e-mailing Kim

If you would like to send Kim an email through Primary Children's, you can go to this link and fill out her information. They will print it out and hand-deliver it to her room :) (Thanks, Megan, for figuring this out!)

https://intermountainhealthcare.org/hospitals/primarychildrens/forpatients/Pages/EmailaPatient.aspx

Special Visitor

Today Kim had another visit from the pet volunteer group. An enormous black Newfoundland dog (Lilly) spent a good fifteen minutes getting some TLC from Kim. The whole time, her owner told me about the dog and the breed. I have a picture that I will add soon, but I was so impressed by them, that I thought I would add a couple of links to more information. It's faciniating!
http://www.akc.org/breeds/newfoundland/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_(dog)

We are at day 5 of 10 in her chemo treatment. And though the leukemia is taking a great hit, so are her platelets, and red and white blood cells. This means that she is increasingly susceptable to tirinig, and her immune system is getting ever weaker. They are giving her a platelet transfusion in a couple of hours, and once the chemo is through they will give her as many of those and blood transfusions as she needs to get her numbers back up. It should take a week or two, and then she'll get her break to visit home.

Kim is still in high spirits, and is keeping up the good work. She's right on track, and doing amazingly well. We also just learned that it might even take a couple of months for her to finally lose her hair to the chemo. Basically... all good news! Thank you for the prayers and love!

Marrow Transplant

One other thing that happened today was the first step in figuring out what we'll do if Kim ends up needing a marrow transplant.

As I've mentioned before, it's still uncertain whether or not she will need one. If at the end of her first month, she has less than 5% of her original 99% leukemia-blood content, then she won't need a transfusion at all (rare.) If she has less than 15%, they'll give her a transplant only from a sibling, me or Michael, if we are a type match (25% chance for each of us- this is the most likely scenario.) If she still has over 15%, then they will go to the national donor registry and search out a match for her there. It is also rare that she'll be that bad.

Today, I was officially admitted to the hospital as an outpatient, and I had some blood samples taken to be tested. We'll know in about a week and a half if I am a match or not.

Also today, I contacted Michael's mission president, and he is going to have the mission doctor get Mike into a clinic for his own blood samples to be taken and sent back to the rep here at Primary Children's (whose information I gave them) for the same testing. I'm hoping it won't be too much longer after my results that we get his.

For those of you who have expressed a desire to be tested as a potential marrow donor for Kim- thank you! Because of the extreme unlikelyhood of just any person being a match for her, what the Primary Children's transplant unit has suggested is registering for the national marrow registry. You never know- maybe you'll end up being a match for Kim after all. If not, they would still contact you in the event of finding out you are a match for another person in a situation similar to Kim's. No matter what, I think you should check out their website:

http://www.marrow.org/

(As a side note- they have said the same thing about blood and platelet donations. In the ward she is staying in, ImmunoCompromised Services, they only use blood and platelets from their bank. Part for convenience, part for safety. I know it is kind of a bummer- but just think, if you donate to your local red cross or any other group, it all comes around in the end. Pay it forward :) And thank you for thinking of her... your love means so much to us.)

Tuesday

Breathing Toy

More fun with Chester Chest- an actual photo of him, and a good idea of what Kim's line looks like (only with the dual ports on the end, and hers is a bit higher up, and on her left side.)

Today has been, largely, a sleepy day for Kim. With the exception of a couple hours of visitor time, she's been pretty much out of it, for various reasons. She's still not used to all of the checks that go on during the night, and most of her chemo is delivered in the night. (It's done on a very specific schedule- each type of chemo is delivered an exact amount of hours after another, because they each kill cells at a different stage. It's like a perfectly choreographed... battle plan.)

This morning she was having trouble again with a bit of fluid in her lungs. They gave her the meds that help and also a "toy" to play with that will exercize her lungs and help break up built up liquid. It's a small air pump that she has to breathe air through. (See Picture) The more she can inhale, the higher a gauge goes. It's sort of a competition against yourself, to see how high you can get it. (Way to motivate Kim- nothing like a little competition!) It makes her cough every time, but that's the idea.

Not long after that, her friends Melissa and Charla came to visit. They brought Kim some large photos of her cats, Fluffy, Sophie and Patches, to prop up around the room.

After that, Kim and I had a lesson on her IV lines- caring for them, replacing parts of them, and doing injections. (More fun with Chester Chest! See Picture) The bottom line is that whether they are being used or not, you need to flush them with clean saline fluid and anti-clogging fluid to keep them clean and open. While here, the nurses take care of it, but for the times she gets to come home, we'll need to do it ourselves.

