Help Karen Crush Cancer
Donation protected
#TeamKaren, an Update as of 12/15/17
This isn’t a goodbye, but a see you there. It has been a pleasure to share my journey with each and every one of you. I hope that my long posts and cheesy photos have taught you all to live each day to the fullest and love the ones that are closest to you. And don’t be afraid to speak what’s on your mind, but do it in the kindest way. My spirit will live on through my Fab 5 and all of Team Karen. All of your posts and comments truly have meant the world to me and are a big part on why I was able to fight as hard as I did. Rest In Peace, Karen M Carlquist, 12/15/17. Forever and always in our hearts.
Karen
Today is a beautiful day to be alive
#TeamKaren #FuckCancer #ImTooStubbornToDie #KarenStrong #WonderwomenIsMyAlterEgo #ForMyFab5 #DontIgnoreStage4 #IAmAMetavivor #MBC #MetastaticBreastCancer #CancerDoesntHaveShitOnMySpirit #TodayIsABeautifulDayToBeAlive
#TeamKaren, an Update as of 10/26/17:
On 10/19/17, after a series of scans, tests, poking and prodding, Karen was given the news the cancer had now spread to her brain and the tumors in the liver had quadrupled in just over a week and a half. With this diagnosis, she was unable to qualify for any clinicals, as the cancer had spread so quickly and aggressively. Her clinical doctors gave her weeks before the liver would be completely taken over with tumors and her time here with us would be cut short, with Christmas time being added bonus time. It was a day we would all like to erase and all wish didn’t happen. Yet, while this type of news would devastate any average person, for Karen, she is not going anywhere without a fight, and fighting she most certainly is. She has started a chemotherapy called Eribulin, which is used in hopes to extend her time line and liver function. As well, her Northwestern doctors (who are all angels on Earth) will begin the radiation process for the mets that have appeared on her brain. This, along with extended chemotherapy and the potential of entering a new clinical, are all being used to fight this beast who thinks it has the upper hand. But little does the cancer know that Karen is the most badass woman there is. And with her fighting attitude, her Fab 5 and her extended family and friends, she is going to throw everything she has and more at this thing. She will continue to have a smile on her face and love in her heart as she begins this important battle.
Karen's Story as of 7/12/17 as told by Karen:
Karen is a 36 year old mother of 4, 2 boys and 2 girls, Gavin 13, Ryan 11, Karson 3 and Kenzie 2. She married November of 2016 to an absolutely wonderful supportive loving man Ken. They are very much a hockey family, watching, playing and life surrounding kind of 6. In May of 2016 Karen's left nipple had started bleeding this went on for a few months and she had thought it was still from an infection from nursing their youngest. She ignored it like most moms do until She found a large lump in the same breast. She went in for a mammogram, followed by and ultra sound & tumor biopsy. She was diagnosed at age 35 (August 11th 2016) with Stage 3 grade 3 triple negative, BRACA negative, ductal and non-ductal invasive and noninvasive 8.4 cm in tumors and 3 positive Lymph nodes. This was 3 months prior to Karen and Ken's very overdue wedding, They will be together 7 years in January. Karen went through 4 rounds of dose dense AC Bi-weekly with 12 rounds of Taxol weekly for a total of 6 months of Chemotherapy, Just before her second round of chemo Karen decided take control and shaved all 27 inches of beautiful brown hair from her head and made it into a wig that She wore on their wedding day. Just after chemo Karen had an MRI that showed the tumors shrank to half the size and there were no suspicious nodes, a week after my MRI she had pain in her left arm and went in for an ultrasound all looked good, the night before surgery She had skin bumps pop up and they turned out to be cancer during her double mastectomy they found in just 5 days the tumors grew 2cm and traveled to 9 Lymph nodes one that was stuck in the nerves of her arm (hence the pain), Karen was originally going to have a double mastectomy straight to implants but with all the tissue they took She went with expanders. She had 7 fills in four weeks to prepare her for radiation. She started 1 of 36 rounds of radiation, just 4 weeks post operation and on the 4th treatment Karen had a reoccurrence on the skin and 2 nodes, she completed 36 radiation treatments with a Blois pad paired with 9 straight weeks of Xeloda an oral chemotherapy pill. Took a week break end of June and she's back on them now. Unfortunately after radiation Karen had a nasty PET scan that showed spots on her right hip, right shoulder, lung and liver. The following week she did a bone biopsy on the hip which came back cancer , lung liver and shoulder had real small spots that lit up so they were now guilty by association. She then did a CT scan to get better images of them to try to get a better idea on what they are looking at. The Hip and liver are the only problem spots measuring at 10mm for the liver and 14mm for the hip. A Chicago girl who will hopefully be doing clinical trials at the University of Chicago. Although a stage 4 her tumors are smaller than the cinicals would like so they are at a weird stage of not knowing where to go. Karen has had 84 doctors appointments, 1 port placement, 5 biopsy’s, 1 Echo Gram , 2 ultra sounds, 2 CT Scans, 2 MRI’s , 2 bone scans and 1 pet scan 16 rounds of injection chemotherapy, 400 oral chemotherapy pills 1 double mastectomy 36 rounds of radiation and more to come . Karen's moto is "I have cancer but cancer does not have me." If cancer has done anything positive for Karen and her Fab 5 is that they love much more, are more forgiving and live life to the best of their ability on the daily! Everything is a fun adventure! Karen has tried very hard to continue to live life like Like she did before cancer, so She is still working full time taking care of her fab 5 and trying to still be a great friend, daughter, mom and wife. All the challenges Her goal is to make cancer 2nd and Life 1st. There is so much beauty in this world that the media hides and cancer has opened her eyes to that over and over again. Just remember you can accomplish anything you want with hard work, a great support system and a smile!
