So glad to be home...

Sorry its been a while since I've been on to update. I've been relaxing at home and my mom's house. Not much has been going on. I've been having BM's every day and there is no sign of blood. I thank God everyday. We have changed my next treatment to be this up coming Thursday instead of the following Monday. Our thought process is to give enough time after treatment to recover before we leave for San Diego. We only have 2 weeks left. I can't wait to be a beach bum.
Wednesday night, Erin stayed the night with us. We stayed up after putting the kids down and watched Bride Wars. Let me rephrase that...I watched the movie while Erin fell asleep during the movie.
Friday, Sammy and Scott came over and made an incredible halibut and salmon dinner...the kids even loved it. They also stayed the night and even made breakfast the next morning. I have the most incredible friends.
My first real venture out was yesterday. I went to my nieces dance recital. They did so good. Landyn was so adorable in her dance and shaking her booty. Jaden really impressed me...talk about personality with dance. She had so many dances. I asked her how she is able to remember all those dances. Her response..."A lot of practice." She is doing awesome.
Today, Sunday, Erin has come back over to spend the day with the kids and I.

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers.

Love,

Kim

Home From Hospital

Kim left the hospital yesterday and is soooo happy to be home. We are all looking forward to our family vacation in San Diego in 3 weeks.

Aunt Kathy

Hopefully Home From Hospital Soon

Kim experienced a slight allergic reaction to the contrast and is still having a lot of pain, so they decided not to discharge her yesterday. She was moved out of ICU to a regular room.

Aunt Kathy

Interventional Radiology Procedure A Success!!

It is Aunt Kathy here.....happy to report that the radiology procedure done this morning on Kim to stop the bleeding from her colon tumor was successful and Kim is resting comfortably. If she doesn't have any further bleeding, she will get to go home from the hospital tomorrow.

I'm sure Kim will be in touch with everyone on the blog soon.

Regards,
Kathy

I'm NOT Pregnant

Hello everyone...It's Me!
So the latest shocker this morning was my nurse telling me that my blood work came back saying I was pregnant. LOL!!! I said "NO WAY!" I've had 4 periods in the last 8 months since being on chemo and Deron got fixed 5 years ago. We thought it was kind of comical. Therefore, I've just went through having an ultra sound done as well to make sure there was no little Miller in there. And like we thought...NO ONE WAS HOME!

As of right now, I'm starving! Again I have not been able to eat due to this possible upcoming procedure. The radiology department that Aunt Kathy mentioned yesterday is talking with my doctors right now to see about having the interventional radiology procedure done. The risk is having to use the CT contrast that I have had multiple allergic reactions from. As soon as they make up their mind, I will either be going down for the procedure or being a happy little camper eating. If I do end up in the procedure, I'm sure Aunt Kathy will update everyone once I'm out.

The other thing that was discovered last night in my colonoscopy is that there is another 3 cm tumor that has joined just above my primary tumor in my colon. Obviously, this comes as a shock and disappointment, but I can't let that get me down and I still believe I will beat this. Having to have that NG tube in my nose really made me mad. I'm ready to continue to fight like hell!!!!

Oh my nurse just came in and told me that I can eat!!!!! I love her! Jack in the box...here Deron comes. They are not going to do the radiology procedure until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. They need to prep me with cortisone and benadryl for 12 hours prior to the procedure so I don't have an allergic reaction to the contrast.

Thank you so much for all the continued prayers.

I am missing my babies and the Nurse just said that she would turn her head the other way if they came to see me. These Nurse's are awesome!!

Kim

Colonoscopy Completed

Dr. Rodriquez did the colonosopy this evening and there is a quarter size area of the colon tumor that is bleeding. He wasn't able to adequately take care of the bleeding through the scope and they are waiting for the bleeding to start again and then the radiologist will do a procedure that has a 90% success rate in stoping bleeding. The next bleed she has they will take her down stairs to radiology for the procedure. Last night, they did move Kim to ICU so that they can keep a better eye on her. Unfortunately, she had to experience having an NG tube in place during the night, but they removed it around 9:30 a.m. She got 2 units of blood today and her color is so much better.

Kim is sitting up in bed right now eating tortilla soup and chicken strips from Red Robin that uncle Kirby just brought her. She is soooo happy to finally be able eat (no food since Monday) and can't wait to get a good nights sleep.

Kim wants everyone to know how much she appreciates the prayers and asked everyone to keep them coming.

Aunt Kathy

Aunt Kathy Here With An Update

Kim was admitted to Banner Estrella Hospital this afternoon with rectal bleeding. She will be having a colonoscopy late tomorrow afternoon to see where the bleeding is coming from. She is resting comfortably and Deron will be spending the night at the Hospital with her. Keep the prayers coming and I will put an update on the blog tomorrow after we know more.

Aunt Kathy

My family by photosbynatalie.com

We had so much fun doing these photos with Natty. As you can see, Natty is the most talented photographer I've ever known. The pictures at the end go in order of chaos. lol

My dearest friend and amazing photographer Natalie took these photos last Monday for me. Natty, you are amazing! We love you!

Emotions I've never experienced

Last week was one of the hardest weeks I've ever had. Having little energy and physically not being able to do what my mind wants me to do has been a major mental struggle for me. I've always seemed to be in control of my emotions, my pain, etc. I gave birth to both kids without even a Tylenol and did just fine because I've always been able to control my mind to accomplish what I want to accomplish. My body has been through a lot in the last 6 weeks...strep throat, pneumonia, vasculitous, open lung biopsy, chemo therapy then the stomach flu. I understand how trying that can be on someones body. These things have really taken a toll on my body so my energy level has been very low while my pain from the open lung biopsy has been high. After laying around for a week or so because that's all I could do after peeling myself out of bed, my emotions have really taken a turn for the worst. Once I was physically able to get up...I no longer wanted to. It only took my a few days to realize I was on the wrong path. I immediately started talking with Deron, my mom and family about my emotions. I felt as if I was spiralling into depression at a rapid pace. I had no control of my emotions...I was sad most of the time...crying the other times...didn't want to get dressed into normal day clothes...I wanted to do nothing besides eat only a little bit and sleep. I needed help. At the end of this last week my family got together twice for my cousin Justin's graduation party from high school and my cousin Kohl's graduation from Medical School. Congrats boys...I'm very proud of you both. Thank goodness Michelina (an amazing woman in our family) came to Kohl's grad luncheon. I had her sit next to me so she could help me pull my head out of my rear. She and I stayed at the restaurant for 2 hours after the family left and we talked. It was just what I needed. Deron and I did go to our doctor today and talked about my increasing pain I've been having. I've been doubling up on my pain meds some days just to get by. Each time I have increased pain, pain in a new area, etc...I think...I hope this pain is not from the cancer continuing to spread. It's hard for your mind not to go there. My pain has been from my ribs still being very sore and my lung healing but I've also had a lot of pain from my upper back to my lower back and all in between. Today our PA said she is almost certain my pain is from the Neulasta shot (white cell booster). That shot causes extreme bone pain. I only thought the pain lasted for 3 days after the shot was given. I didn't realize it lasts for a few weeks. They will check my blood work I did today and see how high my white count is and probably reduce the amount of the Neulasta shot the next time. In the meantime, they have given me break through pain meds to keep me comfortable. I have chemo this next Monday, June 15th. Keep praying with us that it will go much better with no flu. We will also be checking on events at the Wellness Community to get us and our kids involved. My friend Michelle and her kids are the poster family this month so check them out if you get a chance.

Deron and I are striving to improve everyday. Love God and each other.

Kim