KB fighting breast cancer

Hi my name is Karri and I’d like to share my cancer journey so far with you.

In March of this year I found a lump in my right breast and made an appointment with my OBGYN. She suggested I do an ultrasound to make sure it wasn’t anything to worry about. I went in to see the doctor and after 2 breast exams, 2 mammograms and 2 ultrasounds she found 9 lumps in my breast. I was very surprised as I had only felt one. The following week I came in to do 2 biopsies that turned out to be malignant. On April 13th I was diagnosed with stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.

In May following the diagnosis I had to get 4 more biopsies to which the cancer had spread to a lymph node. May 24th I started my first of 6 rounds of chemotherapy. 24 hours after chemotherapy treatment I have to have an injection to make my body produce more white blood cells to fight off infection. I opted for cold capping to hopefully save some of my hair so I didn’t feel my identity as a woman was gone. Unfortunately, health insurance doesn’t deem it as a medical necessity. If you have ever spent time with someone going through chemotherapy you see how much havoc it can wreck on a body. It took me two weeks to recover from the side effects, just in time for my 2nd round to start. During my 3rd round of chemotherapy my red blood cell count dropped alarming low along with my hemoglobin count.

As of July 26th I’ve finished my 4th round of chemotherapy. In October I will be doing a double mastectomy and following in late November/early December I will start radiation everyday for a total of 25-30 rounds.

I’m 33 years old and this is not the direction I thought my life would take especially with no history of breast cancer running in my family. I have a daughter who is 10 years old and son who is 3 years old. My boyfriend of 9 years has become the sole provider for our family as I’ve had to take a step back from working to take care of my children along with myself. It has been mentally exhausting for me to not be working and providing for my family on top of dealing with this diagnosis.

Thank you for reading my journey so far, though the road is long, no one fights alone. Any donations are very much appreciated in this time of need as my family navigates this new world we’ve been thrown into.