October 10, 2025 • 18 mins
We spoke with John Krause, founder of The Team John Foundation, about his battle with cancer, the creation of The Team John Foundation, and the upcoming golf tournament to fund the great missions of The Team John Foundation and Blood Cancer United.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison Demurz my guest this morning as John Krause. He
is founder of the Team John Foundation. Good morning, good morning,
thank you for being here today.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
So you've created the Team John Foundation and you have
an event coming up we're going to talk about, but
first let's talk about why you created this foundation. Something
personal happened in your life.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah, yeah, so many twists and turns. You know, you
always think when life is going through you're going through
life that things are going smoothly. Well, in twenty fourteen,
things were going smoothly and out of nowhere. I had
a blood test and the blood test revealed that my
numbers were way off. The doctor that night called me
and he told me to go to the er. So
(00:48):
arriving to the er, obviously, you know, my wife and
I were talking and she's like, this is crazy. You've
got to go to the er for you know, for what.
So anyway, we ended up saying, well, better go. It
sounded pretty serious.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Get to the er.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
They check my blood and then they come back of
the room and tell me that I've leukemia. So I
was confused. I was like, are you like leukemia. I've
heard of it, but you know, I didn't know much
about it at the time. If it's not in your life,
it's tough to you know, really associate exactly what that is.
So they basically said, John, just you're you know, we're
gonna keep you overnight. We'll confirm it with the doctor
(01:22):
in the morning and go from there. So of course
I was upset. I'm like, wow, this is crazy, so scary.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yeah, it's one of those things where you're like, life
is going well, career is great, family is.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Great, you're healthy, you're young, you're children, a beautiful wife,
Like absolutely, just not what you expected.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, three kids, we had one on the way. We
found out a week prior.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
To that, so it's one of those things you're like,
come on, this is weird. So that morning doctor comes
in and he's like, yep, you've got what's called a
cute my little leukemia, and we're gonna hammer you like
crazy with chemotherapy for seven straight days, twenty four hours
a day. This is the protocol. This is how we
get you into remission. And after thirty days or so,
if all goes well, you'll be able to go home
(02:03):
and go, you know, essentially go from there. Lots of
things happened during that hospital stay for thirty days.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I felt good.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
I felt like I was handling it very well, surprisingly well.
Maybe from the outside looking in for my family, maybe
it wasn't going as well at times, but internally I
felt like very positive. Every time the doctors would come in,
I'm like, I'm good, let's go, what's next, you know,
check the box.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Thirty days comes and goes.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
And they're talking about the whole time stem cell transplants
and things like that. But I was painted the picture
at the time that it was. It was more of
a if you need it thing. So after my first
appointment back after I got out I achieved remission, the
doctors like, you have to.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Have a stem cell transplant, and I'm like, really why?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
You know, it was one of those things where I
didn't think that I had to have one, but you know,
he said, you go to Sloan Kettering in New York.
But we opted to go to Dana Farburn Boston because
I just figured it might be easier.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
In and out for the family. That's kind of that
was our mindset of.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
That whole thing, and I happened to bump into the
greatest doctor and team while I was there and with
my wife. We were sitting there and come to find out,
being in Boston, he was a Yankees fan, which I am.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
That's so shocking.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
So I was like, this is meant to be right, right,
But yeah, no, I went there and made the decision.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
On the way home.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I'm like, we're doing this because that's truly the only
cure for this disease is to get a stem cell transplant.
So luckily, my brother and my sister and a lot
of people got tested while I was impatient the first time,
and my brother was one hundred percent match Brian, so
he agreed obviously to donate.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I'd kick it's but if he didn't.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
But no, thank you, Brian, if you're listening to this,
But I'm just very grateful that he did. And after
thirty days or so at Dana Farber, I got out
with a clean bill of health and was living life,
you know, as we know it for you know, five
plus years.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So that was twenty fourteen. Take you to what twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, things, like I said, things were going great, no issues,
every box was checked. I was living life like I
normally was good for you. You know, my wife and I
were doing golf tournaments for the Jimmy Fund. We raised
about one hundred thousand dollars through the years for them.
We decided to give back to people that really didn't
have the community that we were lucky to have during
those tough times, so we raised money.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
We were having a blast doing it for a good cause.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
And also obviously at that time got involved with Leukemi
Lymphoma Society, which is now Blood Cancer United. So that's
kind of where like the give portion of my life
came from. But as of twenty twenty, that's when it relapsed.
