JONATHAN’S STORY
August 2000 Jonathan had a lump on his right rib that was concerning. He was seen by his doctor and it was my decision as to whether or not to remove it. I needed to think about it, it could be just a benign cyst of some sort. While I was at work one day, I still had not decided whether or not to have the lump removed, God spoke clear as ever to me saying, “ have the lump removed
“ . I immediately called the clinic and set up an appointment for the lump to be removed. A couple days later we were in the clinic hearing the words “ Jonathan has cancer”. The clinic had arrangements made for Jonathan to be admitted to Madison Children’s hospital. He had tests and scans done to determine where the cancer was and what type in order for him to start treatments for it. It was between his ribs on the right side and in both lungs. He would need both chemotherapy and radiation. Jonathan received his first dose of chemotherapy and tolerated it as well as he could at 20 months old. We were able to return home for a short time before he needed his next dose of chemotherapy. While at home a healing prayer service “laying on of hands” was held one evening for Jonathan at Middle Coon Valley Lutheran church. The church was filled with family, friends and God’s presence. God’s presence was felt, it was evident he was working to heal and strengthen Jonathan. Jonathan returned to Madison, shortly after the prayer service, for more testing to see if he was responding to the treatment he had received. And he would start another treatment. The scans showed no evidence of cancer! It was gone, he was in remission! In September of 2000 Jonathan’s care was changed to Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse, it was closer to home, his 3 siblings and loved ones. He completed more chemotherapy and endured 32 radiation treatments, followed by more chemotherapy. He lived life fully, played like a normal boy when he was feeling well enough. His favorite treats after radiation, was oreos and green gum. In August of 2001 he completed his treatments and continued to be in remission. He could be a normal little boy again. April 2008 Jonathan had a lump on the right side of his back removed, it was on a rib so a portion of his rib was removed. He was feeling fine, no pain or problems caused us to think it was anything to worry about. It came back cancerous, this time osteosarcoma, a slow growing form. We had another healing prayer service for Jonathan at church, once again the church was filled with family,friends and God’s presence. God gave Jonathan strength and healing once again. The treatment another year of chemotherapy, this time he needed to be in the hospital to received the chemotherapy. He couldn’t just get it and return home right away like before. He was a tough kid and stuck it out, he done what he needed to do to get back home. His oncologist thought it was unusual for a child his age to have a second primary cancer in such a short time. Jonathan was tested and found to have Li Fraumeni’s syndrome. A genetic defect that predisposed him to various sarcomas. Jonathan completed another year of chemotherapy, not wasting a minute of his life when he was at home. He spent time outside, fishing, hunting, building, he was busy. March 2009 he completed treatments and was once again in remission. July 2011 Jonathan complained of his leg hurting after jumping out of a tractor. It was x-rayed and nothing showed up. He continued to have complaints of pain, he started to have swelling and no improvement. So it was x-rayed about a week later and this time it showed a large tumor on his right femur with a smaller one just above it. He needed crutches to walk so he would not put weight on his leg. He went in for further testing and was sent to Madison for a special
biopsy to determine what kind of cancer it was this time. It was another type of osteosarcoma, different from the last.We had another healing prayer service for Jonathan a little different that the other two, as he did not like to draw attention to himself or be placed in the front of the church filled with people, so he sat in his chair and everyone prayed for him, family and friends joined together once again. And God’s presence was evident , He brought Jonathan strength and healing. He had to continue to use the crutches, to prevent a fracture. He would receive chemotherapy again and would also need to make a decision regarding amputation of his leg or have the femur and knee replaced and go through intensive physical therapy. Jonathan was very active and lived for being outdoors, hunting and fishing. He chose to try to keep his leg and have the femur and knee replaced. He went through chemotherapy for a few months and then was sent to Madison for surgery to replace his femur and knee with a new type of prosthetic device that could be lengthened electromagnetically, without surgery. This was successful,and after the surgical incision healed he had more chemotherapy. He was in a wheelchair for a few months, he worked hard in physical therapy to regain strength and the ability to bend his knee. February of 2012 he completed his chemotherapy and was in remission, however he continued to work with physical therapy for a few more weeks. In September of 2012 Jonathan was chosen to go on a Hunt Of a Lifetime in northern Wisconsin, he had the opportunity to harvest a doe, trophy buck and a bear. He was fortunate to harvest all three. February 2013 he had routine scans that showed a suspicious area on his rib near the first tumor he had at 20 months old. He went in to have it removed and we planned to be home within a week or so. He attended a Kicking Bear fundraiser on Saturday evening. The following Monday he had an appointment with the surgeon to plan surgery. Surgery was planned for a week from that Friday, there was a cancellation and the surgery was moved up to that Monday. During this time Jonathan started having hip pain and was miserable. This did not delay the surgery, he had the rib removed. He done well, he was recovering without a problem, while waiting to get the “OK” to go home, test results came back and the surgeon needed to go back in and take out more of the rib, it was cancer. So Jonathan being the fighter he was agreed and he went back in for surgery. He came out of surgery fine, but just did not seem to be bouncing back like he usually did. And he continued to have hip pain. Then he started to have fevers, his blood counts were off, he was not able to go without having oxygen on. He had seen several different specialists, they were thinking infection, blood clots, you name it. Jonathan started coughing up blood at times. He had difficulty walking, he was not getting better, he was worse. His oncologist tested his blood and Jonathan was also diagnosed with leukemia. A form of leukemia that is difficult to treat and it was probably a side effect from all of the previous treatments he went through. Jonathan was told he had leukemia and would need to have a central line placed to receive treatments, and this needed to be done right away. Once the line was placed , he was sent to Pediatric ICU, and they kept him sedated to let his lungs rest, he was having such difficulty breathing. It was later explained that the pain in his hips and the coughing up blood and difficulty breathing was due to the leukemia. Shortly after his line placement, it was decided that Jonathan be transported to Rochester for a special ventilator that was not available at Gundersen. Jonathan was taken by ambulance to Rochester, he barely survived the ride there, he couldn’t go by Medlink because of the bad weather. He started chemotherapy treatments, his kidneys were not working the best so he was on a continuous dialysis machine, he was on a ventilator, multiple IV medications. We soon learned
he was not responding to the chemotherapy like he should. It was getting more difficult to keep his lungs working, even with the help of the machine. His family and friends stayed at his side encouraging him to fight, letting him know how much we all loved him and how much Jesus loved him. On the morning of Saturday March 23rd Jonathan went home with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jonathan loved life and lived it to the fullest. Not a minute was wasted. He loved spending time outdoors. When he was in the wheelchair and could not walk, he sat on the front porch shooting targets with his 22. It was nothing for him to go through 1,000 rounds of ammunition in an afternoon. He rigged his four wheeler so he could keep his leg up on the side of it while in a brace, so he could safely drive all over the farm. He loved his animals, his ducks, chickens, geese and hunting dogs. He was humble, and did not like to be the center of attention. He experienced so much in his short 14 years. He is deeply loved and missed by many.
