Katie's Fight to Evict Bertha
Donation protected
On December 30, 2016, my best friend, Katie Weber, was given news that no one wants to hear and something that only happens to “someone else.” She was told that she has breast cancer – a large tumor in her right breast (nicknamed Bertha) and it spread to two of her lymph nodes (nicknamed Hilda and Gilda). All of these ladies are currently being evicted as they are not welcome anymore.
Katie is only 37 years old. She has been married to Michael for 15 years and has two kids, Griffin (14) and Addison (12). She lives in Centerville, MN.
Katie is one of those people that you can’t help but love. She is always smiling (we call her a ray of sunshine), always looks at the bright side of things, and is one of the most considerate people you will ever meet. Katie and Michael are members at Living Waters Lutheran Church and have been very active in their church for many years – teaching Sunday school, cooking meals every Wednesday night, taking part in the youth program, etc. Katie has worked as a legal assistant for 11 years at a law firm in Roseville. In addition to his full-time job, Michael is a Lieutenant for their local fire department.
Katie started chemo in mid January 2017. She started out with chemo every other week for 8 treatments and then went in for scans. The cancer in her lymph nodes is “gone” (at least as far as they can tell on an MRI) and her tumor is shrinking significantly. Whoop whoop! She then started getting chemo every week and will be done with that in the next two weeks. She will have a small break in June before having surgery in July – a double mastectomy and removal of all affected and unhealthy lymph nodes. She will miss at least 4 to 6 weeks of work following surgery. After that is complete, she will start radiation for several months.
Michael switched jobs in the middle of all of this which meant they met one insurance deductible, had to pay one month of COBRA insurance, and then meet a second insurance deductible all in the last five months. As you can imagine, the mounting medical bills and prescriptions as well as the time Katie is missing from work (and will miss after surgery), things start to add up and take a toll. I’d like to help alleviate at least the financial burden of this awful thing we call cancer.
Katie has been working very part-time as she goes through the hell that is chemo. She also has a family to keep up with. Katie is one who doesn’t like to sit down. She has always taken care of her family doing the cooking, cleaning, laundry, running around with the kids, etc. so this has been extremely tough on her. She has understandably been feeling awful for the last four months and is unable to do a lot of the things she has always done.
Katie started a blog right after she was diagnosed. She has documented all of the ups and downs, meanwhile maintaining her sense of humor. She has such a way with words. Here is the link to her blog: https://kweber1018.wordpress.com/
The Webers are the most compassionate, generous people you will ever meet. Now it’s our turn to give back to them. Thank you for your prayers as well as any contribution, big or small!
Katie is only 37 years old. She has been married to Michael for 15 years and has two kids, Griffin (14) and Addison (12). She lives in Centerville, MN.
Katie is one of those people that you can’t help but love. She is always smiling (we call her a ray of sunshine), always looks at the bright side of things, and is one of the most considerate people you will ever meet. Katie and Michael are members at Living Waters Lutheran Church and have been very active in their church for many years – teaching Sunday school, cooking meals every Wednesday night, taking part in the youth program, etc. Katie has worked as a legal assistant for 11 years at a law firm in Roseville. In addition to his full-time job, Michael is a Lieutenant for their local fire department.
Katie started chemo in mid January 2017. She started out with chemo every other week for 8 treatments and then went in for scans. The cancer in her lymph nodes is “gone” (at least as far as they can tell on an MRI) and her tumor is shrinking significantly. Whoop whoop! She then started getting chemo every week and will be done with that in the next two weeks. She will have a small break in June before having surgery in July – a double mastectomy and removal of all affected and unhealthy lymph nodes. She will miss at least 4 to 6 weeks of work following surgery. After that is complete, she will start radiation for several months.
Michael switched jobs in the middle of all of this which meant they met one insurance deductible, had to pay one month of COBRA insurance, and then meet a second insurance deductible all in the last five months. As you can imagine, the mounting medical bills and prescriptions as well as the time Katie is missing from work (and will miss after surgery), things start to add up and take a toll. I’d like to help alleviate at least the financial burden of this awful thing we call cancer.
Katie has been working very part-time as she goes through the hell that is chemo. She also has a family to keep up with. Katie is one who doesn’t like to sit down. She has always taken care of her family doing the cooking, cleaning, laundry, running around with the kids, etc. so this has been extremely tough on her. She has understandably been feeling awful for the last four months and is unable to do a lot of the things she has always done.
Katie started a blog right after she was diagnosed. She has documented all of the ups and downs, meanwhile maintaining her sense of humor. She has such a way with words. Here is the link to her blog: https://kweber1018.wordpress.com/
The Webers are the most compassionate, generous people you will ever meet. Now it’s our turn to give back to them. Thank you for your prayers as well as any contribution, big or small!
Organizer and beneficiary
Heather Gilkerson
Organizer
New Richmond, WI
Katie Weber
Beneficiary