Karen, an avid dog lover and incredibly kind woman, has been through more hardships in the past several years than most people experience in a lifetime. She is disabled and can’t work, but because it often takes years to qualify for state aid, she is now facing foreclosure, which will force her out on the streets with her rescue dogs.
Karen, a Buffalo, New York resident, always prided herself on being independent. Smart and capable, she worked as a secretary/paralegal/receptionist/personal assistant to esteemed attorneys in the area while raising two children and lots of dogs.
About a dozen years ago, she started experiencing severe pain in her back, which moved down her buttocks and into her legs. Hereditary spinal stenosis was setting in. This is the narrowing of spaces within the spinal canal, which causes debilitating pain, agonizing muscle spasms, and difficulty walking or standing for more than a few minutes at a time.
Karen dealt with the pain as best she could, but several years ago, she noticed that something else was off. She could hear crackling in her spine, and was having difficulty remembering things and staying focused. She was confused and constantly tired – not just typical effects of aging. As it turns out, she had a tumor on her parathyroid gland that was causing calcium to leach from her teeth and bones, leading to osteopenia. All she needed was a simple operation.
Weeks before her scheduled surgery in 2011, Karen’s boss of 10 years fired her on Secretary’s Day for not being able to do her job properly. Her health had deteriorated through no fault of her own, and she endured years of her employer’s abusive behavior – screaming, outrageous demands, and a bigger workload than can be expected from just one person – only to be fired and blackballed, with the insurance she needed for the surgery canceled. (She eventually got the surgery, but had to wait months, and she still has many of the symptoms.)
This axe fell just a year after the love of her life was shot and paralyzed by police. The entire saga is a story for another day, but basically what happened is her love, Jeff, went to help his schizophrenic friend get out of his home and away from everyone during a particularly bad episode. What Jeff didn’t know is that (1) the friend’s daughters had called police, (2) the friend was carrying a gun, and (3) the police were lying in wait. When Jeff and the man left his home, the police surrounded them. They knew the man’s history, both medically and with them, as he had evidence of the department’s corruption and was not quiet about it. The man jumped out of the car, fired two shots at the cruiser behind them and jumped back inside. The police unloaded a barrage of bullets at the car. Jeff got out and lay on the ground with his empty hands above his head. The hailstorm – taking place in a highly occupied residential neighborhood – lasted over 40 seconds. Jeff was struck twice and paralyzed from the neck down.
For the next few years, Karen tried fruitlessly to find a job, but made it a full time job to care for Jeff. Hospital staff did little for him and allowed stage four bedsores to set in frequently. There were numerous issues with apathetic, indolent nurses. Though Karen got along very well with many staff members, she was not afraid to report the ones who were not doing their jobs properly. She even caught a head nurse sleeping on the job. Vindictive nurses made baseless accusations to superiors that Karen was a threat, so she was banned from visiting. During that time, Jeff was left to rot. His fecal bag line came unattached, and inadequate staff didn’t notice that over the course of four days, fecal matter was seeping into his bedsores. This caused septicemia, which led to a stroke.
Until this point, Jeff had been making tremendous progress. After the stroke, Karen’s visiting “privileges” were restored. Jeff’s estranged half-brother Gary and his girlfriend Sue, neither of whom were liked by Jeff in the slightest, decided that this was the time for them to step in. Though Gary only visited Jeff a couple of times over the years in the hospital, he and Sue decided to take legal action against Karen and to have a Do Not Resuscitate order placed on Jeff. This is not what Jeff wanted; he wanted to see his day in court against the police who did this to him. The hospital staff stated a DNR was not suggested, as Jeff was recovering, but Gary persisted. As Karen was the healthcare proxy and power of attorney that Jeff had chosen, she has spent nearly two years now fighting Jeff’s “family” in his best interest.
