to other patients battling MDS.

Thanks you for the support of prayers and donations.

The Piepenburg/Lottman Family