Yeah... She's cool

And away we go

            Okay kids, since Kym made this blog and posted the initial "what happened" on it, it has stalled. A lot has happened since then. I will get us all up to speed.
             So after Kym's post a month ago, she started going to Chemo. Her infusion appointents are every 2 weeks. I guess she actually started before that, because we are 5 infusions in. At first the infusions would make her feel sick, but it didn't seem too horrible with all the meds they gave her. But after the first couple, the more her immune system wore down, the worse it got. About a month or so ago, Kym was feeling worse after her appt's and then her hair started to fall out. At first we were just kinda finding it everywhere, but then it started coming out in clumps while she showered. This was tough, as you could imagine. I dont think guys really appreciate this like we should. I have shaved my head for my entire adult life, so it didn't seem like that big of a deal. But I now know how much identity goes into girls hair. Well, I suggested that Kym have her stylist buzz her head. At least that would be her doing it on her terms. We got the whole support team together and went down to do just that. Cherry, her stylist, told us there was still enough hair to do a cute little cut so we opted for that. Pics to follow. Since we already had gone wig shopping, we were even able to get those styled too.
              For those of you that dont know, Kym is in a clinical trial that allows her to redo her PET-Scan after the first 4 infusions (2 months) to check on the progress of the Chemotherapy. Well we had those scans a couple of weeks ago. As you may have seen on Kym's fb page, the results were better than good. NO SIGNS OF ACTIVE CANCER. And all those pesky little lymphnodes are getting back to regular size.

               So at this point we just have another 4 months of infusions. It is not quite as simple as it sounds. Kym felt bad after this last one. And thanks to her having like one white blood cell, she got sick and has been feeling terrible since, but no fevers. Please send her your love, it helps alot. She will also be turning 28 this Thursday, so say hi. As for me, I will be blogging for her. Please remember that I do not have 2 college degrees, so be kind.

Not so hostile takeover

So, I think by now it has been proven that Kym is the worst blogger ever. Because of this, I have taken control. As a teaser of things to come, we will be discussing Kym's haircut, The walk, and recent Scan results. So stay tuned for more to come. With pictures.
Koy

Back ~ Tracking

Some things never change. Like my ability to procrastinate on everything. For example, this blog. Been talking about doing a blog since I got the official diagnosis back on August 14th. Something else I procrastinated on recently was going to my doctor originally to get checked out. But why go when nothing really bad is going on? "Its my high-stress, super tough on myself, competitive attitude that is making me sick" - not anything serious. I'm tired all the time & losing weight cause I work my ass off while pulling 12 hour night shifts in the ER in Stockton. It's "normal" for new nurses to be sick their whole first year. I had an explanation for everything - except that feeling of dread in my chest when I actually assessed myself & took a realistic look at my symptoms.
1. Night sweats - common causes that come to mind: tuberculosis & Lymphoma. 2.Dramatic weight loss ( although fun) is a pretty big red flag for cancers 3. Weak immune system-sick ALL the time 4. Hair loss 5.Stopped menstruating 6. Nagging cough that lasts for months with random fevers.
I had gotten to the point where I didn't want to go to the Dr because ignorance is bliss - because I knew in my gut something was really wrong. And going in would mean facing it.
It really wasn't me that chose to go - it was more Koy having an intervention with me, & making me go.
Some of you may be able to relate to the emotions you feel when waiting to find out about a diagnosis. Some of you may even know how it feels when you get phone calls on the weekend from your doc giving you the news you didn't want. For me I went numb. My whole world was upside down. And worst case scenarios started to flood my thoughts. Now I needed a game plan: how do I tell people why I'm having surgery?

I was able to push my way through the "next available appointment is not for 3 weeks" by calling everyday, whatever UCDMC number I could get a hold of- and it worked! I'd had 2 CT scans, a PET scan, & surgical biopsy performed before my original scan appointment ever came around. I called this time my "ruling out cancer" time - convinced it would turn out to be some rare anomaly. BUT, my fabulous surgical oncologist called me at home on Sunday August 14th: "Kym, this is just a fucked up situation - but the pathology reports are back early, and you have Hodgkins Lymphoma". Fuck.

Koy was with me during that call - as he has been this whole time. Truly the perfect partner. And I could tell from his reaction, he had known this too. We both did.

But then came the most difficult task: how to tell my parents? Not over the phone. They were at the cabin, & I was post-op, so driving to them wasn't going to work. So they came down to my place for dinner. Worst conversation I've ever had to start - just awful news to have to give & to see the looks on their faces. Just heartbreaking.

Being sick is hard & no part of it is "fun". But by far the worst part is seeing how my illness affects those that love me. I'm still, to this day more concerned about Koy, my parents, & my sister.
But an important lesson for me: it is so true that your patient is not just the person in the bed - as a nurse, I need to care for the family too.