Beautiful Wood Plaque given to Our Family by Our Friend Ben Rogers on April 10th, 2011.

Dear, Loved Friends-

I am not quite ready to express myself to you. But I will. This blog will be here for as long as I am allowed to keep it, and I hope to, from time to time, continue to add a thoughts and experiences about Kim. For now, I have a message from my dad that he would like to share.

I can never thank you enough, for all you have done. And be warned- I plan to ask you for more. But not today.

Always, Love, Emily


From David:

As I was talking to Ben Rogers this Sunday afternoon in our home, a correlation between Kim’s suffering and early Mormon Pioneers come to mind.

It seems cruel that people have to go through pain and suffering, especially people who are doing everything the best they can; they don’t seem to deserve such a hard life. But as is taught by our prophets, our trials in life are a process we mortals go through to become more compassionate, learn patience, and become more perfected -even more like Christ.

As the Mormon Pioneers had to suffer physical pain, endurance and even death in many cases, they didn’t complain. Modern day people who learn of the Pioneer history often complain against God, wondering why He would let such a cruel thing happen to His chosen people. But you don’t see journal entries of these people complaining of their experience; it was a blessing to them. They were given spiritual blessings and strengths we don’t understand. These harsh experiences helped sanctify these people so they were worthy of God’s greatest blessings in heaven.

The Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Liberty jail that his trials, if endured well, would exalt him on high. These pioneer experiences are recorded in history for others to benefit from. The ground that these people lost their lives on, such as Martin’s Cove, for example, is hallowed ground. Modern-day treks bring these stories and experiences to life for many youth groups for whom the spirit is felt and conversions to the gospel are made.

So it is with Kim. She suffered in her battle with AML leukemia, months of hospital stays, 8 rounds of chemo therapy -each one bringing on life threatening side effects and untold pain. She bore these “well” as the Lord told the Prophet Joseph to do. Kim’s undaunted spirit, courage and positive attitude won her the love and respect of all who knew her and cared for her. Her circle of friends and admirers exploded to include many more people than she would ever imagine. These events were recorded by her sister Emily and made public to the world through the modern day miracle of the blog. As her father, I’m totally amazed at the volume of people who expressed their admiration of Kim and her great example of positive attitude and adherence to the Savior’s Gospel.

So, just as the Pioneers were perfected in the “refiner’s fire” with their trials, Kim was as well, with her trials. Kim illuminated to her best when she was under adversity, both in earlier life experiences, such as her training for track, or in her battle with cancer. She was particularly amazing in the later. She was truly magnificent. This experience, I’m certain has refined her spirit to the point that she had learned all she needed to graduate to the next level in the plan of salvation. She now has another calling and I’m sure is running at her best to do it with perfection. Her trials and example has made and will continue to make me a better person.

Memorial Fund

We have created a memorial fund for Kimberly at the USU Community Credit Union. I know many of you have been asking about this, so we finally have it taken care of. You can call or visit any branch, and ask for the Kimberly Nelson Donation Fund, and they will be able to help you.

As a side note, we are still planning to represent Kim at the Relay for Life event on April 15th.

Accommodations

For those of you who are coming from out of town for the funeral, a dear friend of ours and Kim's, Mary Goodlad, has arranged for discounted rates at the hotel she works at.
Comfort in is located at 25 West 400 North in Logan, and if you call her to make your reservation, the cost is only $35 for one night. Her phone number is 435-752-3261.
Thank you, Mary.

Kimberly Nelson passed away Thursday, March 31st, at the Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, due to complications in a long and brave battle against Leukemia.

Our beloved Kimberly is the Jewel of our hearts. She was born May 30th, 1991, to her parents, David and Julie Nelson, and her eagerly awaiting older siblings, Emily and Michael, of Logan, Utah.

Despite health conditions that may have held her back, Kim has always been full of life, energy, an unbeatable determination to accomplish whatever goal she set for herself, and an undying love for everyone in her life. Her positive attitude has always lifted those around her, and her desire to make others laugh, even at her own expense, never ended.

