Getting Kate to beyond Colon Cancer

UPDATE: Kate's recovery. I had the privilege of spending time with Kate this past weekend as she works hard to heal and build up her strength and endurance from her surgery. Your donations are making a big difference and are helping her cover the co-pays and other expenses related to following up with her surgeon, oncologist, and her Eastern Medicine physician team as well. If you know Kate well, you know that she is pushing herself hard to bounce back. It is a process and she is handling it with the grace and humanity she faces each moment of life with and, of course, with her humor intact. The next 3 to 5 months are a critical part of her journey and your donations and support make all the difference. Thank you for giving and please spread the word! Every donation makes a difference!

(Previous) UPDATE: After over 9 hours of surgery, Kate is doing the hard work of recovering. It is an important time in her journey. The surgery was successful! The team of Oncologists and Plastic surgeons were able to remove two cancerous growths and complete the very important and complicated repair to her abdomen. I am thrilled to report she is now back home. Kate continues her healing with the grace, wisdom, and generosity of spirit she is known for. She shares her experience eloquently in her writings and posts. As she heals, Kate faces out-of-pocket expenses, co-pays, and the cost of seeing her care team including follow-up with her U of M team and her acupuncturist. Please help ensure Kate gets the care she needs to recover and continue her journey to being cancer free.

If you are new to Team Kate or our fundraiser, please see below:

If you have the privilege of knowing Kate Olson Stroud, you know that she is truly a one-of-a-kind and generous soul. She gives so much to so many people- her two amazing kids, her parents, her chosen family, her friends, her doula students, and the community at large.

I have known Kate since we were 5 years old; through years of bad 80s and 90s outfits, girl scout adventures, middle school awkwardness, life at Wylie E. Groves High School, and so much more. In 2018, my dear friend faced the battle of her life, Colon cancer. She went through a brutal treatment with awe-inspiring strength and realness. And then, less than a year later, another tumor was found, and she was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. Again, she rallied with her wise & artistic spirit intact. She knew she needed to work with her body and incorporate more intensive Eastern medicine to heal. As her kids graduated from high school, and she continued to make an impact with the Michigan Prison Doula Program, hiking & camping up a storm, and launching a new career, she made it 2.5 years without a trace of cancer.

Unfortunately, in October 2022, Kate learned that she had 2 new spots on her regular scan that proved to be cancer. Kate’s determination has not wavered. She is working with her comprehensive healthcare team to support her body’s success in overcoming this latest challenge. She is having surgery on March 28th to remove the remaining cancer and to repair her Diastasis recti (abdominal muscle separation), caused by past surgeries she underwent while being treated for Colon cancer. This condition has been getting worse for the past 3 years and Kate now wears an abdominal binder 24/7 to hold herself together. The surgery will be a quality-of-life game-changer but is costly.

At this time, we are raising money to help Kate continue all of her treatments and to support her recovery from her surgery!

So, Team Kate, we have 2 important goals to reach for this phenomenal woman:

1) Support ongoing treatment vital to her health but not covered by insurance (hospital bills, co-pays, post-surgery needs, ongoing care with her Eastern Medicine doctor, etc.)

2) Support her treatment at the Hope4Cancer clinic

In addition to your financial support, stories about our beloved quirky, endlessly caring, and spitball of a fun friend are encouraged! (Mostly because I would love to read them!)