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E-mail StoryYoung mother who fought tough cancer leaves behind two children
| Monday, Jun 16 2008 6:27 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Jun 17 2008 7:06 AM
A young mother who made the heartbreaking choice to end her pregnancy to be treated for cancer is finally at peace.
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There are several opportunities to help the Kunkel family cover funeral expenses.
A car wash will start at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Young’s Drive In, 216 Oildale Drive, Bakersfield. A second car wash will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Muggs Pub & Eatery, 1306 Airport Drive, Bakersfield.
Donations may be given through account 7200150-69 at Kern Schools Federal Credit Union. Gifts may be made at any branch, and members may make transfers by calling 833-7900.
Finally, there’s a 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday benefit performance at Trout’s Nightclub, 805 N. Chester Ave., Bakersfield. Donations are encouraged.
Photos:
Lorenda Kunkel faced an aggressive, rare cancer. (Photo courtesy of Kunkel family)
Lorenda Sue Kunkel, 22, died Wednesday. She endured surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, and the loss of her son, Nathaniel, 41⁄2 months into her term, to give herself a chance to fight monophasic synovial sarcoma.
Her reason to live: two young daughters, Victoria and Alexandria, ages 4 and 3, respectively. Her world revolved around them.
“I just look at it as God had better plans for her,” said Sherri Kunkel, her stepmother. “And he needed her up there. Now she’s with Nathaniel.”
Her family thought she was in remission more than once, but the cancer came back.
Kunkel’s mother, Rosemarie Curtis, said her daughter was a strong, special girl.
“She fought it and fought it with all her heart.”
During her illness, Kunkel’s sternum, outer layer of her heart and five ribs were removed. Her doctors in Los Angeles reconstructed the left side of her chest with mesh, and they gave her a 20 percent chance to live.
“She breezed through it like a trooper,” Sherri Kunkel said.
But the happy-go-lucky young woman took a turn for the worse. Pneumonia took hold this spring, and it made every day life hard. After antibiotics didn’t knock out the infection, Kunkel was admitted to UCLA June 4.
The cancer had spread throughout her chest and stomach. Doctors told her relatives she had about two weeks to live.
Kunkel was coherent for about 24 hours, her stepmother said. By the next day, though, she stopped talking and could only squeeze her loved ones’ hands. Doctors said she had maybe hours or one to two days left.
But Kunkel, always the fighter, made it through the weekend. She didn’t want her final moments to be in a hospital, and her family granted that wish.
Curtis’s home was full of friends and family last week. People stayed until 2 a.m. Monday and Tuesday and, on Wednesday, they gathered until 8 p.m. Her daughter died shortly thereafter, in her mother’s arms.
“I know my daughter has peace,” Curtis said. “(She’s) with the Lord and with her baby. She was saved. I know she’s in good hands. I don’t worry, she’s not in pain any more. That’s a blessing.”
Kunkel is survived by her children, Victoria and Alexandria; mother, Rosemarie Curtis; father and stepmother Kirk and Sherri Kunkel; siblings Catrice Kunkel, Kelsey Barrett, Joshua Barrett and Nathan Kunkel; and grandparents Kelsso Read and Donna Kunkel and Fred and Trish Palmer.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. June 23 at Mish Funeral Home in Oildale, 120 Minner Drive, and Kunkel’s funeral will be at 10 a.m. June 24, also at Mish. Burial at Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mortuary will follow.