Day 5 of Round 5

Hi everyone thanks again for your support, faith and prayers. The chemo has done its job and her blood has dropped like a rock and so has her immunity.
The doctors have found the infection in her blood, it is a different one than the one that sent her to PICU. She is responding well to the antibiotics. She is on five different ones right now. Her fevers are gone and her blood pressure is back to normal and although she is still really tired she is doing much much better. We had a very special surprise today. Brad Nelson and his wife, one of Kim's favorite teachers from Logan High, came to visit Kim today. Like our family their family is fighting cancer as well. Our love, support and prayers go out to them.

Yea No More Chemo

Yesterday was a very eventful one for Kim. She had to say a sad goodby to two friends Lauren and Noelle from the PC Branch. They have prayed for and with her loved and supported her and her family and given wonderful lessons. They have been there for Kim since the beginning of her treatment. She and her family will miss them. They were both released from their callings. That is another of the amazing blessings that have come from her journey - the friends that she has made.
She was also able to move out of her closet and back into ICS. Her nurses made her stay in the closet fun but it was good that she was able to move back. She was greeted by the always supportive nurses and techs. They dressed up and brought her gifts and sang her a song to celebrate her last day of chemo. We set up room 4414 back again in C pod. She decorated the walls until she was tired. Last night her temp went up and her blood pressure went down. We have had everyone in here doing everything they can to keep her out of PICU. She is very tired and so even though the chemo is over we aren't feeling well enough to celebrate quite yet. Thanks again for your love and support.

AH!!! I'm in a CLOSET!

So maybe it's a little bigger than a closet, but it's much much smaller than the normal rooms in the ICS. This is called a sedation room. There are four of them in their own little area. I'm only going to be in here for awhile, then I'll get a bigger room. The whole hospital is full, they're sticking kids in places they usually wouldn't. One kid had to be put in a room the physician on call uses to sleep in. Crazy.
It's kind of fun being here since it's a totally new thing. Two of the kids are babies, but the other one is a 21 year old boy. Mom and I wemt to visit with him and his dad. Apparently we're all getting together tomorrow for a movie haha. It's nice being able to talk to someone around my age who's going through similiar things.
I was pretty low on red blood cells and platelets when I came in, so I've recieved two bags of blood and a bag of platelets. I started my first dose of ARA-C. I believe I'm getting about 2000 mL of ARA-C total. My ANC went from 2200 to 100 in a week. That's fast.
When I'm done with this whole cancer thing I'm really going to miss the people here. They've been so so amazing. They make having to come here and have chemotherapy so much more bearable.

Home for a few days

Because the chemo doesn't usually start to make Kim sick for the first week or so (yesterday being an exception) and also because they space these last few big shot doses apart a few days, Kim is at home until Friday. Then she will go back for the last of her chemo- and to await the results. You know, the usual sickness, fevers, weakness, eye and skin irritation, hair loss, etc. Too bad, as she's progressed from the "kiwi" look to almost a "fuzzy little chick" style.
We just wanted to let you know that Kim is feeling a little better today, and though it is slow getting started, this is really IT- the final round, and the key to this whole big adventure we've been having. As she is still so weak, it's going to be more critical than ever that we try not to let her get sick. But regardless of how long this last round takes, once we finally get through it, we'll be through! And hopefully soon we'll be able to find out which Kim thinks is harder: cancer, or college. Hah ;)
Love you all, and thank you so much for helping us to get through this one last fight to the end. We need you!