MEDICAL CRISIS Little Couple fans worried as Jen Arnold, 47, reveals husband Bill Klein, 46, is hospitalized after ‘traumatic injury’
LITTLE Couple’s Jen Arnold revealed her husband Bill Klein is in hospital.
Jen, 47, shared an update on Tuesday showing Bill giving a thumbs up from his hospital bed as he prepared for surgery months after a “traumatic injury” to his arm.
The reality star wrote in the post: “You’ve got this @reallybillklein, we’ve got this. Pre op testing thumbs up. Thank you @hspecialsurgery for always taking good care of us.”
“Can’t wait to get Bill’s arm back to better!” she added.
Bill, 46, is having an operation on his arm after he broke his elbow while running from a swarm of wasps.
In August Bill took to Instagram to share his x-rays after a nasty fall.
Bill explained the details of the accident, revealing that he can’t get the “elective” surgery he needs to fix the crack due to Covid protocols.
He wrote: “Fun fact, I broke my right elbow when I was 7 after speeding down a hill on my bike, got so winded I blacked out and awoke bloody and broken.
“This time around, nothing nearly as exciting… during an attempt to elude a small swarm of wasps, my head forgot that my legs have never “run” (to or away from anything, before, ever), even when chased… and that’s how you plant an elbow on pavers! That was 4 weeks ago 😉 since it wasn’t getting better, I went back for another x-ray.”
The TV star also took the opportunity to encourage others to get vaccinated.
“This image probably has a few things wrong in it courtesy of my dysplasia… but can you find the most recent traumatic damage? Have a super weekend everyone! And get vaccinated 😉 so I can get my “elective” surgery.”
HEALTH STRUGGLES
It hasn’t been easy for the couple, who have dwarfism.
Bill has a rare variation of a skeletal dysplasia called Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia (or SED) and has had more than 20 surgeries in his lifetime, while Jen stands at just 3′ 2″ and has a similar, and also rare, type of dwarfism called Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia Type Strudwick.
The pair both found growing up with their disabilities hard, with Bill, in particular, admitting that he was bullied and beaten throughout his early years and into college.
Jen, a neonatologist, wrote in their autobiography that her school friends in Florida were kinder but that she was often in and out of school due to surgeries, which left her feeling lonely.
MULTIPLE SURGERIES
Jen had undergone 22 surgeries by the time she was 18; she has now had over 30.
The young mom always knew she wanted to be a doctor, but her stature did pose a problem, particularly at the University of Miami, where she claimed she was “grilled” about her disability and that “the interview quickly became focused on my size, or lack thereof.”
However, Jen was accepted into The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, one of the best in the country, where she thrived.
Jen and Bill met in 2006 after meeting online, and they dated for two years before Bill dropped down to one knee and proposed.
They married in 2008 in a fairytale wedding ceremony, and a year later, they began filming for their TLC docu-series The Little People.
In 2013, however, Jen and Bill were hit with the best and worst news possible as they were approved to adopt two children but Jen was diagnosed with stage three choriocarcinoma, a rare form of cancer that occurred after she had a miscarriage.
The pair adopted son Will – now 10 – in 2013 from China, after they met him at an orphanage.
Months later, they adopted eight-year-old Zoe from India; Will and Zoe both also have a form of dwarfism.
CANCER BOMBSHELL
But that same year, Jen was confirmed to have cancer, which began in the cells that would have become the placenta for the baby.
Dr. Concepcion R. Diaz-Arrastia said at the time that it was “a very rare cancer, rare that it was found in a little person … a very rare situation.”
Treatment for the disease was difficult due to her skeletal dysplasia and her difficulties with past surgeries.
Jen faced weekly intensive treatments of chemotherapy between the end of 2013 and 2014, all while taking care of her newly adopted children Zoe and Will.
The road to recovery was a long, intensive journey and after she went into remission in 2014, she remained closely monitored by her doctor, as 85 percent of recurrences happen in the first 18 months after chemo.
Seven years on, Jen remains healthy and cancer-free.