Later, Uncle Patrick and Aunt Laurel came by, with our cousins Sam, Elizabeth, and Isaac. They brought Kim a very cool present: Laurel has a Salt Lake Library Card, and she's given a copy to Kim so that she can go online and reserve books or other media, (which Laurel will pick up for her) and also download audio books right to her computer/mp3 player. They brought a few books today that they think she might like. (Terry Pratchett! She'll love it.) Also, the kids drew her some pictures and they brought a CD for her to listen to. I'm really kicking myself for slacking and forgetting to take pictures- it was really darling. They signed a big poster that we've put up for new get-well notes, and learned a few things about the insruments in Kim's room. It was great seeing them- thank you guys :)

Kim had started to notice a rash forming on parts of her torso, and before long it started itching and really bothering her. She mentioned it to the nurse around 6, and the doctor ordered some benadril for her, and before long she was fast asleep. We just woke her up for a bit and checked it out- it's faded a lot, and doesn't itch at all anymore.

Now, she's working on her latest batch of chemo, and starting those bedtime zzzz's. Goodnight everyone- we love you.

Monday

I wrote a post for yesterday morning, but have not updated you as to how the rest of the day went, so I will do that now.

After the visit from Dr. Abraham that morning, Kim was feeling pretty good. She did get tired as the day went along, but we had a lot of great visitors:

Melissa came into town with Marcia and her children. While they did a few other things around town, Mel stayed and watched a few movies with us. Then, Marcia came in and we all had a nice little visit. Not long after they left, another friend of Kim's, Sarah, dropped in for a little while. And, not long after her, Irish, one of the more hilarious nurses on the floor, stopped by to wish Kim a little Island Cheer (for this I will refer to the saying: a picture says a thousand words. Just check it out!)

Mom and Dad came in the evening, bearing gifts and goodies for Kim: a poster for her wall, some snacks, and... 3 lb. dumbells! She hasn't used them yet, but if you know Kim- you'll know that she's definitely going through workout withdrawals!

Kim was due to have the dressing on her chest IV changed, and because we will have to do it for her on the days she will be at home, we had a small lesson from the nurse, and then watched her change Kim's dressing. She first showed us how it would work on their practice dummy, Chester Chest. I am attaching a photo I pulled off the internet of what he looks like- in part, so you can see what Kim has stuck in her. Up until this point, it had been kept covered. She was a little creeped out to see it coming out of her... but it's something we will get used to.

Kim has the type of line that you see on the left side of the picture (or right side of his chest). This keeps the ports outside of her body, and deposits the fluids right into the main vein leading into her heart. The only difference is that she has dual lines (like headphones- they combine before the plug in, but split for your ears. This way she can get two different types of medicine at once.)

Sad News

We just learned this evening that our Grandpa passed away. He has had several health complications lately, but after a hard week, it's been especially difficult.
Though he is actually Mom's grandpa (her mother's dad,) since both of our direct grandfathers had passed away, he was really the only one we could call that. Rufus Spann served in World War II, and was the oldest Veteran and Boy Scout living in his town. We are all so proud of the legacy he left us, and know that we'll see him again. As mom said, we now have one more guardian angel looking out for Kimberly.

Good News

Good news! We just talked with the head doctor in the Hemotology/Oncology Clinic (different from in-hospital where we are now, but we all work together) Dr. Abraham, (who was the one to first tell us about the leukemia) and she gave us the results on Kim's latest labs.
Her cancer cells are down by about 30% (from about 99%) and so far she doesn't have any infections or build ups of bad chemicals in her body (that can happen with so many cells breaking down, and can overwhelm her kidneys- so this is good!)
Of course, along with the cancer cells, a lot of her other cells are being weakened too- hence being tired. She is not allowed to leave her room, because her cell levels are so low, she has a very weak immune system. (Once again, please be careful when you come to visit! But do come. Company is great, so long as we don't wear her out!)
Also, she has some slight amounts of fluid in her lungs from all of the liquid they've been putting through her IV. As I said, she doesn't show any signs of infection... but that could put her at greater risk for pnemonia. But they are keeping a close eye on her, and have a drug they give her if she starts to be too bothered by it (it's caused her some chest pain and coughing in the past- but nothing the last two days- the drug really does fix it.)
So, it's all been good news, really. There is still a loooooong way to go, even after most of the cancer cells appear to be gone from her body, but I can't tell you how thrilled I am that she is doing so well so far. I know it is because of each and every one of you praying for her, and caring for her. THANK YOU SO MUCH, and please.... as time goes by, don't forget about us.