Kim has always been a tremendous example to those around her. She inspires others to strive to be better, and her desire in life has been to help them along the way. Her unshakable testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is undeniable to anyone who knows her. She doesn’t just believe, her entire life has been proof of her belief. The shining light within her has made the world a brighter place.

Kimberly comes from an incredible family and legacy. Her parents, sister, and brother, Grandparents Keith E. (deceased) and Mary Beth Nelson, of Logan, Utah, and Joseph D. (Deceased) and Loleta Marie Tanner of Lyman, Wyoming, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Best Friends, and countless other loved ones’ lives were brightened for having known Kim.

The funeral in her honor will be held on Saturday, the 9th of April, at noon, with a viewing from 10:30 to 11:30 that morning, at the Logan 15th Ward building, 125 West 600 North in Logan, Utah. A viewing will be held Friday evening, the 8th of April, from 6:00 until 8:00, at the Nelson Funeral Home, 150 East 400 North, Logan, Utah.

Dear Family and Friends,

Kim passed away last night at 7:48 pm. She slipped into a coma while napping at eight o'clock that morning. It was caused by hemorrhaging in her brain brought on by the infection in her blood, and her weak physical state.

Kim was laughing and happy all of Wednesday, herself all through the night and that morning. She never felt pain, or any struggle. She was surrounded by loved ones all that day, and Dad, Mom, Mike and I were with her the whole time.

The funeral will probably be Monday, at our Family's Stake center. Nelson Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. I will have more details later today.

This has been just as spiritual as it has been sad for our family. We can still feel Kim's love, and we can't begrudge Heavenly Father one of his very best angels.

For now, we just need your prayers. If any of you would like to help dad and mom out with the funeral costs, I know that would be greatly appreciated... we hadn't made any arrangements that way.

Thank you all so much, for all you have done for us. I'm so sorry, that it will be a while before you get to see Kim again, but just remember- she's still with us, and always will be. She'll always be there, encouraging all of us to be our best, and Keep Running, just as she always has.

I will write again tonight with more details.

Love Always,
Emily

Kim is in a coma. Not doing well. Sorry, things are so hard. Please pray for us.

Sorry for the long break everyone... I've had a really tired few days. Kim is doing okay, but not any better than she was the last time I posted. Still has the infection, still no PICC line, so still on an IV they move every day or three, when her vein starts going bad. Still having fevers, still throwing up. Still no blood counts.

Yesterday, though, Dr Barnette, her primary, told mom and Kim that they think the last round of chemo that she had might have killed off her marrow, and if so, she'll never get blood counts back, and so will probably never get over the infection- without the bone marrow transplant. Though it will be risky to move ahead while she still has the infection, they might have to. They are going to do one more bone marrow test, during which they will also extract a small piece of her hip bone, for one more check, before they decide what to do for sure. That will probably be a week from today.

Aside from that... as I said, things haven't really changed much. We are still worried about Kim, but keeping optimistic (just don't talk to mom.) I am very glad to see that many of you have signed up for relay for life! Just two more weeks! And we had our first donation- special thanks to the Kent Family!

It will be okay. Thank you ALL- Love, Emily

Kim is still battling that infection. She's had a fever most of the day, so they've completely stopped talking about giving her a PICC line. It seems like steps backwards, doesn't it?
We need her body to start growing back blood, so that she can fight this off and move on.
Mike's birthday is this Friday, and we're probably all going to spend the weekend in Salt Lake.
I haven't really been doing much for Relay for Life- but it is coming up soon. Just a couple more weeks.
Thanks, everyone. We love you.

No PICC line today- they are still finding yeast in her blood cultures - it will be at least a couple more days of IVs. (It takes a few days of peatry dish time before these things grow- so, if it's gone now, we still have to wait until nothing grows from her blood.)
Other than that, doing okay. She only threw up once today. And our grandma Marie came to visit! And so did Uncle Larry and Aunt Dianna. And Larry probably doesn't have cancer at all! So, in many ways, today was very wonderful, too. Thank you!!

