Post chemo dayzzz

Day 2

Thursday, April 10th

The day after my chemo infusion… felt foggy and tired today. I rested on the couch most of the day but had enough energy to go for a walk with Jamie and the kids in the afternoon!

Day 3

Friday, April 11th

Oh boy… a little nauseous waking up this morning and more foggy. Took some Zofran for the nausea and that helped take the edge off. My mouth feels messed up… it hurts and almost feels inflamed and very dry! I have been doing baking powder rinses in hopes that will help. Had some toast during the day and making sure to drink 1-2 liters (ughhhhh I am drowning guys lol I hate water)! Later in the evening I had more of an appetite and ate pizza which actually tasted really good! I talked to my Mom and Dad over the phone that night and shed some tears…. just really nervous for the days ahead and what that will look like. They say days 4-7 will be the worst….

Day 4

Saturday, April 12th

Ohhhhhh LORD…. this sucks!! It was like chemo smacked me in the face this morning and said “Remember me”?? I could barely get from my bed to the couch. Extremely weak, foggy, achy all over with bone pain including my teeth! My face is very flush and feels very hot! Literally just putting icepacks straight to my face haha! I feel short of breath even when resting. My mouth… what is happening to my mouth!! Still very dry and now I have a nasty metallic taste that doesn’t go away. I don’t feel like eating anything including things I LOVE like coffee…. which I never thought possible!! Guys… it’s also snowing today… in April… because why not lol!!! Oh and I have this weird floater/bright light thing going on in the corners of my eyes. I texted Alyssa.. one of my good friends who’s an infusion nurse. She then texted her pharmacist for her input and said its most likely a side effect from chemo. Phew! Thought I was losing an eye ball or something!! OK on a serious note…. it was a tough day. Like really really tough. I cried a lot… thinking I am only on day 4 out of 90ish…. is just beyond daunting.

Day 5

Sunday, April 13th

Not as bad as yesterday but still feeling pretty crappy! I got up to pee about 20 times in the middle of the night… not sure what was up with that. Woke up feeling very achy, weak, nauseas and also super jittery/anxious. I took Tylenol, Zofran and Ativan and slept the entire morning! In the afternoon I had enough energy to take an epsom salt bath. While I was in there I decided to wash my hair that is a current grease pit. I did an apple cider vinegar rinse with WEN conditioner and it was LOVELY!!! I was super gentle and barely any hair came out!! Although typically hair loss usually occurs around day 14…. prayinnnngg I don’t lose too much!! I did a lot of resting this weekend! Friends and family made it a fun weekend for the kids and I am so grateful for that! Lots of meal drop-offs and so much kindness! Thank you everyone!!!

Day 6

Monday, April 14th

Shocker… I woke up foggy and totally out of it this morning… seems like this is a pattern! I took another epsom salt bath today which helped with my achiness and bone pain. This afternoon Jamie asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I looked at him like you have got to be kidding me! I mean I can barely make it to the bathroom and back without huffing and puffing. But I have been pretty miserable stuck inside and fresh air did sound nice! What the hell… I will try! I held Andis hand as we walked down the street. I must have looked like her grandmother because my speed was about a solid 1mph lol. I knew my body couldn’t do a full loop around our neighborhood so we veered off and went down to the baseball field… yes we have a baseball field literally in our backyard. Once we got there I laid in the grass… fetal positon haha and caught my breath. I was so proud of myself! I just laid there on the ground watching Jamie play with the kids… it was a good moment! The walk back felt easier and we even had dinner outside!

PS. Thank you Jamie for being able to see a glimpse of my strength during one of my weakest moments. Love you so much Baba!

