The best possible news

From Betty re: Kathi



"Jerry called at 5:15 and left this message ----------

Kathi is out of surgery and in recovery.  They have not seen her, but the doctor said that everything went well.  He feels that all of the cancer has been removed and that they did not have to do any re-sectioning  -------  which means that she will not have to deal with a colostomy.

He didn't know when she would be out of recovery.

 

I am beginning to cry.  I am so relieved for Kathi, for Jerry, for her children, and, selfishly, for me ---- for all of us --- her friends." 

There was, as Susie shared, "a collective sigh of relief."

Whew!  And thank you. 

Update on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 11:12AM by Lois

Surgery was a huge success. Mom did great!!!

Hello Everyone,

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.  Mom's surgery went very well.  The doctor was amazed at how much the cancer had shrunk.  He said he was able to remove all of the disease from her body.  The cancer in the liver was gone and clear of all disease, so nothing had to be done to the liver.  She lost very little blood, so there was no need for a blood transfusion.  He was impressed about how receptive she was to the chemo and as we believe, it was a combination of the chemo, essiac tea, healthy diet,
energy healing sessions and everyone's love, thoughts and prayers.  She came out of recovery looking great.  She was up and talking, but still a little drowsy from the pain meds.

Tomorrow, she will be able to get up and walk around a little bit at a time and start eating.  She is so lucky to have such great friends and family to support her through this.  We will keep you updated and she will probably be home in 3 or 4 days,  ready to chat.

Dave

Dave Olson
dave@kayakchicago.com
www.kayakchicago.com
ph:(630) 336-7245
fx:(630) 541-6134

Please continue your support.

And absolutely forward this link to other like-minded friends.  Come on, Kath!!!

"I have more good news.  The CAT scan that I had last Friday shows significant reduction in the ovarian tumors.  The largest one that was 14.8 X 7 X 11.4   is now 2.5 X 5.1.  Other lesions have also significantly improved or are no longer visible. The physicians assistant said that this was a remarkable result and that they do not normally see this rate of improvement.

Surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday, May 25th barring any problems.

If you believe in the great power of prayer as I do, you know you are part of this good news.  Thank YOU SO MUCH!  Please thank those who I don't even know and who have been praying for me.  I am overwhelmed to hear about the efforts on my behalf.

I hope to have one of my children send an update after surgery on Tuesday.

With gratitude,  Kathi"

Update on Friday, May 21, 2010 at 4:33PM by Lois

Earlier blogs with Kathi in mind:

OMGosh

Be strong.  Be brave.  Breathe, darling friend

Dear dear Kathi,

Not the news we wanted to hear

Sending you, dear Kathi, the strength, tenacity, boldness, beauty and power of spring

May this be a lantern to illuminate

To, for and from Kathi

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad day turned GREAT DAY!!!

To, for and from Kathi

Among other things, the beauty of a blog is that it has the potential to bring together kindred spirits as a community.  Connecting people who are willing to take time to think about, pray for and/or do whatever they can for others who happen to be experiencing what any of us could be addressing ourselves.  That’s where my friend, Kathi, comes in.  Kathi is dealing with ovarian and liver cancer.

Suzette spreads flower petals on the water/wherever she is/each day for Kathi.  Trish, knowing the impact cancer has, called to see if she could be helpful in any way.  Susan, who met Kathi once, made a prayer bracelet for her, cares deeply about her wellbeing.  There have been many calls related to connecting Kathi with the best that Stanford offers.  And there are many, many, many others who've shown their support.  Most have never met Kathi.  But care.  And want to share.  Thank you, all/this has meant so much to K and her family.

Here’s what’s been happening:

From K:  "I am feeling very well.  I hope that means that the chemo, the special tea, the distance healer, the Bella Ruth tapes and all the prayers and well wishes from friends are helping this to go into remission and fight those nasty cells and get them OUT of my body." 

"Thursday is my third chemo and I will meet with my doctor.  I don’t know how much he will be able to tell me but I will pass on what I hear.  Actually I am feeling pretty normal and I hope that is a good sign!"

"I do not love having to wear a wig.  It really took a lot of getting used to/thicker than my very fine hair but I am adjusting and I think once people get used to seeing me in it, it will be a shock when my real hair comes back.  May have to go to extensions!"

And finally, "Got a call this morning.  The latest CA 125 yesterday was 160/down from 2000 and 1000 10 days ago--great news!"

The BEST news!   Carry on, wonderful friend.  Know that you're supported by so many with very much care, concern and love. 

Please continue to pray for, think about and send healing thoughts to Kathi.  I know, without a doubt, that this has tremendous impact.  Thank you, everyone.

May this be a lantern to illuminate...

Sent by a friend with Kathi in mind. This is so incredibly beautiful, thoughtful and wise. <

"Reflection on your friend Kathi led me to re-visit one of my favorite sources of comfort: John O'Donohue. He's an Irish poet and writer whom I might have mentioned to you previously.

I found the attached blessing that I want to share with you. My experience of his writing is that the more often I read it, the more substantive and richer it becomes.

