Cancer: A young man's life forever changed

By Jake Krause

In October of 2013 my life changed forever. I was a freshman at Bemidji State, enjoying all of the new experiences that come with your first few months of college. After enduring a college football training program for multiple weeks, I was used to my body feeling less than 100%. Aches and pains had become very familiar to me. But in October of 2013, I started to feel a little more under the weather than usual. I knew that something wasn’t right. This feeling lead to a trip to Tri-County Hospital where I was delivered news that no one wants to receive. The diagnoses was stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

My heart sank, but I soon realized that I couldn’t control my current situation. However, I could control my mindset and how I was going to attack the evil monster that I was facing. I can’t overstate how crucial the love and support that I received from my family, friends, community, and hospital staff was to my survival. There is simply no way that I could have made it without them by my side. After nearly seven months and 12 chemo treatments later, we defeated the monster. I was 100% cancer free.

This journey taught me lessons that I will lean on for the rest of my life. It instilled in me things like faith, discipline, perspective, gratefulness, and charity. I learned how to extend a helping hand to those in need by following the example set by the Princess Warrior Foundation. This incredible organization was there for me almost immediately after my initial chemo treatment. It is hard to put into words how important it was for my spirit when they reached out to offer support. The boost that it gave to my morale helped to pull me out of the negative “feel sorry for myself” state of mind that I was in at the time.

Organizations like the Princess Warrior Foundation provide a silver lining for kids/teens fighting pediatric cancer. After witnessing, firsthand, the positive impact that they have on the lives of the sick children and their families. There is no action that I will not take to help support/promote their cause. We all can use a helping hand when we fall down. And cancer is a battle that I wish no child had to fight. Unfortunately, that is not the case. But fortunately for us, we are blessed to have the Princess Warrior Foundation to be there to help pick us up. Fun Fact: In 2019, Jake spoke at the kick-off of the Princess Warrior 5K Run, Walk, Roll, Stroll or Crawl. The Princess Warrior Foundation committee is excited to announce that Jake will again be the guest speaker at the 10th annual event this fall!!

Jake is an inspiration to so many!!

Click the link to listen to his inspirational message in 2019

https://bit.ly/JakeKrausePW2019.

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Jake Krause moved to Wadena in 2005 after living in Frazee for seven years. Sports were always very important to him growing up. He played high school Football, Baseball and Hockey for WDC. After graduation, Jake went on to play football for Bemidji State University from 2013-2017. Currently, Jake has the pleasure of working for Federated Insurance where he gets to provide financial planning/protection for families and their businesses.