Jeff Dunker

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. 


This past April Jeff developed a blood clot in his internal jugular vein while on blood thinners.  on May 1st they referred him to see Dr. Deveneni (oncologist).  Dr. Deveneni explained to us that since Jeff had the same type of clot 5 years ago and with him being on blood thinners that we were probably looking at some type of cancer. (having a blood clot in the jugular is very rare and studies find within 3-5 years a diagnosis of cancer is likely) Jeff had a PET scan that showed 5 different spots in his omentum. He had a CT guided needle biopsy done at the Virginia Piper Cancer Institute at Abbott Northwestern. He was diagnosed on June 17th with Mesothelioma of the Omentum.

Jeff will be admitted on July 10th and he will be having surgery on July 11th at the Virginia Piper Cancer Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. He will be in surgery from 4-13 hours. They will remove the entire omentum and then visually look at different organs to make sure it has not metastasized. During surgery he will have a Hot Chemo treatment for the next 1 ½ hours while they infuse a chemo heated up to 107  degrees into his abdomen  while they rock him back-and forth. Jeff will be in the hospital from 1-2 weeks for recovery.

We strongly feel that we caught this in the early stages and we are blessed, as with this type of cancer, he has the 1% that is treatable. Both the surgeons performing his surgery are co-workers of Angie, so it reassures us that this is not just another person on the table, but Angie’s dad.

The VPCI has also arranged for housing for me through July 26th at the Hope Lodge in Minneapolis. It is about a 10 min drive to the hospital. Angie will be staying with me on Wed. and Thurs. and a few days here and there. It is nice as Angie works at the Virginia Piper Cancer Institute 3 days a week and will be picking me up on the days she is working so I won’t have to drive on those days.

Please pass Jeff’s CaringBridge site info (caringbridge.org/visit/jeffdunker) onto those who may not have received this notification. We will keep you updated as our journey progresses.

Prayers are welcome!