Day 7

Tuesday, April 15th

Yup…. woke up foggy again lol!! My MIL came over to help with laundry. I sat on the ground and helped sort clothes. After a while I started getting tired and took another epsom salt bath! Just that alone made me super tired. I rested on the couch and then my Mom and Aunt ended up coming over in the afternoon to help us get ready for camp and clean our camper! Thank you to all my cleaners & babysitters today (Mom, Kathy, Kim & Aunt Barb)! So very thankful!! Jamie and Andi played softball at a friends house so it was just Zacky and I. Honestly I was SO tired but sucked it up and wanted to have a fun night with my little man! We played Jenga and pie face (yes… we both got pie faced lol)! Made huge ice-cream sundaes and then cuddled in his bed and watched a basketball game on my Ipad. Love my one on one time with my kiddos and I wasn’t letting cancer ruin our time together!!

Thank you for all your love & support

KPow

Chemo infusion #1

Wednesday April 9th

8:10 am (Rise and shine)!

Woke up feeling nervous but excited to start kicking Freds ass! Jamie dropped the kids off at school and then we left shortly after that. Guys… I honestly couldn’t have been more prepared. It looked like we were leaving for Hawaii hahah!! SO many bags…

On the car ride up I took an Ativan and applied a huge glob of lidocaine cream on my port site and covered it with a tegaderm (this makes port access pain free)!! And the Ativan was to bring my pulse down from 200 haha!!

9:30 am (Lab draw)

We arrived at Wentworth Douglas Hospital!! I could tell the Ativan had kicked in because I felt calm and relaxed. Lab draw was first! Went to the lab and the tech accessed my port (PAIN FREE thanks to the lido)! I popped in a mint to help with the nasty saline rush you taste in your mouth! But I barely tasted it with the mint!! The perks of doing this the second time and knowing all the tips and tricks!

11:30 am (Meet with Nurse Practitioner)

After blood draw we then went upstairs to the infusion waiting room. Things are slow during this process as they need to get blood work results before seeing me. Thanks to my Ipad and 100 activities I packed we stayed busy lol! They finally called me in and I saw Rachel, one of the Nurse Practitioners. She was super super nice!! She went over my blook work results.. white blood cells are super high (I guess from the steroids) but this is a great sign as they will most likely plummet over time.

12:00 pm (Infusion chair)!

The infusion chair!!! Again… really no nerves at all. Calm as a cucumber! I started prepping for my cold cap right away. I used a spray bottle to wet the scalp of my hair and combed it backwards. I then applied conditioner to the entire top of my head (this helps with the hair sticking to the cold cap during removal). Then the wicked hot forehead protectors get placed… AKA maxipads LOL!! Then used cotton rounds to fill in any spots where my skin was exposed. I have a widows peak (Jamie used to call it a mountain peak in highschool hahah)! Once my hair/forehead was prepped I put on the first inner cap and then placed the outer cap on top! It gets tightened with straps that Jamie helped me with! It felt SO TIGHT…. which is a good thing but ouch!! My infusion nurse popped in to say hi and introduce herself… her name was Courtney… 30 years old and cute as a button! She explained that we need to run fluids for about a half hour, then start cold capping which will take another half hour THEN chemo!! OK shoot…. I shouldn’t have put this chemo cap on my head so early lol. I did mention to the nurse the cap ALREADY felt tight and I was nervous about the pain. She gave me Advil & Tylenol which took the edge off!

1:00 pm (Cold capping)!

Cold cap time!! Jamie adjusted the straps one more time to make sure everything was super tight. I looked like a chipmunk who was ready for Outerspace LOL!! She hooked my cold cap up to the machine and there was an instant rush of coolness to my head. There was an initial shock that lasted maybe 10 minutes but then I was totally fine!! 15 minutes before chemo started I put on my hand & feet icepacks… this helps with neuropathy symptoms and gross nail stuff!! I bought another set of icepacks because we learned the hard way and it was difficult to keep the icepacks cold the entire time.. Courtney said she can put a set in their freezer next time and alternate them! Perfect!!

1:30 pm (Its chemo time)!