Hi Friends!

Today was beautiful. The days since Mike has been home have been quite hectic, and we haven't really had much time to spend with just the five of us. Five? It's surreal having a whole family again, even if it was just for a few hours today.

Kim has been gradually doing better- her kidneys are functioning, her fevers have come down, and she's gradually being taken off of one medication at a time. They feel that the infection in her blood is gone, taken care of with the removal of her central line, and anti-fungal and antibiotic medications. The plan is to place a PICC line in her arm tomorrow- she's still living with IVs in both arms. The PICC line, rather than placing another central line, as they will have to eventually, is just a step. She still has virtually no blood counts, and would have a difficult time recovering from the more intense procedure that the central line would need. We're just looking forward to no more IVs! Though they have them placed in her wrists rather than hands now, they are still quite painful for her.

There hasn't been any talk as to her transplant, starting another round, or coming home. Everything has been put on hold as they've been trying to get her stable again. It looks like we're finally getting there- and thank goodness, it didn't take a trip to PICU this time!

There is yet another bone marrow aspirate (test) planned for later this week. Though she's had two already, they really aren't a good indication until she starts to produce marrow again, which she hasn't, yet. Then they'll know if the leukemia is growing back as well.

Things take much longer now, than they used to. Kim's body is at its breaking point- and it's scary to think that she still has a ways to go, and the transplant will be harder than anything she's done yet. But she's still Our Kim, and as always- she keeps running!

Thank you for being the wind beneath our wings.

Emily

Hi my dear friends,

I just wanted you to know that Kim is doing well. Not much has changed, but in small ways she is doing better. They've taken her off of one of her antibiotics, and are slowly decreasing the amount of fluids they give her, which means her kidneys are starting to function just a little bit better. She is still making do with IVs in her hands/arms, because they haven't wanted to risk the infection that an internal line might cause.

I just wanted to thank all of you again for all of the support you've been giving her. It's just as hard as it's ever been- even harder, in ways, and we always need you more than ever. Thank you.

To the McDonalds- thanks for the Irish Luck basket! The green decorations have been fun for the holiday!

To the McClungs- Thanks as always for your adorable packages! They're always winners.

To the Nolans and Rawlinsons- thank you for always posting your support.

To Melissa- thank you, dear, for spending the weekend with Kim so mom, dad and I could pay attention to Mike. It was hard leaving her, but I know you took good care of her.

Ah, you know how individual thanks are- of course I'm going to leave people out. But I love you all, so much, for what you've been doing for my family. Thank YOU!

And hey- those new wristbands will work great for St. Patrick's Day!

Oh- one more side note. These late posts are almost always done as I'm falling asleep, and usually from my phone. After the first paragraph, it doesn't automatically keep up with where I am typing- so I make a lot of errors. I decided long ago not to let it bother me- and even though I usually notice as I'm posting it... I tend to just let it go. Maybe some day I'll go through and edit them. Until then- I know you love me anyway!

Goodnight! Love, Emily

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

Wow. The past few days have been a lot of the same old story- Kim's been feeling pretty crummy and is on loads of meds and liquids. Her test on Monday went well- her hip isn't too sore from the marrow draw.

Alright, that was everything I should have told you a day or two ago- now to today. And yes- wow.

Mike is HOME. Dad, mom and I picked him up at the airport around seven, and brought him right here to the hospital. Our family is finally together again. It's such an incredible feeling. Technically, Kim and I are at the hospital still, and Mike went home with our parents, but we were together for about an hour :) Now we just need to get Kim home!

Now, as to Kim's test results. Technically, we got them back today- but the doctors want to wait another week or so and do another aspirate- just to be sure. But... Let's just say things looked good. Now we just need to start healing!

