Mike Klimek Liver Cancer Fund
Donation protected
Hi, this is Bob Wise writing about my brother in law Mike Klimek. Recently, Mike was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma which is bile duct cancer of the liver. It was the end of January and he hadn't been feeling himself for a number of days. Some of his Flint Hills co-workers said he didn't look well. A few days and a number of tests later, several doctors told Mike his only option was a liver transplant. We were all in shock.
A couple of weeks later Mike went through a weeks worth of very intensive testing at Mayo to determine if he was even healthy enough and met the parameters for a transplant. Mike did qualify for a transplant but the wait was going to be 1 1/2 to 2 years. Mike's hope was to stay healthy in the meantime which would have required chemo and radiation possibly. The wonderful transplant team at Mayo wanted to cover all the bases so they sent Mike's file to the liver team for review. Dr. Nagorey of the liver team, who is one of the best surgeons in the world, told Mike that he believed that he could perform a surgery to help, although it would be complicated. This seemed like a miracle. The surgical risks were about the same as a transplant. The whole Klimek family, all seven of them, prayed about it and decided that the surgery was a better option given the only alternative was a long wait on the transplant list and a lifetime of anit-rejection medicine.
Ten days later they performed the surgery. They removed the left lobe of Mike's liver and portions of the bile ducts where the tumor was entangled. They also removed his gall bladder and reconnected the bile ducts to the small intestine. He's feeling ok but it is a long road to recovery.
We are very optimistic but we also realize that this may be a life long battle as this type of cancer has a very high recurrence rate. Mike and Sheila will be faced with numerous doctor and hospital bills coming their way now and in the years to come. Any help that you could give Mike and Sheila would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and please continue to pray for the Klimeks. Bob Wise
A couple of weeks later Mike went through a weeks worth of very intensive testing at Mayo to determine if he was even healthy enough and met the parameters for a transplant. Mike did qualify for a transplant but the wait was going to be 1 1/2 to 2 years. Mike's hope was to stay healthy in the meantime which would have required chemo and radiation possibly. The wonderful transplant team at Mayo wanted to cover all the bases so they sent Mike's file to the liver team for review. Dr. Nagorey of the liver team, who is one of the best surgeons in the world, told Mike that he believed that he could perform a surgery to help, although it would be complicated. This seemed like a miracle. The surgical risks were about the same as a transplant. The whole Klimek family, all seven of them, prayed about it and decided that the surgery was a better option given the only alternative was a long wait on the transplant list and a lifetime of anit-rejection medicine.
Ten days later they performed the surgery. They removed the left lobe of Mike's liver and portions of the bile ducts where the tumor was entangled. They also removed his gall bladder and reconnected the bile ducts to the small intestine. He's feeling ok but it is a long road to recovery.
We are very optimistic but we also realize that this may be a life long battle as this type of cancer has a very high recurrence rate. Mike and Sheila will be faced with numerous doctor and hospital bills coming their way now and in the years to come. Any help that you could give Mike and Sheila would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and please continue to pray for the Klimeks. Bob Wise
Organizer and beneficiary
Bob Wise
Organizer
Hastings, MN
Bob Wise
Beneficiary