The woman who welcomes
The story of a woman who refused to let a cancer diagnosis steal her joy.
By Miranda Erbele | Event Coordinator
Kae Bjorklund marches toward the Admissions Guest Center at Bethel University. Wearing her 1-inch red heels, she leads another family to its tour guide with a smile on her face. Bjorklund never seemed to grow tired. Until Feb. 26, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
No history in her family. No symptoms. A routine mammogram revealed to Bjorklund’s doctors that cancer had invaded part of her body.
But the diagnosis didn’t stop her from walking through each day with joy. She continued to hop out of bed each morning, put on her boss-lady pants, and welcome families with a smile.
Rylee Forshee, a senior at Bethel and one of Bjorklund’s many student workers, experiences this daily.
“She welcomes everyone with a joy filled heart and open arms,” Forshee said.
One surgery and 12 weeks of chemotherapy later, Bjorklund now only visits the hospital for monthly doses of Herceptin, a drug that is meant to target her specific type of cancer.
Upon finishing a year of these treatments, she will be referred to by doctors as “cured.” The word many with a frightening diagnosis long to hear.
“Obviously, there was shock right away. But after that I was never afraid, I was never terribly emotional about it,” she said.
“If you don’t ever reach the bottom, you don’t always have to look up.” — Kae Bjorklund, Admissions Guest Center Coordinator
Instead, she says she put her trust in God. With immense grace and faith, she faced a situation many hope they never have to go through themselves.
“If you don’t ever reach the bottom,” Bjorklund said, “you don’t always have to look up .”