John Lindquist- Brain Surgery!
Donation protected
About two years ago, my uncle John noticed a change. An avid runner, John started to find his big toe of his right foot scraping against the ground occasionally when he ran. After several months of pain, tripping over his right foot at a food show or the airport or on the sidewalk if he wasn't careful, he was diagnosed with arthritis in his ankle in August of 2018. His gait began to change as he compensated for the pain and weakness in his foot and ankle and as a result he started to develop sciatica-like symptoms.
In February 2019 John sought chiropractic care to deal with the issues, but was rewarded only with minimal success. Discouraged by the idea that he may never be able to run again, or that he would have to give up the food truck that he and my aunt Patty run and love so much, he began physical therapy. The stimulation of nerves on his leg seemed to help, but then...
In April 2019 John was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Faced with this new diagnosis, the issues with his ankle seemed trivial. Over the next months, he had two thyroid surgeries, received radiation treatment, and was out of work for six weeks.
In November 2019, John started treatment for his foot and ankle with chiropractic again. The chiropractor started to suspect that something was up other than arthritis and suggested another x-ray and an MRI. On January 18, a meningioma was discovered on/in John's brain. Although not a lot is known about these tumors and what can cause them, the good news is that it wasn't another cancer.
John had brain surgery to remove the tumor at Mayo Clinic on January 29, 2020. Normally meningiomas grow between the membranes on top of the brain, but John's had been there long enough that the brain tissue actually started to grow over the tumor. Thankfully the surgery went well and the doctors are confident that they were able to remove the entire tumor; however, the road to recovery will be long.
John will be at an inpatient rehabilitation center in Fargo for at least two weeks, possibly longer depending on his progress. He has been diagnosed with some cognitive defects due to how much of his brain had to be cut at to get the tumor out. These include some spacial, sequencing, and vocabulary difficulties, but these should dissipate with time. In all, he is in good spirits.
John is anticipated to return to work in April, but at drastically decreased hours. Although he has disability insurance that covers his normal wages, his medical treatment has left him unable to work the overtime hours he normally would work, and therefore he has lost/is losing a significant amount of additional pay that he and his family has relied on. Patty has also had to take a great deal of time from her work - largely unpaid as she had previously used all of her paid time off/leave to care for her ailing mother. Travel and hotel costs to be with John during surgery and recovery in Rochester have only added to these financial struggles.
The medical costs related to these treatments is still largely unknown. Any help is appreciated - in the form of dollars, prayers, or good vibes :)
With sincerest gratitude,
Abby Hammes
In February 2019 John sought chiropractic care to deal with the issues, but was rewarded only with minimal success. Discouraged by the idea that he may never be able to run again, or that he would have to give up the food truck that he and my aunt Patty run and love so much, he began physical therapy. The stimulation of nerves on his leg seemed to help, but then...
In April 2019 John was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Faced with this new diagnosis, the issues with his ankle seemed trivial. Over the next months, he had two thyroid surgeries, received radiation treatment, and was out of work for six weeks.
In November 2019, John started treatment for his foot and ankle with chiropractic again. The chiropractor started to suspect that something was up other than arthritis and suggested another x-ray and an MRI. On January 18, a meningioma was discovered on/in John's brain. Although not a lot is known about these tumors and what can cause them, the good news is that it wasn't another cancer.
John had brain surgery to remove the tumor at Mayo Clinic on January 29, 2020. Normally meningiomas grow between the membranes on top of the brain, but John's had been there long enough that the brain tissue actually started to grow over the tumor. Thankfully the surgery went well and the doctors are confident that they were able to remove the entire tumor; however, the road to recovery will be long.
John will be at an inpatient rehabilitation center in Fargo for at least two weeks, possibly longer depending on his progress. He has been diagnosed with some cognitive defects due to how much of his brain had to be cut at to get the tumor out. These include some spacial, sequencing, and vocabulary difficulties, but these should dissipate with time. In all, he is in good spirits.
John is anticipated to return to work in April, but at drastically decreased hours. Although he has disability insurance that covers his normal wages, his medical treatment has left him unable to work the overtime hours he normally would work, and therefore he has lost/is losing a significant amount of additional pay that he and his family has relied on. Patty has also had to take a great deal of time from her work - largely unpaid as she had previously used all of her paid time off/leave to care for her ailing mother. Travel and hotel costs to be with John during surgery and recovery in Rochester have only added to these financial struggles.
The medical costs related to these treatments is still largely unknown. Any help is appreciated - in the form of dollars, prayers, or good vibes :)
With sincerest gratitude,
Abby Hammes
Co-organizers (3)
Abby Hammes
Organizer
Osseo, MN
John Lindquist
Beneficiary
John Lindquist
Co-organizer
Patty Lindquist
Co-organizer