So it was a weird situation, you know, the different
symptoms and nothing that I could correlate and except it
(04:36):
was COVID.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Time in twenty twenty, we all remember it.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I was building a deck on the round the pool
with my dad and there were some symptoms, but it
was like I was weak holding up a board where
I normally wouldn't. It was just strange, and I had
a cough and my wife's like, well, maybe you have COVID.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Go get checked out.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
So she booked an appointment gratefully for me to go
get checked out. And while I was there, they checked
my lung and that cough was some sort of a
nodule in my lung where they said, go to the
er just get that checked out. You you don't have
COVID and I'm like, okay, so naturally call my wife.
I'm just gonna shoot down to the yar real quick
check again, check the box, get it done, figure out
exactly what it is, and take care of it. Thinking
(05:11):
that it was like maybe a pneumonia or something like that.
The doctor comes in again after after hours of sitting there. Uh,
it was crazy in the r at that time, but
it was, and it was the worst because.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It was COVID right right.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
So sitting there not thinking anything anything like that, no
one could come visit me. So actually, my one of
my brothers and my my now sister in law their medics,
so they came to visit me while I was in there,
which is I was grateful for.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And it was like deja vu.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You know that the nurse or the doctor came in
after a bunch of tests and she's like, your cancer relapsed,
and I was just like floored, like to say, floored
was like punching. It was an understatement. I was like
so mad, so aggravated. All the things that I believed
my faith came through in my first my first journey,
like so many things like that I was really talking
(05:59):
about in front of a lot of people was now questioned,
and I was like, all right. I had a moment
of sitting here in Hartford at a hospital like just
really just being not happy.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I've been where you are, and I just looked at
the sky and I was like really, God, like really, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, that's exactly where I was, because I was like, God,
what's the purpose?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
What am I supposed to see here?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Is there another thing that I didn't get out of
the first battle that I'm supposed to learn here? And
that's honestly one of the things that carried me through.
I said, I'm going to find something through this battle.
And then sitting finally, we went up to Dana Farbera
after a couple of days in Hartford because my doctor's like,
get up here. So much has changed in medicine over
the past five and a half years, get up here.
So obviously we went up there because they're the best,
and yeah, so we were up there and I still
(06:45):
was in a bad spot.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I still was just like I was grateful to be there.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
But emotionally, I'm just like just shaking my head, like
I can't, like all right now. Like I knew based
on the picture that every doctor painted for me while
I was impatient the first time, I knew it was
going to be a battle, and they all told me
it was going to come back angrier and it's going
to come back harder to put in the remission.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So that's always in the back of my mind.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
But when I walked into the doctor walked in, it
was one of the days right before treatment, and I
have to sign a form to agree to treatment. And
on the top of that thing, she put cure. Like
there's a thing where you write in purpose of this
this medicine that we're going to do or this protocol
is fill in the blank, and she wrote cure and
I'm like cure, and I'm like, all right, I've done
the research. I know there's no cure for this. But
(07:27):
when she wrote that, I'm like, okay, Like that's like
I'm seeing that. And I took I took promise in
that big time, and I was and it didn't hit
me until like that that right there, I said, we're
going to kick these things about again.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yes the way it is, Yes, And that's kind of
like that kind of flipped the switch for me.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I did that, I latched on of my faith and
obviously we had so much community that was there helping
us and helping our family. I was like, you know,
just made the decision to do it. And obviously with
good medicine, you know, being up in Boston, good good,
good stuff happening up there. I was able to achieve
remission again. Gratefully, my brother donated his cells again because
they were on a trial. There's some sort of trial
(08:04):
that they were going to do, and they did that
and he had to come in on it was I
remember the day. It was July twenty ninth that I
took his cells again, of twenty twenty, and that's when
I started the trial. And the trial was going great.
I was getting some chemotherapy, I had a bunch of
a bunch of lumbar punctures, which are bone marrow biopsies.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Which are not fun, but that's part of the trial.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Just went with it and things were going great, and
into twenty twenty one, I was like, all right, this
thing seems to be keeping things at bay. This is
good and things are good. Positive found my faith. But
before I get to that, part of this conversation is
where Team John Foundation came from. So while at home,
before I went to that procedure, I was still searching
for that why.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I was sitting there with my wife because we had
done those tournaments for the Jimmy Fund at the table
and she's like, well, what if we did these T
shirts that all these people bought through this other company,
online company and they did a little donation involved and
it was easy. We didn't have to mail anything. What
if we did these T shirts and whatever money we
raised it went to the foundation. Now, at that time,
we never called the Jimmy Fund the foundation ever. We
(09:06):
never used that word once. But the second she said
that word, it hit me like a jolt to the heart.
