Katharine's Courageous Fight & Compassion

My daughter-in-law, Katharine, is fighting a battle that no mother should have to tell her children, no wife should have to tell her husband and no woman should have to suffer: Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma with Primary Mediastinal Large B-Cell which is a rare aggressive cancer.

This young mother 37 years old, mother to our three grandson's and wife of our son has the most giving heart to all, the most infectious smile and a joy for life...she would never ask for help so our love for her will.

At the end of 2021, Katharine decided to surrogate a baby for our daughter and her husband. Our daughter was unable to have children due to her battle with cervical cancer and then thyroid cancer both in remission but the effects left her unable to give birth. While the pregnancy and surrogacy went well for Katharine, however with the birth of our beloved granddaughter Ruby who was delivered via C-Section a small portion of the incision would not remain closed for some reason. After the incision and drainage were addressed, yet again the surgical site needed to be closed up in a small section; and yet again during the next closure by the medical staff, there it was...a large mass on the side.

Even during this, God's hand was at work because without the surrogacy gift Katharine gave to our family this cancerous beast would not have shown itself so soon as she had no symptoms prior.

Katharine received a call from her doctor explaining that a biopsy would need to be done immediately to determine the type and treatment path. Very quickly it was discovered by the medical team and relayed to Katharine just how aggressive this cancer was and the treatment plan to follow should begin in a week.

In the months to come Katharine's world was about to change for the fight of her life, her family's life. Surgery to install a chemotherapy port, heart monitor inserted into her breastplate area,PET scans, chemotherapy, infusions in the spine, blood transfusions, critical white counts and risk of infections if exposed in public, bi-weekly blood draws to keep check and balance on her health. nausea, fatigue, unable to function daily or be the mom her heart desires from the cancer beast taking over her world.

Katharine has been so courageous through this entire process with over 6 months of treatments still in process and a long journey ahead still. We drive her an hour each way to the cancer center in Columbia, Missouri for a 5-7 day in-patient stay takes place, she is discharged overnight and back to the hospital the next day for another 5-hour chemotherapy infusion, twice weekly blood draws if not more required, prescription pick-ups, oncology visits, PET scans, x-rays, emergency room visits to combat low heart rate and more... This is a long hard journey for not only Katharine but our entire family. We are trying to keep as much normalcy for the children ages 16, 8 and 7 at home for her while in-patient stays are difficult for the boys. Katharine's husband (our son) must continue working his over-the-road truck driver job to try and support his family and cannot always be here for her and that is where we step in as retired parents. It is a daunting task, exhausting both mentally and emotionally for us all to get her well. These boys need their mama, our son needs his wife.

Katharine had to leave her employment due to this cancer - medical condition and funds are very, very tight at this time. You can imagine the need for groceries, fuel for vehicles to drive back and forth to all her appointments, prescriptions, home mortgage, and the list goes on...Money donated will help them keep their home near Columbia, Missouri and take the burden off daily living with all the extra medical needs for her.

From the bottom of our hearts we humbly ask that you share this link with friends and family and if possible, give monetarily (any amount will help). If unable to donate, please share and continue to pray for our beautiful Katharine and her family.