Sunday- Chemo Day 2 (of 10)

This picture is of Kim, reading all of the messages everyone has been leaving for her on the blog. Thank you so much!

Today was not overly eventful. Kimberly had two types of chemo (three yesterday) and aside from making her very tired, they don't seem to be bothering her yet (no nausea.)

This morning Mom, Dad, Kim and I had a small devotional type meeting in her room, and members of the Primary Children's Medical Center (PCMC) Branch brought us sacrament. They have a small meeting on another floor that we may try to get to in the future, but for now we are very grateful that they do this.

This afternoon a group of Kim's friends came by to see her (thank you so much!) Whitney Bowman, Melissa Fowler, Jess Black, Suzanna A., and James Crane. They brough a cute teddy bear (which has yet to be named) some balloons, and a nice note from Jess's mom. Kim is so lucky to have such kind and loving friends. Their support and encouragement means so much to her!

Later this afternoon, her Uncle Dennis and Aunt Jennifer stopped by to see how she is doing. They said some wonderfully encouraging things, and we were able to have a nice visit with the family. Aside from that, Aunt Jennifer brought Kim chocolate... and you really can't beat that. :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH to friends in Logan who held the special fast for Kim today. (Picture Below!) She read the group message on facebook, and heard about it from her visitors today. We just want Everyone to know that we can feel the blessings from all of your prayers, and it helps so much.

Saturday & Starting Chemo

Yesterday was Kim's first day of Chemo... this is her signing the paperwork/ release forms. It didn't effect her so much- that will come after time. She had a group of friends visit her in the morning, and a few more come that evening.

Information

CONTACTING US:
The hospital's # is (801) 662-1000. Just ask for Kimberly Nelson in room 4417
My cell is (435) 890-9722. I can let you know as well if she'd be up for company.
My email is emmyhope634@hotmail.com

VISITING:
Kim loves visitors! Please stop by to say hi! However, there are just a few things we need to make sure you understand:

*Please call in advance. Just to make sure that Kim is up for company, and there isn't anything hugely important going on at that time.
*No laytex balloons (mylar is fine) plants, animals, or sick people
*Wash your hands in the transistion area
*Check in at the nurse's station in the ICS (the section Kim is in- ImmunoCompromised Section) and talk to her nurse to double check that she's okay to have visitors.
*Only four people are technically allowed in the room at a time. So please don't plan to stay all day. About an hour max is a good idea.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
If you want to learn more about Kim's condition than just what I've interprited here, the best places for information are the web sites for the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.

RESULTS- Kim's official path for the next few months

After tests results coming in, and a long talk with Dr. Barnette, the head of the Oncology department here at PCMC, we now know what Kim is going to be facing over the next several months.

Kimberly has type AML Leukemia. This is a more agressive type, and will require more time in the hospital. However, in a way this is good, because it consists of something like six months of intense hospital treatment, followed by just short visits to the hospital (in SLC) over the following year. Other types of leukemia (A.L.L.) require weekly visits to the hospital (in SLC) for years. With this type, she will be able to get on with a more normal lifestyle (going back to school, etc) sooner.

Kim has an analogy for it: Type ALL is like a marathon... but she was never into Cross Country. She's a Sprinter, and AML is just the type for her.

She will spend one month in the hospital- starting today, with her first round of chemo therapy (not counting the shot of it they put strait into her spine yesterday.) The general outline will be a one-month stay in the hospital, followed by a week-long break at home. Then she will go back to the hospital for a month, and home again for a week. She will complete the cycle five times, (about six months long) and by then, should be completely in recession and will only have to come down for a monthly check-up.

Her month-long stay will consist of ten days of chemo, followed by a couple of weeks of recovery. Her blood count and immunity are going to be very low, so she will need a lot of transfusions and time in a germ-free enviroment.

This type of leukemia is three times more common in older adults (60+) than it is in children and young adults. There is no known cause for it's occurance in young people- not genetics, not exposure to anything. And it is not contagious. (So come see her when she's feeling up to it! She'll love the company.) She will need to eat nutririous foods to keep up her strength.

Leukemia is a caner of the blood and marrow. It isn't hurting any other part of her body (there are no tumors) so she basically will take chemo to kill all of the cancer cells, (and a good portion of her good cells as well- no helping that) and then, her body will recover, growing new, healthy cells- with a nice boost from transfusions of other healthy cells.

