Support for the Blackwell Family

I first met Karen 15 years ago as she was my partner teacher my first year at Glenhope Elementary. Karen has taught at Glenhope Elementary for 22 years, and has always been a leader and volunteering at all the events. She has taught many students throughout the 22 years and impacted many lives.

Her husband Bob, has worked at ThermoTek, Inc for 26 years. They live in Colleyville and have two grown children, Brittany and Ben, who graduated from Grapevine High School, many moons ago.

Bob was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colorectal Cancer in May 2022. He began taking chemo pills right away. He started radiation in June and chemo infusions in August. He completed his treatments on November 12th.

Bob had extensive surgery in January to remove the tumor and the lower portion of his colon. They are still waiting on pathology results to see if they got all of the cancer or if he'll continue to do treatments. Bob will need to do weekly/monthly blood checks to track the margins to see if the cancer has returned.

We all understand how expensive medical treatments, out-of-pocket expenses and hospital stays can be for a family. During his treatments, Karen has had to take off for various appointments and has depleted her days given by the state and district, including all of her personal days. All days taken off from surgery to future days will now be deducted from her paychecks.

Any donations will be used to offset any out-of-pocket medical expenses, daily medical expense needs and loss of income for Karen.

If you know Karen, you know she would say she's got this and figure out a way. However, now is a time we can help impact their lives as they have impacted many of ours.

We will update you as we know more about Bob's prognosis and how he's doing. Thank you for supporting this family who has given back to our community for several years.