If you’re interested in following Karen's story and she shares it all good bad and ugly here is the link to her page.
#TeamKaren Help Karen Crush Cancer
Hi All! As you know, Karen was recently diagnosed with stage 2-3 Breast Cancer. Fortunatley, the prognosis is as positive as anyone in this situation could hope for. Karen and Kenny have a long road ahead of them, but we all know that Karen is one of the strongest chicks around and she is going to fight like hell to beat this! Karen is due to start 4-6 months of chemo therapy in a little over a week, followed by additional treatments. I started this fundraiser to help lessen the stress and financial burden on Karen and Kenny that this awful disease creates for so many people every day. As you all know, Karen and Kenny have started an amazing family and are set to get married in three months. Anything that we can do as friends and family to help them keep their family and wedding on the right track, all while Karen beats this awful disease, would go a long way. Karen and Kenny would never ask for something like this, but I know that they would do this for any one of their friends or family members if the roles were reversed. For right now, we are trying to keep this a secret, so please do not share this link on social media. Thank you! #teamkaren
This isn’t a goodbye, but a see you there. It has been a pleasure to share my journey with each and every one of you. I hope that my long posts and cheesy photos have taught you all to live each day to the fullest and love the ones that are closest to you. And don’t be afraid to speak what’s on your mind, but do it in the kindest way. My spirit will live on through my Fab 5 and all of Team Karen. All of your posts and comments truly have meant the world to me and are a big part on why I was able to fight as hard as I did. Rest In Peace, Karen M Carlquist, 12/15/17. Forever and always in our hearts.
Karen
Today is a beautiful day to be alive
#TeamKaren #FuckCancer #ImTooStubbornToDie #KarenStrong #WonderwomenIsMyAlterEgo #ForMyFab5 #DontIgnoreStage4 #IAmAMetavivor #MBC #MetastaticBreastCancer #CancerDoesntHaveShitOnMySpirit #TodayIsABeautifulDayToBeAlive
#TeamKaren, an Update as of 10/26/17:
On 10/19/17, after a series of scans, tests, poking and prodding, Karen was given the news the cancer had now spread to her brain and the tumors in the liver had quadrupled in just over a week and a half. With this diagnosis, she was unable to qualify for any clinicals, as the cancer had spread so quickly and aggressively. Her clinical doctors gave her weeks before the liver would be completely taken over with tumors and her time here with us would be cut short, with Christmas time being added bonus time. It was a day we would all like to erase and all wish didn’t happen. Yet, while this type of news would devastate any average person, for Karen, she is not going anywhere without a fight, and fighting she most certainly is. She has started a chemotherapy called Eribulin, which is used in hopes to extend her time line and liver function. As well, her Northwestern doctors (who are all angels on Earth) will begin the radiation process for the mets that have appeared on her brain. This, along with extended chemotherapy and the potential of entering a new clinical, are all being used to fight this beast who thinks it has the upper hand. But little does the cancer know that Karen is the most badass woman there is. And with her fighting attitude, her Fab 5 and her extended family and friends, she is going to throw everything she has and more at this thing. She will continue to have a smile on her face and love in her heart as she begins this important battle.
