Nikki & Natalie - Fight to Beat Cancer

Our dear college roommate and beloved friend Nikki Kluver was diagnosed with a rare and advanced form of cancer in January 2023. After months of experiencing pain in her leg, shortness of breath and other symptoms, they finally discovered a tumor in her abdomen. Frank, as this nasty tumor has come to be known, is pressing on arteries in her lower abdomen, creating blood clots in her lungs as well as her leg. Nikki is no stranger to hospitals and surgeries during her lifetime, but through it all she is one of the most positive, generous, friendliest people we know with such an amazing outlook on life.

She is being treated for the blood clots, for a tremendous amount of pain, and also began chemotherapy treatment on Friday, January 27th. The hope is to shrink Frank so that he can be surgically "evicted" from Nikki's body.

Nikki and her amazing wife Natalie have been living and working in Maine since 2020. They moved to Maine during Covid and have already developed a strong network of friends, neighbors and colleagues. However, the rest of their wonderful network of friends and family are spread out across the country. This means the caregiving falls primarily to Natalie. Natalie is not eligible for FMLA or to take paid leave from her work. Therefore, she has taken personal leave to care for Nikki.

Nikki's oncologist is in Boston, which means her treatment and care is also a 90 minute drive away from their home near Portland, Maine. This has already meant and will continue to mean many trips back and forth to the hospital, as well as countless hotel expenses for Natalie who cannot stay in Nikki's room due to hospital covid procedures.

We want Nikki to be able to focus on evicting Frank, and both of them to have some of their worries eased by this GoFundMe campaign. All dollars will support the two of them: for gas, for hotels, for hospital bills, for help plowing (they live on a little farm not far from the ocean where they have chickens, kittens, a dog and lots of friendly neighborhood deer) or support just paying the day-to-day bills.

Two bright spots!

1. In the midst of this scary news, these two finally tied the knot on January 8, 2023. While the timetable was a bit accelerated from what they were initially planning, it was the perfect ceremony for them.

2. Our dear friend Nikki turned 45 on February 6 (somehow 45 seemed a lifetime away when we were 22 and living together in a little white house on 10th St. in Moorhead, MN attending Concordia College).

Will you help us ease some of their worries and shower them with love (and money)?

If you would like to help financially, but have concerns about contributing via GoFundMe, please reach out to Natalie at [email redacted] or one of the organizers.

Mandy, Johnna, Tashia & Jocelyn (Nikki's college roommates)