Hello, my friends and family. In case you don't know, on Sunday, January 30, Karissa went to the ER at Banner Desert Hospital with severe side pain. After a CAT scan and an ultrasound, the ER docs determined She had fluid in her abdomen. She was admitted immediately and the next day surgery was performed. She had previously scheduled a hysterectomy because of suspicions of endometrial cancer so they just moved the time for surgery up a bit. Well, what the doc found was more severe than expected. The fluid was blood, the hysterectomy first conveyed to be a somewhat minor surgery (physically, not emotionally) turned out to be more thorough than thought. There were several tumors that needed to be removed. They removed as much as they could but could not get all of it. After 7 days in the hospital, Karissa came home (last Sunday). Karissa was able to spend some time at home until her follow up on Thursday where she learned that she has stage 3c Uterine Cancer.
Karissa will undergo 18 weeks of chemo and 5 weeks of radiation. After the news, Karissa went home and mom dropped her off to go to the pharmacy. Karissa went in to take a bath and when she stepped out into the hallway, she stepped into water! Her house had flooded with sewer water from a backed up pipe.
Now she's being admitted again today for other/different complications. As you can imagine, the stress of this news and the issues with the house are compiling. It will be one day at a time for a while but with the Lord's help and the love of those around her, it will be conquered! I can not sit and let this happen without doing what I can to help and my hope is that as you read this, you will feel the same.
Karissa was my second sister growing up. She means a lot to me and I know she means a lot to so many others. Please help me help her family. This is going to be a long road for all of them and this can go a long way to ease their worries a little bit.