Karen's Story as of 7/12/17 as told by Karen:
Karen is a 36 year old mother of 4, 2 boys and 2 girls, Gavin 13, Ryan 11, Karson 3 and Kenzie 2. She married November of 2016 to an absolutely wonderful supportive loving man Ken. They are very much a hockey family, watching, playing and life surrounding kind of 6. In May of 2016 Karen's left nipple had started bleeding this went on for a few months and she had thought it was still from an infection from nursing their youngest. She ignored it like most moms do until She found a large lump in the same breast. She went in for a mammogram, followed by and ultra sound & tumor biopsy. She was diagnosed at age 35 (August 11th 2016) with Stage 3 grade 3 triple negative, BRACA negative, ductal and non-ductal invasive and noninvasive 8.4 cm in tumors and 3 positive Lymph nodes. This was 3 months prior to Karen and Ken's very overdue wedding, They will be together 7 years in January. Karen went through 4 rounds of dose dense AC Bi-weekly with 12 rounds of Taxol weekly for a total of 6 months of Chemotherapy, Just before her second round of chemo Karen decided take control and shaved all 27 inches of beautiful brown hair from her head and made it into a wig that She wore on their wedding day. Just after chemo Karen had an MRI that showed the tumors shrank to half the size and there were no suspicious nodes, a week after my MRI she had pain in her left arm and went in for an ultrasound all looked good, the night before surgery She had skin bumps pop up and they turned out to be cancer during her double mastectomy they found in just 5 days the tumors grew 2cm and traveled to 9 Lymph nodes one that was stuck in the nerves of her arm (hence the pain), Karen was originally going to have a double mastectomy straight to implants but with all the tissue they took She went with expanders. She had 7 fills in four weeks to prepare her for radiation. She started 1 of 36 rounds of radiation, just 4 weeks post operation and on the 4th treatment Karen had a reoccurrence on the skin and 2 nodes, she completed 36 radiation treatments with a Blois pad paired with 9 straight weeks of Xeloda an oral chemotherapy pill. Took a week break end of June and she's back on them now. Unfortunately after radiation Karen had a nasty PET scan that showed spots on her right hip, right shoulder, lung and liver. The following week she did a bone biopsy on the hip which came back cancer , lung liver and shoulder had real small spots that lit up so they were now guilty by association. She then did a CT scan to get better images of them to try to get a better idea on what they are looking at. The Hip and liver are the only problem spots measuring at 10mm for the liver and 14mm for the hip. A Chicago girl who will hopefully be doing clinical trials at the University of Chicago. Although a stage 4 her tumors are smaller than the cinicals would like so they are at a weird stage of not knowing where to go. Karen has had 84 doctors appointments, 1 port placement, 5 biopsy’s, 1 Echo Gram , 2 ultra sounds, 2 CT Scans, 2 MRI’s , 2 bone scans and 1 pet scan 16 rounds of injection chemotherapy, 400 oral chemotherapy pills 1 double mastectomy 36 rounds of radiation and more to come . Karen's moto is "I have cancer but cancer does not have me." If cancer has done anything positive for Karen and her Fab 5 is that they love much more, are more forgiving and live life to the best of their ability on the daily! Everything is a fun adventure! Karen has tried very hard to continue to live life like Like she did before cancer, so She is still working full time taking care of her fab 5 and trying to still be a great friend, daughter, mom and wife. All the challenges Her goal is to make cancer 2nd and Life 1st. There is so much beauty in this world that the media hides and cancer has opened her eyes to that over and over again. Just remember you can accomplish anything you want with hard work, a great support system and a smile!
If you’re interested in following Karen's story and she shares it all good bad and ugly here is the link to her page.
#TeamKaren Help Karen Crush Cancer
Hi All! As you know, Karen was recently diagnosed with stage 2-3 Breast Cancer. Fortunatley, the prognosis is as positive as anyone in this situation could hope for. Karen and Kenny have a long road ahead of them, but we all know that Karen is one of the strongest chicks around and she is going to fight like hell to beat this! Karen is due to start 4-6 months of chemo therapy in a little over a week, followed by additional treatments. I started this fundraiser to help lessen the stress and financial burden on Karen and Kenny that this awful disease creates for so many people every day. As you all know, Karen and Kenny have started an amazing family and are set to get married in three months. Anything that we can do as friends and family to help them keep their family and wedding on the right track, all while Karen beats this awful disease, would go a long way. Karen and Kenny would never ask for something like this, but I know that they would do this for any one of their friends or family members if the roles were reversed. For right now, we are trying to keep this a secret, so please do not share this link on social media. Thank you! #teamkaren
Organizer and beneficiary
Derek Henley
Organizer
Villa Park, IL
Karen Carlquist
Beneficiary