Lawrence’s Story

Site created on March 26, 2022

In the fall of 2021 Lawrence started experiencing noticeable pain in his right leg. Thinking it was a muscle related injury or issue he did physical therapy for 6 weeks but saw no improvement. Despite resting, the pain in his leg only increased, eventually to the point where he went in to have it checked again in early March 2022.

This time the doctor in Bemidji did X-rays and a CT scan. On the scans they found a mass near his right knee that was some serious cause for concern. Referrals were made for us to go to the University of Minnesota and more tests done which eventually lead to a cancer diagnosis of osteosarcoma.

In the midst of these appointments and tests, our family welcomed our 5th child into the world on March 7th, Magnolia Paige Klingsheim. Life has been anything but boring for our family this year. The months ahead were eventful as we planned for Lawrence’s treatment and recovery.

In April 2023 we got the news that the osteosarcoma had spread to his lung. Making his diagnosis stage IV, and making our journey far from over. His spots in his lungs were not very responsive to the chemo treatments tried. So in November 2023 Lawrence had surgery to remove the left upper lobe of his lung and the smaller spots in his lower lobe. Surgery was successful so now we are monitoring the spots in his right lung and seeking effective treatment.

Thank you for praying and being a support to our family during this time.

Newest Update

New Chemo Cycle 1

Journal entry by Ashley Klingsheim —

Friday Lawrence finally got his oral chemo pills in the mail. The name of this chemo is Stivarga which is also called regorafenib. We have learned a lot of new medication names of the years! 

He also was able to get some baseline labs done Friday in Ely, which he needed to do before starting the new medicine. His labs looked good, so he was able to take his first dose on Saturday. 

I actually got some of his cycle dates mixed up, so he will take 21 days of the oral meds, and then get days 22-28 off. After day 28 he will restart the next cycle all over again. Over the course of the cycle the main things we need to
monitor are blood pressure daily at home and routine labs to keep an eye on his levels. 

With this oral chemo he needs to take it in the morning with a low fat/low calorie meal. So basically some dry toast. Kind of different from some of his other meds. Again, we still are learning so much.

After 2 days of the chemo he’s felt ok. Maybe a little extra tired. We are also keeping up with some anti-nausea medication to help stay on top of things. We’ll keep at it over the next few weeks and pray he tolerates this well. 

Continued prayers appreciated! Praying he can rest when he’s able and make the most of the days he has little to no side effects. 
Read More of the journal titled "New Chemo Cycle 1"
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