CHEMO TIME!! No tears and no fears! Just ready to kick Freds butt!!!! The chemo infusion lasted about 3 hours long and I took the best nap ever and listened to Andy Grammar (some great inspirational songs on his new album FYI). After the chemo infusion was complete I had another 1.5 hours of cold capping!

6:10 pm (Time to go home)!

Finally cold capping is complete and we are ready to go home!! (After a NINE hour day)!! Courtney placed an on-body injector to my left arm. This will automatically inject a medication called Udenyca 27 hours later (so around 8PM tomorrow night)! This will hopefully keep my white blood cells called neutrophils at a normal level and help with infection and getting sick.

The day after…

I feel OK… just groggy and foggy! Spent the entire day on my couch resting, blogging and catching up on messages. Kids will be home so about to unplug and spend time with them and move my bod. I should start feeling crummy around day 3-4 and that apparently lasts for a week or so. So trying to enjoy just being foggy for now lol!

Whats next:

Wednesday April, 16th- Follow-up appointment to check labs and see how I am doing

Wednesday April, 30th- 2nd chemo infusion

Wednesday May 21st- 3rd chemo infusion

Love you all so much!!

KPow

Port Placement

Monday April, 7th

Jamie and I went to Frisbee Hospital in Rochester to get my port placed. Wentworth Douglas Hospital sends a lot of their patients there as they are inudated with patients and needing ports placed. I was a little skeptical as one of the nurses from WDH literally said over the phone “ohhhhh… youre going there”… and quickly said “don’t worry a lot of our patients get there ports there and it goes well”. HAH… I wasn’t worried until you made that comment! On our way there Jamie and I were dying… run down houses… one roof was 100% covered with green moss… lol yikkesss!

Boy were we all wrong!! My nurse was SO nice, attentive and kind. One of the male nurses was a Veteran and got my IV placed after ONE try!! Such a great experience. I forgot how intense the process was though… during pre-op they hooked me up to an EKG and blood pressure was running every 5 minutes or so. Doctor Boss (not sure I will forget that name lol) came in and went over the procedure. Basically a port is a small device that is placed under your skin on the right or left side of your chest. It provides easy access to a large vein to deliver chemo, blood draws and fluids which reduces the need for frequent needle sticks… YAY! I asked if it was possible to have my port incision on top of the scar I already have. You could tell that wouldn’t have been his preference but said it’s doable! Awesome… ONE scar! LET’S DO THIS DR. BOSS!

I was brought into the procedure room and they started going to town hooking me up to another EKG machine.. prepping the area with a very cold antiseptic cleanser. They put a bar over my head and had a drape over it to keep everything sterile. I had a small peak hole I could see out of! I was given Fentanyl and some heavy drugs that made me sleepy but I never fell asleep and could talk to the staff the entire teim. BOSS came in and gave me a few shots of local lidocaine (that was honestly the only part that was a bit painful). Everything else went smoothly!

Post-op was interesting!! I was SO DROWSY and out of it. We picked up the kids from my parents house and I basically just crashed on the couch while they ate dinner. Went home and was still so out of it! I didn’t like the feeling and it hurt way more than I remember. I took Ibuprofen which helped! By the next morning I was a little sore/groggy but totally fine!!

KPOW

Meeting my Breast Surgeon

WOW guys…. navigating Breast Cancer Treatment is a full-time job!!! I don’t remember it being this time consuming. I am so sorry it took so long to do a blog post/update. I will try and be better about blogging right away! Unhinged and unedited…..

Monday, March 17th

Jamie and I left the house at 6AM to meet my parents at their house (WHY are all my appointments at the ass crack of dawn)?! If y’all know me… I like my sleep! This schedule is not working for me lol! We didn’t get pulled over though… so that’s a plus… most likely because Jamie was driving haha! We picked up my parents and headed to Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic in Lebanon to meet my Surgeon Kari Rosenkranz! Eeeeeeek! I was so nervous about this appointment!!