Kim's blood is currently made up of 99% cancerous leukemia cells. After her first month-long cycle, less than 15% of the cancer cells should be left in her body. If less than 5% are left, she'll be considered going into remission. (This is rare.) They would still do chemo for a few more months, but her body would be recovering on it's own, and it will be the fastest, healthiest track for her. THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD PRAY FOR. The most likely thing that will happen is that she will have less than 15% of her cancer. In that case, they will still do chemo, but will also check my brother Michael (even though he is on his mission) and me, to see if we are potential matches to the type of cell she has in her body (called stem cells.) If one of us is- they will have us donate a number of these stem cells, and they will transplant them into Kim's body- to sort of flush out the cancer with healthy cells. If Mike and I are not matches, then they will just continue with the chemo without doing a transplant, Unless- after the first month, she still has Over 15% of the luekemia cells in her body. Then, the doctors will search... basically the world, to find a positive match for Kim. This is obviously difficult, and not nearly as good a match as a sibling would be, and so is only used in a worst-case kind of scenario. The odds of it being that bad are only about 10%.

*SIDE NOTE* Thanks to those of you who have offered to donate blood. In Kim's case, because her immune system is such a big concern, they are just using blood from a well-stocked bank that has already been collected. If you are considering volunteering if she needs a stem-cell donor other than Mike or me... we don't know yet how that process will go. They may have matches already in some sort of database. I will let you know more about that in a few weeks, as we learn more and the time gets closer.

After three months of chemo, the leukemia should basically be gone from her body. They will keep up with chemo just to be sure, but then after the six months or so, as I said, (it could be longer by a month or two if she needs a stem cell transplat) she will basically be through it, and we'll just have to pray that it doesn't come back.

So, today she began the chemo. They are giving her three types of it, all given to her through the stint (lines) surgically placed in her yesterday. She is also getting a constant drug for the nausea. She did volunteer for an experiemental drug that is like chemo- but she only had a 50% chance for being selected to use it (random.) It's just one less drug+side effects for her to worry about. This will go on for ten days. After that, they'll be giving her blood and platelets, and keeping an eye on the levels of different kinds of cells in her body. She will probably not lose her hair right away, but after a couple of weeks. (If anyone is up for a sympathy buzz- send pictures!)

And that brings us to where we are now. Currently, she's in very high spirits. She still has a fever, (day five of that now) but after sleeping on ice packs all night, it is starting to come down. She is still up for company, and has loved visiting.

Her brother Michael was able to call us this morning. We filled him in with all the details, and let him know we'll keep him posted about EVERY little thing. We are so proud of him for his dedication to serving a mission. He loves his sister so much, and is going to do all he can for her.

Day Three

(Kim- post surgery. Becka & her mom came around then, and after a while Tommi came to say Hi. She was pretty out of it, but it was nice to see them.)

(Yay! Kim finally gets the IV out of her wrist! And gets a cool Crayon bandaid in it's place...)

Kim just woke up and is getting her first of some new transfusions. They'll be giving her more platelets in preperation for her surgery later today. Also, she is getting some morphine (her hip is hurting where the extracted bone marrow yesterday) and benadril to keep her from reacting to the other things.
Her surgeries are tentatively planned for this afternoon- once the results on the type of Leukemia come in- hopefully within a couple of hours. Then we can get the ball rolling.
I'll update this as soon as we have news.

11:30 am
We just heard from Doctor Burnette- the head doctor on Kim's case. After studying her marrow samples, it looks like she has type AML Leukimia. There are a few subcategories- we don't know which of Those she has yet, but we probably will later today.

http://www.marrow.org/PATIENT/Undrstnd_Disease_Treat/Lrn_about_Disease/AML/index.html

With AML, what she will end up doing is about five month-long treatments. She will stay in the hospital and get her chemo for about a week, then recover for a few weeks, all in all amounting to about a month-long cycle. She will be able to go home for about a week, but then will come back for another month-long cycle. As I said, they will go through the whole cycle about five times. After that, she will probably only have to go to the hospital for a day or two every month. (So we are looking at around 6 months of intense treatment, and probably another year or two of day-long monthly hospital visits.)

This is just a general idea- we don't know exactly how it will go for Kim.

In a few hours, she will probably have her surgeries- a spine tap to check and see if she has any leukimia cells in her spine, and also to inject her with her first dose of chemo there. At the same time, she will have a line put in her chest so that medicine can be directly injected into her. Fortunately she will be unconscious for all of it.