Sadly, Jeff died in June of 2014. He and Karen had been best friends and secret lovers for nearly 20 years. They kept their love secret because they were both trapped in bad marriages at the beginning, and it was only months before the shooting that Jeff finally left his wife, who had also not been faithful. However, this is neither here nor there, but because their love could only be seen by the observant few who were closest to them, proving their relationship in court has been a struggle. They became engaged while Jeff was in the hospital, and married at 9:10 on 11/12/13. But the lawyer who was appointed to oversee Jeff’s finances (and has allowed the storage facility unit for Jeff’s belongings to go unpaid) claims their marriage is invalid because he did not personally approve it. So now, even after Jeff’s death and in the midst of her mourning, Karen is still fighting to prove their love to the courts.
In 2012, her beloved pit bull Orion died. He wasn’t even seven. It is uncertain how he died, but it is suspected that his death was unknowingly caused by toxic chicken jerky treats. They were a new favorite snack of his, and not long after he started being given them, Orion’s body deteriorated. The tissue from his head atrophied, giving his skull and right eye a sunken appearance. His abdomen swelled, and he ravenously gobbled up every bit of food he could, even seeking out long forgotten candy of Christmases past. He guzzled water constantly, and it was learned that he was suffering from kidney failure. When the end was near, Karen’s kids came home to spend Orion’s last days with him, sleeping on the rug next to him. On his last day, when they knew it was time, they called a veterinarian to come put him to sleep. The man arrived as Orion was outside relieving himself. With help he got himself back inside. He stood in the living room, smiled, wagged his tail, and lay down and died. Even though he had many great competitors throughout the years, Orion was the best dog Karen had ever had, and his untimely death was absolutely heartbreaking. The family still mourns their “little dog” to this day.
Two months after Jeff died, Karen’s only sister died of complications due to numerous gastrointestinal operations. On top of that, her ex-husband and father to her adult children, has ALS (which his sister died from at the age of 43). He has been living in hospitals for about two years. The nursing home he is now in is the same one Jeff was in when he died, and Karen has selflessly continued to visit and provide care for her ex.
During all this, Karen has also been fighting to be approved for disability. She receives food stamps, HEAP and as much financial help as her family can afford, which are used to keep utilities from being shut off. Despite the fact that she suffers from a crippling, degenerative disease and depression, she is still waiting to have disability awarded. With absolutely no income other than what close friends and family members can occasionally spare, she has not been able to pay her mortgage in a year. She has had so much taken from her already – her health, her income, her love, her sister, and her pride – and now is on the verge of losing her home. And still she is less concerned about herself. Who she really worries about are her dogs and the feral cats and birds she feeds.
Nevertheless, Karen continues to try to find reasons to smile. Two of the biggest reasons are her adopted pit bulls, Spartacus and Loki. Spartacus was rescued from a hoarder who had him and 96 other dogs cramped in their filth. Sweet and playful, he became a staff favorite at the SPCA Serving Erie County, and Karen immediately fell in love and adopted him when she saw his picture online. He bonded well with Orion, and mourned his brother’s death with the rest of the family. When Loki’s photo was posted on the SPCA’s Facebook page, she fell for him, too. He was called Shane at first, but it didn’t suit him. A mischievous boy who roamed the streets, lived in two shelters, and was returned three times, Loki was far more befitting. Though he can be a pesky little brother at times, he and Spartacus get along very well, and he is Karen’s little snugglebug.
Karen has been served with foreclosure papers. She has a couple people who would be glad to take her in, but she knows pit bulls are difficult to house. The places she has been offered would not be able to take them, and she doesn’t want to have to lose them. This woman with the heart of gold loves her animals so much that she will make sure they are fed before she is. It pains her terribly to not be able to feed the neighborhood critters. She knows how it feels to do without, and will easily forsake her own needs if it means she can keep the birds, squirrels, and her feral cats fed. She has turned her shed into a cat (and opossum) shelter, and her derelict pool serves as a summer oasis for the ducks. If she has to leave, who will care for all her animals?
“I hope to shed fewer tears in 2015, unless they are tears of joy,” she said recently.
Karen would never ask for the public’s help on her behalf. She doesn’t even know this fundraiser exists. This woman is a hero. She may not have served her country, but she has served this world and brought kindness into the lives of so many helpless creatures. Please, let’s bring a little sunshine into her life and help lift a tremendously heavy burden from her shoulders.
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