O'Donohue describes his meaning of blessing. He says "it isn't a sentiment or a question; it is a gracious invocation where the human heart pleads with the divine heart.""

Thank you, Thank you, Gail. This is an amazing piece.

FOR A FRIEND ON THE ARRIVAL OF ILLNESS
A blessing written by John O’Donohue, Irish Poet

Now is the time of dark invitation
Beyond a frontier you did not expect;
Abruptly, your old life seems distant.

You barely noticed how each day opened
A path through fields never questioned,
Yet expected, deep down, to hold treasure.
Now your time on earth becomes full of threat;
Before your eyes your future shrinks.

You lived absorbed in the day-to-day,
So continuous with everything around you,
That you could forget you were separate;

Now this dark companion has become between you.
Distances have opened in your eyes.
You feel that against your will
A stranger has married your heart.

Nothing before has made you
Feel so isolated and lost.

When the reverberations of shock subside in you,
May grace come to restore you to balance.
May it shape a new space in your heart
To embrace this illness as a teacher
Who has come to open your life to new worlds.

May you find in yourself
A courageous hospitality
Toward what is difficult,
Painful, and unknown.

May you learn to use this illness
As a lantern to illuminate
The new qualities that will emerge in you.

May the fragile harvesting of this slow light
Help to release whatever has become false in you.
May you trust this light to clear a path
Through all the fog of old unease and anxiety
Until you feel arising within you a tranquility
Profound enough to call the storm to stillness.

May you find the wisdom to listen to your illness:
Ask it why it came. Why it chose your friendship.
Where it wants to take you. What it wants you to know.
What quality of space it wants to create in you.
What you need to learn to become more fully yourself
That your presence may shine in the world.

May you keep faith with your body,
Learning to see it as a holy sanctuary
Which can bring this night-wound gradually
Toward the healing and freedom of dawn.

May you be granted the courage and vision
To work through passivity and self-pity,
To see the beauty you can harvest
From the riches of this dark invitation.

May you learn to receive it graciously,
And promise to learn swiftly
That it may leave you newborn,
Willing to dedicate your time to birth.

From O’Donohue’s book entitled To Bless the Space Between Us.

Sending you, dear Kathi, the strength, tenacity, boldness, beauty and power of spring

Not the news we wanted to hear

From my friend, Betty, in Chicago:

Dear Everyone,

I just received a phone call from Kathi and she has asked me to relay this message to all of you.  When she is able to, she will send a message of her own.  Until then, this is what she has asked me to tell you --------------

She is not having surgery tomorrow.  Last week she had several tests to make certain that everything was good to go for tomorrow.  One of the tests was a CT scan of her liver.  The sad news is that they found a few "spots" of cancer on the liver.  So, she is going to have aggressive treatment on that area before they will do anything else.  That means that she is going to have the following treatment:

1 week (either this week or next) she will have a chemo treatment lasting about 8 hours, then she will have 2 weeks off.  This will be repeated for 3 or 4 cycles.  Then, when the cancer in the liver responds to that treatment, they will be able to do the other surgery. 

They will also biopsy the mass to see what is happening with the ovarian cancer.

She went to a cardiologist today for another test and she said that he was so kind.  He said that he was going to go to church tomorrow and pray for her.  Then after they talked for a while longer, he took her hands and said "Let’s say a prayer right here."

Needless to say, we cried when we talked.  I am so sad just thinking about all that she is facing.  Jennifer has flown in, because she came for the surgery.  Now she will be here for the first of the treatments.  Kathi said that they have all had long, hard cries.  I cannot even begin to imagine.

Kathi said that toward the end of the week, if you want to call she will know more and will feel like talking.  She isn't even sure if she is going to read her emails for awhile.

Life is so fragile and so uncertain.  And I am so sad at this moment.  I don't even know what to say.  There are no words.

I hope that I have given you the correct information.  It was all such a blur when we were talking.  She ended by telling me "You have had such sad things happen in your life and I don't want to leave you."  And please tell everyone that I love them.

Next email from Betty: I forgot to include this in the last message:

Kathi said "Please ask everyone to keep praying for me.  I need a miracle."

Please, anyone who sees this, pray for a miracle.  You would absolutely love Kathi, I know, as much as those of us who have known her, do.  I cannot believe this is happening to such an incredibly wonderful person, mom and friend.  Lois

Dear dear Kathi,

<

Know that those of us who know and love you AS WELL AS many, many others who only know of you will be holding you and your darling family in our hearts and prayers tonight, tomorrow during your surgery and as you begin the process of recovery.

Be strong. Be brave. Breathe, darling friend.

OMGosh

What do you do? What can one say? When a friend faces a potentially life-threatening disease? We have or will all eventually face this issue.

Prayer immediately comes to mind. This absolutely/without a doubt/changed the course of a good friend's life over the holidays. Stanford doctors are calling Tom's 22-hour open heart surgery and ultimate outcome "The Christmas Miracle."

I'm spreading the word again for one of my best, best, best incredibly wonderful friends, Kathi, who sent word today that she has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Together, our prayers have the potential of creating another miracle.

Thank you, everyone.