In His Own Words . . .
My Career in the U.S. Air Force
I was born in Salem, Oregon in 1970 and entered
the US Air Force on active duty in 1990. I started out in the Air Force as an
Environmental Support Specialist and combined career fields to become a Utility
Systems Specialist in 1993. In 2005 I spent 14 months as a Prime BEEF manager
and worked several positions in the Civil Engineer Squadron up to the Squadron
Superintendent position in 2009. My assignments included bases in Colorado, New
Mexico, and Kansas and I was stationed overseas in England and in the Azores.
My deployments started in 1995 where I went to Tasar, Hungary in support of
Operation Joint Endeavor, in 1996 to Morocco Africa for Exercise African Eagle,
in 1998 to Incirlik AB, Turkey for earthquake relief and to Albania in 1999
with NATO for Operation Joint Task Force Shining Hope. I deployed again in 2007
to Al Dhafra AB, United Arab Emirates, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. The
year before I retired, I deployed again in 2011 to Balad, Iraq as the 332 ESFG
and 332 ESFS First Sergeant for both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New
Dawn. I officially retired June 2012.
The Love of My Life
Back in 1991, I married the the former Sharette L. Fischer of Holbrook, AZ. My wife has been with me since my first assignment. We are still together, she is my best friend, and I am very much in love with her. Sharette and I have two sons, James, 23 and Joseph, 20 who I am very proud of and it’s an honor being their father. When I retired from the Air Force in 2012, my family and I moved to Boise, Idaho where the majority of my family lives. We bought a house and the four of us began remodeling it to be the home of our dreams.
Working After Retirement
I officially retired from the Air Force in June 2012, and soon after, graduated from college, but I struggled to find a civilian job. After looking for work for several months, I tried to build a medical sales distributorship with my cousin. It started slow but after five months we gained some traction. For about seven months things were doing alright, but in the summer of 2013 there was just not enough business to allow us both to continue so I looked for work. With bills stacking up and after a few months of looking, I got a job inspecting food establishments as an Environmental Health Specialist with Central District Health in Boise, ID. I started December 18th, 2013 and really love working there. I continued to work there on and off after my surgery but the pains and fatigue from 20 chemotherapy treatments at that time prevented me from full time employment and they let me go in April 2015.
From when we received the news
Just five weeks into my new job and less than two years after I retired from the Air Force, I was diagnosed with cancer. I have Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP) and it covered my entire diaphragm, my intestines, bladder, stomach, and all the way down to my rectum, my abdominal wall, and on my liver. I had to undergo cytoreductive surgery / hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC). I had to go out of state for the entire procedure and was hospitalized for a couple weeks. My wife had to go with me to attend to me as I was not able to do it on my own. Fortunately, most of my medical bills were covered by the VA or my insurance, but I still had less than two months on my new job and didn't qualify for FMLA.
Unfortunately, I couldn't afford a good life insurance policy or have those extra insurances on the mortgage to cover something like this. My wife no longer works in early childhood education and is now my full time care giver and I am thankful she and I can spent these days together. The VA now covers her travel for coming with me. In 2013, just as things were starting to take a turn for the better with my new job, I got this news.
The amazing people at my work donated 4 weeks of leave to help me during my CRS/HIPEC. It was a blessing and weight off my shoulders and many friends and family helped me out back in 2014 when we really needed it.
The surgery and chemotherapy treatments left me unable to work full time and it was near to impossible to work or do much of anything while I am on chemotherapy. We are doing okay financially now and are very grateful for the financial support we received during my initial diagnosis and treatments. My cancer continues to grow and I do everything I can to fight it. Now we appreciate it when we get visitors and just spending time with others face to face or by keeping in touch through various ways.
Thank you,
Jeremy Kitzhaber
Unfortunately, I couldn't afford a good life insurance policy or have those extra insurances on the mortgage to cover something like this. My wife no longer works in early childhood education and is now my full time care giver and I am thankful she and I can spent these days together. The VA now covers her travel for coming with me. In 2013, just as things were starting to take a turn for the better with my new job, I got this news.
The amazing people at my work donated 4 weeks of leave to help me during my CRS/HIPEC. It was a blessing and weight off my shoulders and many friends and family helped me out back in 2014 when we really needed it.
The surgery and chemotherapy treatments left me unable to work full time and it was near to impossible to work or do much of anything while I am on chemotherapy. We are doing okay financially now and are very grateful for the financial support we received during my initial diagnosis and treatments. My cancer continues to grow and I do everything I can to fight it. Now we appreciate it when we get visitors and just spending time with others face to face or by keeping in touch through various ways.
Thank you,
Jeremy Kitzhaber