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, March 14, 2011

Ah! I've been so lazy! Fortunately, many of you came to Mike's Homecoming and got updates on Kim in person. To the rest of you- sorry! It has been a crazy week.

Kim has been having a bit of a rough time this past while. Friday we learned that she had a yeast infection growing in her blood, so they needed to remove her central line, as yeast infections tend to cluster around foreign objects like that. Her kidney function has been improving, and her nausea has mostly gone, but she still has mouth sores that make it difficult for her to eat, so they still have her on IV nutrition.

A CT scan showed that most of her organs are looking good, but she does have ovarian cysts which are probably contributing to the abdominal pain she's been having. Alon with bed sores and hemroids, and feet that still haven't quite healed up- she's still in a lot of pain.

Her central line was removed Friday afternoon. She's having to have all of her medications and fluids through IVs that have been placed in both hands (but were later moved a little higher up her arms, much to her relief- the hand IVs really hurt her.)

Today we learned that the doctors aren't seeing any yeast in her blood anymore, but she is still having fevers, so we don't know what else could be going on. They are considering placing a PICC line in her arm tomorrow, but we'll have to are.

For now, she's being kept pretty sedated, but we think she's over-all coming along alright. Her second, double- check bone marrow test is Wednesda. No plans for the transplant or coming home yet, but we are hoping to get there soon.

Thank you all for your support of our family! Seeing so many of you with her wristbands makes us all so happy :). ( If you still need one- let me know!)

Lots of love-

The Nelsons
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2 comments:

  1. Piano MomMarch 14, 2011 at 1:21 PM

    Thank you on the update on Kim. Please tell her we're praying for her. She is going through so much, it breaks my heart.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LizzieMarch 14, 2011 at 2:32 PM

    Yeah, thanks for updating. We're still praying for you guys over here and hope things get easier. Love you Kim!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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