I was like, that's what we gotta do. I was like,
we have to create Team John.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
You found your why?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, yeah, right then and there.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
And it's I get emotional because it brings me back
to that day and it's real.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
And now you can say to others who are going
through it, I've been where you are. I get it.
There is nothing better than when someone gets it. Nobody
really gets it until they're in it and you can
say to them I made it through you can also, right.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
So we at that point it was like, are we
going to do this?
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Are we going to actually make our own charity and
go through all these hoops that we were probably afraid
to do before because maybe it was too much work,
it was too much, But now this was the thing
where it was like, no, this is what we're supposed
to do, and it's like, well, what are we going
to do it for?
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Is it for cancer? Bations? Is it for what?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
So we decided that, you know, we're going to help
people that just have fall on sudden crisis because we
believe that it happens to so many people and it's
not just cancer, it's you name it, it happens and
when it and I'm doing air quotes, when it hits
the fan, we now get to come in and help
them out financially. So that's that's what the Team John
Foundation when it was founded. And the crazy thing is
the day that that happened was my younger brother's birthday,
(10:28):
July tenth. Miraculously I didn't know that until this year.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
So great.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It's crazy, it's all it's for me. I look, I
look at my faith, I look at God. I'm like, okay, okay, God,
I got you.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Message received, Yes, yep, message, I get it.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I'll just share this with you because I've had health
issues too. I can really. One time I went to
the doctor and he said, it's either the good or
the bad cancer. And I just looked at him, like,
what are you talking about? Cancer? Good or the bad?
You know, And my husband and I laid in bed,
we looked at each other. We're sobbing. I have these
small kids. And I went and I had the biopsy
and it wasn't cancer at all. Wherever you're at in
(11:04):
your life, just again, how you held onto hope through family,
through friends, through your faith, just hang on to hold.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Yeah, I think a lot of it is all that
for sure, But it's also you have to have positive
mindset too, you know. So going back to twenty one,
when I was going through this trial, it was going great,
it was going great, and then I had I had
a check up and my doctor out of nowhere. I
was going to be with the nurse practitioner and my
doctor out of know where I see on my app Oh,
my doctor Zwifer's coming in. I'm like, this is great.
(11:32):
I can't wait to see him. I haven't seen him
in a while. Figure we're going to talk about Yankees
and good stuff. I was excited. So I'm sitting in
the appointment. He walks in and I could tell by
his face. I'm like, why is that like look coming through?
And he proceeded to tell me that, you know, through
one of the bone marrow biopsies, they noticed and realized
that I don't know the exact medical term, but it
was like my original cells and the likelihood that it
(11:54):
would come back that third.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Time was very, very high.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
I'm like, okay, and he's like, but he's like, you
did so well with the transplant when you originally relapsed.
We found two more donors in the match that hope
be the match thing is real, people, it's two more donors.
And then again it leads back to like, how am
I so lucky to have three matches in this world
that are identical to my DNA? It's just crazy.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Somebody told me once, Ellie, you should almost be flattered
that God is using you to make beauty from the
ashes that you will be the one to say to others.
I get it. I've been where you are. And at
the time you're like, I don't want to feel flattered.
I don't want to go through this, But it's true.
With the creator of the world, you and I have faith,
so we can talk like this that people who don't
(12:38):
oo imagine how much tougher it could be for them.
But I do get that. I do understand. Now you're
a mouthpiece yes for this, and so how flattered are
you that the creator of the world. Yeah, you suffered,
but your suffering wasn't in vain. It was used for good.
So you started this foundation and you have this amazing
(12:58):
event that's coming up on October seventeenth. Tell me all
about it.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Yeah, October seventeenth. So since we started the foundation, we
started our first We did our first tournament in twenty two.
Since I battled again in twenty one, I had to
go back and battle again. So it did come back
for a third time. Sorry, So it came back a
third time. They found it through a pet scan, came back.
They buyopse, did all that stuff, and they confirmed it.
This was in June of twenty two, almost a year
(13:23):
to the day that I relapsed. Right, So I get
that call from the doctor saying We've got to go
battle again, and I'm like, all right, I'm like, let's
go third times a charm doc. He's like, are you serious,
Like that's your attitude. I'm like, heck, yeah, it is.