Make sure to come to Mike's hecong this Saturday, if you can. See more details on his blog. I willtry too return ails tomorrow- sorry
I Love you all- what an amazing day! Thanks!

Oh, poor Kim. She is so miserable. She has just been in souch pain lately, and her nausea is still Terrible. Her blood counts Are coming up a tiny bit, so we're hoping her body will start healing. She's under a hundred pounds now, poor little thing.
Still no news, really. A lot depends on how Monday's test goes.
Thank you all so much-
Emily

Next Test witll be Monday!

Funny story for you:

I just spoke with Kim, and she was telling me about her day. The conversation went more or less like this:

Kim: "All I've done today is thrown up! At least ten times! I swear I've never thrown up this much in my whole life put together! At least I've been able to work it out though- I ordered some really great ice cream, and it was so delicious! It didn't even taste all that bad when I threw it right back up. So then I ordrered up some more! I haven't thrown that back up yet, but just thinking about it... urhhhg.... hold on...."

Mom: "Hi, Em. Kim's throwing up again. But how was your day?"

:) For all that she's still feeling so crummy, she is just a little bit better than she was Sunday, so we're grateful for that.

As I said in today's title, we have the date for her next bone marrow aspirate: this Monday. As you know, we really, really need her leukemia count to be under 8%. It was still at 15 after her last test. If it's under 8, they should be going ahead with the transplant round. If it's not, I really don't know what will happen.

So, again, and as always, please pray extra hard for Kim and her upcoming test.

Mike will be home in one week! Are you coming to his homecoming?
eldermikenelson.blogspot.com

Hi Guys. I don't really have any News- just more comments on things we already know. (So, no news about coming home, blood counts, or the transplant.)
Although it's really the same old story- nausea, icky mouth, sore feet- it's especially rough right now. She can hardly keep anything down, and her throat hurts so much from the throwing up, and what chemo did to it, that she's in constant pain. They've started her back on IV nutrition, as she's lost so much weight over this past week. She's on so many medications, that she just dozes most of the time. When she is awake, she's miserable. Like I said, it's rough.
What we need are her blood counts to start coming back good, strong, and cancer free- and to start healing her body. Her next bone marrow test really will say zero leukemia, and she'll get to come home for a nice break, and then go back for transplant: finish line!
Please help us pray that she'll make it through this hard time soon.

Thank you everyone who has been signing up for relay. Kim is very excited to see how we'll think of supporting her this year. More news on that coming soon- for now, we just need to get our girl feeling better.

Love, Emily

Well, Kim's through her chemo! She's feeling pretty crummy now, as usual- the swelling, burned feet are back, along with the nausea and icky-mouth. We're battling them with the same things- little bites to eat when she can, pain meds, and lavender-milk wraps at night, and ice packs round the clock for her feet.

Still no news regarding anything else- but thanks for hanging in there with us :)

Two weeks til Mike gets home!

Hi Everyone,
I don't really have anything new to report. Kim is finishing her last doses of chemo today, and we're just playing the "wait and see" game for now.
She's been doing alright with the treatement, considering the fact that it IS chemotherapy- she's sick and doesn't feel like eating anything, and has gotten a little puffy and sore, but she's holding in there.
We don't know if/when they'll want to start her trasnplant round. I don't know yet when they'll want to do another bone marrow aspirate to see how this round of chemo went. I don't know if they will let her come home for a break in between. I'm not much help, am I? :) But we'll let you know as soon as we do what Kim's going to have going on.

Please register for Relay for Life! And start the countdown: Mike will be home in two weeks!

Love you all- Emily

Hi dear friends. I am writing from my phone , in kim's room. I'm sorry to say that it was just preliminary testing that showed her leukemia cells at zero. We got her final results yesterday. She actually does still have 15% of the cancer left. They are starting her on another round of chemo immediately. She is about to get her first dose. They're giving her three different kinds this round. One of them us new, and is generally considered the most aggressive one they use here.
I don't know what the next few days will bring, but I will let you know as soon as I figure things out.