My name is Jonathan Klein. When my mother was pregnant with me, it was unknown whether I would have the same physical abnormalities as my older sister.   I was born in March of 1965 with similar orthopedic disorders as Ellen ( multiple joint dislocations). I underwent two surgeries after my birth to perform bi-lateral open reductions on my knees.   Our family  did not learn until 1972 that our condition was called Larsen Syndrome.

Growing up, I used mainly long-legged braces. When I was 18, the doctor felt that I had stopped growing ( I am 4’8″)   so only needed to wear the braces for things like distance walking. Given that they were uncomfortable and the doctor felt they were not really necessary, I went through most of college without wearing them.

I attended Carnegie Mellon University and completed a double major in Applied Mathematics and Industrial Management in 1987. Upon graduation, I started working for Oracle Corporation and have been working there for the last 31.5 years. I have held various positions within the company, most recently working as an architect for the System Management Products team.

I got married in June of 1997 to my best friend Robin, and together we adopted our daughter in 2003. We resided mainly in Northern California until recently when we relocated back to our roots of the northeast in 2016.

My hobby is woodworking. I had a shop in the basement of our home in California where I built small furniture pieces. I stopped for a while due to increased leg pain. Now, in New Hampshire, I have a shed for my projects.  Using a wood lathe, I focus on smaller items such as  small bowls, vases, and goblets. My wife calls me The Armchair Woodworker. You can see my wood turnings at: https://jonathanswoodworking.shutterfly.com/

In 2005, I was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia, a chronic Leukemia. I was treated with chemotherapy in 2005 and again in 2011. The leukemia, we believe, is likely the result of the amount of radiation exposure I received as a child from the number of x-rays to study my body. My sister has never had leukemia.  The amount of radiation exposure with today’s x-ray technology is significantly lower so the risk is much  smaller. Currently, I am in remission.