Kari is lovely

What an amazing human being… within minutes I just knew we were going to vibe so well! She started off by telling me this cancer is the exact same as last time. Invasive ductal carcinoma, estrogen positive, HER2 negative, high grade. The only difference is last time it was progesterone positive but other than that SAME cancer! Literally Fred came back… WTF!

Chemo/Surgery/Radiation

She reviewed my scans and felt chemo, surgery and radiation were going to be in my near future. She just wasn’t sure which order. She said she would reach out to my oncologist and get back to me in regards to next steps. CHEMO…. OK I think I just vomited a little bit in my mouth when she said those words. UGH…. but OK keep it together Kelly… you are strong… get through this appointment/day and you can break down later.

Fred has kids

Freds kids are the absolute WORST lol!! Kari confirmed there are 2 lesions… the most recent lump and the lump that was found back in September of 2023. They biopsied it then and confirmed it was scar tissue but because it has grown and the “morphology” looks funky Kari is pretty confident this lesion is cancer too. Freds kids suck and need to go!!! Should I name these kids… I feel like I should… comment below what you think lol!

PET Scan

She could tell I was in the medical field by the way I was talking… I told her I was a nurse and looked over my scans. I told her I was a little concerned about a few things. 1- Uptake on my right rib (this appears to be from an old fracture rib or radiation). 2- Small liver lesion was noted (appears to be a cyst) 3- Uptake on my SI joint (but I know this is an old lady problem/arthritis lol). I told her “It all looks good on paper… but I tend to be in that 1% shit luck category”. I didn’t say those EXACT words hahah but she could tell I was concerned. She agreed to schedule a PET scan! Can I get a HALLELUJAH!!!!! I have been wanting a PET for 7 years now! It was approved by insurance and scheduled for next Thursday!

Staging

I asked her about staging… and her response was that they don’t stage recurrences. Interesting!! My previous cancer was stage 3 because Fred was GIGANTIC! She said if we had to stage this it would be around stage 1. I liked hearing that even though it means nothing considering Fred is a beast and obviously super aggressive! But it was a nice to hear regardless.

Surgery

What else… OH surgery lol! So that sounds like it’s going to be a situation… she said implants need to come out regardless and she basically needs to do another bilateral mastectomy. She said due to your skin already being radiated and possibly needing it again we might not be able to do implants and if we do they will be much smaller. Another possibility is to do a diep flap which uses skin, fat, and blood vessels from the lower belly or other areas to rebuild the breast. OR go the aggressive route and do a radical mastectomy… this takes everything including your chest wall muscle and going flat…. lots of decisions to make in the future and I am grateful I don’t have to make them right this minute!

Chemo first

Dr. Civiello (my oncologist) called later that evening and said she spoke with Kari. She said she wants to start chemo as soon as possible. The chemo drugs will be Taxotere and Cytoxan. I allowed myself to have a sad few days. I mean this all sucks… really bad!!! After my pitty party was over I was able to find a few silver linings. 1- I will be cold capping and trying to save my hair!!! Financial aid will also be covering this expense with is huge!! YAY!

Upcoming Appts:

*Medical ongology/chemo appt: TODAY 3-21-25 *PET Scan: Thursday 3-27-25

Love you all so much!!! Thank you everyone for all the love and support. Jamie and I are truly blown away by everyone’s generosity. Feels good to know I am not alone and Kpows tribe has my back!

KPOW

CT & Bone Scan ✔️

Wednesday, March 12th

Back to Dartmouth Hitchcock in Lebanon! I was so thankful my Husband Jamie was able to join me. He has been so amazing! We got there at 11:45 and started “prepping” for the scans. First was prepping for the bone scan and getting IV access for the radioactive tracer. The tech stuck me 2 times and was like… “I’m going to get Ryan… he’s really good”. Ryan comes and was able to get access no problem! Then we went to CT prep… which is a huge water bottle of contrast. I chose raspberry lemonade flavor… and no it didn’t taste good hahah!! I had to drink 8 oz every hour or so! She told me I couldn’t eat anything once I started drinking the contrast and I needed to start in 20 minutes! AHHHHH I didn’t eat lunch yet and was pretty hungry… so we ran to the food court and scoffed down food!! I was then scheduled for a blood draw! I assumed they would use the IV access to draw blood but she was like hmmmm… we would need the IV team to come and do that and that will take 30 minutes for them to come. Which wouldn’t have worked because I had to be at the bone scan for a certain time. So they had to stick me AGAIN!!! gahhhh!

