People have been telling John Kloster they will do anything for him. Kloster has one request. He's asking families - husbands and wives - to get on their knees and pray out loud together for Kloster and his family.
A few weeks ago, the well-known Pequot Lakes optometrist learned he has a brain tumor. On Friday, Oct. 30, he learned the worst case scenario applies to him, and he has a year to live.
"It's hard to take," said Kloster, 45, an optometrist in Pequot Lakes for the past 19 years. He owns Pequot Eye Center on County Road 11/Main Street.
Kloster is talking to another optometrist who is interested in taking over his business.
Then he wants to spend time with his family, hoping for at least one more Minnesota summer with his wife, Deneen, and their three children, Eric, who turns 19 this month; Anna, 16; and Jack, 12.
In mid-October, Kloster said he made an appointment to have an MRI to figure out why he was experiencing 30-second tremors in his right hand and leg.
The MRI detected two masses in his brain, one 3.7 by 3 by 2 centimeters, and he went to Mayo Clinic in Rochester for an exam.
He had a biopsy last week and was diagnosed Friday with Grade IV Astrocytoma.
"That's the most malignant brain tumor," he said. "With chemo and radiation treatments, I've heard different things. Most doctors say with chemo and radiation you have about a year to live, give or take a couple months."
Kloster could have had surgery on Monday, but decided against that. Surgery carries with it a 25 percent chance of paralysis and 18 months to live.
"It's a question of quality and a little bit of quantity," the Klosters wrote on John's CaringBridge Web site.
The family, as well as friends, is still in shock. "It is a process of absorbing reality right now," Deneen wrote Sunday on CaringBridge.
Kloster must wait for the biopsy incision to heal, and then will begin a trial drug program in St. Cloud before starting radiation and chemotherapy there in a week or so. If he did no radiation or chemotherapy, he was told he'd have 16 weeks to live. His CaringBridge site says the tumor will double in size every seven days when not treated.
In the meantime, Kloster is back at Pequot Eye Center to see patients.
"We're just asking for prayers for myself and for my family," Kloster said, noting they also are praying for a miracle.
"We're praying, not just for me, but if it would bring glory to God, for a miracle," he said.
"Every minute counts in many ways," Deneen wrote on CaringBridge. "Thank you for all your prayers and praise God for those of you who took the 'John Kloster Challenge' and are praying on your knees with your spouses and families."
Kloster said it makes him feel good to know that his plight may be bringing families closer together and closer to God.
Physically, Kloster said he feels fine.
"I don't have any headaches. I feel fine," he said. " I'm a little nervous and anxious. I wish I never had that; I've always been relaxed and calm."
Kloster's CaringBridge Web site can be found at www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnkloster.
