John Kleinfeldt

<< All Lung Cancer Survivors

John Kleinfeldt has reason to celebrate. Anyone who follows the statistics on cancer survival would have given up on him a long time ago. In fact, some did. But Kleinfeldt is alive today. Alive and well.

Kleinfeldt’s journey with cancer began with a regular check up with his doctor. He was 58 years old. Blood tests revealed he was anemic. When medication did not help and Kleinfeldt began losing weight, his medical doctor referred him to a gastroenterologist. The gastroenterologist referred him to a rheumatologist since he had arthritis in his knees. During his examination the rheumatologist noticed clubbing in Kleinfeldt’s hands and took an X-ray of his knees. The specialist had a suspicion it was lung cancer but could not be certain without performing a chest X-ray.

A referral to a radiologist and a chest X-ray later, Kleinfeldt and his wife, Eileen, heard that John has a mass in the upper left lobe of his lung. It was large, measuring 4.2 centimeters by 3.3 centimeters.

The next referral was to an oncologist, who recommended chemotherapy. The Kleinfeldts opted for a second opinion, which returned an opinion for a surgical intervention. After a third opinion concurred with the second, Kleinfeldt underwent lung cancer surgery in New York City in August of 1997 to remove the tumor and part of his lung.

Four months after his surgery, in December, Kleinfeldt began experiencing dizzy spells. An MRI revealed the cancer had metastasized to his brain, detecting three lesions and a tremendous amount of brain swelling. He was admitted to the hospital immediately.

Kleinfeldt underwent 15 radiation treatments at a treatment center in Long Island. Given the poor prognosis during those radiation treatments, Eileen began researching other treatment centers which might give Kleinfeldt more options and therefore a better chance at longer survival. She found a hospital in Zion, Illinois that appeared to offer treatments in addition to the standard protocols and told John, “this is where we are going.”

John told his doctor they had found Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) and requested his opinion of their treatment facilities. The doctor was reluctant to give an answer because he had never heard of CTCA. That inclined John not to seek treatment at CTCA until his doctor supplied another opinion.

“John, listen to Eileen and go to CTCA. See what they have to say. You have nothing to lose. I can’t do anything more for you,” he said. The Kleinfeldts did get on a plane to Chicago, something Eileen is thankful for to this day.

“That was the best decision we ever made and it has forever changed our lives,” Eileen said.