I'm like, what else could it be?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Like?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So, like I was on the golf course, I was
on the second hole with a buddy of mine while
he called.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I was expecting his.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Call, and I proceeded to call my wife and she's like,
are you good. I'm like, I'm going to finish my
eighteen whole round, and you know, it is what it is.
I'll call the doctor and I'll schedule the time where
I'm going in and kick this thing's butt again. So,
by the grace of God, I went through it a
third time, and I went through it, and I got
another stem cell trans a full stem cell transplant with
(14:01):
the other match donor in September of twenty twenty one.
That was actually whatever. However, many years, four years and change,
you know this past September and I feel better than
I have ever found.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You look good, you look and sound amazing. So it's
been three to four years.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Now, four years now, yeah, twenty one. Yeah, So I'm here.
And so we started that tournament thing with Team John Foundation,
and we did it in twenty two, twenty three, twenty four.
This is our fourth year doing it, and we just
get to raise funds and give back to those that
fall in sudden crisis. And in the past we've donated
to Blood Cancer United and the Jimmy Fund. This year
(14:40):
we're really partnered, tied completely to Blood Cancer United because
you know, I believe that that they're on the cutting
edge of this research. They're on the cutting edge of
funding these therapies, and I honestly believe it's happened to
me three times, and I strongly believe if it ever
comes back, I want to live long enough that we're
to have the confidence that if this thing ever comes
(15:00):
back and forth, so much has happened in medicine that
it's just gonna I'm gonna win again.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I know I'll probably get junk for this, but I
don't care. You don't know this. I'm a minister, So
I'm just gonna say I rebuke that in the name
of Jesus, it will not come back, amen. So let's
get back to this golf tournament. It's the tumble Brook
Country Club in Bloomfields, Connecticut, taking place October seventeenth. Registration
is at ten, it ends at six. Take me through
(15:26):
the day.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Day starts with people, you know, just showing up, registered,
getting signed in, grabbing their grabbing their goodie bags, you know,
practicing putting, hitting some balls, eating some food, and then
we just go and golf. Everyone goes in golf and
enjoys probably one of the most beautiful golf courses. I'm
a little biased. I'm not a member, but I'm I'm
biased to it because it's it's on the top of
(15:48):
a hill in Bloomfield, it's in October, all the leaves
are changing. It's just a beautiful scene and they, honestly,
Tumblebroock does a fantastic job.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
So you've got the warm up, you've got the registration,
the shotgun, star lunch on the court than at four o'clock.
You've got the buffet, the open bar, raffles, silent auction.
Are you looking for donations, sponsors, volunteers?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yeah, I think mostly right now. The one thing we
did switch up is we're instead of doing a silent auction.
We're doing a live auction this year, so that'll be exciting.
My friend Tim Lamers from Fox sixty one is going
to be coming in and helping us out with that,
so I'm excited about that.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
He's a peach by the way, I went.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
To high school with him.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's a great guy, great human, and
I'm looking forward to him being there. But yeah, we
have a lot of amazing gifts and prizes already. My
friend Jane Barter from Barter Insurance in West Harford, she's
been like a supporter and friend of mine from day one.
She actually employed her entire team to write letters and
basically get us so so many raffle prizes and there's
(16:47):
like thirty plus raffle prizes and silent auctions from sports
teams and all this amazing stuff. Would we accept more, Absolutely,
because the more that we can provide, the better the
tournament is and the more money we get to raise.
So so yes, stuff like that, But also sponsors too,
We're really short on sponsorships. Sponsorships are very cheap. We
can do like a one to seventy five tea sign
(17:09):
that's the lowest entry and get your business out on
the tea sign, and that would be we'd be very grateful.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
All for a great cause. You have contests, the long Drive,
the men's and women's pudding contests. I'm saying this right
because I know I don't have golf at all. I
do no Yankees.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Yes, yes, we're gonna have all those contests, all the
regular contests that you have on a golf course. We're
actually throwing in something different like a little ring toss
where people can toss a ring at the end at
the buffet, maybe win themselves a bottle. So yeah, just
a little fun things to add to the event.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Beautiful. I'm speaking with John Kraus, founder of Team John Foundation.
