Leist family sticks together through adversity

By Erik Buchinger

Christian Leist is enrolled at Minnesota State University Moorhead where he has spent his first few weeks on campus occupied with preseason football practice.

Christian earned First Team All-Conference honors as a defensive end as a senior for Hortonville last year, which may have been one of the most difficult of his life.

“I’ve learned to appreciate the ones you love,” Christian said. “They might not always be around for as long as you’d expect.”

Christian’s parents Claudia and Glenn Leist plan to attend some of his games this fall, despite an eight-hour drive from Greenville to Moorhead, Minnesota.

“My parents went to almost every sporting event my entire life,” Christian said. “They supported me immensely throughout my athletic career.”

Christian’s mom Claudia said no matter what the circumstance, she tried to never miss any of her son’s football games through high school.

“I didn’t let anything get me down from going to his games,” Claudia said. “Rain or shine, we were there.”

In 2016, Claudia went in to the doctor to get treated for neuropathy in her feet.

“My doctor recommended going to the Fox Valley Hematology office, which I thought was weird,” Claudia said. “Why go there when I have something with my feet? But they told me something in my blood wasn’t right.”

Claudia was diagnosed on Christian’s 17th birthday on Nov. 11, 2016.

“At first, I kept thinking, ‘Why me?’” Claudia said. “I just never thought this could happen to me, but I had to fight it. I have young kids, so I had to fight it as much as I could, and that’s what I did.”

Christian recalled how he heard the news.

“I came home one day, and my dad told me and my sister,” Christian said. “We knew something was going on, but that’s how we found out. I just thought this can’t be real.”

After being diagnosed, Claudia underwent blood testing every three months before the cancer progressed.

Claudia began chemotherapy in September 2017 and continued through December 2017.

“I was sick most of the time, and I didn’t want my kids to see that,” Claudia said. “I would have my chemo on Thursday and would be fine until Friday afternoon.”

By Friday afternoon, the steroids wore off and she would be sick the rest of Friday and Saturday. By Sunday or Monday, she felt better and would start it all over again.

Christian always spotted his mom at every one of his high school games even though Friday nights were difficult for her.

“There was no way I was going to miss any of Christian’s football games,” Claudia said. “I sucked it up and went to his games. There were a couple I should have missed because it was cold and rainy, but I didn’t miss any of them. Not one.”

Christian said it meant a lot to him seeing his mom make it out to every game despite what she was going through.

“That was really touching because she should have been in bed,” Christian said. “She was always cold, but she was always out there freezing her butt off to watch her son play football.”

“It was the highlight of the week for me to watch him play,” Claudia said. “I enjoyed watching him, and I wasn’t going to let me being sick prevent me from watching him. Him and I took a picture together after every game, so that’s what we did.”

In January, Claudia underwent a stem cell transplant and stayed at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee for more than a month.

“I did everything I was supposed to do, and I’m here today to talk about it,” Claudia said. “They said if I didn’t have the stem cell transplant, I probably would be gone.”

Claudia’s husband Glenn drove back and forth between the Leist’s home in Greenville to visit Claudia Milwaukee nearly every day so he could be with his wife and be able to see Christian.

“It wouldn’t be fair for Christian to not have a parent with him,” Claudia said.

“I would go down there and see her,” Christian said. “I don’t know how to put it, but it was just frustrating because I didn’t know whether it was going to get better or not.”

The only day Glenn did not make it to Milwaukee was on Christian’s Signing Day when he signed his national letter of intent to play football at Minnesota State University Moorhead in early February.

“It was horrible. I wanted to be there,” Claudia said. “A lot of people were there and sent me pictures and videos, but it was really hard to miss that.

“Christian said he would be willing to come to the hospital to do it, but I said, ‘No, this is your football time. Do this with your friends and with your coaches.’ He called me that night, so at least I was able to talk with him.”

Claudia said she is careful to not get sick because of a weak immune system, which could turn a cold into pneumonia. This has limited where she can go including church, which she has not attended since last September.

“I’m feeling better, and I’m getting my strength back,” Claudia said. “I lost about 50-60 pounds, and I just have to keep myself healthy and getting stronger every day.”

Claudia was off from her job as banker at Nicolet National Bank for five months before returning to work on June 1. This week, she is returning to her regular, full-time hours.

She said she is still not 100 percent, but Claudia said it takes six to 12 months to get back to feeling normal again. It has been seven months since her stem cell transplant.

Claudia said she is excited for her life to go back to normal, which includes attending her son’s football games in the fall.

Christian might sit out a year as a redshirt his freshman season as a defensive end, but Claudia has circled Sept. 15 on the calendar to watch the game and visit Christian.

“I’m a very proud mamma,” Claudia said. “We’re very happy for him.”

Claudia said the people who helped her through the tough days were her family with Glenn, Christian and her daughter Kori, who is about to begin her senior year as a student at Bemidji State.

“It felt like a blur,” Claudia said. “Those are days I don’t really want to remember, but I went through it, and I’m glad I could say I did go through it.”

Claudia said she thinks those bad days are over, and she is ready to move on.

“Has this changed me? Yes,” Claudia said. “I know I have it bad, but there’s always somebody out there that has it worse than I do. There’s no time to feel sorry for me because I just want to be me and go back to my old self, but I think my new self is better. I think I appreciate life more.”