Kimberly

Kim was diagnosed with AML Leukemia on July 22, 2009, just after she finished high school. She'd been feeling well, just showing a few bruises when she went to Primary Childrens Medical Center for a heart surgery to fix a relatively minor condition she's had since she was born. A blood test before the surgery showed that her blood had been completely taken over by the cancer. They admitted her that day and began treatment right away. She went through five long rounds of chemotherapy, doing relatively well, with the exception of one infection that led to a very scary stay in the Pediatric ICU. She spent almost all of that time in the hospital, with just a few breaks to go home. By the end of March 2010 she was allowed to go home for good- officially in remission! She was so excited to finally go to USU Fall semester, and got strait A's in all of her classes! Psychology, Humanities, Family Finance and ANATOMY. Not a week after finals, at a regular check up at PCMC, her blood tests showed that her cancer was back. And thus began round two- Kim's goal was to make it to a bone marrow transplant. We had found a donor, so all that was left was to get her in remission once more. After three rounds of chemotherapy, her body was no longer strong enough to keep fighting, no matter that her spirit was. She will always be with us. 7:48 pm, March 31, 2011

Monday, August 17, 2009

Weekend


Hey Everyone! Kim has been doing really well this weekend. The kidney trouble seems to have gone away, and her CT scan didn't show any infections in her body. Also, for the past couple of days she hasn't been having fevers- a huge relief for the nurses and doctors! Her main struggle now has just been eating enough to please the nurses! She still doesn't have much of an appetite, and feels a little sick sometimes. They're keeping her on her IV for good measure, but still encourage her to eat as much as she can.

Her blood counts are all still very low- but creeping up a bit. As this point, we're just waiting for them to get higher, so she'll have a strong enough immune system to come home. Hopefully within the next week or two. If not, she'll just have to stay at the hospital until her next round of chemo.

Kim has to keep a dressing- sort of a huge fancy bandaid, over the site in her chest where her line enters her body, just to keep the risk of infections down, and also to support the line so there is a smaller chance of it getting tugged or ripped out of her flesh. It has to be changed one a week, or when it gets wet. Mom changed it last Sunday, and last night I got my first turn. (Once again, we are learning how to take care basic care of Kim because we'll be doing a lot of this while she is at home.) It was pretty cool.
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3 comments:

  1. Todd and CarolAugust 17, 2009 at 9:33 PM

    How was your sterile technique? :)

    Love the hat Kim. Hope things continue to improve! Love you...Carol

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 18, 2009 at 8:53 AM

    Hi Kimberly; I Love the picture of you and your parents. You are looking so cute. I started a hat for you. When I get it done I will take it to your parents. We are all thinking about you. Keep up the good spirits.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Steve and LoriAnnAugust 18, 2009 at 10:02 PM

    We are glad to read about the positive improvements and are so impressed with your strength and spirit. We love you and continue to pray for you daily. We are anxious to come visit and wonder what times are best?
    Love,
    Steve, LoriAnn, Casey, Marley, and Tate

    ReplyDelete

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