A couple of Kim's friends have put together this blog to keep all her peeps informed about what's going on in her life right now. It can be hard for Kim to keep up w/ all the emails, texts, and calls - especially since Kim doesn't have WiFi or cell service at her home - so we hope this helps keep everyone in the loop a little better.
At the end of September in this crazy year 2020, Kim was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. As you might expect, she had to be different and get the news in a phone call from her doctor, while setting traps for grizzly bears... but that's another story for another time. In Kim's words, "It'll make for a great story one day".
Thankfully, Kim has a great team of folks already working to help her through this process in Kalispell, including her Surgeon, a Radiation Oncologist, a Medical Oncologist, and a Nutritionist, among others. Her Surgeon performed a lumpectomy on the 21st and got clean margins. After biopsying both tumors, they were found to be 2 different types of cancers; 1 tumor is HR positive, and the other, more aggressive, tumor is HER2-neu positive. The more aggressive tumor was much larger than expected, and during surgery they discovered a 3rd tumor in her sentinel lymph node. They have tentatively staged Kim's cancer as Stage 2C, but since the pathology results are not yet back on the lymph node tumor, and Kim's PET scan results won't be in until the end of next week, that staging might yet change. We will post more info then. Other than her Nutritionist, Kim has met each Team member at least via TeleHealth, and she really likes her entire Team, so far!
Kim's treatments began with her surgery, and will continue through chemotherapy, radiation, and many years of hormone therapy. Chemo treatments start 11/23, and if nothing changes, we're expecting a total of 6 treatments over 18 weeks, so Kim should complete chemo by end of March 2021. After some time recovering from chemo, she will then do 6 weeks of daily radiation, in Kalispell, while continuing with targeted HER2-neu treatments through Thanksgiving of 2021. But the hard stuff should be done after radiation is over, which means we hope to do some Serious Celebrating by mid June 2021!!
Kim's parents will be in Montana by mid-November, so thankfully they will also be in Libby to help with Kim's healing process. Kim really appreciates hearing from everyone, so we hope you will consider commenting here. This website is amazing and they've really thought of everything - If you wish to get alerts about Kim's updates, just press the "Follow" button and follow their instructions, and you should see the updates automatically. Please share this website with anyone you think might be interested, especially since we will surely (however unintentionally) miss some folks in these crazy times. We will do our best to keep all Kim's loved ones informed as we proceed through this crazy process with her.
Yesterday marked 1 year since I started getting chemo infusions every 21 days. Yesterday I got the all-clear from my surgeon to go ahead and do whatever I want. And today marks the first time in a year that I won't have that (life-saving) poison put in my body again! Today is the point at which my body can now truly be able to recover from all that has been done to it. Thank you to all the people who helped get me here...but there are no words that can express how grateful I am for all of you. Here's to moving forward with life, cancer free ❤
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Kim Stay Connected to Family and Friends
A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Kim's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?
Cheers!