Karen O'Connell Cancer Warrior for 23 Years

Hi, my name is Kelly and I've been friends with Karen for many years. Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer at the very young age of 27. Little did she know that she would still be fighting this battle nearly a quarter of a century later. After beating it the 1st time, she was diagnosed again at age 35 and at 39, diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. Her oncologist told her she had about 2 years to live, but despite the cancer spreading to her brain, lungs, bones, ovaries, and adrenal glands, she refused to let that be her story. With God's grace, she has gotten through brain tumors, brain surgeries, paralysis, brain hemorrhage, seizures, blood clots, pulmonary embolism, you name it. After being relatively stable for the past 6 years, she just found out that the cancer has spread to her colon, so she's now on a much more aggressive form of chemotherapy. This cause multiple side effects, including extreme fatigue, nausea, body pain, and basically the inability to function on a day to day basis. Karen lives alone and most of her family lives in Trinidad. She depends on disability because doctors consider her terminal, and jumps through hoops for Medicare just to stay alive. But this doesn't keep up with the insane inflation and rising healthcare costs. In Florida, our homeowners insurance alone has tripled this year. A price that Karen cannot possibly pay without assistance. Karen never asks for help, she relies on God's goodness. God has given Karen MANY friends over the years. So, I'm creating this account to reach out to those friends and anyone else that would like to help Karen continue to fight. It's unimaginable that Karen would have to choose between life-saving treatment and keeping a roof over her head. Please consider donating ANYTHING to help Karen. Every little bit goes a long way.