Karen Derepkowski

     On 12/10, we received some bad news. Karen started having abdominal swelling some time after Thanksgiving.  It gradually came on and on 12/10, it was time to get the swelling checked out, as it was making Karen pretty uncomfortable and short of breath.  We ended up in the emergency room, where it was determined that Karen has cancer. The CT was difficult to read because they couldn't use a contrast, a kind of dye, due to her kidneys not functioning well. 12/11 they removed fluid from her abdomen and took some biopsies of the area.  Karen felt better because the pressure had been removed and she was able to eat a good lunch and breakfast and was discharged home.
 
    Her first GYN oncology appointment (with Dr. Rader thru Froedtert) was 12/14.   They still don't know where the cancer originated, possibly ovaries, but for now they are saying she has a "pelvic mass."  There are multiple areas of concern and the biopsies from the abdominal wall and fluid came back positive for cancer, which puts her at stage 3c or 4.
 
    Karen is scheduled for surgery on 12/26 at Froedtert, where they will see if she needs a few rounds of chemo first, or if what they are looking at is clear, they will proceed with surgery that same day, which takes 4 to 6 hours.  They said she will be in the ICU many days and hopefully out of the hospital in approximately 7 days. Some sort of chemo regimen will begin at that point based on the type of cancer that she has.
 
    She will have another procedure (paracentesis) to drain the fluid of her abdomen Monday 12/17 to keep her comfortable until surgery. Until then, she is supposed to keep active and hydrated.


     Keep Karen in your prayers.  We will update as we have more information.  It seems weird to wish everyone a Merry Christmas despite the horrible news, but we sincerely mean it!!