Today she is feeling pretty tired- with the saline, morphine, platelets, blood, antibiotics all coming into her system- and a fever that has been consistantly over 100 for four days now, it's getting a little tiring. But mom, dad and I are keeping her company- and her friends Charla and Melissa are here to keep her distracted. They brought her an amazing poster signed by SO many of her friends. Thank you so much everyone for the love. It really means a lot to her.

As always- I will post when we learn something new. I will add some more pictures soon. If you would like to leave a comment, but can't on individual posts because you don't have a google account (I don't know if you need one) then try the comment section on the bottom of the page- it should let anyone type in a message. We would love to hear from you.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE WANTING TO VISIT HER IN THE HOSPITAL: Visitors are technically allowed, but we are only supposed to have four guests in at a time (including family.) Because she will be undergoing a few procedures, and may be feeling sick from some of them, or won't be in her room at all. So, please call in advance to be sure that it is an okay time. My number is 435-890-9722. ALSO: please remember that this is a very secure section of the hospital- no plants of any kind are allowed, or laytex balloons, or Anyone who is feeling sick at all. (Her immune system is very low, and any germs could be much more harmful that usual to her.) Her room number is 4417.

NOTE ON THE SURGERY: All went well. She now has two lines coming out of her chest for medications, transfusions, and blood drawing. She also has a bit of chemo in her spine. Tests came back- no cancer cells there. She's good to go for the start of treatment tomorrow.

Day 2

Day Two. I will start right now by letting you know that not much happened today. They were not able to diagnose her Leukemia by her blood samples, so we still don't know what type she has. Today she had a marrow sample taken- which is being tested right now to determine the type (ALL or AML.) We should hear back on that tomorrow morning, and then things will really start to happen.

So, let me go back and give you a few more details from our day.

As you know, mom spent the night here, on the fold out bed, and dad and I went back home. He had to work today, but I came back to the hospital this morning, with Kim's gear for the week (changes of clothes and such.)

The first thing that she did this morning was have her bone marrow sample taken. For that, she went down to the surgery floor, and was put under anesthesia. They inserted a needle into her hip. She was pretty loopy going in and coming out from the anesthesia (a fairly quick process.) When they first injected her, she rolled over on her stomach and put her face in the pillow... but then lifted it back up and said "I can't breathe very well this way..." (maybe you had to be there- but it was pretty hilarious.) The whole process didn't take too long.

Just before it began, her friends Melissa (who brought a lovely card from her parents- who also send Kim great cards in anticipation of her surgery) and Whitney showed up at the hospital for a surprise visit to Kim. They followed her down for the procedure, and stayed with her for a while afterwords for company. This turned out to be a good thing. Because they can't start treatment yet, the only other thing she had to do today was lay in bed and take her transfusions.

After a while, another of her friends, Kyle, came by to see her. It was actually a little crowded for a while- but great for Kim to see so many people who love and care about her. Jess Smart came by to say hi, and a while after everyone finally had to go, Sandra and Heather Cazier came by to say hi. THANK YOU ALL, SO MUCH.

One other show of affection that we want to recognize is the beautiful flower arrangement that the Stake Young Women's leaders sent her. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring them into the room- but we got a great picture of them (see above!) and hopefully she'll get to see them before too long.
After dinner and some movies, Kim is now sleeping.

If I can clarify anything more, or try to find answers to questions you may have, please leave a comment. Thank you all again for the love and support. ~Emily

The Battle Begins

Tuesday (July 21), the day before her planned heart surgery, Kim woke tired, and had a fever around 103. We thought she was probably fighting a cold, and gave her tylenol that brought the fever down. We called the hospital, and they told us to bring her anyway, and they would check her out when we got there. The next morning, Wednesday July 22, her fever was just as high, but Dad, Mom and I piled into the car with her for the drive to Primary Children's. After getting through her vitals in the observation room, the surgeon who was going to work on her came to talk to us. He said he didn't think we should do the surgery, but he wanted to run some blood tests anyway. He left, but was back before too long to let us know that her blood test showed her to be very low in platelets, so he wanted us to go upstairs to the Hemotology/Oncology Clinic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncology

