There are things that happen, sometimes, in someone’s life that completely change its course, and not always for the better. That’s just what happened to Jenine Klankowski, of West Concord.
In September of 2010 Klankowski began to experience brief lapses in her sense balance. She also began to lose her vision and her sense of taste. When the synptoms first appeared, she and her husband, Caleb, decided she should go to the doctor in Rochester to determine the cause of her symptoms. After examining her and subjecting her to further tests, the doctor determined that, if the symptoms weren’t causing major disruption to her life, Klankowski could return home with the hopes that she would recover in time.
At first it seemed that the doctor’s advice was sound. It wasn’t until February that Caleb first learned that his wife’s illness had worsened.
“She call me – I was at work – and she told me that she had missed the last three steps coming down stairs,” Caleb recalled. “I asked her, you know, are you hurt? Do you need to call an ambulance or go to the hospital? She told me she’d just wait until I got home.”
It was then that Caleb learned that Jenine hadn’t been driving for a while and her symptoms had worsened – both her vision and balance had gotten pretty bad. Caleb took a layoff from work and accompanied Jenine to the Mayo Clinic for further testing. He returned to work on light duty in April, however, after doctors failed to discover the cause of Jenine’s illness. Toward the end of July and in early August, though, Jenine’s condition worsened significantly to the point where she was unable to care for herself anymore. Her vision was extremely poor and she had begun using a walker.
The couple and their children then moved out to Jenine’s sister’s house in Wasioja, where their ranch-style house made it easier for her to move around. The staff at Mayo continued to run tests, but was unable to come to any conclusions. Caleb quit his job around labor day in favor of one closer to home so he could help care for Jenine.
Jenine underwent multiple tests for Multiple Sclerosis, was given around fifteen MRIs – focusing on her head, back, neck and chest – CT scans, PET scans, to determine how fluid was moving throughout her body, bone marrow biopsies and a lot of blood work. She has also had three spinal taps performed. All of this was negative and doctors were still uncertain as to the cause of Jenine’s illness. In October of 2011, Jenine took
another turn for the worse. She began to experience complete loss of equilibrium and would fall down, even with the assistance of a walker. She was admitted into May Clinic and the doctors decided to try a brain biopsy to further examine a spade-shaped growth in her brain that extended from her spine to the top of her head. The biopsy revealed that the growth isn’t cancerous and isn’t even a tumor of any sort. In the last 20 years Mayo has seen 24 cases similar to Jenine’s
“It’s just a collection of cells that hardened for some unknown reason,” explained Caleb. “They don’t really have a name for it. The closest thing is Necrotizing Encephalitis, which causes massive tissue damage.”
On December 15th, the neurology staff at Mayo was given approval to write a research paper on Jenine’s case in order to solicit help from other doctors from around the world. Jenine has since been staying at the Sunset Home in Kenyon where she is undergoing many different types of physical therapy and attempting to recover her independence. She also receives Intravenous Immunoglobulin therapy once per month.
Though the cause of Jenine’s illness is still unknown, but she is starting to show some improvement in recent months.
“My recovery is going well,” she said. “When I started I wasn’t able to move my left side at all, but I am now able to move it. I can’t feel my left side a lot yet, but it’s probably going to come back.”
The cause of her paralysis was the brain biopsy that was performed and doctors hope that she will regain control of her left side within 6 months with therapy. It’s not clear whether her vision or balance will improve, but doctors are hopeful. Recent MRIs have shown the growth in her brain is no long active and has even shrunk a bit.
The support the family has received from the community has been phenomenal.
“Everybody from our church and on down has just been so sweet,” Jenine said. “Bringing food to my sister’s house, and her watching our kids… It’s nice they’re taking care of her. I’m very lucky.”
Though Jenine’s condition has improved somewhat recently, the Klankowskis are aware that the road to recovery is sure to be a long and arduous one. Jenine hopes that, by the time spring comes around, she will be ready to return home. - by Logan Bernstein
