Karen's Update

Alright! I'm here. First of all, please disregard any misspelled words or incorrect punctuation. That is not really my specialty. Second, I'm glad you are here. In case you're here and don't know who I am, I am Karen's younger brother. I have been asked by many of you about Karen's health and what the plan is for her future and I appreciate all of the comments, prayers, and the help that has been offered. So, as a result of the many questions, I decided to create this blog and let everyone know what is going on. I thought this would be the easiest and fastest way to let everyone know the latest. I probably won't be updating this every night, but I will update whenever something new happens or if you have any questions.

So, for those of you who maybe don't know exactly what is going on, let me break it down for you. As most of you know, five yrs. ago Karen was diagnosed with a brain tumor after complaining of double vision and headaches. She went on to have surgery to remove most of the tumor and received radiation and chemotherapy to complete her treatment. All went really well and things have been great for the most part aside from having the occasional side effects that people have after experiencing this condition. She had MRI's every six months for awhile and then went to yearly exams for awhile. She then went back to twice a year. This brings us to where we are today.

Karen and Doug and the kids visited us on the 4th of July week and Karen had been having seizures or "tremors" where she might have a tingling or numbness to her tongue along with headaches. We hoped it was stress, but as they started becoming more frequent, I started expecting the worst. When Karen got back home to Atlanta, she received an MRI and waited for the results. When she called me and asked if I was sitting down, I knew what she was going to tell me. I told her I didn't need to sit down and she told me it was back.

So, now that I have had time to get over the shock of the news and I have thought about the worst scenarios and at times been a complete mess by myself thinking about the kids and Doug and of course Karen, I've started realizing there are alot of good scenarios as well. This round will no doubt be tougher than the first. If you do any research on this thing, you will learn that it generally comes back within five years or may not come back at all. If it does it will be more aggressive and less responsive to treatments done in the past. All indicators as of now seem to be showing this to be true with Karen.

Here's the plan as of now:

Karen is scheduled for surgery on August 24th at Emery Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. The surgeon will attempt to get a biopsy of the tumor and even remove as much as he can. This would be like putting the cherry on top to put it in perspective. Once the biopsy has been to the labs (results will be sent to Duke University as well), the doctors will decide the next plan of action. The doctors are pretty sure that this thing is a stage 4 tumor which is the most aggressive. To complicate things, it is also a little deeper in the brain than the first bout. Once they can verify that it is stage 4, Karen will then be eligible and a good candidate for clinical trial medicines. The doctors say there is alot of good stuff out there, but to not forget that it is still a trial. Because of this, there are some negative things associated with some of these drugs and treatments. While we are very hopeful that something will work, we know that something may not, so please pray for Karen and Doug and the kids. Karen will be off work for six weeks recovering at home. My parents will be staying with them to help with the kids and try to keep things as smooth and normal for everyone involved.

I hope this blog will be useful to everyone who know Karen and Doug. My hope is that Karen or Doug might take over this blog during the six weeks of her recovery. I think it might even be therapeutic in some weird way. If you have any questions, suggestions, etc., please let me hear em.

Finally, in response to those of you who have asked how they can help or have offered money, I have opened a donation fund in Karen's name at the Bank of America. I chose this bank because there are some here and some in Georgia for those of you there. Please don't think I'm asking for money. I simply did it in response to those of you who have asked about it. I do know as many of you do, that no one can prepare for the financial burden that any medical condition can present to your family. Even with good insurance! There will be many tanks of gas used for doctors visits and all of the miscellaneous or "little things" that aren't covered by insurance. She will get paid for some of her time off, but not all of it. Again, Karen needs prayers more than anything and we will deal with the bills later. If you are one of the people wanting to donate, you will have to go to your nearest Bank of America and tell them you would like to make a donation to the Karen Means Medical Fund Established in Arkansas. Sorry I could not make this Internet accessible, but the bank will not let you give any info about the account over the internet such as Facebook or My Space. I look forward to hearing from all of you and tell anyone else wanting to know the facts about Karen and the latest. Later!