Kim looks good as a red head. Her hair is gone and she is sporting either a sassy red wig or cute stylin’ hats. She decided the hair was going anyway so she clipped it short last Sunday. I think she is still surprised at the bald woman who looks back at her from her bathroom mirror.
You can also see in this recent picture of Kim that she faithfully wears her Miracle Icon necklace by Mary Jo Pane, a jewelry artist who now lives in NYC. Mary Jo recently returned to Omaha where she had a Trunk Show to benefit her nephew, Alex Stowe. Alex is a young man with leukemia. Mary Jo’s inspiration behind the collection was inspired by Alex’s illness, living in New York post 9/11 and her own belief in saints, guardian angels and spirits. The antique and vintage religious icons are used to create one of a kind bracelets and necklaces to promote a feeling of spiritual and bodily well being. They are becoming quite popular too. Oprah includes one on her “Favorite Things” list. Matthew McConaughey wore one in “Failure To Launch”. The Rock wore one when he was on the View a couple of weeks ago and Johnny Depp wears his often. Kay Snyder’s GYN Doctor had her necklace on at Kay’s last visit. She happened to be the doctor that delivered Mary Jo’s nephew, Alex. After Kay chatted with her doctor about these, Kay called me and said…. “we need to get one for Kim.” Other friends and family agreed and sent me on a mission.
I went to the Trunk Show, met Mary Jo and she helped me select 3 meaningful icons. Kim wears three Saints on her necklace. St Peregrine (Patron Saint of cancer patients), St Rita (a patroness of difficult cases and healing) and Mary (a spiritual mother, symbol of all things good, hope and grace). Then Mary Jo gave me a wooden bracelet with an St Peregrine. She said she appreciated us supporting her nephew’s benefit but wanted to give Kim something as well. So Mary Jo sent loving wishes, prayerful thoughts and a Miracle Icon bracelet. She is a really neat lady and I enjoyed meeting her. You can see her website at: www.miracleicons.com
Kim will begin Chemo treatment session # 2 of 7 today. Although this is the second session, it will be a bit more typical than the last one. Last time they actually needed to do another surgery to place a port under her skin for future treatment. Shane will bring her into the Med Center and be able to see the process and ask the questions that will no doubt come up. This is an outpatient procedure. Kim plans on staying the night at Gail and Rod’s so she can be in Omaha for day 2 of this session. Again day #3 will be a shot at the Syracuse hospital to boost her immune system.
I hope she weathers this as well as she did the first go around. Kim was very tired, achy and queasy last time but she was a real trooper. She was also pleased with the blood work, as the levels would re-act as predicted and responded well to the medication. She goes to the Syracuse hospital every Monday to have blood work done. If her counts are ever too low, they will tell her to go home and stay away from work and germs. So far they have been good. She has been working as much as she can lately. After a couple of re-coup days from the last Chemo, Kim has been able to put in good half day almost everyday.
Although things have gone pretty smoothly and she has been a strong fighter, there is something that is breaking her heart. It has been a while since she has been able to hold or see her granddaughter. Little Miss Hailey had her 1-year booster shots. Good news is… these days they can vaccinate for chicken pox. Bad news is that is in a live virus and not something that Kim should be around. Hailey did break out with about 4 little pox. They have since scabbed over and dried up so maybe Kim’s wait will soon be over. Holding Hailey again will be good medicine.
I am looking forward to seeing Kim too. I have only been able to visit with her over the phone as I am nursing my first cold of the season. The last thing she needs is to be sneezed on. I can breathe now and my head has stopped throbbing so I am sure I am on the mends. It caused me to miss the last Thursday Night Sister’s Get Together. That has become a very special time for us. The men folk go off to golf and we get together for dinner, laughs and fellowship. I felt very left out last week but glad they had a good time. It was Dad’s birthday and he was able to crash the “Girl’s Night” as a special guest. We will not meet “Chemo Week” so I will really be ready for the therapy of Girl’s Night when we can kick it back in.
Kim will be resting and taking special care of herself for the remainder of the week so she can be healthy enough to enjoy her grandson’s baptism on Sunday. J.J. will be baptized in their home church and we will all be pot-lucking dinner in the social hall after the service. Life’s celebration continues and we don’t want to miss a one!
Jan Snyder
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Friday, September 1, 2006
Update on Kim - September 1st
It has been over 2 weeks since an update but that does not mean things have been idle. Actually the calendar has been so full that we wonder where the time has gone.
The Dr. told Kim that she was healing nicely and was ready to start chemo. He also told her that it was likely she would qualify for a study group. If she agreed to be part of this group it would mean extra test, a CAT scan an echogram. These are both baseline tests and will be repeated periodically throughout the treatment. We all liked the idea of the “extra TLC” factor. We also liked the idea that she had to have a strong heart and other than her cancer, she needed to be in good condition. Test showed she was. The part of this that we were not thrilled about was the fact that she needed to have a small portion of a tumor that remained in her body. Test showed she did. Not great news but still good to know what they are dealing with. The tumor is less than an inch and on her liver. The doctor hopes the Chemo will take care of it.
The test study was divided into 2 groups. One group will have a “Chemo Cocktail” of 2 types of medication and have it administered 2 days in a row, every 20 days. Group 2 would have a combination of 3 drugs in their “Chemo-Cocktail” taken on the same 2 consecutive days but then followed by a shot that is meant to boost the white blood cells on day 3. A computer assigned Kim to the group once she qualified. She is in the high dose group. The doctors at the Med Center have used both routines so neither is right or wrong, just different. And now they are studying the difference and the outcomes. The combination of the 3 drugs can be too toxic for some patients. Kim and her doctors can and will pull out of the study if this puts her at too high a risk. We are thinking that she can whip this quicker and is in the right study group.