CT scan was a piece of cake! SUPER quick and easy! The bone scan lasted roughly 20 minutes and was also easy peasy! We left around 3:45- 4 hours in total!

Bone scan results are in and from what I understand my SI joint *near hips* is unchanged since 2018 and showing arthritic/degenerative changes. There is an increased uptake in the fifth right rib. Report says ” Due to appearance on CT, location, and solitary in nature this is favored to be a healed fracture. No definite metastases are present”. I just need to pray that this is nothing!!

KPOW

My Breast Cancer has returned…

Here I am… blogging about f*cking Fred AGAIN. I honestly can’t believe it. Before I dive deep into ALL the feels I want to take you back to when I found the lump and leading up to this news. I started writing a few weeks ago prior to finding out about the recurrence but never posted anything. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe I knew deep down I would need this space again.

2 Weeks ago

Toward the end of January I noticed a new lump. Of course, it’s on the right side where Fred was… those of you who don’t know (I named my breast cancer Fred back in 2018 when I was first diagnosed)! The lump is underneath my breast located at 5:00 sharp lol. This lump feels VERY different from my last scare I had back in 2023 (which ended up being scar tissue). That felt hard and globular and this one feels smooth/oval shaped. My initial thought is it must be a cyst or a seroma. Not too concerned I scheduled a follow-up with my breast surgeon.

Appt with Stacy on 2/13: Due to my Breast Surgeon moving down South years ago, I was referred to Kari Rosenkranz, a Breast Surgeon at Dartmouth Hitchcock in Lebanon. I have yet to meet her which I think is SO bazaar! But I guess I don’t need to meet her until something needs to be removed from my body lol. In the meantime, I have been seeing her PA, Stacy yearly for check-ups who is wonderful! She did a breast exam today and was unfortunately super wishy-washy. She wasn’t sure what the lump could be. I finally blurted out “do you think its cancer”!!!?? She said well based on your original pathology and treatment plan I never thought it would come back… BUT you just never know. WELL F*CK STACY!!! lol!! Like not what I wanted to hear at all. She said we need to get an ultrasound and then go from there. Ugh… I was really hoping she would be able to give me an idea of what it could be. While my Mom and I were checking out tears fell… this is HARD

ULTRASOUND- February 21st: I went in for my ultrasound today… hopeful it was just a cyst and I would be on my way. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The radiologist was unsure what the lump could be and recommending a biopsy. I asked the tech if the radiologist would be willing to come in and chat with me real quick. I heard her on the phone asking for him to come see me and when she returned she said “he really doesn’t know and if he could provide any further information he would come in”. OK first of all this is such BULLSHIT… being a nurse in the medical field if a patient was asking to speak with me I would be there regardless if I could provide any further information or not…. it’s called providing comfort to your patient during an uneasy time…. so shame on him!!! OK vent sesh complete… moving on haha! I bit my lip hard… “Don’t cry Kelly, DON’T cry”!! The tech scheduled the biopsy while I was still in the room… she said March 13th is the earliest we can fit you in… ummmm OK you are NUTS if you think I am going to wait 3 weeks AND go in on the 13th… like nope not happening but sure pencil me in lol! I grabbed my Mom in the waiting room and couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

I love our hometown: I crossed my fingers and messaged a friend from high school who works in the rad dept to see if she could pull any strings and get me in earlier. She got back to me right away and said “I will get you in next week no problem”. I was SO relieved!! She scheduled my biopsy for next Friday! So grateful for our amazing hometown and the beautiful people in it! I was also so happy to hear that Dr. Noce (the radiologist who has performed all my previous biopsies will be doing this one)! YAY!