The charity golf event Again is on October seventeenth. It's
from ten to six. It's at tumble Brook Country Club
in Bloomfields, Connecticut. For more information, if you'd like to volunteer, donate, sponsor,
it will benefit the Blood Cancer United Again, go to
(17:59):
Team John dot org. Thank you so much for being
here today, for sharing your story and for paying it
forward my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Thanks for having me
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison Demurz my guest this morning as John Krause. He
is founder of the Team John Foundation. Good morning, good morning,
thank you for being here today.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
So you've created the Team John Foundation and you have
an event coming up we're going to talk about, but
first let's talk about why you created this foundation. Something
personal happened in your life.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah, yeah, so many twists and turns. You know, you
always think when life is going through you're going through
life that things are going smoothly. Well, in twenty fourteen,
things were going smoothly and out of nowhere. I had
a blood test and the blood test revealed that my
numbers were way off. The doctor that night called me
and he told me to go to the er. So
(00:48):
arriving to the er, obviously, you know, my wife and
I were talking and she's like, this is crazy. You've
got to go to the er for you know, for what.
So anyway, we ended up saying, well, better go. It
sounded pretty serious.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Get to the er.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
They check my blood and then they come back of
the room and tell me that I've leukemia. So I
was confused. I was like, are you like leukemia. I've
heard of it, but you know, I didn't know much
about it at the time. If it's not in your life,
it's tough to you know, really associate exactly what that is.
So they basically said, John, just you're you know, we're
gonna keep you overnight. We'll confirm it with the doctor
(01:22):
in the morning and go from there. So of course
I was upset. I'm like, wow, this is crazy, so scary.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yeah, it's one of those things where you're like, life
is going well, career is great, family is.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Great, you're healthy, you're young, you're children, a beautiful wife,
Like absolutely, just not what you expected.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, three kids, we had one on the way. We
found out a week prior.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
To that, so it's one of those things you're like,
come on, this is weird. So that morning doctor comes
in and he's like, yep, you've got what's called a
cute my little leukemia, and we're gonna hammer you like
crazy with chemotherapy for seven straight days, twenty four hours
a day. This is the protocol. This is how we
get you into remission. And after thirty days or so,
if all goes well, you'll be able to go home
(02:03):
and go, you know, essentially go from there. Lots of
things happened during that hospital stay for thirty days.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I felt good.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
I felt like I was handling it very well, surprisingly well.
Maybe from the outside looking in for my family, maybe
it wasn't going as well at times, but internally I
felt like very positive. Every time the doctors would come in,
I'm like, I'm good, let's go, what's next, you know,
check the box.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Thirty days comes and goes.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
And they're talking about the whole time stem cell transplants
and things like that. But I was painted the picture
at the time that it was. It was more of
a if you need it thing. So after my first
appointment back after I got out I achieved remission, the
doctors like, you have to.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Have a stem cell transplant, and I'm like, really why?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
You know, it was one of those things where I
didn't think that I had to have one, but you know,
he said, you go to Sloan Kettering in New York.
But we opted to go to Dana Farburn Boston because
I just figured it might be easier.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
In and out for the family. That's kind of that
was our mindset of.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
That whole thing, and I happened to bump into the
greatest doctor and team while I was there and with
my wife. We were sitting there and come to find out,
being in Boston, he was a Yankees fan, which I am.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
That's so shocking.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
So I was like, this is meant to be right, right,
But yeah, no, I went there and made the decision.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
On the way home.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I'm like, we're doing this because that's truly the only
cure for this disease is to get a stem cell transplant.
So luckily, my brother and my sister and a lot
of people got tested while I was impatient the first time,
and my brother was one hundred percent match Brian, so
he agreed obviously to donate.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I'd kick it's but if he didn't.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
But no, thank you, Brian, if you're listening to this,
But I'm just very grateful that he did. And after
thirty days or so at Dana Farber, I got out
with a clean bill of health and was living life,
you know, as we know it for you know, five
plus years.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So that was twenty fourteen. Take you to what twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, things, like I said, things were going great, no issues,
every box was checked. I was living life like I
normally was good for you. You know, my wife and I
were doing golf tournaments for the Jimmy Fund. We raised
about one hundred thousand dollars through the years for them.
We decided to give back to people that really didn't
have the community that we were lucky to have during
those tough times, so we raised money.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
We were having a blast doing it for a good cause.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
And also obviously at that time got involved with Leukemi
Lymphoma Society, which is now Blood Cancer United. So that's
kind of where like the give portion of my life
came from. But as of twenty twenty, that's when it relapsed.