Early last Wednesday, Kim had a port put into her upper chest on the right. This will be where the Chemo is administered. It will stay in for as long as her body allows and she is undergoing Chemo. She then went through a “flushing” before the 1 ½ hour of Chemo followed by another “flushing”. On Thursday the process was repeated. She will go to the Syracuse Hospital to have a shot 24 to 48 hours after her last Chemo. It is my understanding that this shot will make her bones ache a bit but the outcome will be a boost in the white blood cells. Kim will have lab work done every Monday at the Syracuse hospital. The results will go to UNMC where the team will review and Kim’s liaison will call her with directions of which of the dozens of meds she need to increase or decrease. They will let her know if she is restricted on activities or if her cell count is healthy enough for people contact. Kim hopes to get back to work soon. Her work puts her in a lot of contact with people so they will watch her cell counts closely. She is also still tender and her insides are swollen from the surgery. Lifting, pushing and pulling are still no-nos. That surgery was just 24 days ago.
Her hair is still long but her stylist has offered to cut it into a stylish short do. A friend recommended to NOT shave her head just yet to avoid some un-comfortable rashes. Another friend said she tried short, didn’t like the short hairs falling out so she liked the shaved route. What to Do????? Kim will figure it out. A photographer friend took Kirchhoff family pictures last Sunday so her long hair is recorded in photographs.
In the meantime, Becky, Shane and Gail took her to the American Cancer Society and checked out their wig selection - which turned out to be more wigs than Kim could even try on. She tried going brunette, red head, and bleached blonde - curls, straight and some with bobbed cuts. She came out with two very cute wigs one shorter and one longer, two turbans and a cute scarf that brought them back to high school days. They told her she was welcome to come back anytime and exchange her look if she wanted. They provided her with a goodie bag.
When I talked to Kim this morning, she said she was feeling ok and trying to figure out her basket of meds. This is a test for someone who rarely needed an aspirin.
She sounded up for the challenge and glad the process is underway.
Jan Snyder
The Dr. told Kim that she was healing nicely and was ready to start chemo. He also told her that it was likely she would qualify for a study group. If she agreed to be part of this group it would mean extra test, a CAT scan an echogram. These are both baseline tests and will be repeated periodically throughout the treatment. We all liked the idea of the “extra TLC” factor. We also liked the idea that she had to have a strong heart and other than her cancer, she needed to be in good condition. Test showed she was. The part of this that we were not thrilled about was the fact that she needed to have a small portion of a tumor that remained in her body. Test showed she did. Not great news but still good to know what they are dealing with. The tumor is less than an inch and on her liver. The doctor hopes the Chemo will take care of it.
The test study was divided into 2 groups. One group will have a “Chemo Cocktail” of 2 types of medication and have it administered 2 days in a row, every 20 days. Group 2 would have a combination of 3 drugs in their “Chemo-Cocktail” taken on the same 2 consecutive days but then followed by a shot that is meant to boost the white blood cells on day 3. A computer assigned Kim to the group once she qualified. She is in the high dose group. The doctors at the Med Center have used both routines so neither is right or wrong, just different. And now they are studying the difference and the outcomes. The combination of the 3 drugs can be too toxic for some patients. Kim and her doctors can and will pull out of the study if this puts her at too high a risk. We are thinking that she can whip this quicker and is in the right study group.
Early last Wednesday, Kim had a port put into her upper chest on the right. This will be where the Chemo is administered. It will stay in for as long as her body allows and she is undergoing Chemo. She then went through a “flushing” before the 1 ½ hour of Chemo followed by another “flushing”. On Thursday the process was repeated. She will go to the Syracuse Hospital to have a shot 24 to 48 hours after her last Chemo. It is my understanding that this shot will make her bones ache a bit but the outcome will be a boost in the white blood cells. Kim will have lab work done every Monday at the Syracuse hospital. The results will go to UNMC where the team will review and Kim’s liaison will call her with directions of which of the dozens of meds she need to increase or decrease. They will let her know if she is restricted on activities or if her cell count is healthy enough for people contact. Kim hopes to get back to work soon. Her work puts her in a lot of contact with people so they will watch her cell counts closely. She is also still tender and her insides are swollen from the surgery. Lifting, pushing and pulling are still no-nos. That surgery was just 24 days ago.
Her hair is still long but her stylist has offered to cut it into a stylish short do. A friend recommended to NOT shave her head just yet to avoid some un-comfortable rashes. Another friend said she tried short, didn’t like the short hairs falling out so she liked the shaved route. What to Do????? Kim will figure it out. A photographer friend took Kirchhoff family pictures last Sunday so her long hair is recorded in photographs.
In the meantime, Becky, Shane and Gail took her to the American Cancer Society and checked out their wig selection - which turned out to be more wigs than Kim could even try on. She tried going brunette, red head, and bleached blonde - curls, straight and some with bobbed cuts. She came out with two very cute wigs one shorter and one longer, two turbans and a cute scarf that brought them back to high school days. They told her she was welcome to come back anytime and exchange her look if she wanted. They provided her with a goodie bag.
When I talked to Kim this morning, she said she was feeling ok and trying to figure out her basket of meds. This is a test for someone who rarely needed an aspirin.
She sounded up for the challenge and glad the process is underway.
Jan Snyder
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