Kraemer stays positive in cancer battle
By Jordan MacDonald
Posted April 16, 2015
Kim Kraemer is a paraprofessional here at Aitkin High School. She always has a positive attitude and constantly has a smile on her face while continuing to put a smile on others’ faces also. Kim is known as a very kind hearted person and loves to make other people happy. Most people know Kim has been battling cancer for quite some time now. She was recently hospitalized and has not been at school.
In 2004, Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy, which is a surgery that removes both breasts. She was going through chemotherapy for about 6 months. ¨When she found out she was going to lose her hair, her and her daughter took a razor to her head and shaved herself bald,¨ said Theresa Hasskamp, a nurse at the high school and long-time friend of Kraemer’s.
Kim was having to do blood tests every month called tumor markers. If the numbers increase it can tell if more cancer cells are developing. In January of 2013 doctors noticed that Kim’s numbers had been increasing, but nothing was showing on the scans. A few months later, around April of 2013, they found the spots on her liver. ¨The cancer is still breast cancer but once the cells develop in the body, it’s the same cells anywhere else. There are different drugs for different types of cancer,¨ said Hasskamp.
Kraemer grew up in the cities and got married to Duane Kraemer in 1978. They had two children, Amber and Cory. Amber married Kevin Lindgren and has two children, a boy and a girl. Cory married Nikki Theisen and had two children, which are both boys. ¨Her grandkids mean the absolute world to her,¨ said Janet Bessette, a paraprofessional who works with Kraemer.
¨Kim is very hardworking and is extremely dedicated to her work,¨ said Marie Gordon, a special education teacher at AHS. Kraemer has had multiple jobs. She started as a Tupperware lady around 1978. AHS paraprofessional Cindy Christensen said, ¨She has always loved doing Tupperware.¨ Since then she has worked at the Aitkin County Jail as a jailer, at Shopko, mowed lawn for Aitkin County Land Department, and of course working hard here at Aitkin High School. Kim really enjoys working with the kids that she works with. ¨It’s not so much the job but the kids that keeping her going,” said Bessette.
¨Kim would give anybody her last nickel and shirt off her back,¨ said Christensen, a close friend who has known her since 1978. Kim enjoys being a para. ¨She really cares about the kids and works great with them,¨ said Bessette. Special education teacher Katie Kimman added, ¨Kim has always had the best attitude and is constantly joking around with the students. She’s a kind, compassionate, joking person that students love to be around. Kim has always been a hardworking lady and never shows anything is wrong. She has gone through so much, but at school and in the classroom you would never know.”
There have been multiple soup lunches that Bessette has put on for the staff at the high school and all the money was donated to Kim. As of now, they are uncertain if they can do anything else for Kim. Her last scans showed that the spots are still there and that the last chemotherapy did not work. They have found more cancer cells in the lining of her abdomen and also on her spinal cord. She has been extremely tired and on a lot of pain medication, but she is still fighting and on the minds of students and staff at AHS.
Posted April 16, 2015
Kim Kraemer is a paraprofessional here at Aitkin High School. She always has a positive attitude and constantly has a smile on her face while continuing to put a smile on others’ faces also. Kim is known as a very kind hearted person and loves to make other people happy. Most people know Kim has been battling cancer for quite some time now. She was recently hospitalized and has not been at school.
In 2004, Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy, which is a surgery that removes both breasts. She was going through chemotherapy for about 6 months. ¨When she found out she was going to lose her hair, her and her daughter took a razor to her head and shaved herself bald,¨ said Theresa Hasskamp, a nurse at the high school and long-time friend of Kraemer’s.
Kim was having to do blood tests every month called tumor markers. If the numbers increase it can tell if more cancer cells are developing. In January of 2013 doctors noticed that Kim’s numbers had been increasing, but nothing was showing on the scans. A few months later, around April of 2013, they found the spots on her liver. ¨The cancer is still breast cancer but once the cells develop in the body, it’s the same cells anywhere else. There are different drugs for different types of cancer,¨ said Hasskamp.
Kraemer grew up in the cities and got married to Duane Kraemer in 1978. They had two children, Amber and Cory. Amber married Kevin Lindgren and has two children, a boy and a girl. Cory married Nikki Theisen and had two children, which are both boys. ¨Her grandkids mean the absolute world to her,¨ said Janet Bessette, a paraprofessional who works with Kraemer.
¨Kim is very hardworking and is extremely dedicated to her work,¨ said Marie Gordon, a special education teacher at AHS. Kraemer has had multiple jobs. She started as a Tupperware lady around 1978. AHS paraprofessional Cindy Christensen said, ¨She has always loved doing Tupperware.¨ Since then she has worked at the Aitkin County Jail as a jailer, at Shopko, mowed lawn for Aitkin County Land Department, and of course working hard here at Aitkin High School. Kim really enjoys working with the kids that she works with. ¨It’s not so much the job but the kids that keeping her going,” said Bessette.
¨Kim would give anybody her last nickel and shirt off her back,¨ said Christensen, a close friend who has known her since 1978. Kim enjoys being a para. ¨She really cares about the kids and works great with them,¨ said Bessette. Special education teacher Katie Kimman added, ¨Kim has always had the best attitude and is constantly joking around with the students. She’s a kind, compassionate, joking person that students love to be around. Kim has always been a hardworking lady and never shows anything is wrong. She has gone through so much, but at school and in the classroom you would never know.”
There have been multiple soup lunches that Bessette has put on for the staff at the high school and all the money was donated to Kim. As of now, they are uncertain if they can do anything else for Kim. Her last scans showed that the spots are still there and that the last chemotherapy did not work. They have found more cancer cells in the lining of her abdomen and also on her spinal cord. She has been extremely tired and on a lot of pain medication, but she is still fighting and on the minds of students and staff at AHS.