{"id":11923,"date":"2025-02-25T16:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T16:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellspring.ca\/gta\/?p=11923"},"modified":"2025-02-26T16:55:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T16:55:29","slug":"karen-koch-comfort-in-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellspring.ca\/gta\/blog\/2025\/02\/25\/karen-koch-comfort-in-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen Koch: Comfort in Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Member Submission<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A couple of years ago, I was planning to donate a kidney to save a father to a young boy. I felt fit, but during the testing, I learned that at 53, I had stage 4 colorectal cancer. Ten months later, after chemotherapy and a 10-hour surgery, I was declared NED — no evidence of disease. Although I know it may come back, I felt like a walking miracle.<\/p>\n

During treatment, I signed up for a few Wellspring programs. I live in Vancouver and these were online. My favourite has been Art Therapy<\/a>. I found comfort in the guidance provided by the Art Therapist. I created a watercolour that came from the heart, and expressed what my treatment has meant to my mind and my body. At the encouragement of a loving friend, I plan to frame it. It serves as a reminder of a few key things for which I am so grateful: the strength of my breathing body and mind, our incredible medical professionals, my supportive husband, and the people at support organizations like Wellspring who helped me heal.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, I kept my kidney. The father has since received someone else\u2019s and is thriving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Member Submission A couple of years ago, I was planning to donate a kidney to save a father to a young boy. I felt fit, but during the testing, I learned that at 53, I had stage 4 colorectal cancer. Ten months later, after chemotherapy and a 10-hour surgery, I was declared NED — no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":11924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-11923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-member-story"],"yoast_head":"\nKaren Koch: Comfort in Art - Wellspring Greater Toronto Area<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wellspring.ca\/gta\/blog\/2025\/02\/25\/karen-koch-comfort-in-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Karen Koch: Comfort in Art - Wellspring Greater Toronto Area\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Member Submission A couple of years ago, I was planning to donate a kidney to save a father to a young boy. 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