BIOPSY- February 27th: Walking in was beyond nerve racking… I was literally shaking in my boots!! Dr. Noce walked in and I was like “We really need to stop meeting like this” lol! He was so thorough and took me step by step through the process. He first looked at the lump with ultrasound and was like “hmmm this is very close to your implant making the biopsy a little tricky”. He had to reposition and go in from the left side where there was more tissue. With no surprise he did it was ease and was able to get 2 samples AND not pop my implant… phew lol! He totally seemed stumped though… he said it could be leakage from the silicone implant. Honestly, I think he is reaching and just trying to make me feel better. I have 50/50 feels on this one. Coin toss flip here we go…

Monday, March 3rd: I stayed home Monday thinking I would be getting biopsy results and they never fricken called. It was brutal… my resting heart rate that day must have been 205!!

Now

Tuesday, March 4th (The phone call): I was scheduled to work. At first I was like eeeek I am not sure this is a good idea… but after spending the day at home on Monday and almost losing my mind I decided to go. Of course, my anxiety was high but being at work was a good distraction! At 12:36 on the DOT I was standing at my med cart when I looked down and noticed THE NUMBER. I quickly picked up my phone and said “OMG Dr. Noce… I am in the middle of a med pass… I am going to find a closet… ahhh I am freaking out”. He said “OK let me know when you are ready”. I dove into our small kitchenette that no one was in. Out of breath and feeling like I was going to pass out I said “OK I am ready”. He replied in a sad voice “It’s cancer Kelly, I am so sorry “. I responded “F*CK…. F****CK”!!!! Looking back I’m like whooops hahahah I didn’t mean to swear but it just came out! When I received “the call” back in 2018 I legit blacked out and don’t remember anything he said… so this time I was like BREATHE KELLY… concentrate and listen to what he has to say. He explained it is the same type of breast cancer… invasive ductal carcinoma, small in size, approximately 1cm and he said Kelly the good news is it doesn’t seem to have lymphovascular involvement.. meaning it doesn’t look like it has spread to the lymph nodes. We chatted for a little longer and what needs to happen next. I hung up the phone… went into the office and literally BROKE DOWN…. my head nurse was sitting at her desk and I remember just falling into her lap. I think I was on the ground at one point… hahahah I honestly don’t remember! I got the strength to get up though… I remained in the office and called my husband first… I said “its cancer Jame”. I hated that phone call.. I hated knowing I was about to break everyones hearts today…. I called my Mom next and then quickly and painfully counted my med cart with another nurse (legally I had to and I get that)… I gave more hugs and then FLEW to the rehab unit… I tried to keep my head down and just get there as fast as I could… I got to the unit and told my nurse friends my cancer returned… they all held me tight and gave me the biggest group hug. Something I will always remember. I then ran out of there sobbing… breathing was difficult (I think they call that a panic attack)? I called my sister quickly in the parking lot. I got in my care and noticed Stacy was calling. “How are you doing Kelly”… trying to gasp for air I said “not good”. She said she was in Florida for a conference but was going to call Kari/my surgeon immediately and get things rolling. I made it home (somehow)! Ran inside and held my husband tight… it was awful and gut wrenching. My parents were next… then my in-laws. We just sat in my living room in disbelief. My rockstar sister took my kids back to her house after school. I needed some time to let this sink in and gain composure.

Telling my children: My Sister dropped the kids off around 4:30pm that day…. 4 hours after receiving the news. I don’t think any amount of time would have prepared me for this conversation. These 2 human beings are my WORLD. Leaving them has always been my absolute worst fear. My husband and I sat them down… I wanted it to be light and positive… so holding back tears was a MUST…. one of the hardest things I have EVER done. I told them that Mommys breast cancer has returned but I am SO strong… and I beat it once and will beat it again!

