Karen's Fight

In late August 2018, Karen and her husband Janek became parents for the second time to a beautiful baby boy, Harrison, a little brother to the almost-2-year-old George. Just three weeks later, Karen was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer, with a primary tumour in her sigmoid colon and a massive secondary (along with some other smaller ones) in her liver. It was this secondary cancer that caused the pain that led to her diagnosis. This was a devastating shock to Karen, as well as her family and friends. 

Karen's will to beat this cancer has been inspirational, and she has defied the odds every step of the way. "I just have to beat this. There's no other option. I want to see my boys start school. I want to see my boys grow up." Karen was lucky enough to find some excellent doctors in Sydney who came up with a plan to shrink the tumours prior to a major surgery. Karen began responding incredibly well to chemotherapy and in December 2018 her doctors discovered reductions in tumour sizes. Despite this, she still has a long road ahead of her with major surgeries and further chemotherapy.

In January 2019, Karen will undergo a mammoth surgery at St George Hospital to remove the tumours (including bowel and liver resection), lymph nodes, and other tissues (peritonectomy) and will have intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Following this major surgery she will have a lengthy recovery which will include several weeks in hospital and many months of recovery at home with additional chemotherapy.

Understandably, Karen cannot return to work as an emergency department nurse and her husband Janek will require extended periods of leave from his job as an ambulance officer to care for Karen. With two infant children to support, the loss of income as well as the requirement for in-home assistance, additional child care, meals, cleaners, travel, utility bills, everyday expenses etc. is expected to have quite a financial impact on their family. This is where you can help. Karen's Fight Club have set up this page to give you the opportunity to help take the financial burden away by making a donation. From the beginning, Karen has said there is no way she would have been able to stand up to this aggressive cancer without the amazing support of her family and friends. Thank you in advance!

Karen's Fight Club xxx