Karen Gelvin

Welcome to Karen's CaringBridge website.  We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your prayers, support and words of hope and encouragement. Please know that we love all of your texts, phone calls, and emails. We will always do our best to reach back  to you, but if it takes a bit, please know that we appreciate each and everyone of you. Thank you for visiting.


A quick update for those that may not be fully aware of Karen's story.  She was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer last January of 2017. When the cancer was found the tumor had made its way through the stomach lining and into about 3 to 4 surrounding lymph nodes. It had metastasized to her bones, along with a spot on her liver. She has received very good care at The University of Kansas Cancer Centers. She immediately was placed with a specialist in gastro-cancers and started 2 chemo treatments in March of 2017. She had a rough first round with a terrible reaction to her lungs from one of the chemo treatments. She continued on the other and did wonderful have a great spring and early summer. In June, she was selected to be placed on a trial drug. We were all so encouraged by this news hoping it was going to bring even better results than the chemo. She was doing so well until a cough came on beginning in late July. At the time the doctor felt that this cough was caused by the trial drug and so she kept on with steroids to help relieve the cough. She continued to feel pretty good other than the cough and always looked so great, still enjoying so much of the fun things in life with family and friends.  However, the cough never subsided, so she was removed from the trial in October of 2017 and placed back on the original chemo. Unfortunately, the cough only got worse and she started to have trouble breathing. On December 16th she went into the hospital with lots of fluid on her lungs, they drained it and samples went out to the lab. She was home on the 21st and it was a wonderful Christmas weekend where she finally felt pretty good again. She started to feel short of breath again a few days after Christmas and she was back in the hospital New Years Eve. We started 2018 with the news we had all been fearing from that first reaction to her lungs, that it had spread there. They placed a drain in her side where she could drain the fluid at home when it built up. A new plan was now in place; a new chemo treatment every week for 3 weeks, and  then 1 week off. Continue Karen's story through the journal updates.