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February 22. 2012 6:00AM

Jimmie Fjerestad experienced firsthand the kindness of the community in which he lives.
But it came at a time when he was unwilling to acknowledge it.
And that was uncharacteristic of the usually upbeat Fjerestad, family and friends say.
The Brandon man’s change in personality was the result of an illness that came to light last October.
Until last August, Fjerestad had steered clear of hospitals. It was then that he had a total hip replacement, which took him off work with the city of Brandon for six weeks. In late October, Fjerestad said he developed a severe back pain. He tried to ignore it, believing it was related to his hip replacement.
Unable to tolerate the pain any longer, the 65-year-old scheduled an appointment with his doctor, Richard Briggs, who eventually sent him on to a urology center. The day before Thanksgiving Fjerestad was experiencing unbearable pain, and since he was unable to schedule an appointment for months at the urology center, Fjerestad turned himself into the emergency room at Avera McKennan.
Following a myriad of blood tests, CAT scans, MRIs that day, Fjerestad was told he had a tumor on his kidney and it was possibly cancerous. In the days that followed, he underwent further testing, but doctors “just couldn’t get a grip on it,” he recalls.
Following a biopsy by longtime doctor, Thomas Masterson, it was determined Fjerestad didn’t have cancer, but his left kidney was functioning at a mere 5 percent.
Fjerestad underwent surgery Dec. 2, and eight days later returned home. He was home for just two days when the pain resurfaced. It took two hospital stays for Dr. John Robbins to find a lymph node had been scraped during surgery and that resulted in fluid leaking around his stomach. This was a process Fjerestad repeated twice.
Christmas came and went with little fanfare in the Fjerestad home, he said. They had a minor gathering for the grandchildren’s sake before he returned to the hospital in early January to receive a pain block shot. He was released for the final time on Jan. 9, and is now recuperating at home and doing therapy to regain his strength. It’s anticipated he’ll be back to full strength by mid-summer.
Within a week of his return home, Fjerestad said deep depression overcame him.
“I hit rock bottom,” he said. “For probably two weeks I sat in our four-season room with the blinds closed and I didn’t answer the phone or the door. There were a couple of days that I just wanted to die.”
Co-worker and friend Dennis Olson said he was surprised to learn of Fjerestad’s depression.
“I didn’t expect that of him,” he said. “Especially for somebody that thrives so much on being so open.”
Olson said he “beat his door down several times in that process (but he) wouldn’t answer his phone.”
Dave Kull, also a co-worker and friend, said that even with support from his family and community, Fjerestad still fell into a severe level of depression.
“It’s surprising how devastating any illness can be to even the most upbeat person,” Kull said.
It took a “tough love” approach by clergy and family to remove Fjerestad from his depressive mood and back into a social life.
His wife, Bonnie, of 44 years, took charge by forcing him to eat meals, return to weekly church services and other usual outings.
“After I came out of my depression, I didn’t want to go anywhere for two weeks,” he said.
His first outing was a local basketball game.
People he’d known for years didn’t recognize him, he said after shedding 60 pounds over four weeks. “I pulled my cap down and walked in by myself and sat down. Then people started coming up to me and giving me hugs – it was more than I could take,” he said.
“I’ve never had to do that before,” Bonnie said. “He’s usually the strong one and I was the one following along.”
Fjerestad has also returned to his morning coffee sessions with the boys at Sunshine Foods.
“If you’ve never been in depression, you just can’t explain it,” Fjerestad said. “But you have to have help and the strength to do it (get out of depression).”
Fjerestad said his faith and emotions have changed his life.
“I was born to be tough, not cry and to show no emotion,” he said.
That’s all since changed.
“Now that I’m home we’ve (wife Bonnie) probably talked more in the last three to four months than we have in 44 years of marriage,” he said.
Fjerestad has also discovered that he’s not alone. As he tells his story to others, he’s found they, too, have suffered from depression.
“I can’t believe how many people have said, ‘I’ve been there.’ ”
Bonnie has been his mainstay through this all, he said. She didn’t miss a day of work as an education aid at Brandon Elementary during his 34 days in the hospital.
“My wife is strong. She’s extremely strong in her faith and she’s extremely strong with her family and friends. I also believe all the people praying for me in this community helped,” he said. “We are really, really blessed to be in this community. I’ve always tried to be good to everybody … and I didn’t realize how this would reciprocate back. But anything can happen to anybody, and if you have a good nucleus support group – family, friends and faith – you can get through anything.”