Marianne Kalem Marianne (Mimi) Kalem

Welcome to Marianne’s page. We are using this to keep family and friends updated in one place. You can find updates on her condition, treatment, and support options as well as write  notes of encouragement or hope. We appreciate your support, healing prayers, and love. 

Marianne’s journey began when she started feeling pain behind her shoulder blade followed by digestive discomfort, it seems these symptoms came almost overnight. She sought out medical treatment, chiropractic care, and massage therapy for her back pain and used antacids for her stomach issues. Neither of these treatments worked with much satisfaction and two months later she reluctantly found herself in the emergency room for tightness under her rib cage and the pain and discomfort she had been feeling for sometime. She then underwent an ultrasound that detected a mass on her pancreas and “spots” on her liver which indicated that further testing was needed. After a CT scan of her abdomen, it was learned that Marianne had a large mass in the tail of her pancreas, several lesions within her liver, and a conglomerate of tissues in her lymph nodes. Of course these test results created a lot of unease and concern; the doctors recommended that she undergo a liver biopsy to analyze her tissues. On November 22, 2017 Marianne, together with her son and daughter-in-law (Curtis and Audrey Patterson), learned that she had stage IV pancreatic cancer. The diagnosis was heartbreaking. While still in shock from the news, the doctors explained that Marianne’s condition was only treatable with chemotherapy in hopes to shrink the tumor size and stall the disease from spreading to other organs. 


Marianne will begin her first cycle of chemotherapy on December 8th. Each cycle involves a 5-6 hour infusion at the Kaiser oncology clinic in Roseville and then a two-day infusion at home. She is allowed a maximum of 2 visitors each time she is in the clinic. Together with her support team, Marianne will be seeking second and third opinions from some of the top oncology clinics in the nation. We will keep this site updated with any new information from these visits. 

Marianne and her family are very hopeful that she can fight her disease for as long as possible. She has a grand baby to hold in April of 2018 and that is a huge motivating factor.  She feels that with the support of her family and friends she will be able stay positive, stay strong, and persevere. 

Bring a smile to Marianne’s face by posting a memory or well wishes in the space below.  Please explore the "Ways To Help" page for instructions on meal delivery and other helpful tasks. 


PLEASE NOTE, IF YOU ARE COMPELLED TO DONATE TO MARIANNE PLEASE USE GOFUNDME, NOT CARING BRIDGE. THE CARING BRIDGE DONATIONS DO NOT GO TO MARIANNE.