Kaidra Joanne Froelich (Myxter) was born in Fargo, ND, on December 20, 1988. She grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her parents, sister, and brother. Kaidra danced and played multiple sports. She especially loved softball. Kaidra graduated from Faith Lutheran High School and went on to college where she graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a degree in education. She then moved to Williston, North Dakota, where she began her teaching career. Kaidra married the love of her life, Dustin Froelich, in 2013. They moved to Bismarck, North Dakota, and had two beautiful girls, Brynlee and Blayklyn. Her girls were her world. She dressed them in matching clothes every day. Kaidra coached high school softball and taught physical education at Mary Stark Elementary School, as well as Fort Lincoln Elementary and Roosevelt Elementary. Teaching was her passion and it came natural to her.
In the summer of 2018, Kaidra received some news that she never expected. After feeling numbness in her hands and arms, she went into her primary care doctor for tests. After multiple blood draws and scans, her doctor directed her to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, because she most likely had a brain tumor. That very day, she posted a picture of Dustin and her girls. She captioned this picture “my good vibe tribe” on Facebook. From then on, her “Kaidra’s Good Vibe Tribe” page on Facebook grew to what it is today. Throughout her journey, Kaidra posted updates as often as she could on her appointments, struggles, accomplishments, good news, bad news, and everything in between. She was an open book to anyone who wanted to join her Good Vibe Tribe and follow her story.
After extensive testing at Mayo Clinic, Kaidra found out she had a grade 3 brain tumor, Anaplastic Astrocytoma, often referred to as AA3. She had brain surgery only a few days after finding out this news. Her brain surgeon, Dr. Lanzino, became emotional when seeing her breastfeed her 6-month-old baby girl, Blayke, right before surgery. Her surgery was very successful and most of her tumor was removed. This area of medicine is continually growing. She was told her surgery would not have been possible 5 years earlier. She recovered quickly. Kaidra soon began chemotherapy and radiation. She experienced nerve pain, but she fought through it and never let it affect her mood. Eventually, she took time off of teaching because her nerve pain affected her everyday life. If you were to ask her how she was doing, she would always say great because she was so positive. She always had the mindset that she would get back to teaching. She even finished her online Master’s program through North Dakota State University after her diagnosis.
Kaidra had a year with good scans and minimal tumor growth. One year later, almost the exact day she was diagnosed, Kaidra had regrowth and scheduled another brain surgery. She was confident in the process because of her amazing team of doctors at Mayo including her brain surgeon, Dr. Lanzino. Before going back for surgery, an MRI showed that she had multiple additional tumors all down her spine. This was a shock to everyone, but Kaidra didn’t let anyone cry or be upset. She told everyone to just focus on the next steps. She held everyone together when her family and friends couldn’t hold themselves together.
Over the next few months, Kaidra began a new treatment plan which included multiple infusions and radiation. She had a good few months throughout the Summer and into the Fall, but in November of 2019, Kaidra began to lose her balance and have trouble walking. She quickly went from a walker to a wheelchair, but she still remained positive even when she needed extra help with daily activities. Kaidra had a huge support system of people that helped her with physical, personal, and emotional support. She even had a ramp built at her home in Bismarck in one day after a company willingly donated their time to help.
Eventually, in the Spring of 2020, Kaidra was admitted to the hospital and spent many months there. She had multiple brain bleeds, an emergency surgery, a tracheostomy, feeding tubes, a ventilator, and so many trials and tribulations no one should have to face. She fought through all of this with so much positivity. Kaidra decided to go on hospice at her lake home after not being allowed to have visitors in the hospital due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even at that stage, she told her hospice nurses that her quality of life was good because she was able to see the lake and her family. Over her 2 weeks on hospice, Kaidra had multiple visitors each day. She had hundreds of people send in videos of well wishes. She was surrounded by love and her family until she passed away on June 6, 2020.
Throughout her journey, Kaidra was able to impact the lives of many people. She had over 4,000 followers on her Good Vibe Tribe Facebook page, she was emotional support to people experiencing the same condition, and she was a light in so many people’s lives. No one understood how she was able to live life so fully when given her diagnosis. Kaidra was an outstanding mother and person. She knew how to make everyone feel special and important. Her kindness was evident in the amount of people that wanted to help her once she was facing hardships. Kaidra was blessed with many fundraisers set up for her, gift packages sent to her, and most importantly, love and good vibes. Kaidra’s Good Vibe Tribe Foundation wants to bless others by spreading positivity to those experiencing similar diagnoses to Kaidra, because it is something Kaidra would have done for them.
