Our Mom’s Fight Against Colon Cancer

Hello,

We wanted to start a blog for our mom as a way to keep everyone updated and keep our family and friends connected. Also we hope this site will help anyone researching colon cancer for a loved one.

As many of you already know our mom Kim was diagnosed with metastic colon cancer June 23, 2008. She is only 54 years old and has always been in good health. So as you can imagine it came as quite a shock. Especially since her mom is 85 and cancer does not run in the family. Immediately after her diagnosis she was hospitalized 12 days to run tests and scans in order to determine how far the cancer had spread. We were devastated to learn that she had several masses in her liver and two in her lungs. Thankfully there were no tumors in her brain or bones.

Due to mom’s illness she has been unable to continue working and dad is only able to work very part time since he has become her full time care giver. We realize this is a tough economy but every little bit helps. Anyone who is able and would like to contribute can donate through the website.

We would like to thank all our family and friends who have showed their love and concern. We are truly blessed to have such a loving support system. For anyone out there going through a cancer diagnosis our thoughts and prayers are with you. It is such an emotional rollercoaster and can be very overwhelming. Stay strong and keep positive!  Please remember to have a colonoscopy when you turn 50!

After being discharged from the hospital mom recouped here in Arizona for about a week when she was  ready to hit the roads and head back to California. Mom and dad were there for a couple of weeks enjoying their new grand baby and visiting family. Then they hit the road again and drove to visit long time friends in Montana. They truly enjoyed themselves and it was really nice for our mom to get away and to rejuvenate up in the beautiful state of Montana. Thank you Tony and Cindy!!

They are now back in Arizona visiting for a couple of weeks. Mom has a few doctors appointments and a follow up appointment with her surgeon Dr. Heppel this Friday. Today’s appointment with her pallative doctor went really well. Her blood work showed that her blood count has gone up to 12 which is really good. Next week they are headed to beautiful Sedona Arizona to spend a week for their Anniversary. After 16 long months of being diagnoised with *cancer* mom is FINALLY getting to a point where she is starting to feel better.  This is something we’ve all been wanting to see for a long time!

 After spending time in Sedona mom and dad will head back to California. Mom will continue to go back and forth between Arizona and California due to doctor’s visits, and of course her grand babies.

We will continue to post but remember no news is sometimes good news

Just a quick update. Mom was released out of the hospital yesterday afternoon. She’s happy to be out of the hospital. Mom will be recovering here in Arizona for the next few weeks before she heads back to California. She’s pretty sore and tired but she is feeling better each day.

Mom is still in the hospital. She thought she might be going home today but she won’t be able to since she is still on oxygen and high pain meds. She will possibly be released tomorrow depending on how she does today. I forgot to post that mom didn’t have c-diff after all. They took precautionary methods because she had it last year and they didn’t tell us that was why visitors had to wear the coverings. That was a relief to know she didn’t have to deal with that as well.

Mom is getting out of the intensive care. She is doing so much better today. They gave her a bath and are moving her into her new room at noon. Her pain is now at a 5 where it had been a 10 the past two days. We are all so happy she is doing so much better so quickly. I will post her new room # as soon as I find out so family can call if she feels up to talking.

Mom unfortunately has come down with C-Diff infection again.  She had that infection when she was in Sacramento and overcame it after a couple days so we are hoping that she will do the same. She is still in an immense amount of pain and would not like any visitors or phone calls at this time. The nurse was increasing her pain meds this morning so hopefully she is having some relief and able to rest and recover. Wish we had better news to report but we will continue to update as we hear more.

Mom made it through another surgery. She is such a fighter. Dr. Heppel said there wasn’t any major area where she was losing blood since the first surgery went so good he didn’t expect to find any. But they cleaned out a lot of the blood that leaked into her stomach and resealed all the area’s from the first operation. They said her blood pressure looked good and are hoping it stays that way. They are going to start her on blood builders again soon. She is in ICU tonight and probably for a few more days. We will write more tomorrow as we hear more.

Mom’s blood count has become extremely low and the doctors are worried she is bleeding internally again. They are doing another surgery to try and find the problem. Unfortunately Dr. Heppel said that with advanced cancer this is one of the risks. The liver is what helps the blood coagulate and since her liver is very diseased it is not functioning properly. We are praying that she will pull through this like she did last time. We will let you know when she is out of surgery.

Mom’s surgery this morning to reverse her colostomy went very well. Dr. Heppel said that everything went very smoothly and he was very pleased with the results. She is in room # 7E 78 @ Mayo Clinic Hospital if anyone would like to call or send flowers. She was in a lot of pain when she woke up but was given some stronger pain meds and was resting this afternoon. She is expected to be in the hospital for 4-5 days.

Sorry it has been so long since I’ve updated the blog. As most of you know I had a baby girl July 29th. Her name is Arianna Kimberly and she was 8.1lbs. So needless to say my life has been a little busy lately.

Mom has been recovering from her colon surgery the past two months. She was feeling well enough to take a trip to Pine Top along with Sarah, Matt, and her grandsons. It was nice for her and dad to get away and enjoy the cooler weather and change of scenery. After leaving Pine Top they made their way to Mexico to go to the Hoxsey Clinic. Mom is now on a new diet along with a tonic and supplements. We are hoping this will keep her cancer from growing. We are all very optimistic about this new treatment.

After Mexico mom and dad made their way to California to see their new grandaughter. It was so nice having mom here for the week. Though it went by way too fast. She was able to see her mom, siblings, and other relatives while she was here, which she really enjoyed.

Last Sunday mom and dad flew back to Arizona on Angel Flight. Mom was able to bring her cat with her which she missed terribly. She had a doctor apt Tuesday with Dr. Heppel who ordered some tests to make sure mom  was doing well enough to undergo another surgery. She had a scan of her colon Wednesday to make sure everything had healed properly from her last surgery and some blood work done. Thankfully everything looked good and Dr. Heppel scheduled her for surgery for next Tuesday August 25th. She is finally going to be able to get rid of the colostomy bag. Mom is elated! She is expected to be in the hospital for 4-5days. We will keep you posted during this next week and let you all know how things are going.