So it was a weird situation, you know, the different
symptoms and nothing that I could correlate and except it
(04:36):
was COVID.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Time in twenty twenty, we all remember it.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I was building a deck on the round the pool
with my dad and there were some symptoms, but it
was like I was weak holding up a board where
I normally wouldn't. It was just strange, and I had
a cough and my wife's like, well, maybe you have COVID.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Go get checked out.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
So she booked an appointment gratefully for me to go
get checked out. And while I was there, they checked
my lung and that cough was some sort of a
nodule in my lung where they said, go to the
er just get that checked out. You you don't have
COVID and I'm like, okay, so naturally call my wife.
I'm just gonna shoot down to the yar real quick
check again, check the box, get it done, figure out
exactly what it is, and take care of it. Thinking
(05:11):
that it was like maybe a pneumonia or something like that.
The doctor comes in again after after hours of sitting there. Uh,
it was crazy in the r at that time, but
it was, and it was the worst because.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It was COVID right right.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
So sitting there not thinking anything anything like that, no
one could come visit me. So actually, my one of
my brothers and my my now sister in law their medics,
so they came to visit me while I was in there,
which is I was grateful for.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And it was like deja vu.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You know that the nurse or the doctor came in
after a bunch of tests and she's like, your cancer relapsed,
and I was just like floored, like to say, floored
was like punching. It was an understatement. I was like
so mad, so aggravated. All the things that I believed
my faith came through in my first my first journey,
like so many things like that I was really talking
(05:59):
about in front of a lot of people was now questioned,
and I was like, all right. I had a moment
of sitting here in Hartford at a hospital like just
really just being not happy.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I've been where you are, and I just looked at
the sky and I was like really, God, like really, yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, that's exactly where I was, because I was like, God,
what's the purpose?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
What am I supposed to see here?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Is there another thing that I didn't get out of
the first battle that I'm supposed to learn here? And
that's honestly one of the things that carried me through.
I said, I'm going to find something through this battle.
And then sitting finally, we went up to Dana Farbera
after a couple of days in Hartford because my doctor's like,
get up here. So much has changed in medicine over
the past five and a half years, get up here.
So obviously we went up there because they're the best,
and yeah, so we were up there and I still
(06:45):
was in a bad spot.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I still was just like I was grateful to be there.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
But emotionally, I'm just like just shaking my head, like
I can't, like all right now. Like I knew based
on the picture that every doctor painted for me while
I was impatient the first time, I knew it was
going to be a battle, and they all told me
it was going to come back angrier and it's going
to come back harder to put in the remission.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So that's always in the back of my mind.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
But when I walked into the doctor walked in, it
was one of the days right before treatment, and I
have to sign a form to agree to treatment. And
on the top of that thing, she put cure. Like
there's a thing where you write in purpose of this
this medicine that we're going to do or this protocol
is fill in the blank, and she wrote cure and
I'm like cure, and I'm like, all right, I've done
the research. I know there's no cure for this. But
(07:27):
when she wrote that, I'm like, okay, Like that's like
I'm seeing that. And I took I took promise in
that big time, and I was and it didn't hit
me until like that that right there, I said, we're
going to kick these things about again.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yes the way it is, Yes, And that's kind of
like that kind of flipped the switch for me.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I did that, I latched on of my faith and
obviously we had so much community that was there helping
us and helping our family. I was like, you know,
just made the decision to do it. And obviously with
good medicine, you know, being up in Boston, good good,
good stuff happening up there. I was able to achieve
remission again. Gratefully, my brother donated his cells again because
they were on a trial. There's some sort of trial
(08:04):
that they were going to do, and they did that
and he had to come in on it was I
remember the day. It was July twenty ninth that I
took his cells again, of twenty twenty, and that's when
I started the trial. And the trial was going great.
I was getting some chemotherapy, I had a bunch of
a bunch of lumbar punctures, which are bone marrow biopsies.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Which are not fun, but that's part of the trial.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Just went with it and things were going great, and
into twenty twenty one, I was like, all right, this
thing seems to be keeping things at bay. This is
good and things are good. Positive found my faith. But
before I get to that, part of this conversation is
where Team John Foundation came from. So while at home,
before I went to that procedure, I was still searching
for that why.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I was sitting there with my wife because we had
done those tournaments for the Jimmy Fund at the table
and she's like, well, what if we did these T
shirts that all these people bought through this other company,
online company and they did a little donation involved and
it was easy. We didn't have to mail anything. What
if we did these T shirts and whatever money we
raised it went to the foundation. Now, at that time,
we never called the Jimmy Fund the foundation ever. We
(09:06):
never used that word once. But the second she said
that word, it hit me like a jolt to the heart.
