Hi I am Lisa Lum and my sister Karen (37) died of breast cancer last year.
My husband Craig, my daughters Lucy and
Daisy and son George are all walking the 4.5km Mother’s Day Classic, Brisbane
on Mother’s Day to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
We invite you to join Karen’s
Army to walk with us, and fundraise and help us Declare War on Breast
cancer!
This is the link to the Mother's Day Classic website to register to join us.
http://www.mothersdayclassic.com.au/register-online
Karen was diagnosed just before her 35th birthday and was treated (we thought)
successfully until they found a 1 inch tumour growing in her brain at the time
of her 2 year check up. She received radiation treatment for the brain tumour
and it was not successful. The tumour returned and the cancer infiltrated her
spinal cord and brain stem. She was hospitalised for not being able to walk,
within days could not feed herself and within a month she passed away not being
able to speak or swallow or move. For anyone who knew Karen this was her worst
nightmare. Actually it was even worse than that.
My sister was awesome. She was funny and dry witted and had literally hundreds
of friends who loved her like a sister! She was the best Aunty in the world.
She loved food, her dog Barney, expresso martinis, Bundy Rum, The Reds - in
particular Mr Greg Holmes who came to visit her after her brain tumour
operation and walked her down the aisle as her pall bearer - "We love Greg
Holmes"!, her Mini Cooper, her freedom, her nieces and nephews, her
family, her friends, her home, handbags, clothes and shoes, shoes, shoes!
As her family we still cannot believe she is gone and we are struggling to come
to terms with losing her, trying to work out why she died, not scientifically
but philosophically. Why this is this her story? What will be her legacy?
This is where we will start: Trying to raise money to stop other sisters,
daughters, cousins, mothers, wives and girlfriends from being stripped of life
one sense at a time.
All we can do is raise money for research, remember her and try to save others.
For Karen - there is nothing we can do about the fact that she is gone.
She has never wanted this disease to define her and she has kept an amazing
blog diary of her journey up until she could not longer type about 1 month
before she passed away. Finding humour in my tumour expresses the inexplicable
emotions that challenged her every step of her journey with breast cancer.
Karen,
Your were so brave and strong.
We hope you are at peace.
We feel your presence every day.
We are your Army and we will still fight for you.
We love you Karen and miss you every day.
Your were so brave and strong.
We hope you are at peace.
We feel your presence every day.
We are your Army and we will still fight for you.
We love you Karen and miss you every day.
Lisa Lum (Karen Pandy's big sister)
General
Karen's Army
General
Karen's Army
Community Ambassador
MDC2013
MDC2013
