Update on Kim:

We went to see the Chemo specialist today. He is a very nice and compassionate doctor. Kim seemed to like him. My mom made sure to stress to him that Kim wants him to listen to her when she feels that something is wrong and act on it, which none of her other doctors did. He agreed and seemed really shocked by what my mother said about the other doctors.

Kim gained 6 pounds since last week - yeah! AND she was finally given a prescription for an anti-depressant! I personally feel that she should have been given this at the very beginning. The petscan confirmed that she does have cancer in her throat, neck, and flap on her tongue. Apparently, when she had her lymph nodes removed, they didn't remove all of them. We were all very stunned by this since her doctor did not say he was only taking out the infected ones. It's very disappointing. Anyways, they also said that they saw something around her lungs, but they weren't sure that it was cancer. It was shocking and he didn't go into it too much. Kim's oncologist will discuss the petscan with her in more detail at her appointment next week. However, the chemo will treat the whole body unlike radiation which focuses on a specific part.

The doctor wants to start her on a first round of single dosage chemo that will last 6-8 weeks. He would like to begin next week since her cancer is so aggressive and he doesn't want to wait for it to get worse. According to the doctor, the first round of chemo will have some side effects, but they can be controlled such as nausea, vomitting, fatigue, and mouth sores. She will not lose her hair in this first round. he also said that she will have new scans every 2 weeks to see what progress the chemo is making. Hopefully it will make tremendous progress. He said that he can't guarantee anything, and the chemo will not get rid of the cancer, but it might give her more time. How much was not said, but more time is good. I'm praying for a miracle. Third time's a charm right?

Kim agreed to try the first round of chemo, but if she doesn't like it, she will quit. I told her that if she does lose her hair, I will cut mine short (I can't shave it because of my profession), and my brother and husband said they would shave theirs too. Kim has so much support from everyone. I only wish that God would answer our prayers and rid her of this as well as everyone else out there.

Although we should not think that God planned for her to have this terrible burden because of her strength, it is better for her to think that than think she is being punished by God. She was feeling that way for a very long time. My mom believes that God has a plan for everyone and that this is all part of his plan, but we can't figur out why. I hope that doesn't offend anyone's beliefs. We are just trying to instill some positive perspective into Kim.

Please keep her in your prayers as she continues to battle and ventures into chemo. I'm praying that the road ahead of her isn't too tough.

God Bless