Help Kara get to Hope 4 Cancer Treatment Center

**** October 29th, 2023 Update Below ****

Hello Everyone, my name is Kayla. I am starting this GoFundMe page for my big sister Kara to be able to go to Hope 4 Cancer Treatment Center.

Prior to telling the whole story, I want to first make an attempt to express the extreme gratitude I feel in my heart for being blessed with a big sister like Kara. She is my #1 fan, always in my corner, supporting me in all that I do. I honestly do not know where I'd be without her constant support, encouragement and guidance through life. I feel that starting this GoFundMe page is the very least I can do at a time such as this..... My sister Kara is an amazing wife, mother, sister, daughter, aunt and friend. She is the epitome of strength, faith and beauty. She inspires me daily to not only be a better person, but to hold strong to my faith and fully rely on God for ALL of my needs.

On August 3rd, 2023 Kara was diagnosed with Angiosarcoma. Angiosarcoma is a very rare and aggressive form of cancer (only about 200 cases seen per year in the US all of which are in patients age 60+) Doctors told her that she is ONLY case they have seen in the 40's age group. Angiosarcoma is a cancer that starts in the lining of the blood vessel, usually found on the head, neck, breasts or lungs.

August 3rd, 2023 marked a very big day as this is the exact same day that Kara and her husband Daniel listed their home for sale, this was done in order to help finance their daughters college education. After Kara loosing her job of 6 years in April 2022, affording college has turned out to be a lot more challenging than they had anticipated.

On September 13th, 2023 Kara had surgery to extract the angiosarcoma, on September 18th Kara had surgery to reconstruct the area behind her ear. Once the wounds are healed Kara and her husband Daniel are hoping to go to Hope 4 Cancer so that she can receive interventional care instead of going for radiation and possibly chemotherapy. Right now, only radiation is recommended. To attend Hope For Cancer it will be a direct out of pocket cost of $50,000-$65,000 for the initial treatment plan, plus the cost of travel and other expenses. Kara believes this type of treatment is what her body needs in order to detox from pharmaceutical medications and heal her immune system.

Now I am going to give readers a little bit of a back story that lead up to my sisters diagnosis.

In March of 2022 Kara had a double cervical disc replacement in her neck at C5/6 & C6/7. She had been suffering excruciating pain for almost 2 years. The pain was also causing numbness in her arms and hands to the point that she could not work or even sit still without pain meds and had to wear a tens unit to get enough relief to make it through a workday. The surgeons put her on a new pain medication after the surgery, it was supposed to help heal her nerves faster. After 6 months, her hair started falling out, she had yeast on the scalp and other reoccurring yeast infections. She was constantly battling fatigue, confusion and other symptoms. She just could not seem to recover from the surgery. She quit taking the medication and told the doctors she thought the medication was causing the hair loss, fatigue and other symptoms. The doctors of course, insisted that she continue taking it for the nerve pain. After much research Kara decided to start a costly whole food vitamin regimen to off set the fatigue and inflammation in her neck. Ten months post-op she was still in physical therapy and went to see another doctor for a nerve function test. At her appointment this doctor informed her that she should not be taking the new pain medication that was prescribed at all because it had a 3% sulfa in it and her chart clearly stated that she was allergic to sulfa drugs. Two other doctors (a pain management doctor and her surgeon) had the same information about the sulfa allergy and both had prescribed her the medication anyway. Kara believes that the tumor formation was a direct result of taking medication that she was allergic to while her immune system was already in overdrive after the neck surgery in March 2022.

On December 31st 2022 Daniel noticed a spot that had developed behind Kara’s right ear, at the time it appeared to be a bruise. She made three doctors appointments, one with an ENT who told her it was probably residual blood pooled from neck surgery just coming to the surface with physical therapy. A second appointment with a Dermatologist who told her it appeared to be a cyst of no concern and a third appointment with her primary care doctor who told her it looked like an "old person spot" that was of no concern. The spot would diminish to almost nothing and then return, and repeat. When it returned in July 2023 it was much larger and dark purple color, at this time Kara returned to the dermatologist and asked for a biopsy to be done. On August 3rd the pathology report read Angiosarcoma.

Kara and Daniel sent their youngest daughter off to college on August 18th, Krizln is a first generation college student. Kara and Daniel had a different idea in mind for starting the “empty nesting” part of life!

Proverbs 16:9 says, Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but Elohim establishes his steps.

We pray for wisdom and insight, peace and understanding as we journey to bring glory to God. We believe that this path must be for HIS glory to shine through.

I want to thank each and every person whom is able to help, and also special thanks to those of you whom have taken the time to read and share this tiny snapshot of Kara's story.

All funds raised from this page will go directly towards getting her the natural, chemical free cancer treatment that she deserves.

UPDATE POSTED 10/29/2023 !!!!!!!!!

Kara got her stitches removed 10/26/23. Updated photos below.

Healing up beautifully!!!!!

Kara is planning at least one micro needle treatment to soften the scar. She finally graduated back to laying in bed after being in the recliner or elevated while sleeping, ever since the surgery! She continues to have all kinds of spontaneous pain sensations in her chest, jaw, shoulder, neck, ear and head all on the right side as the nerves continue to heal, but she has had a tremendous reduction in pain and it is now somewhat manageable. Minor vision issues over the past 2 weeks are corrected with readers, but an ophthalmology appointment is forthcoming. She starts physical therapy on 11/5/23 to help get her right shoulder and arm to properly function again. She will work on neck rotation and stretches for better mobility. After 6 weeks of physical therapy, 3 times a week she will continue at home physical therapy for 1 year. She must use sun screen and scar ointment and keep the area out of direct sunlight for at least 1 year. Kara loves the sun and working in the yard so this coming spring may be full of turtle necks and sun hats! She will start getting out of the house more next week on her own. Up to this point, Daniel has drove to all the appointments ran all the errands and been an amazing nurse and cook - oh how much we love him for that! She drove once this week just the short distance to town and back and felt okay.

Kara is forever grateful for all the prayers, love, support and donations, her heart is so very full and she is ready to get to Hope 4 Cancer to start her treatments.

The power of prayer is real folks, she says that through the difficult times and the pain, she has felt in her Spirit, a peace that surpasses understanding and she believes the prayers are reaching Jesus and he is providing that peace for her.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.

For those of you who wish to donate, but maybe uneasy about donating though this platform there is an account set up at First National Bank (all locations) to benefit Kara. If you're hesitant to donate through this page please feel free to direct donations to any First National Bank by mentioning it is for KARA.