Suprise! Shortly after telling the kids there was a knock at the door. I went to see who it was and it was my Best Friend from Maine. She travelled all the way down to be with me!! She slept over, braided my daughters hair in the morning, made lunch box notes for the kids, brought me to lunch, did errands and kept it SO light and normal. Now thats a best f*cking friend! I love her so much

Whats next: One of my providers suggested going down to Boston for a second opinion… unfortunately my insurance is out of network! I have asked my oncologist like 3 times who she wants me to see for a surgeon and she has said over and over “I think there is no one better than Kari Rosenkranz”. So I am sticking to Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic in Lebanon and seeing Kari! LFG!

Upcoming appts: 3/11- MRI, 3/12- CT and Bone Scan, 3/17- Surgeon

Faith

Minus a few tears when seeing family and friends… I have had a peace and calm over me the past few days. Praying to God A LOT… like I am pretty sure he is sick of hearing from me lol! I have an overwhelming amount of faith that everything is going to be OK. I mean honestly… ask me in a few days and I might feel the exact opposite haha! But thankful for this moment of calmness I feel. I have an ARMY…. like a legit ARMY behind me. I will not fight alone and I am so very thankful for that. A HUGE thank you to all the comfort gifts, flowers, food/meals, messages, phone calls, drop-ins, drop-offs, hugs, support etc! This SUCKKKKKS but I have SO much to fight for!!!! Love you all!

KPOW 👊

After each post I will leave a little reply section for anyone who wants to leave a comment/message or has a question!! I have not been able to respond to most social media comments or DMs but please know I do read them and they give me so much strength and hope!!! For updates… I plan on blogging often… if not daily! I will also continue sharing my journey on Instagram which has been such an amazing platform with the most amazing breast cancer community!!! Instagram Username: @kmorin1021

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Kpows 4th Annual Run-Raiser

On November 11th, 2024 my friends and I ran a 5K at the Manchester City Marathon!! I totally got choked up during my run… I can’t believe it has been 6 years since being diagnosed with breast cancer. While I was running I thought about how horrible and scary those days were but how beautiful life turned out! I am so thankful to be a survivor and be able to do this fundraiser every year.

A lot of people ask why I don’t choose to support and run in breast cancer organized races. My answer is… I like to know where the money is going. I personally don’t trust a lot of the larger organizations. Little of their funds actually go toward stage 4 breast cancer research. So by creating my own fundraiser I am able to directly support patients going through treatment in my community and support METAvivor (an organization in which 100% of their funding goes toward stage 4 breast cancer research).

RESULTS: I reached my 3K goal and raised a total of $3,175 and was able to donate $1,000 to METAvivor!! With the remainer of the funds I donated 3 large gift baskets filled with individual care and comfort gifts to the following cancer centers:

  • Norris Cotton Cancer Center
  • Lahey Hematology and Oncology
  • Solinsky Cancer Center

Thank you family, friends and breasties!! This fundraiser would not be possible without you!!

6 year cancerversary

I celebrated SIX years of being cancer free a month ago on April 16th, 2024. Guys… the fact I am still living…. no THRIVING six years later is absolutely mind blowing.

