Karen Royko's Battle with Cancer

SuperMom, SuperWife, SuperFriend, SuperWoman (no, she would never describe herself that way, but husbands tell the truth -- and heck, if you know her at all, you know I'm absolutely right), Karen Royko received diagnoses of cancer in three areas. Treatment is surgery followed by chemo.

Our doctor said, and we quote, THE GOAL IS TO CURE.

This will be the fight of our lives. We can not express enough gratitude for, in this unluckiest time, how lucky we are to be in a great city for medical care (Cleveland Clinic), and to have the psychological and emotional support of an extraordinary network of family and friends (you included).

We also need material support, aka money. Between the financial disruption this will mean in terms of the cost of treatment, related expenses (hotel rooms, things we don't even know about yet), our work situations (big impact), and what this could mean for our severely autistic adult son, Ben (in a group home), while we don't enjoy having our hands out, pride and vanity have no place in our lives at this point.

Thank you for looking at our story, and if you can't afford to help us financially, know that we deeply appreciate support of any kind -- especially emotional support.

Dave and Karen Royko