Kari Sinkula

Welcome to Kari's Caring Bridge website. The site is being used as a central place to keep everyone updated on Kari's condition and as a place where you can leave messages for her.  It's been difficult for her to respond to all the text messages she receives, so hopefully this will keep everyone informed of her condition and the details of her fight against Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC).  In addition to myself, Kari and Jerry  will be able to post on the site and Kari can respond to your posts when she's feeling well enough to do so. 


It was in August that Kari first noticed lumps forming at the base of her neck and top of her right shoulder, at the neckline.  After seeking chiropractic care, the lumps seemed to get smaller but she was referred by her doctor for an ultrasound on the area.  The ultrasound led to a biopsy, which led to the diagnosis of IBC.   IBC is a rare form of breast cancer and is extremely aggressive.  Kari's doctors acted swiftly, sending Kari and Jerry to several places in the metropolitan area in an attempt to get as much testing and as many scans done as quickly as possible, knowing there is no time to waste with IBC.  Kari's chemo treatments started 13 days after diagnosis; the typical length of time between diagnosis and treatment is 72 days.  Her first two months of treatment were with an extremely strong cocktail of chemo that she received every other week.  At the end of those treatments on October 29,  she now begins weekly chemo treatments on November 12.  


Jerry, who is still working from home because of Covid, has become Kari's record keeper, monitor of her medical portal, appointment maker, driver, and master of insisting that Kari eat well to keep up her strength.  A handful of friends have been helping with Kari's appointments, so that Jerry doesn't miss more work than necessary.   With this next round of chemo, Kari's immune system and white blood cell count will be very compromised, so physical exposure to others will be very restricted, given the situation with Covid.  However, she would love to see your messages on here and will be able to respond and post when she's feeling well enough to do so.