I was like, that's what we gotta do. I was like,
we have to create Team John.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
You found your why?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, yeah, right then and there.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
And it's I get emotional because it brings me back
to that day and it's real.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
And now you can say to others who are going
through it, I've been where you are. I get it.
There is nothing better than when someone gets it. Nobody
really gets it until they're in it and you can
say to them I made it through you can also, right.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
So we at that point it was like, are we
going to do this?
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Are we going to actually make our own charity and
go through all these hoops that we were probably afraid
to do before because maybe it was too much work,
it was too much, But now this was the thing
where it was like, no, this is what we're supposed
to do, and it's like, well, what are we going
to do it for?
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Is it for cancer? Bations? Is it for what?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
So we decided that, you know, we're going to help
people that just have fall on sudden crisis because we
believe that it happens to so many people and it's
not just cancer, it's you name it, it happens and
when it and I'm doing air quotes, when it hits
the fan, we now get to come in and help
them out financially. So that's that's what the Team John
Foundation when it was founded. And the crazy thing is
the day that that happened was my younger brother's birthday,
(10:28):
July tenth. Miraculously I didn't know that until this year.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
So great.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It's crazy, it's all it's for me. I look, I
look at my faith, I look at God. I'm like, okay, okay, God,
I got you.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Message received, Yes, yep, message, I get it.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I'll just share this with you because I've had health
issues too. I can really. One time I went to
the doctor and he said, it's either the good or
the bad cancer. And I just looked at him, like,
what are you talking about? Cancer? Good or the bad?
You know, And my husband and I laid in bed,
we looked at each other. We're sobbing. I have these
small kids. And I went and I had the biopsy
and it wasn't cancer at all. Wherever you're at in
(11:04):
your life, just again, how you held onto hope through family,
through friends, through your faith, just hang on to hold.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Yeah, I think a lot of it is all that
for sure, But it's also you have to have positive
mindset too, you know. So going back to twenty one,
when I was going through this trial, it was going great,
it was going great, and then I had I had
a check up and my doctor out of nowhere. I
was going to be with the nurse practitioner and my
doctor out of know where I see on my app Oh,
my doctor Zwifer's coming in. I'm like, this is great.
(11:32):
I can't wait to see him. I haven't seen him
in a while. Figure we're going to talk about Yankees
and good stuff. I was excited. So I'm sitting in
the appointment. He walks in and I could tell by
his face. I'm like, why is that like look coming through?
And he proceeded to tell me that, you know, through
one of the bone marrow biopsies, they noticed and realized
that I don't know the exact medical term, but it
was like my original cells and the likelihood that it
(11:54):
would come back that third.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Time was very, very high.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
I'm like, okay, and he's like, but he's like, you
did so well with the transplant when you originally relapsed.
We found two more donors in the match that hope
be the match thing is real, people, it's two more donors.
And then again it leads back to like, how am
I so lucky to have three matches in this world
that are identical to my DNA? It's just crazy.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Somebody told me once, Ellie, you should almost be flattered
that God is using you to make beauty from the
ashes that you will be the one to say to others.
I get it. I've been where you are. And at
the time you're like, I don't want to feel flattered.
I don't want to go through this, But it's true.
With the creator of the world, you and I have faith,
so we can talk like this that people who don't
(12:38):
oo imagine how much tougher it could be for them.
But I do get that. I do understand. Now you're
a mouthpiece yes for this, and so how flattered are
you that the creator of the world. Yeah, you suffered,
but your suffering wasn't in vain. It was used for good.
So you started this foundation and you have this amazing
(12:58):
event that's coming up on October seventeenth. Tell me all
about it.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Yeah, October seventeenth. So since we started the foundation, we
started our first We did our first tournament in twenty two.
Since I battled again in twenty one, I had to
go back and battle again. So it did come back
for a third time. Sorry, So it came back a
third time. They found it through a pet scan, came back.
They buyopse, did all that stuff, and they confirmed it.
This was in June of twenty two, almost a year
(13:23):
to the day that I relapsed. Right, So I get
that call from the doctor saying We've got to go
battle again, and I'm like, all right, I'm like, let's
go third times a charm doc. He's like, are you serious,
Like that's your attitude. I'm like, heck, yeah, it is.
