Emily Koch

Welcome to our CaringBridge site. We've created it to keep friends and family updated. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement during this time when it matters most.
On 6/23/2016, a Caring Bridge site was created for Emily Koch.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU to family and friends for your continued prayers for healing for Emily and for wisdom, strength and comfort for her doctors and family!  We have felt your prayers throughout this journey. God is with us!   


Phillipians 4:4-7: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.




2nd Corinthians 4:8-9:  We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken.  We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit.  We are hunted down, but God never abandons us.  We get knocked down, but we get up and keep going.


Hi everyone.  As you may or may not know by now, Emily Koch was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, stage 1-2 in May 2015.  On 5/13, Emily had an ultrasound for a hernia on her lower left abdomen and this scan also displayed a mass on Emily right ovary.  On 6/25, Emily had surgery to repair the hernia on her left side and also had surgery to remove both ovaries and fallopian tubes.  A small amount of cancer was found outside the ovary in the surgery wash & fallopian tubes. As a result, her oncologist prescribed six sessions of chemo, one every three weeks starting 7/27. After completing all six grueling chemo sessions, on 12/11, Emily’s oncologist stated that tests show Emily was cancer free. 


Unfortunately, in mid-March 2016, Emily started having stomach issues.  Doctors in Florida gave her medication for acids in her stomach and recommended a special diet of foods.  Emily had some OK stomach days, then bad days.  When she returned to MN in mid-April 2016, Emily was having more bad stomach days then good.  On 4/25, a CT scan showed that Emily’s ovarian cancer had returned in her stomach, small intestine and 3 small spots on her liver (stage 3-4 ovarian cancer). This cancer was causing the blockage that was giving Emily digestive issues.  On 5/1, Emily was put on a liquid diet only.  Next, Emily received 5 days of chemotherapy for her ovarian cancer on May 9-13.  Unfortunately, on 5/16, Emily was admitted into Mercy hospital with total digestive blockage.  No food or liquids would pass through her digestive system and she continued to throw up until a tube was inserted thru her nose into her stomach to drain the stomach fluids.  On 5/17, Emily was moved to ICU with high heart rate and temperature due to a blood infection, which, thankfully, was treatable.  On 5/19, Emily was moved out of ICU back to a normal hospital room to re-gain strength. Her white counts& platelets were below normal due to the chemotherapy the week before. On 5/20, Emily started TPN (total parenteral nutrition), which is intravenous feeding that provides patients with all the fluid and the essential nutrients they need when they are unable to digest solid & liquid foods.  On 5/27, Emily’s doctors performed minor surgery to put a g-tube into the left side of her stomach to drain bile and removed the drain tube from her nose.  On 5/31, Emily’s pain from the surgery was getting better, but now Emily had to deal with nausea. The nausea was making it difficult for Emily to move, sit up or stand.  On 6/4, Emily came home from Mercy hospital and started Home Care.  Emily’s nausea improved with medicine, but she was very weak.  Emily was hoping to re-gain strength and get ready for another round of chemo.Unfortunately, she continued to be weak and sleepy for the next week. She rarely opened her eyes and we could barely hear her speak.  On 6/13, Emily was admitted back into Mercy hospital with a sodium level of 166 (normal is 135-145).  Apparently, her sodium level was the reason for her sleepiness the past 8 days.  On 6/16, Emily started to look and feel better than she had since the beginning of April. Praise the Lord! We cannot express how fantastic it was to see Emily’s eyes sparkle and her talking away.  On 6/20, she came home again from Mercy hospital and again started Home Care.  Emily is hoping to re-gain strength and get ready for another round of chemo.  On 6/23/2016,a Caring Bridge site was created for Emily.