For more information about Kristie Vinyard and upcoming fundraising efforts, visit the Team Kristie website, www.teamkristie.org.
o Donations can be made to the GoFundMe account for Kristie Vinyard, www.gofundme.com/kristieparker.
o Team Kristie Flea Market: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Nest Vintage, 619 S.E. First St., Battle Ground. Flea market donations and volunteers are still needed. Contact Janell Johns, johnsjr@centurylink.net.
o Benefit concert: Live bands begin at 9 p.m. Friday at Billy Blues Bar and Grill, 7115 N.E. Hazel Dell Ave., Vancouver. Donations accepted at the door. From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., 50 percent of food proceeds will benefit Vinyard. Adults only after 9 p.m.
For more information about Kristie Vinyard and upcoming fundraising efforts, visit the Team Kristie website, www.teamkristie.org.
o Donations can be made to the GoFundMe account for Kristie Vinyard, www.gofundme.com/kristieparker.
o Team Kristie Flea Market: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Nest Vintage, 619 S.E. First St., Battle Ground. Flea market donations and volunteers are still needed. Contact Janell Johns, johnsjr@centurylink.net.
o Benefit concert: Live bands begin at 9 p.m. Friday at Billy Blues Bar and Grill, 7115 N.E. Hazel Dell Ave., Vancouver. Donations accepted at the door. From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., 50 percent of food proceeds will benefit Vinyard. Adults only after 9 p.m.
o Auction: 6 to 10 p.m. June 26 at Heathman Lodge, 7801 N.E. Greenwood Drive, Vancouver. Tickets are $30. Silent and live auctions, full buffet dinner and full bar. Proceeds from the special Team Kristie drink -- the pomegranate mimosa -- and auction items will be donated to Vinyard.
o Auction: 6 to 10 p.m. June 26 at Heathman Lodge, 7801 N.E. Greenwood Drive, Vancouver. Tickets are $30. Silent and live auctions, full buffet dinner and full bar. Proceeds from the special Team Kristie drink — the pomegranate mimosa — and auction items will be donated to Vinyard.
Kristie Vinyard is a warrior. The proof plasters the walls of the art teacher’s classroom.
There’s the obvious: The red and yellow “Fight like a Warrior” poster, surrounded by artwork and messages of love and support from her students at Prairie High School.
And the subtle: A black-and-white drawing of Vinyard with streaks of color on her face — an image created by a student and part of a series of photos called “Warrior Women.”
And then, there’s her spirit, summed up best on the website chronicling her fight with Stage 4 melanoma: “I am a warrior and I will beat this thing called cancer!”
For Vinyard, 45, there’s no other option.
Vinyard is a single mom of three kids: 10-year-old Justice, 13-year-old Jackson and 21-year-old Emily. The kids’ father died six years ago from an accidental overdose.
“I’m the only one they have,” Vinyard said.
“All my thoughts are about my kids,” she added.
Vinyard’s first hint of trouble came on April 8, the Wednesday during spring break. Vinyard was spending time with her children when she felt a sharp, persistent pain in her right breast near her sternum.
“I thought maybe I was having a panic attack or a sign of a heart attack,” she said.
She scheduled an appointment with her physician, who then referred her for a mammogram and a biopsy. Five days after the mammogram, Vinyard learned the biopsy was positive for metastatic melanoma. After a PET scan and MRI, doctors told Vinyard the cancer was not only in her breast but also her liver, lung and hip.
On May 1, less than a month after the initial pain in her breast, Vinyard was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma.
“My head’s still swimming,” she said.
Vinyard had no outward signs of skin cancer. No suspicious-looking moles, no lesions. Doctors don’t know how long the cancer has been spreading in Vinyard’s body, but they told her it’s “very aggressive.”
The cancer is currently considered inoperable because it has spread to so many locations, making it likely the cancer cells are still migrating throughout her body. Doctors don’t want to remove the cancer only to have it reappear elsewhere, she said.
Vinyard’s treatment currently consists of immunotherapy infusions every three weeks. She’ll undergo the third of four infusions next week. The goal is to stop the cancer from spreading so doctors can determine the next steps.
Vinyard has also gotten calls about a few clinical trials, including two at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland and one in Texas. Taking part in a trial, however, would mean Vinyard has to leave her children behind.
“That’s really rough to think about,” she said.
So, for now, Vinyard is focused on the immunotherapy treatment, staying positive, finishing the school year and her children.
“I want to spend some time with my children,” Vinyard said of her upcoming summer break. “Some good memory-making time.”
“I’m just trying to focus on being better,” she added. “And on miracles.”
Team Kristie
As long as Vinyard is able to work, she’ll continue to have an income and health insurance. She still has some sick leave and in the Battle Ground Public Schools district, other staff have the ability to donate their sick leave to colleagues.
Once those options are depleted, however, Vinyard will lose her paycheck and insurance. She’ll qualify for long-term disability, but Vinyard suspects her medical bills will quickly consume that reduced income.
With that in mind, Vinyard has accepted the help of others — something the independent mother has never done.
And the help is pouring in from Team Kristie.
A GoFundMe website has already raised more than $13,000. A benefit concert, a sidewalk sale and an auction are all on the calendar this month.
Colleagues stop by Vinyard’s class throughout the day to see how she’s feeling, if she needs anything or just to share a hug. They bring her family meals several days a week and help with yard work at her home. They sent Vinyard and her sons to Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Finals in Oakland, Calif. a few weeks ago and, later this month, will send them to Disneyland.
Her students have stepped up, too, spending extra time, and even their Saturdays, in the classroom, helping Vinyard to clean up and do more labor-intensive activities. They make her posters and draw images of strength. They distributed T-shirts and buttons. They donated art pieces for auction.
Two of her students also created a positive notes box, filled with uplifting messages written on colorful pieces of paper. The box has been refilled twice.
“I’m close with my students,” Vinyard explains. “We’re a family, too.”
Vinyard is also at the center of prayer circles of friends, colleagues and others across the country. She and her children are also praying for Vinyard’s health and miracles.
Vinyard’s young sons know she is facing a serious illness — that they could lose her in six months to a year — but they don’t fully understand the battle she faces. The five-year survival rate for Stage 4 melanoma is about 15 to 20 percent, according to the American Cancer Society.
Vinyard’s adult daughter copes with the diagnosis most days. Other days, she’s devastated, Vinyard said.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, you never want to lose a parent,” she said.
“I’m an integral part of the family, keeping it together,” Vinyard added. “And I like being that, I want to be that. I want to see my grandkids. I want to spoil them rotten. I want to be that cute, old art teacher.”
