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

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Hola amigos!

Things are getting better for me today. My bed sore hasn't been hurting as much and it has started to look better. My doctors are thinking my bed sore might need plastic surgery for it to heal properly. Yikes! It's still extremely painful when wound team changes the dressing on my bed sore. The wound nurse has to scrape and dig at it to try to get out the dead tissue that's preventing the sore from healing. The sore on my ankle hasn't changed at all for months. They also dig at that one too. An anesthesiologist has been coming to see me the past few days. Dilaudid had stopped working for me. He's trying to find new things that'll help take the pain away.

I was given an air mattress yesterday to try out on my bed to see if that would be more comfortable for my pokey bones. I'm still not sure if I like it or not.

Mom and I had a fun St. Patrick's day. We delivered festive cookies to the other patients here in the ICS and to the staff. From what I've heard, everyone loved them. Yay! One nurse told me that one of my cookies helped calm down a sad, crying toddler. That made me feel good :) I dressed up very festively.



Today I had fun on my walk. I found a cute little wheelchair. I also found out I fit in it. Hehe so I wheeled myself all around the unit.



Dad came down last Sunday and stayed with me till Wednesday morning. We had lots of fun :) going for walks, watching movies, playing games, talking in the middle of the night etc. I just love spending time with my dad :).

3 comments:

  1. Kim,
    So good to see a picture of you looking so good! Your Dad is a very special guy. It was great to read your thoughts about him. You are such a wonderful daughter.
    Still hope to maybe see you soon. Bless you, Kim.
    Love,
    Don and Lois

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  2. It's so good to see you smiling--in spite of the pain and trials. It's just like you to think of others and share the fun of St. Patrick's Day. Stay on the recovery road. We are sheering you on to the finish line where you will smash the red robot and win!
    all our love, Then Nolans

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  3. Hi Kim,
    Love the festive look! I'm glad you are able to have some fun there in spite of all the things you are going through. You are a wonderful young woman. You have such a wonderful family. I admire the way you have all handled everything you've had to endure. You guys are an inspiration to us all.

    Love the Hansen's

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