We checked in, and again her vitals were taken, and a nurse asked her about her background. A few minutes later, a doctor came in to talk with us. She told us that Kimberly's blood platelets were only a small fraction of what the should be, red blood cells were less than a third of what they should be, and white blood cells where over half of the normal count- and going crazy, not working properly. She then proceded to tell us that there were a number of cancer cells in her blood stream, and it is clear that she has Leukemia. We would need to get transfusions of blood and platelets into her immediately, and as soon as further tests of her blood could be made to determine the type of Leukemia- get her started on chemotherapy. They would take her right over to their section in the hospital and get her settled in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lukemia

Needless to say, it's all been pretty shocking and overwhelming. They took her right over to their in-patient section in the hospital, and got her a room. First, they gave her a transfusion of platelets, followed by one of blood. The head/attending physician of hemotology and oncology, Dr. Barnette, was in very shortly to explain things to us. There are two different types of Leukemia that she may have- ALL or AML. From the simple blood test that they first did, they weren't able to tell which sort it was. They would have to have to do a few more tests on it.
Dr. Barnette explained that she will have to stay in the hospital for at least a week, no matter what, but beyond that it is very difficult to know how long she will need to stay, and what her treatment will be like until we know exactly which type she has. They would keep running the tests and let us know the next morning as to the results.

While she was getting her transfusions- a volunteer with his "friend" Rudolf, came to visit Kim- the enormous bear/dog in the above picture. This is just an example of why we are so glad Kim is able to be at this particular hospital. They pay such close attention to her, and have been so friendly and understanding. We really feel good about how they will take care of her.

http://intermountainhealthcare.org/hospitals/primarychildrens/Pages/home.aspx

That night mom stayed in the hospital room with her, on the pull-out chair/bed. Dad and I headed home to contact family, and get some sleep. The adventure continues tomorrow.

Up To This Point- Kim's History In A Nutshell

It was suggested to me that we start a blog dealing with everything that Kim is going through. Hopefully, you will be able to check it as often as you like, and see what recent developments have been made.
Let me start first... at the beginning.
As those of you who are close to her know, Kim is a very active and energetic girl. She's participated in Track at Logan High school for the past four years, going to State the last two. She's an honor student, and a great friend.
During her standard physical at the beginning of this year, she mentioned that she sometimes feels lightheaded when she exercizes (not that it stops her from pushing herself as hard as she can!) He had her go in for a few tests at Logan Regional Hospital, which lead to more intense testing at Primary Children's in Salt Lake.
Two problems arose. The first is something we have known about since she was born. She had three heart conditions: PDA (Paten Ductus... - a hole between two chambers of her heart that wouldn't close, ASD (Anterial septer defect- a flap between her heart and lungs that did not close properly) and Pulmonary Stenosis (an artery in her heart that was too narrow). At first doctors just wanted to wait until she was a bit older before they performed surgery on her, but by after many years of close observation, by the time she was five it was discovered that the ASD and PS healed themselves, and the PDA would most likely not effect her health, and so would not require surgery.
However, the second, and new condition, that arose this year was a nerve that would fire uncontrolled in her heart when she exerted herself, resulting in a heartbeat that was Twice the normal Elevated rate. (Getting up to around 250 bpm.)
Doctors decided that surgery at this point- to close the hole between chambers in her heart (PDA), and cauterize the nerve would be the best thing for her. Though this was decided in April, the surgery couldn't be scheduled until July.
The doctors decided that she should be alright to participate in track for the last month or so of school, so long as she was careful not to overexert herself. She was amazing- selected to go to State in the 4x4 race (not her usual 100/200, but she was great none the less.) Her brother Michael left on his mission to Orlando, Florida, Kim graduated with honors, turned 18, and proceded to enjoy her summer.
In the past couple of months, Kim has started to bruise easily, feel light headed occasionally, and feel less energetic. We thought that this was probably a result of her heart working too hard, as her blood tests from a couple of months earlier hadn't shown anything else.

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robot (The Flaming Lips)

Her name is Yoshimi
she's a black belt in karate
working for the city
she has to discipline her body
'Cause she knows that
it's demanding to defeat those evil machines
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi, they don't believe me
but you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi, they don't believe me
but you won't let those robots defeat me
Those evil-natured robots
they're programmed to destroy us
she's gotta be strong to fight them
so she's taking lots of vitamins'
Cause she knows that
it'd be tragic if those evil robots win
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi, they don't believe me
but you won't let those robots defeat me
Yoshimi, they don't believe me
but you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi
'Cause she knows that it'd be tragic
if those evil robots win
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi, they don't believe me
but you won't let those robots defeat me
Yoshimi, they don't believe me
but you won't let those robots defeat me
Oh Yoshimi, they don't believe me
but you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi, they don't believe me
but you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi