Help Karen fight her fight against throat cancer!
Donation protected
Update 9/12:
It has been 8 days since surgery, and the surgery itself went EXTREMELY well. First and foremost, we cannot thank you enough for all your good thoughts and donations. Karen and her family are completely blown away by all the love and support.
After sitting 6 hours in the waiting room, Karen's family anxiously awaited the news. The head and neck surgeon was able to remove the entire tumor from Karen's throat, even being able to leave her larynx (voice box) completely intact - preserving her voice and the ability to speak. Better yet, he did NOT have to place a tracheostomy - something he described as being a miracle for how massive the tumor was in her throat. While Karen is currently cancer free, that does not mean the road is over for her. One month after surgery, she will have a meeting with a radiation oncologist who will determine her treatment plan. From there on out, she will need radiation 5 days weekly, for anywhere between 6-8 weeks to prevent this aggressive cancer from returning.
So far, her hospital stay has been complex. Karen came out of surgery with a feeding tube in her nose and a surgical drain in her neck. While Karen attempted to pass a swallow test the day after surgery which would allow her to resume a regular diet, her throat remained too swollen and placed her at a high risk for aspiration (a fancy term for liquid and food going down the wrong pipe). Because of this, the speech pathologist stopped the test due to Karen's safety. Over the past few days, we have re-attempted the swallow study, but unfortunately due to the swelling it has not been an easy task. Karen will need a temporary G-tube (gastric tube) placed in her stomach to provide her with nutrition until she can safely pass her next swallow test in 2 weeks. It may be some time before she is able to drink liquids and eat regular food again, but the G-tube will provide her with all the nutrients she needs to gain back her strength prior to radiation therapy.
In addition, Karen had a trip back to the operating room with an interventional radiologist to seal up a tear in her neck that was causing her neck drain to put out extremely high volumes of fluid. Although the leak resolved shortly after the repair, the surgical drain still remains in place allowing it to drain some remaining fluid. This drain will stay in her neck until it has less than 30 mL of fluid coming out daily.
While the surgery went so well, Karen has had a complex hospital stay. She remains in good spirits and has the support of her loving family. She has been walking around the unit multiple times per day and is always accompanied by her greatest cheerleaders - Kristy, Paul, and her son in law German. They have truly been her rocks throughout this entire experience.
Again, we cannot thank you ALL for the support the family has received so far. You have no idea how much your good thoughts, prayers, and donations are appreciated. We love you all and will keep you posted on her journey over the next several weeks. Please keep Karen in your thoughts and prayers everyday.
Karen Silic is a loving mother, wife, daughter, aunt, and friend who is loved by all those around her. She has lived a perfectly healthy life, spending all her time alongside her loving husband Paul of 35 years and her beautiful daughter Kristy.
In August of this year, Karen began experiencing some difficulty swallowing and changes in her voice, which led her to a local urgent care. She was sent home several times, as they assured her not to worry and that her symptoms should go away in a few days. It wasn’t until she was finally referred to a specialist several weeks later when her symptoms had NOT gone away, that they found a large mass in the back of her throat sitting directly on top of her voice box. One week after being referred to UCLA in Los Angeles, she was diagnosed with an extremely rare throat cancer, which has only been documented in approximately 50-60 cases in the world. Having this extremely rare and aggressive disease not only places her at high risk for losing her voice, but her life.
On September 4th, Karen will undergo a partial laryngectomy and neck dissection at UCLA to remove the mass from her throat in addition to local involved lymph nodes. The recovery is going to be long and tedious - requiring Karen to focus solely on her health and gaining back what we love most about her - her strength. In addition to surgery, she will need radiation 5 days per week for anywhere between 5-8 weeks after an already daunting surgery.
Both her and her family were not prepared for this - aside from the emotional burden that this unexpected diagnosis brings, she has already incurred a multitude of medical expenses and will need to fund not only surgical expenses, radiation treatment, multiple office visits, medications, and both physical and speech therapy after surgery... which will begin as early as next week.
While we can’t cure her illness, we can at least contribute to both her and her family’s peace of mind by lessening the impact of these unexpected and staggering expenses.
We have set up this page for Karen and the Silic family to support her throughout her journey, recovery, and fight against cancer. Anyone who knows Karen knows exactly why we want to help - she is loved by so many and one of the most thoughtful and giving people you will ever meet.
Thank you so much for your help and willingness to fight this fight beside her. I will keep regular updates pertaining to her surgery and treatment. Please share with friends and family so we can all help Karen fight this battle.