***TRIGGER WARNING***

I will never forget the day I was diagnosed…. I was feeding the kids lunch in the dining room when I heard my phone ringing… it was the radiologist… and he had the results. During the biopsy he told me “DO NOT answer the phone alone… make sure someone is with you OK?” Guys…. you know that’s EXACTLY what I did LOL. I felt like I already knew before I picked up the phone… I KNEW it was cancer. My gut was telling me this ever since I found my lump months prior. And my biopsy was on Friday the 13th… so if that wasn’t a dead giveaway I don’t know what was lol!! Anyways… do you think I was going to call Jamie or my Mom… wait for them to come to the house and then call him back? HELL NO… I needed to know NOW. I ran into the living room… hands were shaking and my heart was racing… “hello”… “Hi Kelly, I am so sorry to give you this news but its cancer”. I blacked out… I remember getting out a pad of paper and scribbling some dates down… my hands continued to tremble… my heart was racing… I couldn’t breathe. “Kelly… I assume you won’t remember much of this conversation, call me back later”. I hung up the phone…. and I sobbed. This was the first time I truly felt numb… frightened… scared…. and well… F*CK THIS. From there Jamie was the first person I called followed by Mom and my Mother-in-law. They immediately came over. I honestly can’t remember what I did while I waited. I remember not being able to look at Andi and Zack… for some reason it was too painful. All I could think of is losing them…. and worse them losing me. Lots of tears, shock and emotions filled the living room that afternoon. But I will say I felt loved… protected… and I knew I was going to kick cancers ass with the most amazing people standing by my side. I never once felt alone battling this horrible disease.

Fastforward 6 years later… it’s a memory… a distant but sometimes not so distant… horrible… beautiful memory.

Thanks for being here in this space with me.

Happy 6 years KPOW ❤

Kpows 3rd Annual Run-Raiser

Hi friends!

I just realized (6 months later) that I never “posted” this draft lol! The results of my 3rd annual runraiser!

My runraiser was SO SPECIAL this year. I celebrated my FIVE year cancerversary!! One of my friends suggested choosing a 5K race… “5K for 5 years cancer free”! I loved the idea so much I picked the 5k CMC Manchester City Marathon race which was held on November 12th, 2023. I was hoping to get a few friends to run with me this year and I was absolutely blown away by the amount of friends and family who signed up!

A lot of people ask why I don’t choose to support and run in breast cancer organized races. My answer is… I like to know where the money is going. I personally don’t trust a lot of the larger associations. Little of their funds actually go toward stage 4 breast cancer research. So by creating my own fundraiser I am able to directly support patients going through treatment and support METAvivor (an organization in which 100% of their funding goes toward stage 4 breast cancer research).

THE RESULTS:

I raised a total of $2,760!!! I was able to donate 4 large baskets of care and comfort gifts to 4 cancer centers!! Lahey Oncology and Hematology, Norris cotton cancer center, Solinsky cancer center and Payson cancer center! $600 was donated to METAvivor!!!!!

Alyssa, a good friend and nurse who works at one of the infusion centers shared a heartwarming story after shortly delivering the baskets…. one of her new breast cancer patients had just shaved her head over the weekend in anticipation for chemo to start. Alyssa said she was crying and itching her scalp under her winter hat. Alyssa knew exactly what she needed and grabbed my basket of goodies. The patient chose a soft head wrap which she immediately put on her head and which helped with the itchiness and gave her immediate comfort. She said she felt empowered and wants to do something similar once she’s done treatment. Holy crap guys… this story is the very reason why I do this fundraiser every year. To help comfort patients… to give them hope …and inspire/empower!! ❤️Hearing this story encourages me to continue these run-raisers and keep going!

THANK YOU everyone for your generous donations and making this fundraiser possible! It truly makes my heart so happy!

PHOTOS BELOW 🙂

Launched- 3rd Annual RunRaiser!

Hi everyone!!

I’m so excited to launch my 3rd annual run-raiser! I will be raising money through the month of October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month!!)

With the money raised I will be making large baskets of individual gifts for cancer patients and donating them to local cancer centers! Any additional funds will be donated to METAVIVOR (an organization that uses 100% of their funds for metastatic breast cancer research.) 

I will be running a 5K to celebrate 5 YEARS cancer free on November 12th!! Contact me for race info if you’re interested in running with me.

TO DONATE: Click the link! https://gofund.me/9bb4453a

Follow me on Instagram & Facebook for updates!

Thank you SO MUCH for your continued love & support! This fundraiser would not be possible without your donations!

KPOW ❤