Help Lisa Overcome Colorectal Cancer

My name is Karen Stough and I’m from Affton, Missouri. I grew up in Maplewood, Missouri along with my six brothers and sisters: Susan, Joseph, David, Kathy, Lisa, and Michael. It’s one of these siblings I’m asking everyone to support.

My sister Lisa Sorbello-Knibb is in need of financial assistance while she undergoes treatment for colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, Lisa has used all her short-term disability and FMLA benefits fighting this nasty cancer, but the bills and other necessities continue to accumulate. Lisa will be having major surgery in early April. She will be without any income for the next six to eight weeks while she is recovering.

Lisa has had a difficult time over the last five years while living in Utah. She lost her husband and the step-father to her four children, to lung cancer in December of 2021. Shortly after this, she moved back to St. Louis to be by her family.

Lisa was only back home for a year and a half when she found out she had cancer. At first, Lisa thought she was not going to do anything. She did not want to go through the treatments they were proposing. It would have been radiation and chemotherapy with the possibility of the cancer remaining. When her siblings found out, well, Lisa decided to undergo the treatments. The treatments were painful; she lost her hair, her skin turned black around the treatment area, and she was so sick she couldn’t get up. She lost weight (30 pounds). But she struggled through it and was finally well enough to go back to her “work from home” job.

Then, she had to have emergency gallbladder surgery. That put her out of work again but only for a week or so.

Now, she has to have surgery to remove the tumor and the resulting fistula, and repair the damage the cancer and radiation caused. This will be approximately a six to eight-hour surgery. She will be in the hospital for a few days depending on how she does. She will have to recover at home with someone there to assist. Her recovery is five to six weeks, but she is hoping to be back at work after four weeks. But she would not be able to work full-time yet.

The future is promising to be healthy. But, Lisa is going to need a lot of support to get her through the next few months. Hopefully, she will recover quickly with no complications and no financial worries.