Honor Katie's wish with legal fees for Luke & Liam
Donation protected
We all know our loving, brave and sure Katie Lannon has been on so many adventures in this life, most of her own choosing. She was shocked at the most recent diagnosis of the extremely aggressive triple negative breast cancer in November 2018. After a few months of feeling unwell, Katie thought that the demands of juggling single parenthood of young Liam who is now 6, and the never-ending responsibilities of adulthood were just catching up with her. After discovering a lump in her left breast Katie received the diagnosis. Katie bravely took on advice of her doctors and undertook a year of chemotherapy and radiation beginning in December 2018. Chemo made her very sick and the radiation burned her skin.
Determined, after a lumpectomy so that her progress could be monitored and more chemotherapy, she had reconstructive surgery in November of 2019. After discovering a thickening in the skin of her chest, Katie advocated for herself when she knew it was not right, and her wonderful nurse practitioner listened to her concerns. A biopsy confirmed cancer had returned and further testing found it in her peripheral lymph system. She seized the opportunity in December 2019 to join a clinical trial of immuno-therapy spearheaded by a leading physician in breast cancer research at the University of California, San Francisco.
She was just three treatments in when she was hospitalized in Monterey on January 8, 2020 due to fluid in her lungs. The next day fluid around the heart was found and after a procedure to address this, Katie suffered a very serious stroke in the left side of her brain, impairing her right side motor coordination, speech and comprehension. The fluid tested positive for cancer, validating what we knew was likely but held out hope against: her extremely aggressive cancer had spread to her organs in very little time, and there was no stopping it. She had a breathing tube take out, and multiple smaller strokes on both sides of her brain, and her overall condition deteriorated rapidly. During all this, Katie had many visitors in the ICU, including her 6 year old son, Liam. She was loved by so many.
On the night of January 13th, her condition worsened; there was a lot of congestion and she was not able to breathe well. Katie departed this life on January 14th with the sunset.
Katies’ best and brightest joys in her life have been her six-year-old son Liam and her true soul mate of a partner Luke Samuels, whom she met in 2015. Katie has dedicated herself to being an attentive, encouraging, loving and responsible parent to Liam, who many of us know to be an exceptional young boy, bound to be a “mover and a shaker” in this life, who evokes laughter and sometimes conversations far beyond his years. When Katie found the love of her life, Luke, also a father of two, and a teacher, she found a person she could co-parent with who had the same philosophy and practice in parenting. Liam has grown to love Luke and refers to him as “his Dad.” No one could foresee that Katie would suffer to the degree that she has.
It was her expressed intention to have Luke raise her son Liam if she was unable to. In addition to caring for Katie, driving her to San Francisco for treatments, Luke has been sensitively and whole heartedly been parenting Liam and they have been a true family all throughout this difficult time.
Funds contributed will go towards continued care and mounting medical expenses, as well as providing the immediate personal needs for the family, especially Liam. Additionally, funds will go toward legal expenses to ensure he is kept with the family he has been raised in and who know and love him best .
Katie has been a light in the lives of so many. She has travelled the world and made friends in so many places, and she has been a loyal friend to all. No stranger to loving and losing loved ones in her life, her first love was killed in a tragic car accident while serving on Search and Rescue, and just this past year both her maternal and paternal grandmothers passed away. Many have asked how we can help our dear “Katie-bug” at this difficult time; lets help to honor her wishes for Liam and for her continued care.
Determined, after a lumpectomy so that her progress could be monitored and more chemotherapy, she had reconstructive surgery in November of 2019. After discovering a thickening in the skin of her chest, Katie advocated for herself when she knew it was not right, and her wonderful nurse practitioner listened to her concerns. A biopsy confirmed cancer had returned and further testing found it in her peripheral lymph system. She seized the opportunity in December 2019 to join a clinical trial of immuno-therapy spearheaded by a leading physician in breast cancer research at the University of California, San Francisco.
She was just three treatments in when she was hospitalized in Monterey on January 8, 2020 due to fluid in her lungs. The next day fluid around the heart was found and after a procedure to address this, Katie suffered a very serious stroke in the left side of her brain, impairing her right side motor coordination, speech and comprehension. The fluid tested positive for cancer, validating what we knew was likely but held out hope against: her extremely aggressive cancer had spread to her organs in very little time, and there was no stopping it. She had a breathing tube take out, and multiple smaller strokes on both sides of her brain, and her overall condition deteriorated rapidly. During all this, Katie had many visitors in the ICU, including her 6 year old son, Liam. She was loved by so many.
On the night of January 13th, her condition worsened; there was a lot of congestion and she was not able to breathe well. Katie departed this life on January 14th with the sunset.
Katies’ best and brightest joys in her life have been her six-year-old son Liam and her true soul mate of a partner Luke Samuels, whom she met in 2015. Katie has dedicated herself to being an attentive, encouraging, loving and responsible parent to Liam, who many of us know to be an exceptional young boy, bound to be a “mover and a shaker” in this life, who evokes laughter and sometimes conversations far beyond his years. When Katie found the love of her life, Luke, also a father of two, and a teacher, she found a person she could co-parent with who had the same philosophy and practice in parenting. Liam has grown to love Luke and refers to him as “his Dad.” No one could foresee that Katie would suffer to the degree that she has.
It was her expressed intention to have Luke raise her son Liam if she was unable to. In addition to caring for Katie, driving her to San Francisco for treatments, Luke has been sensitively and whole heartedly been parenting Liam and they have been a true family all throughout this difficult time.
Funds contributed will go towards continued care and mounting medical expenses, as well as providing the immediate personal needs for the family, especially Liam. Additionally, funds will go toward legal expenses to ensure he is kept with the family he has been raised in and who know and love him best .
Katie has been a light in the lives of so many. She has travelled the world and made friends in so many places, and she has been a loyal friend to all. No stranger to loving and losing loved ones in her life, her first love was killed in a tragic car accident while serving on Search and Rescue, and just this past year both her maternal and paternal grandmothers passed away. Many have asked how we can help our dear “Katie-bug” at this difficult time; lets help to honor her wishes for Liam and for her continued care.
Organizer
Andrea Arnold
Organizer
Monterey, CA