Karen & Jeremy’s fight against Cancer

When you hear the news “it’s cancer”, it’s never easy, but to hear it twice in one home in one month, is an inexplicable feeling. 

For us this was our recent reality. 

We are trying to raise funds to help our family pay for the expenses of the cancer treatment for both Karen and Jeremy, and to allow Jeremy to take time from work while he fights his cancer. Jeremy was diagnosed with stage 4 NLPHL (Nodular Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkins Lymphoma) and tested positive for the BRCA 1 genetic marker. 

Karen found out she had breast cancer for the third time in December. She previously fought it in 1994, when she had a complete mastectomy, reconstruction, and chemotherapy. In 2008, she was again diagnosed with breast cancer where she underwent a lumpectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy. In December 2022, Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer for the third time. She has since undergone a complete mastectomy. Her oncologist prescribed an oral chemotherpy, which she wants Karen to take for one year. She may also need to have intravenous chemotherapy if a special DNA test comes back positive, as she carries the BRCA 1 gene.

Jeremy, Karen's son, went with her to the breast cancer center for all of her appointments. At one of the appointments, he mentioned to her surgeon that he had a large lump on his right upper chest by his armpit. His doctor told him nearly 8 months ago that it was probably a lipoma and not to worry about it. Karen’s surgeon in January, however, recommended that he have a mammogram and ultrasound since she carries the BRCA gene and has had cancer three times. After seeing his scans showed several enlarged lymph nodes, she immediately ordered a CT scan. After the CT scan was performed, they informed Jeremy and his wife, Melissa, it appeared to be lymphoma (cancer). They immediately did a biopsy, removing a lemon-sized lymph node, an almond-sized lymph node, and left some one 28+ nodes ranging in size from a grape to a lemon or larger. The pathology results confirmed that he has a rare form of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Jeremy and his wife have four children, with the youngest having arrived in November 2022.

Our family has been through so much in the last six months with Melissa having lost her mother, her income, the birth of their baby girl, and two cancer diagnoses. We are asking for your prayers to help this family get through this most difficult time, as well as any donations to help pay for some of the exorbitant costs associated with fighting these cancers. ♥️

Attached is a video of our story which KGW8 was kind enough to do to help us get our story out there.