KAREN, TC: AN UPDATE

The blogosphere is a pretty amazing place, filled with some pretty amazing people.

Some are bloggers. Some are readers. Some are commenters. Some are all three; some are two; others, one.

In our burgeoning breast cancer blogging community, we have a special woman who is a faithful reader and commenter on so many of our blogs. She always signs her name "Karen, TC." I never knew what the "TC" stood for; I never asked. 

Turns out it means "The Commenter." How perfect. How clever.

I always looked forward to Karen, TC's comments...
She is a gifted writer who had no interest in starting her own blog. As she put it in a comment to me last month: 

"As you know i am not a blogger, i find such fulfillment in writing comments - to lend support, validate, comfort, encourage, commiserate, express gratitude for all the incredible insight bloggers like you impart, and share parts of hugh's and my dual cancer journey - every single day. writing injects a sense of balance and perspective, catharsis, and helps me get outside of myself - it's just such a tonic to be able to banish worry, which i consider another affliction cancer would just love to consume us with - writing is my way of saying, NO WAY!"

Karen is a cancer survivor in remission. In a cruel twist of fate, her beloved husband, Hugh, also had cancer — and also was in remission. They were so thrilled to both be NED! But last week, Karen found Hugh unresponsive at home, and he was rushed to the hospital. 

AnneMarie, of Chemobrain blog fame, is a staunch breast cancer advocate and beloved blogger; she immediately went into action, sending out a social media rally cry to round up support for Karen. AnneMarie's post "Karen the Commenter needs us" drew 61 comments (and counting!), and her blog became Command Central in terms of our communicating with Karen. (We're grateful she allowed us to hijack her blog. Thanks, AM!)

However, it is with deep sadness that I must tell you that Hugh passed away a few days ago. Karen is devastated. You can read about Hugh and his life here in another wonderful post by AnneMarie.

Let's continue to shower Karen with our thoughts and support over these next weeks and beyond. As we all know,  support is abundant initially but fades all too quickly. Grief does not. If you'd like to leave Karen a message, you may do so on the original post AnneMarie wrote HERE. Thank you.

Karen, TC — we love you! Big {{{hugs}}}...