It has been 8 days since surgery, and the surgery itself went EXTREMELY well. First and foremost, we cannot thank you enough for all your good thoughts and donations. Karen and her family are completely blown away by all the love and support.
After sitting 6 hours in the waiting room, Karen's family anxiously awaited the news. The head and neck surgeon was able to remove the entire tumor from Karen's throat, even being able to leave her larynx (voice box) completely intact - preserving her voice and the ability to speak. Better yet, he did NOT have to place a tracheostomy - something he described as being a miracle for how massive the tumor was in her throat. While Karen is currently cancer free, that does not mean the road is over for her. One month after surgery, she will have a meeting with a radiation oncologist who will determine her treatment plan. From there on out, she will need radiation 5 days weekly, for anywhere between 6-8 weeks to prevent this aggressive cancer from returning.
So far, her hospital stay has been complex. Karen came out of surgery with a feeding tube in her nose and a surgical drain in her neck. While Karen attempted to pass a swallow test the day after surgery which would allow her to resume a regular diet, her throat remained too swollen and placed her at a high risk for aspiration (a fancy term for liquid and food going down the wrong pipe). Because of this, the speech pathologist stopped the test due to Karen's safety. Over the past few days, we have re-attempted the swallow study, but unfortunately due to the swelling it has not been an easy task. Karen will need a temporary G-tube (gastric tube) placed in her stomach to provide her with nutrition until she can safely pass her next swallow test in 2 weeks. It may be some time before she is able to drink liquids and eat regular food again, but the G-tube will provide her with all the nutrients she needs to gain back her strength prior to radiation therapy.
In addition, Karen had a trip back to the operating room with an interventional radiologist to seal up a tear in her neck that was causing her neck drain to put out extremely high volumes of fluid. Although the leak resolved shortly after the repair, the surgical drain still remains in place allowing it to drain some remaining fluid. This drain will stay in her neck until it has less than 30 mL of fluid coming out daily.
While the surgery went so well, Karen has had a complex hospital stay. She remains in good spirits and has the support of her loving family. She has been walking around the unit multiple times per day and is always accompanied by her greatest cheerleaders - Kristy, Paul, and her son in law German. They have truly been her rocks throughout this entire experience.
Again, we cannot thank you ALL for the support the family has received so far. You have no idea how much your good thoughts, prayers, and donations are appreciated. We love you all and will keep you posted on her journey over the next several weeks. Please keep Karen in your thoughts and prayers everyday.
Karen Silic is a loving mother, wife, daughter, aunt, and friend who is loved by all those around her. She has lived a perfectly healthy life, spending all her time alongside her loving husband Paul of 35 years and her beautiful daughter Kristy.
In August of this year, Karen began experiencing some difficulty swallowing and changes in her voice, which led her to a local urgent care. She was sent home several times, as they assured her not to worry and that her symptoms should go away in a few days. It wasn’t until she was finally referred to a specialist several weeks later when her symptoms had NOT gone away, that they found a large mass in the back of her throat sitting directly on top of her voice box. One week after being referred to UCLA in Los Angeles, she was diagnosed with an extremely rare throat cancer, which has only been documented in approximately 50-60 cases in the world. Having this extremely rare and aggressive disease not only places her at high risk for losing her voice, but her life.
On September 4th, Karen will undergo a partial laryngectomy and neck dissection at UCLA to remove the mass from her throat in addition to local involved lymph nodes. The recovery is going to be long and tedious - requiring Karen to focus solely on her health and gaining back what we love most about her - her strength. In addition to surgery, she will need radiation 5 days per week for anywhere between 5-8 weeks after an already daunting surgery.
Both her and her family were not prepared for this - aside from the emotional burden that this unexpected diagnosis brings, she has already incurred a multitude of medical expenses and will need to fund not only surgical expenses, radiation treatment, multiple office visits, medications, and both physical and speech therapy after surgery... which will begin as early as next week.
While we can’t cure her illness, we can at least contribute to both her and her family’s peace of mind by lessening the impact of these unexpected and staggering expenses.
We have set up this page for Karen and the Silic family to support her throughout her journey, recovery, and fight against cancer. Anyone who knows Karen knows exactly why we want to help - she is loved by so many and one of the most thoughtful and giving people you will ever meet.
Thank you so much for your help and willingness to fight this fight beside her. I will keep regular updates pertaining to her surgery and treatment. Please share with friends and family so we can all help Karen fight this battle.
Organizer and beneficiary
Megan Felix Perez
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Kristy Silic
Beneficiary