I'm like, what else could it be?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Like?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So, like I was on the golf course, I was
on the second hole with a buddy of mine while
he called.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I was expecting his.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Call, and I proceeded to call my wife and she's like,
are you good. I'm like, I'm going to finish my
eighteen whole round, and you know, it is what it is.
I'll call the doctor and I'll schedule the time where
I'm going in and kick this thing's butt again. So,
by the grace of God, I went through it a
third time, and I went through it, and I got
another stem cell trans a full stem cell transplant with
(14:01):
the other match donor in September of twenty twenty one.
That was actually whatever. However, many years, four years and change,
you know this past September and I feel better than
I have ever found.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You look good, you look and sound amazing. So it's
been three to four years.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Now, four years now, yeah, twenty one. Yeah, So I'm here.
And so we started that tournament thing with Team John Foundation,
and we did it in twenty two, twenty three, twenty four.
This is our fourth year doing it, and we just
get to raise funds and give back to those that
fall in sudden crisis. And in the past we've donated
to Blood Cancer United and the Jimmy Fund. This year
(14:40):
we're really partnered, tied completely to Blood Cancer United because
you know, I believe that that they're on the cutting
edge of this research. They're on the cutting edge of
funding these therapies, and I honestly believe it's happened to
me three times, and I strongly believe if it ever
comes back, I want to live long enough that we're
to have the confidence that if this thing ever comes
(15:00):
back and forth, so much has happened in medicine that
it's just gonna I'm gonna win again.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I know I'll probably get junk for this, but I
don't care. You don't know this. I'm a minister, So
I'm just gonna say I rebuke that in the name
of Jesus, it will not come back, amen. So let's
get back to this golf tournament. It's the tumble Brook
Country Club in Bloomfields, Connecticut, taking place October seventeenth. Registration
is at ten, it ends at six. Take me through
(15:26):
the day.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Day starts with people, you know, just showing up, registered,
getting signed in, grabbing their grabbing their goodie bags, you know,
practicing putting, hitting some balls, eating some food, and then
we just go and golf. Everyone goes in golf and
enjoys probably one of the most beautiful golf courses. I'm
a little biased. I'm not a member, but I'm I'm
biased to it because it's it's on the top of
(15:48):
a hill in Bloomfield, it's in October, all the leaves
are changing. It's just a beautiful scene and they, honestly,
Tumblebroock does a fantastic job.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
So you've got the warm up, you've got the registration,
the shotgun, star lunch on the court than at four o'clock.
You've got the buffet, the open bar, raffles, silent auction.
Are you looking for donations, sponsors, volunteers?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yeah, I think mostly right now. The one thing we
did switch up is we're instead of doing a silent auction.
We're doing a live auction this year, so that'll be exciting.
My friend Tim Lamers from Fox sixty one is going
to be coming in and helping us out with that,
so I'm excited about that.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
He's a peach by the way, I went.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
To high school with him.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's a great guy, great human, and
I'm looking forward to him being there. But yeah, we
have a lot of amazing gifts and prizes already. My
friend Jane Barter from Barter Insurance in West Harford, she's
been like a supporter and friend of mine from day one.
She actually employed her entire team to write letters and
basically get us so so many raffle prizes and there's
(16:47):
like thirty plus raffle prizes and silent auctions from sports
teams and all this amazing stuff. Would we accept more, Absolutely,
because the more that we can provide, the better the
tournament is and the more money we get to raise.
So so yes, stuff like that, But also sponsors too,
We're really short on sponsorships. Sponsorships are very cheap. We
can do like a one to seventy five tea sign
(17:09):
that's the lowest entry and get your business out on
the tea sign, and that would be we'd be very grateful.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
All for a great cause. You have contests, the long Drive,
the men's and women's pudding contests. I'm saying this right
because I know I don't have golf at all. I
do no Yankees.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Yes, yes, we're gonna have all those contests, all the
regular contests that you have on a golf course. We're
actually throwing in something different like a little ring toss
where people can toss a ring at the end at
the buffet, maybe win themselves a bottle. So yeah, just
a little fun things to add to the event.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Beautiful. I'm speaking with John Kraus, founder of Team John Foundation.
The charity golf event Again is on October seventeenth. It's
from ten to six. It's at tumble Brook Country Club
in Bloomfields, Connecticut. For more information, if you'd like to volunteer, donate, sponsor,
it will benefit the Blood Cancer United Again, go to
(17:59):
Team John dot org. Thank you so much for being
here today, for sharing your story and for paying it
forward my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Thanks for having me
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