Standing alongside Kari Gougar- beating cancer
Donation protected
Anyone who has ever met Kari Gougar and her husband Jon knows what selfless, caring, and loveable people they are. My goal is to help her girls raise funds so Kari and Jon can focus on healing and surviving this journey through cancer without the stress and burden of the endless financial drain that chemo, radiation, surgery, time off work, and countless doctor visits bring. Most importantly your prayers are so valued! We know that God has got Kari in His arms, and that Kari is an amazingly strong and faith filled woman!
Following is a letter from Kari's daughter:
This past December began one of the scariest journeys for my family. My mom, Kari, has lived with ulcerative colitis for many years and has been having routine colonoscopies for as long as I can remember; at one point as often as every six months. In the past few years her colonoscopies have shown nothing but good news, therefore Mom was granted a two year stretch between routine exams. Only a few weeks before her most recent regularly scheduled colonoscopy, Mom started having some bleeding with bowel movements. The results following
Thank you so much for praying for my mom, sending her positive vibes, and brightening her day on Facebook and via snail mail. It means so much to my mom and to our family.
Ally Henning, Kari’s daughter
Following is a letter from Kari's daughter:
This past December began one of the scariest journeys for my family. My mom, Kari, has lived with ulcerative colitis for many years and has been having routine colonoscopies for as long as I can remember; at one point as often as every six months. In the past few years her colonoscopies have shown nothing but good news, therefore Mom was granted a two year stretch between routine exams. Only a few weeks before her most recent regularly scheduled colonoscopy, Mom started having some bleeding with bowel movements. The results following
this colonoscopy were devastating--they found cancer. After many diagnostic tests and a referral to a wonderful colorectal physician in Portland, mom got her official diagnosis: Stage 3 Rectal Cancer. This means that the scans show cancer in her rectum and some inflammation in
her lymph nodes. Hearing the word ‘cancer’ was painful enough for me, but Stage 3 was something I was personally not prepared for. Thankfully, we are still in a curative phase of treatment. This curative phase, however, means a long haul for my mom. Mom has a fabulous team of oncologists, surgeons, nurses, and care managers who meet weekly to help manage her treatment plan. Her plan of care has started with chemotherapy, every 2 weeks for 4 months through a port she had placed mid-January. The port limits her IV starts and pokes for lab draws, which she will also get each time she goes in for her chemotherapy. Mom’s first round of chemo was followed by unmanageable nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. My sister Martha, who flew out to Portland after Mom's diagnosis, brought her to the clinic after many days of being unable to stay hydrated. Mom received fluids, steroids, and a revised plan for her anti-nausea medications. On February 8th, Mom will start her second round of chemotherapy. We hope this new plan will help keep her feeling like her spunky self. After 4 months of chemotherapy, another scan will be done to see how the cancer has responded. From there mom’s team will decide the next step in her treatment: more chemotherapy, or move on to radiation. Surgery to remove mom’s colon will be inevitable with this type of cancer, but we are hoping to shrink the tumor and decrease the inflammation in the lymph nodes with the chemotherapy and/or radiation prior to surgery.
Living so far from my mom has been one of the hardest parts of this whole experience for me. I can’t bring her to appointments, hold her hair back, cook her dinner, pick up her medications, or
groceries… As a nurse myself, I want to be as involved in her care as I can, and I wish I could do so much more than I can from 2,000 miles away. Normally the community of friends or family would prepare meals, help clean, run errands, or any number of things, but the distance makes these things impossible. From the many messages I have received and the amazing outpour of love on Facebook, I know I am not the only one that wishes they too could do more, which is
why I am writing. We have decided to start a GoFundMe page to help raise money for Mom’s treatment. Any money raised will go toward Mom’s medications, appointments, diagnostic tests, surgery, gas money, dinner, time off work for Jon when necessary, or just the mountain of medical bills that come with high deductibles that are the norm these days.
Thank you so much for praying for my mom, sending her positive vibes, and brightening her day on Facebook and via snail mail. It means so much to my mom and to our family.
Ally Henning, Kari’s daughter
Organizer and beneficiary
Debra Aschenbach
Organizer
Sheboygan Falls, WI
Kari Gougar
Beneficiary