There will be a benefit for Jack Kloss on Saturday, Nov. 22nd at the Freeport Community Center. Dinner will be served starting at 3 p.m. and a live auction to start at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a silent auction throughout the evening.
Jack Kloss was born October 25, 2011 to Andrew and Kate (Hartung) Kloss. He is the grandson of Ken and Peg (Erickson) Hartung of Freeport, MN and Scott and Sally (Michaelson) Kloss of Pierz, MN. Jack has two older sisters, Ava, 7 and Lucy, 5 and his mom is due in January. In addition, Kate has 2 brothers, 3 sisters, their spouses, 18 nieces and nephews and Andrew has 2 brothers, one sister and one niece who all love Jack very much and have been a great support system for the family.
On August 4th, 2014, Jacks mom felt a massive lump in his abdomen where she then brought him to Centra Care Clinic. Centra Care performed ultrasounds on Jack and sent him immediately down to Children’s Hospital, Minneapolis. After more thorough testing, they diagnosed him with a stage 3 Wilms Tumor which is a childhood cancer.
He underwent surgery on August 5th removing his left kidney, ureter and fifteen lymph nodes. Due to the size of the tumor which was from about his belly button wrapping around the left side to his spine, the tumor ruptured during the procedure. A week and a half later, Jack started his radiation and chemotherapy treatments. He has now finished with radiation and will have weekly chemo appointments for 28 weeks.
By doctor recommendation, Jack’s mom took a step back from her job to stay home with him to prevent him of any infections or illnesses he could pick up while he has no immune system. He currently gets three different types of chemotherapy. He gets one every Monday and the other two alternate every three weeks. The chemo makes him very nauseous and clingy.
Jack ended up in ER the night of September 29th after chemo with a temperature of 101.7. Anytime during chemo and while he’s on his meds where his temp is over 101.5, he must go into the hospital to get antibiotics, blood work and anything else the doctor feels is necessary. They gave him antibiotics, did blood work twice and performed Xrays on him to see if he had pneumonia. The doctor did not see anything too concerning. It was a common cold that he had but with the chemo and his immune system, this is how it affected him.
Another side effect of the chemo is weakness in his ankles. He started physical therapy in September and was initially doing very well with it but then the therapist noticed several signs of weakness which include him “foot slapping”, picking his feet up completely off the floor when he walks, walking with his feet to the side like a penguin and walking on his tip toes. He was fitted for braces for his feet and has had them since October 13th.
For a 3 year old, he is doing very well with keeping the braces on his feet. The braces are designed to strengthen his ankles and keep him walking through the rest of the chemotherapy treatments.
Jack loves chocolate pudding, ice cream, fruits and veggies. Jack loves playing dress up with his big sisters, fishing, catching frogs, being tickled, being outside and in the water, cuddling and watching Ninja Turtles and Monsters University. He is a very happy little boy, even through all of his doctor’s appointments and treatments.
If you would like to make a credit card donation, please go to GOFUNDME.COM/F7DCTS. All donations will go towards expenses incurred with Jack’s sickness. If you would like to donate your time, talent or auction items, please contact Becky at 320-761-1214 or Amber at 320-630-2019.
We thank you in advance and please keep Jack and his family in your thoughts and prayers!